Using Disk Utility to create a bootable clone

After searching around, I find that the Disk Utility Restore function is the safest way to make a bootable clone. I've tried Carbon Copy Cloner, but had some minor problems.
However, DU Restore always renames the clone disk with the same name as the source disk. This leads to problems, such as confusing Time Machine as to where it should back up.
Is it okay to rename the bootable clone volume, or does it mess things up when you rename a volume after it has been created? Is there any way to preset a name when using DU Restore?

CCC does not cause data corruption and has been put through a lot of testing. Be sure to check for updates. You should have CCC 3.1.
If you have problems, I would suspect corrupt files and don't rely on Disk Utility First Aid to find or repair problems. When you need something stronger, buy Alsoft Disk Warrior.
DU Restore does work, better now in Leopard. People use to forget to turn off "Ignore Ownership" which is now handled properly.
And always repair permissions afterwards before using, no matter what you use.

Similar Messages

Using Disk Utility to make a bootable clone on external firewire hard drive

I was just experimenting with making a bootable clone of my Mac HD (OS X 10.5.2) on an external firewire drive. The external drive booted up and all programs worked. However, there were 3 extra folders on the clone: Dev, Net, Home. The folders were empty so I deleted Dev and Net, just to see what would happen. When I restarted the computer, it simply shut down upon reboot. So, I held the option key and rebooted back into my Mac HD.
My (5) questions are:
What are those folders?
Why were they put there?
Can I get rid of them, or hide them?
Once the bootable clone works as a boot drive, can I delete the data from my internal Mac HD or,
Does the bootable clone somehow rely on the internal drive for additional startup information?
Thank you so much for any information.
Dave

These are system folders that the OS needs to operate. DO NOT delete them.
They are normally invisible which is why you don't see them.
You should simply leave them alone. If they bother you visually and you want to hide them, open terminal and run the following command
*sudo chflags hidden /Volumes/"Nameoftheexternaldrive"/dev /Volumes/"Nameoftheexternaldrive"/home /Volumes/"Nameoftheexternaldrive"/net*
Put the name of your external in the above.
You'll be prompted for your admin password which you won't see. That's normal.
To answer your last question, a bootable clone does not rely on the internal drive in any way. You can boot from the clone and do whatever you like to the internal. However, it's not recommended to run your computer from an external for everyday use. Bootable clones should be mainly used for backups. If you hose your system on an internal, boot from the clone and clone it back to the HD.

How do you use disk utility to burn a bootable .iso dvd?

Anybody have a clue on how you use disk utility to burn a .iso bootable dvd disk?
I'm trying to install windows 7 rc into virtual box in OS X 10.5.7 and cannot figure out how to do this. I've already installed the windows 7 beta in virtual box and was able to make a bootable dvd disk with the .iso file on it but have no clue how I did this.
I've been searching the web but most tips are for older version of OS X.
Thanks to anybody who answers.

It's so easy, You can just burn an .iso file using DVD Creator Std instead of Disk Utility, only 3 steps to finish bur ning your .iso files:
http://www.imediacreator.com/mac-dvd-creator-standard.html#131

Disk Utility not creating Mac bootable CDs

Hi
I have a 2006 Mac Mini with a SuperDrive running Snow Leopard (10.6). I downloaded a Linux ISO and burnt it to a blank CD using Disk Utility (dropped the ISO on the Disk Utility window, then clicked Burn). The CD burnt and verified with no problems but when I restart, holding down the Option key, it does not see the CD and I'm only given the option to boot from the hard drive. Then, when Mac OS X loads it tells me it has detected a blank CD. The same CD works and boots perfectly ok in a Windows machine. The Superdrive itself seems ok as it can boot from a Windows XP CD.
Any ideas why this might be?
Thanks
Neil

Did the Linux disk come as a bootable Windows image?

Using disk utility to create a disk image then burn to an external drive

I have an iMac which does not have the ability to burn my iDVD projects to a DVD. Can I save my iDVD proj. to a disc image? Then write that image to an external DVD writer via Disk Utility?

This is from _Disk Utilty Help_. Erasing a disk is the same as formatting it. These directions are for Tiger; check this topic in Leopard to see if there is any difference in the directions.
+_Erasing a disk or volume_+
+You use Disk Utility to erase disks and volumes.+
+Erasing a disk deletes all the volumes and files on the disk. Erasing a volume deletes all the files on that volume, but does not affect other volumes. Erasing a recordable disc, such as a CD-RW or DVD-RW disc, creates a blank disc with no formatting.+
+IMPORTANT: If you have any files you want to save, be sure to copy them to another disk before you erase the disk they are on.+
+Usually when you erase a disk or volume, Disk Utility erases only the information used to access the files on the disk, not the actual files. Because of this, the erased files can be recovered. If you want to erase a disk so that the files cannot be recovered, you can select security options to write zeros over the disk space.+
+If you want to erase an external disk, connect the disk to your computer.+
+In Disk Utility, select the disk or volume in the list on the left.+
+Click Erase.+
+Choose a format from the Volume Format pop-up menu. Usually you will choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled).+
+Type a name for the disk or volume.+
+If you're erasing a disk and plan to use the disk with Mac OS 9, select the checkbox to install the Mac OS 9 drivers.+
+You do not need to install the Mac OS 9 drivers to use the disk with the Classic environment.+
+If you want to erase the entire contents of the disk by writing zeros, click Security Options, then select the option you want and click OK.+
+Click Erase.+
+To erase your computer's startup disk, you must start up from another disk. You can use your Install Mac OS X disc.+
What does "journaled" mean?
Check this out for the answer. http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.5/en/8835.html

Using Disc Utility to Make a Bootable Clone

Need some help, please.
OS 10.4.6.
I have an external hard drive partitioned to 3 volumes; I back up 3 computers on it to keep off site. Following instructions Kappy has posted, I initially set up as follows:
1. Open Disk Utility in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Set the number of partitions from the dropdown menu (use 1 partition unless you wish to make more.) Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the volume(s) mount on the Desktop.
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 will take 30 minutes to an hour or more depending upon the drive size.
7. Select the startup volume from the left side list.
8. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
9. Drag the startup volume to the Source entry field.
10. Select the external volume from the leftside list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
11. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Then when I would do a backup of one of the computers, I would essentially follow steps 4 - 11 above: erase and zero out that volume, and also make sure that the "Ignore Privilges" box was unchecked (Get Info) for the external volume I was backing up to (cloning to), and in Disc Utility/Restore, making sure "Erase Destination" is checked.
Also, I have always disabled Spotlight, and clone in Safe Mode (per some help Dr. Smoke has provided).
Had no problems making new clones until today. All 3 clones are at 10.4.6. Went to reclone one of my computers (just to make sure I was 100% current) so I could try 10.4.8, using the above sequence, and at about 3 minutes into the "restore" consistently got an error: "An error occurred (2) while copying. No such file directory."
Well, I erased again and tried again; rebooted and tried a 3rd time and a 4th and kept getting that same message.
Checked the website for the external and no new drivers out there.
Anyone know what I'm doing wrong?
I did a CCC just to be safe, but MUCH prefer a Disc Utility clone ( I also have another external I do a Retrospect Duplicate on, but I really want a good solid Disc Utility non incremental, fresh of the hard drive clone).
Thoughts?
iMac CDRW Mac OS X (10.4.6)

For What its worth, here's my Disc Utility Log:
Oct 3 10:19:54: Disk Utility started.
Repairing permissions for “Macintosh HD”
Determining correct file permissions.
Permissions repair complete
The privileges have been verified or repaired on the selected volume
Starting Restore…
Preparing source…
Copying…
An error (2) occurred while copying. (No such file or directory)
Oct 3 10:36:58: Disk Utility started.
Starting Restore…
Preparing source…
Copying…
An error (2) occurred while copying. (No such file or directory)
Preparing to zero disk : “iMac”
Secure Erase completed successfully in 31 minutes.
Preparing to erase : “iMac”
Initialized /dev/rdisk1s12 as a 50 GB HFS Plus volume with a 8192k journal
Mounting Disk
Erase complete.
Oct 3 13:14:34: Disk Utility started.
Name : iMac
Type : Volume
Disk Identifier : disk1s12
Mount Point : /Volumes/iMac
File System : Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Connection Bus : FireWire
Partition Type : Apple_HFS
Device Tree : fw/node@48302e2010531/sbp-2@c000/@0:12
Writable : Yes
Universal Unique Identifier : 928B5ADE-157B-3375-835F-2E16048B6B0F
Capacity : 49.6 GB (53,213,077,504 Bytes)
Free Space : 49.5 GB (53,172,117,504 Bytes)
Used : 34.6 MB (36,241,408 Bytes)
Number of Files : 2
Number of Folders : 3
Owners Enabled : Yes
Can Turn Owners Off : Yes
Can Repair Permissions : No
Can Be Verified : Yes
Can Be Repaired : Yes
Can Be Formatted : Yes
Bootable : Yes
Supports Journaling : Yes
Journaled : Yes
S.M.A.R.T. Status : Not Supported
Disk Number : 1
Partition Number : 12
Starting Restore…
You must authenticate in order to restore.
Starting Restore…
Preparing source…
Copying…
An error (2) occurred while copying. (No such file or directory)
Oct 3 13:27:38: Disk Utility started.
Oct 3 13:28:01: Disk Utility started.
Preparing to erase : “iMac”
Initialized /dev/rdisk1s12 as a 50 GB HFS Plus volume with a 8192k journal
Mounting Disk
Erase complete.
Starting Restore…
Preparing source…
Copying…
An error (2) occurred while copying. (No such file or directory)
Oct 3 13:49:36: Disk Utility started.
Repairing permissions for “Macintosh HD”
Determining correct file permissions.
Permissions repair complete
The privileges have been verified or repaired on the selected volume
Preparing to zero disk : “iMac”
Secure Erase completed successfully in 30 minutes.
Preparing to erase : “iMac”
Initialized /dev/rdisk1s12 as a 50 GB HFS Plus volume with a 8192k journal
Mounting Disk
Erase complete.
Preparing to erase : “iMac”
Initialized /dev/rdisk1s12 as a 50 GB HFS Plus volume with a 8192k journal
Mounting Disk
Erase complete.
Starting Restore…
Preparing source…
Copying…
An error (2) occurred while copying. (No such file or directory)
Oct 3 15:49:25: Disk Utility started.
Preparing to erase : “iMac”
Initialized /dev/rdisk1s12 as a 50 GB HFS Plus volume with a 8192k journal
Mounting Disk
Erase complete.
Preparing to zero disk : “iMac”
Secure Erase completed successfully in 31 minutes.
Preparing to erase : “iMac”
Initialized /dev/rdisk1s12 as a 50 GB HFS Plus volume with a 8192k journal
Mounting Disk
Erase complete.
Verifying volume “iMac”
Checking HFS Plus volume.
Checking Extents Overflow file.
Checking Catalog file.
Checking Catalog hierarchy.
Checking volume bitmap.
Checking volume information.
The volume iMac appears to be OK.
Mounting Disk
1 HFS volume checked
Volume passed verification
Preparing to secure free space : “iMac”
Creating Temporary File
Securely erasing file
Secure Erase Free Space stopped after 36 seconds.
0.5% complete.
Erase complete.
Starting Restore…
Preparing source…
Copying…
An error (2) occurred while copying. (No such file or directory)

Using Disk Utility to create a partition on an external drive

Hi Everyone
I have a 250gb external HD drive which is currently split into two partitions of Fat32. I'd like to use this drive for storing images of OS X, but when I tried to create an image using the OS X startup DVD, I was told that FAT32 didn't allow large enough file sizes (or something along those lines) in order for me to backup my OS X.
Disk Utility appears to offer the ability to split partitions on the external drive, i.e. I can select the largest of the two partitions and choose to split it into two 96gb partitions. However, will this be a destructive partition process, and can I reasonably expect my external hard disk to be reformatted with a 96gb Mac OS X formatted partition whilst still keeping two FAT32 partitions and all the data that resides on them?
Any help is much appreciated!

You will not be splitting existing partitions. Instead, you will be creating a new partitions from scratch.
Run Disk Utility. Select the hard drive to be partitioned. Make sure you select the hard drive in the sidebar, not the volume indented below the drive. Go to the Partition tab. If you want one or more of the partitions to be MS-DOS, you must first click on the Options... button. Select the Master Boot Record option and OK. Select Volume Scheme of 3 Partitions. Now set up your three new partitions as you want them, in terms of size and format. For the Mac partition, select Mac OS Extended (Journaled) as the format.

Array created using Disk Utility keeps disappearing.

I've got a 4-bay Drobo unit that I use for my iTunes and iPhoto libraries. I recently ordered a handful of new 2TB drives to max out the capacity on it.
In order to keep all of my data intact, I installed a couple of drives in a spare 4-bay disk enclosure and used Super Duper to duplicate the Drobo files onto half of the new hard drives. I then pulled two drives out of the Drobo (a 1TB and a 1.5TB) and used Disk Utility to create a concatenated disk set in the spare 4-bay enclosure.
Next step was to use Super Duper to duplicate the libraries from the two new drives (still in the spare 4-bay enclosure) to the new concatenated disk set (also in the 4-bay enclosure).
When that was finished, I pulled the two new 2TB drives out of the 4-bay enclosure and put them into Drobo with the other new drives, fired it up, formatted, and told Super Duper to duplicate the libraries from the concatenated disk set (in the spare 4-bay enclosure) to the newly supersized Drobo.
Maddeningly, the concatenated disk set keeps "unmounting" and disappearing from the Finder - usually right in the middle of a copy operation. I get a handfull of folders and their files, and then "Poof!" it disappears. Restarting the Mac has no effect; I have to unplug and repower the hard drives.
I've got about 1,300GB left to copy over; I can't sit there for thirty straight hours and babysit this setup. Anybody have any idea why this keeps happening?

You don't have a problem and repairing disk permissions does not need to be performed daily or on a regular basis - only after installing software (especially after installing 3rd party software that uses an installer) and as a system troubleshooting procedure only.
Check Maintaining Mac OS X for recommended maintenance for OS X (which isn't much) focusing on the Maintenance Myths section.

Understanding encryption using Disk Utility

Using Disk Utility, I created an encrypted disk image, into which I have copied files I would like to secure. This works well, but I am trying to understand how things work, so that I can control exposure. Fundamentally, the question is when are files exposed, and when not. Clearly, when a password has been entered, the file is visible and available. But is it being decoded (ie is the underlying file is always encrypted)? If I make a copy of a file (after password entered), is this copy encrypted? If I make a back-up using Time Machine, are the back-up files (of encrypted files) encrypted?

Tony T1 wrote:
What I think he means is, if the Volume is backed up to Time Machine, it won't be encrypted, but a mounted Volume from a Disk Image is not backed up to Time Machine, so I'm not sure what he means. The actual Disk Image (that is backed up to TM) is always encrypted.
Yes, sorry, what I wrote was misleading:
When an encrypted volume (an actual disk partition or a disk image) is backed-up, the data is decrypted. It's only re-encrypted if the destination is encrypted. So if you use FileVault2, your backups of normal items will not be encrypted if they go to an unencrypted disk. But, they will be encrypted if they go to an encrypted disk or disk image.
The contents of a disk image are backed-up only when it's not mounted. If it's mounted, the disk image will appear in the backup, but the contents will not have changed.

Clone CD using Disk Utility

Hi. I attempting to make an exact duplicate of a music CD using Disk Utility. It seems to create an image of the disk fine, the dmg file being of appropriate size corresponding to the size of the audio cd. However when I attempt to burn this disk image, nothing happens. I mean, Disk Utility acts as though it's working, but once complete the newly created CD is blank. ??
This is really confusing. If anyone has any advice or perhaps could suggest some third party application for creating, mastering, and burning disk images then that'd be neat.
Thanks.
Billy

I record talks at seminars, edit the content, and burn the CDs for participants.
I've previously used Disk Utility to image the audio CDs for an easier burn at a later date. I tried this recently for the first time since Leopard came out and it no longer works.
So I tried it with Disco, and it also fails to image the disc, doesn't even offer it as an option. Funny, I just updated Disco to the latest version several days ago, this reduced function was not noted in the version log.
Strange, has the RIAA gotten something changed so we can't do this anymore? I'm trying to image a disc of my own recordings. It's outrageous that I can't image my own audio disc.
I also tried using Carbon Copy Cloner, it failed several times, I tried another method and it seemed to be working, only to announce that it had failed.
Anyone with any clues about this?
Joel.

Using Disk Utility to clone one FW Drive to another FW Drive

can I use Disk Utility to clone one external firewire drive to another external firewire drive? How would I go about this? I am using a PowerBook G4, 1.67 Ghz, 17 in, 2 gig ram with Mac OS 10.3.9
I have both firewire drives connected to the PowerBook.

Yes, you can use Disk Utility for this purpose.
1) Open Disk Utility.
2) In the left hand column, click on one of your Volumes (if your disks are partitioned, this will be one of your named volumes).
3) In the right hand box, you will now see three buttons: First Aid, Erase, Restore. Click on Restore.
4) Drag the volume name of the partition that you want to copy to the "Source" box. Its name should appear in the box. Drag the volume name of the partition that you want to overwrite to the "Destination" box. Its name should appear.
5) Click "Restore" in the lower right corner. You might want to also check the box "Erase destination".
6) Wait patiently, if all goes well you should have a bootable clone. Be sure to test the clone for bootablity before relying on it. Also, do a "Get Info" in the Finder after cloning to make sure the "Ignore Permissions on this Volume" box is not checked, and then use Disk Utility to repair permissions on the volume.
Good Luck!

Using Disk Utility Restore function to clone external hard drives

Hi all,
I have a WD 3Tb My Book external hard drive which I want to use as a replacement for an older WD 1Tb My Book external hard drive. I would like to use Disk Utility's built-in Restore function to clone my old external hard drive onto my new external hard drive. Unfortunately, Disk Utility will not allow me to drag the new drive to the "Destination" box; I can drag the old drive to the "Source" box just fine. Why is this? Am I doing something wrong?
It might be important to note that my old external drive is formated to FAT32, whereas the new drive came pre-formatted to NTFS. Do I need to reformat the new drive to FAT32 before dragging the disk to the "Destination" box? In other words, do the source and destination drives need to be the same format in order to use Disk Utility's Restore function?
Thanks very much in advance.

Are these drives being used on Windows machines? If so then you will need to create a new partition from the Partition Scheme dropdown menu after which you can set the scheme to MBR. If the drives are being used only on the Mac then you have to prep the new drive as follows:
Drive Preparation
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. 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 (for Intel Macs) or APM (for PPC Macs) 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.
After you copy your files from the old drive to the new one you want to repartition and reformat the old drive in the same way as outlined immediately above.

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?

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 ..."

I am trying to upgrade my hard drive in my mac book pro using the disk utility in an attempt to clone my old hard drive. I can only get so far, just before cloning may start and receive an "error 254" and can go no further. Any idea what this error is?

I am trying to upgrad the hard drive in my mac book pro using the disk utility in an attempt to clone my old hard drive. I can only get so far throughj the process where its about to start cloing when I get a message " error 254". Any idea what that means and how do I get around this issue so I can use my new hard drive? Thanks for your input.
Vince

Connect the HDD to your MBP. Open Disk Utility>Erase and drag the HDD icon inrt the Name field. The format should be Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Click on the Erase button.
Then try the clone process again. You may use Disk Utility>Restore or a third party cloning application such as Carbon Copy Cloner or Super Duper.
Ciao.

Using Disk Utility to create a bootable clone

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