Cloning HD to a new HD using Disk Utility

Hi,
I'm trying to upgrade my hard drive (500 GB) to a 1TB hard drive on my Macbook Pro using Disk Utility. Here is what I have experienced so far...
1) I placed the new HD in the enclosure and reformated it to "Mac OS Extended (Journalized)"
2) I restart my MBP and holding down to "Command + R" during the initial grey screen comes up - then selected Disk Utility from the menu (I'm currently running Mac OS 10.8.1)
3) Then the process starts with "Copying Blocking" and it shows that the whole cloning process is estimated to take about 2 days and 6 hours... Is that even possible? I'm using an enclosure that supports USB 2.0
4) I have read a few other options in cloning a HD using a software called CarbonCopyCloner - and it is said that it will be much faster compared to Disk Utility. But I just don't want to be pay for the software simply for HD cloning; figured disk utility is just as fine as long as the end result is the same as CCC.
I'm wondering if there is anything that I've done wrong as the approximate time required is simply WAY TOO LONG! Or is it because of the enclosure that I use that is slowing down the process (especially with USB 2.0)?
Also I'm following the cloning process from another post (https://discussions.apple.com/message/15431074#15431074) - and one of the disk preparation step states:
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Optionsbutton, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
And I don't seem to be seeing the Option button... All I see under Erase is a "Security Option" tab, but that doesn't lead me to a Zero Data button.
Hope to get some feedback on this soon so I can upgrade my HD asap. Thanks in advance
Peter

I've always done my cloning using carbon copy cloner - it is a 30 day trial.
I've never cloned using disk utility so I couldn't tell you.
I can however, give you the step by step with carbon copy.
Click HERE for the steps if you're interested...
Cheers..

Similar Messages

Transferring data from one HDD to a new HDD using disk utility?

I do not have a time machine backup of my HDD. I was wondering if it is posssible to use disk utility to restore data from the old HDD to the new HDD. Will I need the system disks to partition the new HDD first or is this even possible. If it is possible, will everything transfer using the Restore in disk utility?

How to replace or upgrade a drive in a laptop
Step One: Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger, Leopard or Snow Leopard.) After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
Step Two: Remove the old drive and install the new drive. Place the old drive in an external USB enclosure. You can buy one at OWC who is also a good vendor for drives.
Step Three: Boot from the external drive. Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager appears. Select the icon for the external drive then click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Step Four: New Hard Drive Preparation
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select your new hard drive (this is the entry with the
      mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of
      the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive
      is failing or has failed and will need replacing. Otherwise, click on the
      Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from
      the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended
      (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to
      GUID then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and
      wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the
      drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main
      window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the
      Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to
      return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several
      hours depending upon the drive size.
Step Five: Clone the old drive to the new drive
1. Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.
3. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
4. Check the box labeled Erase destination.
5. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the
      Destination entry field.
6. Select the 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.
Destination means the new internal drive. Source means the old external drive.
Step Six: Open the Startup Disk preferences and select the new internal volume. Click on the Restart button. You should boot from the new drive. Eject the external drive and disconnect it from the computer.

Using Disk Utility to partition drive

After downloading a system update yesterday my mac mini hard drive is no longer bootable. The recovery HD is unbootable, too.
When I boot up using the install CD I can run Disk Utility and see that there are no problems reported with the hard drive, but I cannot repair permissions (No valid packages).
If I restore the operating system from the CD my only option is to erase the hard drive.
But what if ...
I create a new partition using Disk Utility?
There's loads of free space on the drive, but if I attempt to create a new partition will I wipe out existing data?
If I succeed in creating a new partition would I be able to restore the operating system there without erasing the hard drive?
Would it be possible then in some way to restore my user account data?
I'm just trying to avoid the hassle of re-installing my applications and recovering my data files from backup. It seems like the data is still all there on the hard drive except that something went wrong during the system update that renders the disk unusable.
Any help appreciated.

Yep, that is too old...
Mac mini
Mac OS X Install Disk 1
Mac OS X version 10.4.7
AHT version 3A102
Disc version 1.1
2Z691-5887-A
Mac OS X Install Disk 2
Disc version 1.0
ZZ691-5860-A

Cloning drive to external & partitioning using Disk Utility.....!

Hi,
I wonder if someone is able to answer my questions and offer some advice and help.....?
I am purchasing a new external drive and would like to know how to clone the internal drive of my Power Mac G4 using disk Utility to the external drive, so that it is also bootable. I have seen that there seems to be more then one way of doing this within disk utility, but would like to know which is the best way?
1. Please could you take me thorough the steps as I have never done this before?
2. Would it be wise to partition the external drive to keep the cloned bootable system seperate from the rest of the content that will be placed on the external drive or not? If so again please could you take me through the steps on how to do this (partition external drive)?
3. Prior to partitioning the drive is it necessary to delete the new external drive even though there is nothing on it? As I read someone that this need to be done, but didn't quite get that!
Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance

Hello,
Hopefully it'll be an External Firewire drive, as USB cannit be booted from on PPC Macs.
I wouldn't use Disk Utility, there are easier ones for free.
I strongly recommend that you get a good Firewire drive to Clone your Internal drive to...
http://eshop.macsales.com/search/firewire+drives
Many of those come with Backup SW, or...
Get carbon copy cloner to make an exact copy of your old HD to the New one...
http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html
Or SuperDuper...
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/
2. It depends how big the new drive is & how much space is used on the current drive.
OSX loves lots of free space on it's boot drive for VM & other temp files, I don't feel 50% is too much free space to leave.
3. Normally isn't needed to Zero the Drive, but you may have to foprmat it...
How to format your disks...
http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/partitioning_tiger.html
Thanks to Pondini, Formatting, Partitioning, Verifying, and Repairing Disks...
http://web.me.com/pondini/AppleTips/DU.html

Upgrading HD and cloning using Disk Utility

I'm going to upgrade my MacBook Aluminum Unibody with a larger and faster hard drive (500 Go Seagate Momentus 7200.4 SATA 2,5" 7200T 16 Mo).
As you'd probably expect, I will need to clone my current system to the new HD.
To achieve my needs, my strategy is the following:
1) booting up using Snow Leopard install DVD
2) connecting my new drive through a USB enclosure
3) using Disk Utility's "Restore" feature with Macintosh HD as source, and the new drive as destination
4) switching the drives
I came across tons of people in the same scenario as mine during my research for the best solution, but it always ended up with Carbon Copy Cloner or Super Duper. Almost nothing about Disk Utility.
If they seem to work fine for most of us, I find Disk Utility more trustful (1), and I prefer block-to-block to file-to-file copy (2), as the last method will necessarily skip some "uncopyable" files.
I have none of the above software, and according to its documentation, I believed to understand that CCC can't achieve a block-to-block copy running on the source system (which does make sense).
So, considering I only need to clone & switch (no backup purpose or whatever) my hard drives, why would I use CCC/Super Duper over Disk Utility?
Yeah, a file-to-file copy will kind of defragment my system, but is there something wrong with my method? I really don't understand why DU is so underrated.
Any feedback much appreciated!
Thanks,
Mickael

Mickael
I see nothing wrong with using disk utility to do what you want. If I'm correct, you can only create a disk image with disk utility, so it will not be bootable. It will accomplish the same goal as other software to restore as you described. The advantage to cloning you drive with the other applications is that you will be able to boot from the external drive if problems arise. Both applications are free to download.
I used super duper to clone to an external drive as a backup and keep it updated. I always have it to boot from if my main drive fails. The process is up to you.
Note: I though you needed a disk image to restore from, but I was wrong. You can do a restore from the drive itself.
As i said, I see no problem. It's your choice.
Message was edited by: Glenn Leblanc
Message was edited by: Glenn Leblanc

Cloning Time Machine using Disk Utility

I understand this is possible, and I have been largely following instructions on pondini.org (great resoruce for a lot of Time Machine related issues) at this link:
http://pondini.org/OSX/DU7.html
What I want to do is transfer my current set of Time Machine backups (let's say Drive1) to a different drive (Drive2) and reuse the original drive as a new Time Machine from scratch.
So what I have been doing is this:
Repartition the destination drive, Drive2, so it is GUID and then checking OFF "ignore ownership" under the get info window.
Opening Disk Utility and selecting Drive1, and clicking the RESTORE tab.
Dragging the VOLUME for Drive1 into the source box.
Dragging the VOLUME for Drive2 into the destination box.
Go.
Everything actually seems fine (well, teh destination drive is slightly less occupied, but maybe that has to do wit .fsevents stores, and indexing) - I'm able to browse other Time Machine files and report to the new Drive2 to see in the Time Machine interface.
HOWEVER, my issue is this:
The permissions appears to be all wrong for the new clone on Drive2.
On Drive1, the proper Time Machine drive, using 'get info' on files on the drive, the listed users and permissions are correct, for example, the listed users are system (read & write), staff (read only) etc, and in terminal, permissions are under root, wheel, etc as I assume they need to be.
However, on the new Time Machine clone, Drive2, the permissions on all files all list my username (read & write) and staff(read & write). In addition, properties of the volume differ from the source, including things like whether ownership is enabled, or if permissions are repairable (get info in Disk utility pane - yes I understand that in Disk Utility, it used to say 'no' on drives when it sometimes meant yes, but this seems to be rectified in Mavericks).
In other words, it looks like the cloned volume belongs to my user.
Now is this all normal? If I were to associate the new Time Machine clone, Drive2 as my TM drive, would it fix this? Would restores from this Drive2, where all the permissions for my user are enabled would restore incorrectly to a new machine? It probably means I can restore individual user files, but would the system be broken?
Otherwise, did I not do the procedure correctly? Was I supposed to NOT check off 'ignore ownership' on the destination drive? (I'm assuming it doesn't matter as teh clone would inheret properties from teh source). Was I NOT supposed to clone VOLUMES, but use DISKs instead?
Or was I supposed to use Disk Utility not as my user, but from the Recovery HD or something?
I'm running 10.9, but a similar procedure I did under 10.8 has the same outcome.
Any help or insight would be appreciated.

mrkgoo wrote:
I understand this is possible, and I have been largely following instructions on pondini.org (great resoruce for a lot of Time Machine related issues) at this link:
http://pondini.org/OSX/DU7.html
What I want to do is transfer my current set of Time Machine backups (let's say Drive1) to a different drive (Drive2) and reuse the original drive as a new Time Machine from scratch.
Please following these instructions from Apple: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5096
Once your Time Machine data is migrated, you can just erase the old drive and start from scratch.
Unfortunately, the owner of pondini.org has passed away and there is no one to support any instructions you will find on that site.

HT3275 I continue to get the following error message: Unable to complete back up.an error occurred while creating backup folder. It's a brand new drive. When I attempt to repair it using disk utility I get:unable to repair disk cannot unmounted

I have been trying to use time machine on a new lacie 2tb usb 2 drive for back up. I continue to get: "unable to complete backup.An error occured while creating backup folder". When I use disk utility to repair I get another error message: unable to repair disk unmountable.
Help me Obie One Canobie you are my last hope

I have confused myself with the facts! Started out keeping track of every step and every variable but have sort of lost it as we progress here. First I quit all applications then swapped connections between mouse port and backup disk port to influence possible bad connections question. Changed power outlet receptacle for the backup disk. Disabled the put-the-HD-to-sleep option. Then powered down the computerator.
Next started up computerator. Turned Time Machine ON and experienced multiple successful backups! Then I started up a few applications, Mail and Text Edit (but not Safari so far). Had a few more successes. After each backup, I used Disk Utility to verify the backup disk is still OK. This because the error about unable to unmount the backup disk seems to go hand in hand with Disk Utility finding the backup disk to be bad.
Put computer to sleep for the night. Upon starting up in the morning, and before doing anything else, I did a backup disk verification... BAD! Did a restart and verified the backup disk... OK.
Did a few Sleep-bad, Restart -OK repetitions.
It seems consistent: Sleeping the computer apparently messes up the backup disk but doing a Restart "repairs" it.
=============================
Now then, I don't understand everything I know here. Methinks that maybe keeping the HD from sleeping during lulls in activity has allowed successful backups through the day but manually putting everything to sleep for the night causes a return to the problem of spinning-back-up-too-slowly (which was explained earlier). Is there any truth in this?
I may abandon this Seagate thing for something more compatible. What's out there that we know works reliably for us?

Using disk utility to burn new image dvd's

Ok I just learned to burn DVD'd using Disk Utility and New image.
But I have come to halt in my burning with a new issue.
My issue is that I have a file that is 4.63GB. When I make a new image so that I can burn it, it increases the size of the file(Video TS) to 5.13GB. Making it to big for a 4.7GB DVD.
My question is is this normal for the new image file to increase in size, and is there a way for me to stop this from happening. Or can anyone give me any other suggestions. Please help.

Ok I have never tried that, as this is the first time it is suggested to me.
The reason i have been doing it via DU, is because this has been to only way to get it to play on
home DVD player and burn with the UDF setting. I was told to do it this way when I was trying to burn
copies of my nieces fifteens that was prof. done on a DVD.
I am trying to burn a copy of a movie so that it can be played on home dvd players. Yes I have done this before and the copies I burned via DU/new image, worked perfectly. And the ones I burned by just choosing file and burning it did not work.
So any help would be great.

Both my MacBook Pro Retina Display and new iMac will only format an SD as FAT16 using Disk Utility. How do I format in FAT32

I have a new iMac and MacBook Pro with Retina Display running 10.8.2
When I use Disk Utility on a San Disk 2GB SD card I can only format as FAT16. How can I format the card as FAT32?

Just posted a problem I'm having connecting my Jaybird Freedom and iPhone5 (https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4716045). The Jaybirds connected fine with an iPhone4s and another (forgotten) device so I don't think the problem lies with the Jaybird. I'd be interested if you hear differently.

Problems transferring Backups to new External HD using Disk Utility restore

I'm having issues using Disk Utility to transfer my backups to a new disk.
I am transferring data from a 250GB external harddrive to a new completely zero'ed 1TB Iomega external harddrive. Both Harddrives are connected via USB. On my old 250GB HD i have a few folders containing about 100GB of data (raw video footage) that are not in the "Backups.backupdb" folder.
I follow the tutorial in item 18 of the FAQS on this forum exactly (except i didnt check erase destination) but i get an error message each time after about 3 minutes:
"Could not restore - Operation not permitted"
This is what my log says:
2009-12-27 17:12:32 +0000: Restore Disk
2009-12-27 17:12:32 +0000: Source: “Darkers HD”
2009-12-27 17:12:32 +0000: Destination: “Untitled”
2009-12-27 17:12:32 +0000: Erase Destination: No
2009-12-27 17:12:32 +0000:
2009-12-27 17:12:32 +0000: Starting Restore…
2009-12-27 17:12:32 +0000: Validating target...
2009-12-27 17:12:32 +0000: done
2009-12-27 17:12:32 +0000: Validating source...
2009-12-27 17:12:32 +0000: done
2009-12-27 17:12:32 +0000: Validating sizes...
2009-12-27 17:12:32 +0000: done
2009-12-27 17:12:32 +0000: Copying
2009-12-27 17:14:01 +0000: could not copy /Volumes/Untitled/Backups.backupdb/Mac/2009-04-15-054708/Macintosh HD/Applications/Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Professional/Acrobat Distiller 7.0.app/Contents/Frameworks/AdobeACE.framework/AdobeACE; Operation not permitted
2009-12-27 17:14:01 +0000: Bom copy exited with error 1
2009-12-27 17:14:01 +0000:
2009-12-27 17:14:01 +0000: Could not restore - Operation not permitted
2009-12-27 17:14:02 +0000: Could not restore - Operation not permitted
2009-12-27 17:14:02 +0000:
I can see from this that it is having issues with a file in the destination:
/Volumes/Untitled/Backups.backupdb/Mac/2009-04-15-054708/Macintosh HD/Applications/Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Professional/Acrobat Distiller 7.0.app/Contents/Frameworks/AdobeACE.framework/AdobeACE
This file is in the first Backup i ever made and all subsequent backups. So i went and looked at this backup through the time machine application and deleted this file from the backup and all subsequent backups. However when i then did the restore again i got the same error message and when i looked at the log it was identical except it had issues with a different "AdobeACE.framework" file from another Adobe CS3 program. I dont want to go through and delete all these types of CS3 files from my backups for obvious reasons, i would much rather understand what the issue is and know whether there is a way round it.
It may well be simply because i have not checked the "erase destination" box before restoring but somehow i doubt this is the issue as the new 1TB HD has already been "zero'ed" as explained earlier.
Any help would be appreciated guys.

check the box to erase destination. the fact that you zeroed it out makes no difference. this is a known issue and checking that box was recommended for a reason.

Moving backups to new drive -- without using disk utility restore

Hello,
I have done some research on this already but I don't believe I've found the solution. I just bought a new media / backup hard drive, and I've moved my itunes library (over 100 GBs) to this drive. Now I have researched how to move the time machine backups to this drive, and know you can't just copy the files.
The instructions I've received tell me to use the disk utility to restore the old time machine backup drive to the new drive, however if I do that won't I lose the iTunes stuff currently on that drive?
Is there an easier way to move that data without me transferring the iTunes back to my laptop, and then restoring through disk utility, and then re-transferring the iTunes again?
thanks,
James

jimumbra wrote:
Hello,
I have done some research on this already but I don't believe I've found the solution. I just bought a new media / backup hard drive, and I've moved my itunes library (over 100 GBs) to this drive. Now I have researched how to move the time machine backups to this drive, and know you can't just copy the files.
The instructions I've received tell me to use the disk utility to restore the old time machine backup drive to the new drive, however if I do that won't I lose the iTunes stuff currently on that drive?
yes, you will. but it is also a VERY bad idea to keep other data on the same partition as the TM backup. first, this data will not be backed up by TM. if you value your itunes data you should have it backed up. also, TM is very buggy and there are too many situations when you need to delete existing TM backups and start from scratch. this should be done by erasing the entire TM partition. you should never delete any TM backups from finder. also, TM will eventually fill up the entire partition with TM backup. it will start bumping up against other data on the partition and you won't be able to put anything else on it.
the upshot is that you should make a separate partition just for TM. don't keep any other data on that partition. you can add a partition to the drive without disturbing your itunes data. type "create new volumes" in disk utility help to see how. however, that's not a good idea IMO as you'll have both the itunes data and the TM backups on the same physical drive. when the drive fails (and it will eventually) you'll loose everything.
Is there an easier way to move that data without me transferring the iTunes back to my laptop, and then restoring through disk utility, and then re-transferring the iTunes again?
thanks,
James

Error using Disk Utility 'New Image'

I keep trying to make a new image of DVD's using Disk Utility, but it keeps giving me an error message. I'm at work right now and can't remember the specific message, but I've tried several times and it keeps interrupting the process. I've made copies before without any problems, then all of a sudden this started. I still have about 26 gigs free on the hard drive, and these discs are nowhere near that much memory. Anybody have this problem or know how to solve it?

I was able to extract the video from DVD to .m4v format using handbrake. I still could not get iMovie to recognize the file. I then changed the .m4v to .mov and it was recognized. Once I edited my movie I did not realize that sharing would take sooo long to burn back to iDVD. I had a 56 min video clip and it took 3-4 hours to share. I was up all night, but I have a DVD to turn in for my ALCMS training video. Hope this helps!

Can't press apply button when using disk utility to make a new partition

Hey guys,
It might sound silly but when I use disk utility to divide my hd without deleting my files the apply button stays blank, it doesn't allow me to press apply, can anyone help me with this?
Thanks in advance

Hi Tom,
Of course, that makes perfect sense! When I made my last disk image backup, my PowerBook had a serious, undiagnosed problem and I had booted from the startup disk to have a current backup of everything before I sent it off for repair.
Thanks for your help.
Rick

HT1553 Does using Disk Utility also backup MSOffice 2008 (Mac) software already installed on my Macbook Pro with Snow Leopard? If not, how would I do that?

Hi,
I'm looking to upgrade from Snow Leapord (10.6.8) to the new Mountain Lion. Have a lot of applications and softwares that I would like to back up when installing the new OS, such as MS Office, Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. Any ideas on what is the best way to do that.
I'm not too tech savvy, so a simple solution would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Shyam

If your not very tech savvy, I would have someone assist you in the upgrade process as your about to inflict major change on your life and computer.
There are some things to consider before you upgrade.
1: The age of your machine:
My advice has been if your Mac is less than two years old and has a dedicated graphics (not all only Intel HD 3000 or 4000 CPU graphics like the 13" has)) then you stand a very good chance of 10.8 (or 10.7) running fine on your machine.
In either case you need to check the specifications of your machine to see if it meets Apple's requirements, and unfortunately those requirements are a bit low, resulting in a slower machine when you upgrade.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OS_X_Mountain_Lion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_X_Lion
(note: 10.7 is no longer being sold via the AppStore, you should upgrade to 10.8, however some machines can't, you can call Apple Sales to upgrade to 10.7)
If your machine originally came with 10.5, I would say forget it. Mac's don't last forever and laptops usually have a life of about 4 years with normal use. Desktops last longer of course and can withstand more OS X upgrades if Apple allows it.
2: The age of your software.
10.7 and 10.8 will not run PPC based software of old like 10.6 does, also upgrading to 10.8/10.7 may require expensive software upgrades that can hit you unexpected. Consult this site and your other needed software and hardware drivers/software (for printers/scanners,custom keyboards/mice etc) BEFORE you upgrade the operating system.
http://roaringapps.com/apps:table
3: Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper "clone" (payware)
Your OS X boot partition to a new/reliable, blank powered external drive and use Disk Utility to Repair Permissions on both afterwards. You can hold the option key down and boot from this clone drive to use the computer like before if your OS X upgrade fails and the machine gets bricked. You can also use Disk Utility to erase the entire internal drive and reverse clone if you find out the OS X upgrade is not to your liking.
Make sure all other drives are disconnected, like TimeMachine when cloning or upgrading OS X, thus when you reboot TimeMachine doesn't self update itself, which can lock you out from going back in time to restore from.
Note: If you have Bootcamp, you can clone that with WinClone (payware) to another drive and recreate Bootcamp later and restore it.
4: Some firmware updates can possibly "BRICK" your hardware
Firmware updates progress in a forward manner and can't be downgraded, so what sometimes occurs is a software error by programmers or a hardware glitch on your machine won't 100% cooperate with the firmware update and thus your machine will fail to function. Sometimes even a interruption in the OS X upgrade or firmware update process will cause the problem. When this occurs, a trip to a Apple Repair is in order and if your machine is out of AppleCare (3 years) or the 1 years standard warranty your looking at a very expensive logicboard replacement. At this time you usually consider the cost not worth it and rather spend the money on the newer machine, especially if it's 2-3 years old. This can come as quite a shock as you expected to pay $20 for a OS X upgrade and now have to buy a whole new machine.
You can't not upgrade the operating system for security and bug fixes, however you make sure you have AppleCare that will protect you for three years if such a hardware bricking occurs. If you don't have AppleCare you might want to reconsider taking the chance upgrading the operating system and thus the firmware.
AppleCare can be purchased within one year of the original machine purchase, it gives one 3 years of care from the date of machine purchase, not from the date of AppleCare purchase.
5: Market share of OS x versions (apx)
10.4 4.5% security updates > no
10.5 15% security updates > no
10.6 52% security updates > yes
10.7 30% security updates > yes
10.8 2 million upgraded so far, just released
6: Your decision to upgrade or not
It depends upon your computer technical ability, the age of your machine, your software investment and your budget.
Can you afford to pay for professional assistance if your upgrade doesn't go as expected? Are you in AppleCare?
Can you afford to pay for upgrades to third party software?
Can you afford the downtime while your machine is being repaired?
Can you live without the "new features" newer OS versions provide?
Does your hardware even support the newer features?
You might decide the upgrade is not worth it for your older machine and decide to ease yourself into a new machine gradually. I took this approach with my 2006 MacBook Pro, buying a Early 2011 model. I then upgrade to 10.7 on the older 2006 machine and glad I did, because it got bricked. Turned out 10.7 was a pretty awful upgrade and I was out of AppleCare, however 10.8 seems to be "normal" far as OS X upgrades go, some problems but not mass bricking of machines.

Error message while trying to clone harddrive using Disk Utility

I've been trying to clone my MacBook Pro's harddrive in advance of installing Leopard. I've been trying to clone to a LaCie Ethernet Disk mini. It's connected to my computer with a USB cable. It does about 1/3 of the disk, then I get the following error message:
An error (2) occurred while copying. (No such file or directory)
At this point the disk cloning stops.
An advice would help, thanks.

kory wrote:
I'm trying to use Disk Utility to clone it. I have verified and repaired both the MacBook Pro HD and the external HD with Disk Utility.
*Hi Kory, Welcome (Back)* to Apple's Users Help Users Forums.
In addition to Utilities Restore, these are popular Cloners.
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html
Purchase at $27.95 will allow smart backups that look at the bu files and only move over new ones. It's quick at ~7 mins to change ~1 gig out of 20.
Be sure to test that the clone boots and apps behave properly.
Here are other popular cloners.
http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html
http://www.prosoftengineering.com/products/drivegeniusinfo.php?PHPSESSID=909c070fb2e13b35097fa9cc1340bfc0
Good Luck, JP
Message was edited by: Jpfresno "In addition to ..."

Cloning HD to a new HD using Disk Utility

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