Cloning a bootable disk drive

Hi.
I'd like to know if there's any way to clone my main disk drive (the one which contains the operating system) in order to have a backup of all my data to use it when necessary... I've been thinking about using a dd in single user mode, but I'm not sure if this will work, so I'd like to know if there's a better way to do this. I'd really appreciate any help, thanks in advance.

Hello,
As mentioned by mlhardwicke :
Ufsfump
/usr/sbin/ufsdump 0uf - $ROOT | (cd $BACKUP; /usr/sbin/ufsrestore ryf -)Install boot block on root partition :
/usr/sbin/installboot /usr/platform/`/usr/bin/uname -m`/lib/fs/ufs/bootblk $BACKUP

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Cloning a bootable disk as a system backup

I have a Sun M5000 System running Solaris 10. It has 4 slots in the face panel for removable drives. The 1st 2 slots are the ones we use, for the mirrored, boot file system. I don't have tape drives on this system, but I do want to be able to make system backups.
What I do have are more identical, removable drives that I can add to the 2 other slots. (and we have the 2nd IO controller module to make those slots active) It seems to me that the easiest "system backup" to restore after a disaster would be to somehow 100% clone the mirrorred boot drives to a 2nd pair, and remove them for safekeeping. This pair could then be put into a replacement system, and immediately boot as the old system.
Is this possible ? Is there a simple technique to do this ? Hopefully it can be done "live" and not need to be in single user mode, as this system is in use 24/7.
.

the no tape drive may hurt you in the long run if you update a lot of data on your existing mirror. you can use dd to do what you want, use meta* cmds or vxvm if thats what is the current env. note that if you update lots of data on your mirror, having the old boot volume usable may not help much or will result in lots of rebuild time anyway.

Quick boot question -- cloned a bootable drive in latest Tiger, can i.....

I cloned a bootable drive in latest Tiger version; if i install Leopard on my Powerbook will i still be able to boot from that Tiger drive?? in essence i guess i would have two different platforms running on my Powerbook -- doesn't seem like it would work the more i think about it....hmmmmm.
thanks appleheads!
e

e to the d wrote:
if i install Leopard on my Powerbook will i still be able to boot from that Tiger drive??
You can't install a second OS on your PB. However your clone should boot your PB from the disk it's on. Just connect that disk, then in System Preferences >> Startup disk, choose it and restart.
-mj

I'm trying to install Windows XP on my Leopard 10.5.8 using Boot Camp Assistant but when it restarts it says I should insert a bootable disk even though I didn't remove the installer from the drive. What should I do?

More info: I'm using an external CD drive because the built-in one doesn't work for some reason.
Also I went back and deleted the partition (also using Boot Camp Assistant) and just gave up on installing XP, but now every time I turn on my macbook I have to press the Option key to mount the Mac HD. If I don't, it returns to the black screen that says I have to insert the bootable disk and press any key. How do I stop this problem? I've already verified the disk and permissions, plus repaired it. It's still the same.

Go into your system preferences and click the startup disk icon then select your Mac HD.

How do I make a bootable hard drive clone of my main disk in my mac pro?

Hi everyone,
How do I make a bootable hard drive clone of my main disk in my mac pro?
My main drive has bad sectors and I want to replace it.
Thanks in advance

Also your Mac's Disk Utility can make a bootable clone;
http://macs.about.com/od/backupsarchives/ss/diskbackup.htm
Consider though, if your internal HD is failing and defective, then any clone however made, may carry that defect.
Perhaps it would be better to copy your personal data, photos emails etc, to an external drive as well, just in case the clone did not work because of the failing hard drive.

BootCamp Assistant Error : Your bootable USB drive could not be created. "An error occurred while formatting the disk."

I have a Windows 7 Ultimate .iso file saved onto a "Mac OS Extended (Journal)" formatted USB flash drive. I am trying to install it with BootCamp Assistant and I keep getting the error message : Your bootable USB drive could not be created. "An error occurred while formatting the disk."
I have previously installed Windows 7 on my Mac (and it worked flawlessly - same .iso file), but I uninstalled it because I didn't partition enough space on my hard drive. I have used several flash drive to try and install and none have worked.
Some help would be greatly appreciated.

The Boot Camp forum is located here: https://discussions.apple.com/community/windows_software/boot_camp
The Boot Camp Guides are located here: http://www.apple.com/support/bootcamp/

Format and Partitoin Disk - Difference Between Running TS/LiteTouch.vbs from Desktop Vs. Bootable Flash Drive.

Hello,
I have a question about disk formatting. If run our TS from the Run box, the HD is not cleaned. The image will be applied successfully but if there were any extra partitions, HP Recovery partitions for example, they will still be present.
If run the same TS form a bootable USB drive, the HD is completely erased.
Can anyone explain the difference in running the TS from the Desktop/Run box vs. running it from a bootable drive?
Thanks.

From LiteTouch.log, the DeploymentType is NEWCOMPUTER when run off the flash drive but REFRESH when run from the desktop. LT must detect that its running in an OS and decides not to clean the drive. We do not have DeploymentType set in our
rules.
Ah, glad you found it. That's what I was going to suggest, based on what environment the TS runs from.
-Nick O.

Can you make a bootable 10.8 disk drive and add tech tool pro

Can you make a bootable 10.8 Disk Drive and add TechTool Pro

Sure just clone your drive with TTP 6 alreaady on it, or clone and then install... but you don't need it.

How to make a bootable flash drive Disk Utility's "Owners Enabled" function

Being as Apple does not have a discussion group for this wonderful little utility and because Apple has neglected to fix the "Post New Topic" link in the "Special Interest Area>User Tips Library", I have no choice but to post here. I think what I found is useful and I have accomplished it in a way that avoids the need of using the disheartening Terminal.
How to create a bootable flash drive:
Step 1: Obtain a flash drive (e.g., 8GB USB flash SanDisk), OS cd

and because Apple has neglected to fix the "Post New Topic" link in the "Special Interest Area>User Tips Library", I have no choice but to post here.
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=10672620#10672620

Question about creating a bootable disk image in Leopard.

I have a Powerbook G4 that originally came with OS9, I upgraded to Tiger and recently upgraded to Leopard. The computer is running great but if it should go down what are my bootable options?
1) Boot from the install disk set then load tiger upgrade then load Leopard upgrade? then reload all my programs back on the G4?
2) Can I create a bootable disk image and save it on an external hard drive and then boot and reload everything at once? ( I guess by asking this question I really don't understand what the full scope of a bootable disk image is?) can someone explain...
Which option is better? I am also running __time machine__... what is the safest and easiest way to use time machine to get my software back together after I get the operating system up and running.
Thanks for the advice

Your best alternative is to create a bootable clone on an external Firewire drive.
How to Clone Using Restore Option of Disk Utility
1. Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
2. Select the backup or destination volume from the left side list.
3. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (journaled, if available) and click on the Erase button. This step can be skipped if the destination has already been freshly erased.
4. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
5. Select the backup or destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
6. Select the startup or source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
7. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Of course you can use other software for cloning and backup:
Backup Software Recommendations
My personal recommendations are (order is not significant):
1. Retrospect Desktop (Commercial - not yet universal binary)
2. Synchronize! Pro X (Commercial)
3. Synk (Backup, Standard, or Pro)
4. Deja Vu (Shareware)
5. PsynchX 2.1.1 and RsyncX 2.1 (Freeware)
6. Carbon Copy Cloner (Freeware - 3.0 is a Universal Binary)
7. SuperDuper! (Commercial)
8. Intego Personal Backup (Commercial)
9. Data Backup (Commercial)
For use with Leopard always be sure you use a version of the software that is compatible with Leopard.

Booting from new disk drive

After copying all of my old drive onto a newer one I want to have all the computers that previously used the old drive boot into the new one. I can see the drive on my main server desktop but cannot boot from it. Any suggestions or readings you can suggest?

Several questions.
What application did you use to copy the files? SuperDuper! (full disk cloning is free; a very good app by the way). Carbon Copy Cloner? Both of these apps will clone a disk and make it bootable.
Were you able to boot from this disk before?
Is this disk an external firewire or USB? As far as I know all Mac with a firewire port can boot from a firewire bootable disk. I think only more recent Macs can boot from a USB disk.
You mentioned server. Are you by any chance trying to do a NetBoot? After all this is the *Networking and Web* forum. If so then the Mac OS X Server forum might be a better place to ask about NetBooting.

No bootable disk after installing Windows

I tried to install Windows 7 with Boot Camp on my Intel Single Core Mac Mini, and after having an error message I couldn't boot anymore. All I was getting was a black screen with the cursor flashing. I took the opportunity to upgrade to a bigger hard drive. I got the older hard drive out, deleted the windows partition, and cloned the original mac partition onto the new hard drive. All I get now is instead a "no bootable disk - insert bootable disk and press any key" error message. I have tried to boot from the original Install DVD, but no key combination works on start up. I tried C, Option key, Command-Option-Shift-Del, but it still goes to the black screen. The mouse is still working, as I can get the DVD out if I click the left button on start up but no keyboard seems to work (I tried to original Apple ones). I have got the new hard drive out, put it in an enclosure, formatted it with my laptop, and tried to install OSX from the disk but still can't boot from disk and still get error message. Any help?

While we all have MacBooks in this forum not all of us use BootCamp. There's a BootCamp Support Community where everybody uses BootCamp. You should also post this question there to increase your chances of getting an answer.
https://discussions.apple.com/community/windows_software/boot_camp

Bootable ext. drive with 10.5/internal with 10.4?

I run 10.4.11 on my intel and want to keep it for now. I also have a lacie 500 fw which I want to install 10.5 on as a bootable disk. Do I just format the hd and load 10.5 on it, do I partition it? I have some older programs which I don't want to lose and run with 10.4. If this is the right way, do I just set the start up disk each time I want to change? Are there complications with this. I also want to use this hd as a back up disk.
Cheers, Roughcuts

That's a lot of questions in such a short paragraph.
You can install Leopard on the external and boot from it, and switch back and forth between the two using System Preferences +Startup Disk+ pane.
To install Leopard, the drive should be partitioned using the +Partition Map Scheme+ of +GUID Partition Table+. You can check what it is currently by running Disk Utility, selecting the drive in the sidebar (not the volume indented below the drive), and looking at the details at the bottom of the Disk Utility window.
If it says +GUID Partition Table+, you can proceed with installation. If it says +Apple Partition Map+ (or something else) you should re-partition the drive. Technically, Intel Macs can boot from drive that is +Apple Partition Map+, but the Mac OS X installer not will allow it to be select as the target for installation unless it is +GUID Partition Table+. Installing the Mac OS X system will not delete the existing data on the volume, but you should make a backup of important data, just in case something bad happens. You may want to run +Repair Disk+ in Disk Utility +First Aid+ tab, just to check the drive before running the installation.
If you need to change the +Partition Map Scheme+, with the drive selected in the sidebar, go to the Partition tab. NOTE: THIS WILL ERASE THE DRIVE. Reset the +Volume Scheme+ to the number of partition you want (even if the number is the same as current). Click on the Options button. In the dialog that pops up, select +GUID Partition Table+. Back on the main window, set the format type to +Mac OS Extended (Journaled)+ and Apply the change. This will re-partition and reformat the drive.
I also want to use this hd as a back up disk.
If you are backing up stuff from the internal drive, that should be fine. You may want to create a partition to use for the backups and a partition to use for the Leopard boot volume. You don't have to, but it may make maintenance of the volumes easier (if you ever need to erase one volume while keeping the other). If you are cloning to make the backup, then you probably need to use a separate partition.

How do I Install Windows 7 on Mac Book Pro via a Bootable USB Drive

Hi Guys,
I have a Mac Book Pro 13 inch, Early 2011 Processor 2.3 GHz Intel Core i5 (I initially had OS 10.5.8 which I upgraded to OSX 10.9.4 a few months ago).
When purchased it, I installed Windows via Super Drive (that being the only time i ever used the super drive). My Windows got corrupted for some reason 2 months ago. Hence, I removed the windows via Bootcamp to perform a fresh install. I discovered my Super Drive was no longer working.
Thereon I have been trying to install Windows via a bootable USB Drive but am failing to do so. After going through several forums, I have reached the following stage.
1. Created Bootable Windows USB Drive using Windows USB (http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Bootable-Windows-7-or-Vista-USB-Drive). Have used this USB drive to install windows on a DELL Computer
2. Bootcamp wasnt creating a partition for windows since no Windows Installation disc was being detected in super drive. (Solved it by downloading Toast Titanium and loading the .iso file on a virtual drive).
3. Boot menu was initially not detecting external drive, so installed rEFIt - An EFI Boot Menu and Toolkit. Now it is detecting the USB Drive.
Now when I boot from this device, it get a black screen with the message "No bootable device - Insert Boot Disk"
Request someone to please help me install windows as some softwares which I work with are windows based.

smartestidiot wrote:
So my understanding is that my Boot Camp Assistant (BCA), since it does not allow USB installer, it sets NVRAM to boot from Optical Drive. Right?
Yes.
So can I change it or update it to another BCA version which supports the same??
All BCA versions drive the logic based on the Mac Model Identifier. Unfortunately there is no real workaround. .
Please see https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Unibody+Early+2011+Optical+Driv e+Replacement/5122
and https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Mac/Unibody-8x-SATA-SuperDrive-Post-Early-2009/IF16 1-073-2.

I'm not crying. Is there a way to install Mountain Lion on a bootable disk on latest iMac cuz mine shipped without an OS?

I could cry right now. After decades of being an Apple fan, something is happening for the worse and issues with every Apple product I own 2 iphones, 2 iMacs, 15" Macbook Pro, and iPad Mini (no issues here, just slow connecting to App Store and can never seem to download updates) has left me disenchanted. I do have a question about Mountain Lion but just airing out grievances.
Ok, to the point. I have the new 27" iMac that was just released. Was delivered and opened the box, turned it on, and there was a flashing folder icon. No OS, wonderful. I live in Brooklyn and not trying to lug a 27" computer onto the train nor should I have to pay for a cab to resolve this. Anyway, I tried to go into Recovery but it started doing an Internet Recovery with a download time of 9 hours. Um, no thanks. So I downloaded the latest version of Mountain Lion from the App store on my old iMac and made a boot disk onto an external via Apples instructions. Plugged it into new iMac lemon, go into recovery mode, see the bootable drive, click on it to reinstall and it gives me a crossed out circle icon and shuts down.
What am I doing wrong? I have pretty decent broadband and did start the internet recovery process now until I find a better solution online. After 5 hours, Internet recovery finished and clicked on Reinstall Mountain Lion to which it's asking me to download the OS again and with a 13 hour download time!!!! What's going on here? What was the purpose of internet recovery taking 5 hours only to download it again at another 13 hours???
Question is, is there something I should be doing differently? Is there a way to install Mountain Lion from a bootable disk? This is mind blowingly the dumbest thing I've encountered with Apple. Got a problem with your OS? No problem, just download a 4.4GB file every incident.
Thank you.

You can't grab a installer from another Mac and expect it to run. The newer Macs have newer hardware which requires special drivers. If the version that boots the iMac is a special build, it won't work any other way than Internet Recovery.
If it was me, I'd take it right back. You have no idea if the OS is just corrupted, the hard drive is dead, or what. I wouldn't take my chances with it.

Cloning a bootable disk drive

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