File Source Error [CrystalEnterprise.DiskUnmanaged] : [Invalid argument]

Hello
We have several reports scheduled with pdf or xls as outputs.
Sometimes they are not refreshed due to the error : Source File Error [ CrystalEnterprise.DiskUnmanaged ] : [ Invalid argument ]
But sometimes it's ok.
And when we use the "refresh now" on the scheduled reports, it works.
How can I fix it ?
Thanks
Edited by: VINCENT BARNIER on Jan 20, 2011 11:02 AM

Hi Vince,
Did you happen to find any solution for this?
Because we seem to have come across the same error and it works absolutely fine when we run the report instantly, but when on the schedule, some of the reports are failing with this error.
Any help/pointers would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Jasmine.

Similar Messages

  • Racoon ERROR: failed select (Invalid argument)

    I checked the console logs today (some unrelated problem) and discovered these being spammed every 5 seconds or so:
    racoon[38] [38] ERROR: failed select (Invalid argument)
    A quick review of the man page and the configuration files did not reveal anything extraordinary, except for the fact that /etc/cert does not exist. However, adding this directory did not fix it. The 'select' in the error message could point towards some socket related problem, but I don't know for sure.
    Does anyone have an idea how to fix this?

    I started getting them some time around midnight - didn't notice anything odd, but I was just poking around and opened up the Console log (which I try to do about once a week).
    I killed everything I was running and it was still coming in.
    I do run Time Capsule, but haven't noted any issues with it.
    Here was my actual message:
    racoon[87]: [87] ERROR: failed select (Invalid argument)
    Google suggested a VPN issue someone had, but it was an old report.
    I'm going to just reboot and keep an eye out for it.
    Kill -15 (Kill process) was sufficient to get rid of the process.

  • Lucreate 'ERROR: mount: /export: invalid argument' - Live Upgrade u8 to u9

    I'm trying to update several servers running solaris cluster 3.2 from u8 to u9 using live upgrade, first server (quorum server) worked just fine, next one (cluster member) goes down like this:
    # lucreate -n solaris-10-u9
    ERROR: mount: /export: Invalid argument
    ERROR: cannot mount mount point </.alt.tmp.b-pob.mnt/export> device </export>
    ERROR: failed to mount file system </export> on </.alt.tmp.b-pob.mnt/export>
    ERROR: unmounting partially mounted boot environment file systems
    ERROR: cannot mount boot environment by icf file </etc/lu/ICF.2>
    ERROR: Unable to mount ABE <solaris-10-u9>
    ERROR: Unable to clone the existing file systems from boot environment <s10x_u8wos_08a> to create boot environment <solaris-10-u9>.
    ERROR: Cannot make file systems for boot environment <solaris-10-u9>.I followed all the necessary steps, removed the installed live upgrade packages and installed the ones from the u9 iso...
    Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
    Edited by: 801033 on Oct 8, 2010 5:11 AM
    Edited by: 801033 on Oct 8, 2010 5:28 AM
    Edited by: 801033 on Oct 8, 2010 5:33 AM

    The answer, at least in my case:
    When I originally installed this cluster, I apparently misread the part of the documentation which lead me to disable lofs. The documentation states that you need to disable lofs if BOTH of two conditions are met,
    1) You are running HA for NFS to server a locally available filesystem AND
    2) you are running automountd.
    In my case, I have no need for automountd, so I disabled the autofs service, reenabled lofs and am proceeding with the upgrade.

  • Petalinux-build error: setting ownership / Invalid argument

    Hi,
    I’m trying to use petalinux to generate a linux build for the Zynq ZC706 board.
    I have run the following commands according to all the online manuals:
    mbrainin-ws:~/zynq/tmp>> petalinux-create -t project -s /opt/Xilinx/Xilinx-ZC706-v2014.4-final.bsp
    INFO: Create project:
    INFO: Projects:
    INFO:   * Xilinx-ZC706-2014.4
    INFO: has been successfully installed to /home/mivanov/zynq/tmp/
    INFO: New project successfully created in /home/mivanov/zynq/tmp/
    mbrainin-ws:~/zynq/tmp>>
    mbrainin-ws:~/zynq/tmp>>
    mbrainin-ws:~/zynq/tmp>>
    mbrainin-ws:~/zynq/tmp>> cd Xilinx-ZC706-2014.4/
    mbrainin-ws:~/zynq/tmp/Xilinx-ZC706-2014.4>>
    mbrainin-ws:~/zynq/tmp/Xilinx-ZC706-2014.4>>
    mbrainin-ws:~/zynq/tmp/Xilinx-ZC706-2014.4>>
    mbrainin-ws:~/zynq/tmp/Xilinx-ZC706-2014.4>> petalinux-build
    INFO: Checking component...
    INFO: Generating make files and build linux
    INFO: Generating make files for the subcomponents of linux
    INFO: Building linux
    [INFO ] pre-build linux/rootfs/fwupgrade
    [INFO ] pre-build linux/rootfs/peekpoke
    [INFO ] pre-build linux/rootfs/uWeb
    [INFO ] build system.dtb
    [INFO ] build linux/kernel
    [INFO ] update linux/u-boot source
    [INFO ] generate linux/u-boot configuration files
    [INFO ] build linux/u-boot
    [INFO ] build zynq_fsbl
    [INFO ] Setting up stage config
    [INFO ] Setting up rootfs config
    [INFO ] Updating for armv7a-vfp-neon
    [INFO ] Updating package manager
    [INFO ] Expanding stagefs
    [ERROR]  error setting ownership of `./sbin/ldconfig': Invalid argument
    [ERROR]  error setting ownership of `./lib/libgcc_s.so.1': Invalid argument
    [ERROR]  error setting ownership of `./usr/bin/gdbserver': Invalid argument
    [ERROR]  error setting ownership of `./lib/libnss_nisplus-2.18.so': Invalid argument
    [ERROR]  error setting ownership of `./lib/libthread_db-1.0.so': Invalid argument
    [ERROR]  error setting ownership of `./lib/libcidn-2.18.so': Invalid argument
    [ERROR]  error setting ownership of `./usr/lib/gcrt1.o': Invalid argument
    [ERROR]  error setting ownership of `./lib/libgcc_s.so': Invalid argument
    [ERROR]  error setting ownership of `./usr/lib/libstdc++.so.6.0.19': Invalid argument
    [ERROR]  error setting ownership of `./sbin/shutdown.sysvinit': Invalid argument
    [ERROR] Errors were encountered while processing:
    [ERROR] E: Sub-process /opt/petalinux-v2014.4-final/tools/packagemanager/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
    [ERROR] make[2]: *** [.pkg_stagefs] Error 255
    [ERROR] make[1]: *** [sub_build_component_/none/packages-repo/single/plnx-repo] Error 2
    ERROR: Failed to build linux
    As you can see, I’m just using the BSP that came from Xilinx. When I run ‘petalinux-build’, I get the ‘ownership / Invalid argument’ errors.
    I have changed all my Xilinx and petalinux directories to be owned by me and changed all the files to be readable/writable/executable by all (chmod 777)
    I have also attached the verbose output from petalinux-build.
    Please advise.
    Regards,
    Misha
     

    I have worked with 2014.4 bsp and i don't see this issue.
    Can you try creating a project in /scratch location and see if the same scenario is seen?
    What linux distribution are you using?
    Regards,
    Achutha
     

  • Can't mount a .dmg file I created yesterday. "invalid argument"

    I created two encrypted .dmg files yesterday using Disk Utility.  They both mounted just fine yesterday and I haven't touched them since.  I just now went to mount one of them again and it said "the following disk images could not be opened. (name).dmg  reason: invalid argument.
    I've seen some articles in here about the "invalid argument" error coming up on .dmg files created by a 3rd party, but the advice seems to boil down to "get a new copy of the disk"  but obviously these are things I created myself so there are no other copies.  And I deleted the files that I put on the .dmg's after I tested them yesterday and they both seemed to work. 
    Any suggestions?

    Update: I shut the computer down last night and restarted it this morning, and it worked.  But does anybody know what happened so that I don't repeat it?

  • Ignore failure file source error

    Hi guys, I had this error even if I set the destination column as varchar(250)
    SSIS [Flat File Source [496]] Error: Data conversion failed. Truncated...etc
    I set ignore failure and now it's going ok but I'm afraid that is not the correct way...how can I check witch is the error instead to ignore it?

    I think you just need to go to advanced tab of connection manager and change the lengths to bigger value. By default it takes length as 50 so if you know you've larger data please change it to higher number.
    Please Mark This As Answer if it helps to solve the issue Visakh ---------------------------- http://visakhm.blogspot.com/ https://www.facebook.com/VmBlogs

  • XML Source error message hexadecimal invalid character

    Hi all
    I am developing a SSIS package to add data from thousands of XML files to an existing SQL Server table. 
    And I get the error message:
    The XML Source was unable to process the XML data. “”hexadecimal value 0x01 , is an invalid character.
    I know that these XML files are not well-formed (and hence not really an XML file).
    So, How to use the SSIS package to solve this problem without using the other editor?

    Thanks Visakh16
    I tried your method, but the xml task showed me an error
    [XML Task] Error: An error occurred with the following error message: 
    “”hexadecimal value 0x01 , is an invalid character.
    My xml file with an invalid
    character before ‘うce☆溪’
    <articles>
    <article>
    <message>ID:うce☆溪&lt;br /&gt;
    &lt;br /&gt</message>
    <message_id>1</message_id>
    </article>
    </articles>
    My xslt file
    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
    <xsl:stylesheet version="2.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" xmlns:xs=http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema xmlns:fn="http://www.w3.org/2005/xpath-functions">
    <xsl:output method="text" version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" indent="no"/>
    <xsl:template match="/">
    <xsl:text>message,message_id</xsl:text>
    <xsl:text>&#13;&#10;</xsl:text>
    <xsl:for-each select="articles/article">
    <xsl:text>"</xsl:text>
    <xsl:value-of select="message"/>
    <xsl:text>","</xsl:text>
    <xsl:value-of select="message_id"/>
    <xsl:text>"</xsl:text>
    <xsl:text>&#13;&#10;</xsl:text>
    </xsl:for-each>
    </xsl:template>
    </xsl:stylesheet>

  • CrystalEnterprise.DiskUnmanaged: Logon failure

    I am trying to schedule a webi report and i want the output in excel format in a windows folder, but I get this error:
    CrystalEnterprise.DiskUnmanaged: Logon failure: unknown user name or bad password
    I've tried to do it with BOXIr2Sp2, BOXIr2SP5 and BOXI3.1, but I still have the same error even if the uid and pwd are correct.
    These are the parameters:
    Directory:   //192.168.100.5/Sinistri/BO
    User ID:  QUINSRV\user11
    Password:  ********
    any ideas? Where am I going wrong?
    Please HELP!!

    Hi Camillo,
    The following information might be helpful in resolving the issue.
    In CMC, schedule a report, set Destination to "Unmanaged Disk"
    Specify the Destination Directory to a UNC path pointing a shared folder on remote machine (such as: //machineA/sharefolder). The BOE machine and remote shared machine are in a workgroup environment.
    Fill in User Name and Password fields for accessing the remote shared folder.
    Click Update button
    Schedule the report
    Cause
    This is due to non sufficient user rights. The user specified on the destination page in the CMC needs to have "Logon Locally" rights on the Job Server machine. This right cannot be assigned to a user from another computer if it is not in a domain.
    This is a normal behaviour in a Microsoft Windows workgroup. This issue has been assigned Track ID ADAPT00136664.
    Resolution
    Workaround:
    Create the exact same user account with the same password on both computers and specify that user in the destination page when scheduling the report.
    Regards,
    Sarbhjeet Kaur

  • Error message-DPMSSet: Invalid arugumanet

    I keep getting an error log that fills up with the error meassage
    DPMSSet: Invalid argument
    Power Management Problems
    I have been unable to figure it out.
    Does anyone know what this is about?

    I keep getting an error log that fills up with the
    error meassage
    DPMSSet: Invalid argument
    Power Management ProblemsI got this message after patching my Solaris8 install to "Generic_108528-10" and rebooting. I have the /etc/rc2.d/S85power rc script commented out to disable power management. However, it appears that DPMS is being set by my openwindows environment. To turn off DPMS issue the following command after starting x-windows:
    xset -dpms
    You can check all your settings by issuing the command:
    xset q
    If you run "xset q" before and after running "xset -dpms" you should see the change take effect. You should no longer get the error message. Keep in mind you also won't be in energy star mode either.
    Prior to the patch just doing "xset s noblank" was all I needed to do.
    -Doug

  • Error in File ~tmp81c59e23760a10.rpt: Invalid argument for database

    When trying to run the report via Crystal Reports Server, we get the following error:
    Error in File ~tmp81c59e23760a10.rpt: Invalid argument for database.
    Opening the report in Crystal Reports 2008 and running a verify database, confirms that everything is working. Yet when we run it through Crystal Reports Server it errors every time.
    We are using a Progress ODBC driver which works fine when running reports via Crystal Reports 2008
    Can you please shed some light on this.
    I have already checked to see if there was a service pack or any other hot fixes available.

    Hi Brett,
    I believe I have the same error. ie
    Invalid Argument provided.
    Error in File xxxxx {C8F4D455-6B45-4859-B1B0-3E77619E5AD0}.rpt:
    Invalid argument for database."
    Have you managed to resolve the issue yet?
    We're running Crystal Reports 2008 Basic on MS SQL Server 2005.
    The Crystal Report works fine, when run on the server (and/or in terminal server session), but if it is run from a desktop client, which connects to the server, it gives the error above.
    So in my case, it must permissions or component related (ie something not loaded, that should be).
    I found the following on the internet:
    u201DIDataReader supports only one table by default
    When you view a report that has tables with the data source set to
    IDataReader for each one, and many of the tables are linked together, you
    may see the following error message: "Invalid database argument." Calls
    made to SetDataSource() from an IDataReader are supported only for
    reports that contain one table.
    Workaround
    To use an IDataReader with multiple tables, create a report with one
    command table that selects the necessary fields.u201C
    From researching in SAP BOBJ Notes I found somethings to try, or look at, but can't quite tackle them yet. I'll let you know how it goes.
    Best Regards,
    George

  • Getting Error in CMC - source file error. [No such file or directory]: [CrystalEnterprise.Smtp]

    Dear All,
    I am able to schedule the Crystal report successfully means mail gets auto triggered as we set in SCHEDULE option. But when we tried to use the notification option we get the status as FAILED. nd in details we get "source file error. [No such file or directory]: [CrystalEnterprise.Smtp]".
    But still a mail gets triggred and each and every person will get mail. but the issue is notification will not work properly and no notification mail. And the status is despayed as FAILED with "source file error. [No such file or directory]: [CrystalEnterprise.Smtp]" this message.
    Regards,
    Rohan Ghadi

    Do you have multiple job servers in your environment? Did all the Job servers configured SMTP settings?

  • Error " ulimit: open files: cannot modify limit: Invalid argument" when open a terminal window

    Every time I open a terminal (bash), it shows error " ulimit: open files: cannot modify limit: Invalid argument".    I googled it but did not find the solution that works.  My OS is 10.8.2.  I followed the instruction here http://wordpress.org/support/topic/upgraded-to-php-530-on-mac-now-no-database-co nnection but it doesn't work.(basically, I just commented some lines in that file).       Can anyone help?

    Back up all data.
    Select
    Shell ▹ New Command
    from the Terminal menu bar. Copy and paste the following line into the text box that opens:
    mkdir disabled_shell_files; mv .profile .bash* $_
    Your old shell initialization and history files will be saved in a directory with the indicated name at the top level of your home directory. Test.

  • Invalid arguments error while executing oracle procedure

    Dear all,
    we have a table hr_emp with fields ecode, ename, edoj.
    the following procedure we created to return the table data to our .net app.
    CREATE OR REPLACE
    PACKAGE pname AS
    TYPE T_hr_cursor IS REF CURSOR;
    PROCEDURE get_hr_list (P_hrlist OUT T_hr_cursor);
    END HRPACK;
    create or replace PACKAGE BODY pname AS
         PROCEDURE get_hr_list (P_hrlist OUT T_hr_cursor)
         IS
         BEGIN
         OPEN P_hrlist FOR
              SELECT *
                   FROM Hr_Emp WHERE edoj>='01-jan-2009';
         END get_hr_list;
    END;
    these code edited in a single file [both package and package body] and created successfully.
    but, while executing, by typing execute get_hr_list, ORA-00304 error, invalid arguments, is coming. How to resolve this, please help.
    also, in sql developer 1.5.3, when we create this, another error is ciming like 'source doesnot have a runnable target'.
    Where is the issue? please help

    Yes, its great dear...
    sqlplus>
    declare
    hr_cursor hrmain.t_hr_cursor;
    begin
    pname.get_hr_list(hr_cursor);
    end;
    Its worked as i got 'pl/sql procedure successfully executed'.
    Also, then how i can call this get_hr_list procedure from .net? im using c# and i want to get the result of hr_emp to c#. how i can call the same from c#? any help please

  • Couldn't export schema because of invalid argument value and other errors.

    Hello, All.
    I am using an oracle 10g database, which is running on a Redhat9 linux server, to manage our lab information.
    I plan to export a schema (only tables, not the real data) into a file.
    First, I used the Enterprise Manager to export. I went through and complete the export job. After submitting, the system says:
    There is a problem writing to the export files: ORA-39094: Parallel execution not supported in this database edition..
    So I just copy the PL/SQL code which would be send to the source database and comment the set_parallel procedure.
    The code is listed here:
    declare
    h1 NUMBER;
    begin
    begin
    h1 := dbms_datapump.open (operation => 'EXPORT', job_mode => 'SCHEMA', job_name => 'EXPORT000468', version => 'COMPATIBLE');
    end;
    --begin
    --dbms_datapump.set_parallel(handle => h1, degree => 1);
    --end;
    begin
    dbms_datapump.add_file(handle => h1, filename => 'EXPDAT.LOG', directory => 'DATA_FILE_DIR', filetype => 3);
    end;
    begin
    dbms_datapump.set_parameter(handle => h1, name => 'KEEP_MASTER', value => 0);
    end;
    begin
    dbms_datapump.metadata_filter(handle => h1, name => 'SCHEMA_EXPR', value => 'IN(''FLOWLIMS'')');
    end;
    begin
    dbms_datapump.set_parameter(handle => h1, name => 'ESTIMATE', value => 'BLOCKS');
    end;
    begin
    dbms_datapump.add_file(handle => h1, filename => 'EXPDAT%U.DMP', directory => 'DATA_FILE_DIR', filetype => 1);
    end;
    begin
    dbms_datapump.set_parameter(handle => h1, name => 'INCLUDE_METADATA', value => 1);
    end;
    begin
    dbms_datapump.data_filter(handle => h1, name => 'INCLUDE_ROWS', value => 0);
    end;
    begin
    dbms_datapump.set_parameter(handle => h1, name => 'DATA_ACCESS_METHOD', value => 'AUTOMATIC');
    end;
    begin
    dbms_datapump.start_job(handle => h1, skip_current => 0, abort_step => 0);
    end;
    begin
    dbms_datapump.detach(handle => h1);
    end;
    end;
    I paste the code in an SQL*Plus session and execute it. The system says:
    declare
    ERROR at line 1:
    ORA-39001: invalid argument value
    ORA-06512: at "SYS.DBMS_SYS_ERROR", line 79
    ORA-06512: at "SYS.DBMS_DATAPUMP", line 2486
    ORA-06512: at "SYS.DBMS_DATAPUMP", line 2718
    ORA-06512: at line 23
    I am not very sure which part is wrong for I have exported another schema successfully using this method just now.
    Any advice is highly appreciated!
    Qian

    Well, I will list more details about how to complete the job here.
    1) Go to the Enterprise Manager, log in as FLOWLIMS (I just want to export the schema FLOWLIMS)
    2)Go to the "Maitenance"
    3)Under the "Utilities", select the "Export to files"
    4)in the next page: Export: Export Type, select "Schemas"
    5) in the next page, select the schema "FLOWLIMS"
    6) in the next page, select these parameters:
    Maximam Number of Threads in Export job: 1
    Estimate Disk Space: Blockes
    7) when I click the "Estimate Disk Space Now", it says :
    Export Estimate Failed
    There is a problem writing to the export files: ORA-39094: Parallel execution not supported in this database edition..
    8) So I give up extimating
    9) Other options:
    I select "Generate Log file"
    The Directory Object is the default value "DATA_FILE_DIR"
    The Log File is the default value "EXPDAT.LOG"
    10) the advanced options are like these:
    Content: What to export from the Source Database: "Metadata only"
    Export content: "include all objects"
    Flashback: select "As the specified System Change Number (SCN)
    SCN: just accept the default number 28901412
    Query: select nothing. I need all fields of all tables.
    11) in the next page, I accept the default directory object "DATA_FILE_DIR" and the default File Name "EXPDAT%U.DMP". The Maximam File Size is blank, I just leave it blank.
    12) in the next page "Schedule" , I select to start the job immediatly.
    13) in the next page "Review", it shows:
    Export Type          Schemas
    Statistics type          Estimate optimizer statistics when data is imported
    Parallelism          1
    Files to Export          DATA_FILE_DIR EXPDAT%U.DMP
    Log File          DATA_FILE_DIR EXPDAT.LOG
    and the PL/SQL is like that:
    declare
    h1 NUMBER;
    begin
    begin
    h1 := dbms_datapump.open (operation => 'EXPORT', job_mode => 'SCHEMA', job_name => 'EXPORT000487', version => 'COMPATIBLE');
    end;
    begin
    dbms_datapump.set_parallel(handle => h1, degree => 1);
    end;
    begin
    dbms_datapump.add_file(handle => h1, filename => 'EXPDAT.LOG', directory => 'DATA_FILE_DIR', filetype => 3);
    end;
    begin
    dbms_datapump.set_parameter(handle => h1, name => 'KEEP_MASTER', value => 0);
    end;
    begin
    dbms_datapump.metadata_filter(handle => h1, name => 'SCHEMA_EXPR', value => 'IN(''FLOWLIMS'')');
    end;
    begin
    dbms_datapump.set_parameter(handle => h1, name => 'ESTIMATE', value => 'BLOCKS');
    end;
    begin
    dbms_datapump.add_file(handle => h1, filename => 'EXPDAT%U.DMP', directory => 'DATA_FILE_DIR', filetype => 1);
    end;
    begin
    dbms_datapump.set_parameter(handle => h1, name => 'INCLUDE_METADATA', value => 1);
    end;
    begin
    dbms_datapump.data_filter(handle => h1, name => 'INCLUDE_ROWS', value => 0);
    end;
    begin
    dbms_datapump.set_parameter(handle => h1, name => 'DATA_ACCESS_METHOD', value => 'AUTOMATIC');
    end;
    begin
    dbms_datapump.start_job(handle => h1, skip_current => 0, abort_step => 0);
    end;
    begin
    dbms_datapump.detach(handle => h1);
    end;
    end;
    14) after I click the "submit" , it shows:
    Export Submit Failed
    There is a problem writing to the export files: ORA-39094: Parallel execution not supported in this database edition..
    15) I copy the PL/SQL, comment this part:
    --begin
    --dbms_datapump.set_parallel(handle => h1, degree => 1);
    --end;
    I run it in an iSQL*Plus Release 10.1.0.2,
    It shows:
    declare
    ERROR at line 1:
    ORA-39001: invalid argument value
    ORA-06512: at "SYS.DBMS_SYS_ERROR", line 79
    ORA-06512: at "SYS.DBMS_DATAPUMP", line 2486
    ORA-06512: at "SYS.DBMS_DATAPUMP", line 2718
    ORA-06512: at line 23
    Could anybody help? Thanks a lot!
    Qian

  • Restore - Error 22 - Invalid Argument

    am trying to use Disk Utilities Restore function to create a bootable copy of my current boot drive. I have two internal 60GB drives. I have unchecked the "ignore ownership" box before starting procedure. I booted from my Tiger Install disk. I specified my curent boot drive as Source and selected the other drive as Destination. I also zeroed out my Destination drive before starting and also checked the erase box before starting.
    All seems to go well until the very end and I get this error messge. "An error(22) occured while copying, (invalid argument)
    Not knowing what to do, I just exited disk utility. If I boot from my Source drive all goes well and if I examine the contents of the Destination drive, I find all my files and apps. I can access fiels and can run programs from this drive.
    However, it is not a bootable copy, If I select the Destination drive as the boot drive, then I get a start up screen that is a greyed out symbol for NO (circle with slash through it.) I have to reboot from the original source Drive.
    I have followed "Lee's Instructions for Tool A" (previous poster) to the letter.
    What to do now? I really need to create bootable copies
    dan

    Forget Disk Utility, use something like the free Carbon Copy Cloner (repair permissions first and enable "make bootable in CCC prefs) or the very nice Deja Vu which will auto-clone (the whole boot drive) and auto-backup (folders you select) all seemlessly in the background when you want to a external or another drive. (forget cd's or dvd's just not feasible) and the clone is boootable.
    Read my text doc on the subject

Maybe you are looking for