Disk Utility Backup Question

Question

Hello, I have the latest Mac OS X updates on my Macbook Pro. My question is concerning Disk Utility. I am trying to backup my "home" folder or my entire hard drive as I am worried about losing files if my hard drive fails. I try to create a disk image of my "home" folder and about 10 to 15 percent of the way through, an error comes up saying that "(name of my home folder) cannot be copied" or something to that extent. I am fairly new to Macs, and I'm just wondering what this error is and how can I get around it and be able to back up all my information using Disk Utility, so that I can put it on my external hard drive. Thanks in advance,
Todd

Answer 1

Hello,
If you are trying to make disk image of the hard drive, and creating the disk image on that same hard drive, then that could be your problem.
You cannot really make an exact copy of something that is constantly changing.
Since the act of creating the image is also modifying the source, you would end-up going in circles.
You need to create your image on something else (a different drive).
That may not work either if the drive is in use while you are trying to make your image.
So, you could try booting from your original Restore Disk that came with your computer. Then, use the disk utility on that restore DVD to make your disk image.
But, if you want to go the easy route, consider using a utility like Carbon Copy Cloner.
http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html
This program can also be used to create a disk image version of your drive. That method would work like what you are trying to do now.
But, it can also be used to create an exact clone of your main hard drive to an external or second hard drive.
This would be a bootable backup that can be used to put your entire system back exactly as it was at the time of the backup.
This means that if something happens, you can boot from your external drive, and resume normal work. Or, you can boot from the external drive and run the program again to restore your computer to match the backup.
This backup is an exact clone of your entire installation, so it is readable by another machine.
It works great, and I've never had a problem with it.
If a full backup is not what you want, you can customize your backup to grab just what you want.
But, I use the "Clone" feature.
This has the advantage of being able to restore quickly, and return back to the exact point you were at when you backed-up.
And, by being able to boot from the backup, you don't have to use another computer or re-install your OS before you can restore. Just boot from the backup and restore.
I actually have my external hard drive partitioned into two sections.
One partition is used just for holding my system backup. It is sized to be large enough to hold my entire OS X installation and everything I keep on my system.
The other partition is the remaining portion of the drive. I use that one to hold large files that I use less frequently.
This works great because I can just over-write my backup partition for each backup without worrying about my data files (since they are on a separate partition).
And, it makes things much easier to manage.
This backup is the most flexible backup method there is.
You can use it to:
* Boot if your original hard drive were to fail completely
* Boot if your original hard drive's OS X installation were corrupted
* Restore your entire system to the exact state of the system at the time of backup. This means no re-installing and then restoring. Just boot and copy the drive back to your main drive. Nice, fast, and you're done.
* If you don't need to restore the entire drive, then just grab the files you need.
* It's readable by any Mac OS computer. No special software required to access it's files.
Another popular program is SuperDuper:
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html
This program has similar capabilities to the one I use. But, they charge for the full version.
But, if you want to use built-in tools, you can use the Disk Utility built-into Mac OS X. This article describes that and other methods:
http://homepage.mac.com/geerlingguy/macsupport/mac_help/pages/0016-backuposx.html
Also, keep in mind that in order to have a bootable backup, you need a FireWire drive or a computer that supports booting from a USB drive (only the new Intel Macs support booting from USB).
Naturally, if you do make a bootable backup copy, you'll want to make sure and test it before you count on it. So, you should boot the computer from the backup copy, and make sure that it all works as it should. That way you'll know it works when you need it.
To boot from an external drive or partition, turn on your computer, and press and keep holding the "Option" key until the selection menu appears.
A menu will appear, and in a few minutes you'll be able to choose the drive / partition you want to boot from and proceed from there.
I hope this helps.