Create a backup of my 10.3.9 system before upgrade?

Hi,

Yes, there is a way.
First you will need an external Firewire hard drive. Then, get a program like CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper so you can Clone your entire 10.3.9 Disk to the External. Once you make sure you can boot from the external drive, and operate the computer from it, you can then change your computers internal to 10.4.8... essentially having both Panther and Tiger ABLE to run on that computer. If you like Tiger, and it works will for your needs/wants, what you do with Panther (other then maybe old storage of all your past e-mails/files/documents/settings/etc.) is up to you.
There is a question on which external drive's work for this. I have used a Western Digital as well as a Lacie for this purpose... but not all are able to get the WD's to do it. Others like the OWC Mercury drives because of the 911/924 chipset they contain. So, if you do not already have an external drive that works on firewire, these are considerations (as you will want to be able to boot from it, just in case).
By the way, a CLONE is an EXACT duplicate of your computers internal drive with the OSX and everything on it just as it is now... and able to boot and do as you do now with it, only from an external source. This is not just a Back-Up, but an identical copy.

There are threads here that talk about this... when you are ready. Or just keep this one going and we all will do our best to walk you thru it, as you progress in the process.

Hi again,

With the G3,G4,G5 PowerPC chips you can only boot with Firewire. It would take an Intel Mac (the newest ones out now) to be able to use the USB to do that, the older "G" series Mac's are limited to Firewire.

You can still make a clone/backup to the Passport Drive, but it would not be able to Boot or run the 10.3.9 on it... it would become more-or-less a DATA Drive. It depends on what you want to do; what you want to have as back-up; what security net you like; and if all else fails, what can you go back to; and if it works well, what you want to take with you on the move to Tiger.

A full working clone is the optimum choice, nothing lost. A full Data Back-up is nice in the 'transition' from one OSX to the next OSX, you do not have to start over from scratch... and not much down-time. If you did an Upgrade to Tiger (from Panther), most all of your settings and such will transfer to it. But do note, not all are compatible between the two OS's so some will have to be added from your old Panther to the way the new Tiger does it, even with an upgrade. The Archive and Install option also means moving certain files over from the old Panther. So the easy way is to clone and have a system that boots from Panther, while you then do an Upgrade to Tiger on your internal drive... most all goes with it in this process. The working Clone is a 'Just In Case' thing... say Tiger fails for some reason, you then have no Tiger, and no Fall Back to Panther if you do not have a Working clone. And yes, if you look at the Tiger Forum, things can go wrong. Better to be able to 'continue on' then to be without anything till something gets fixed. You could with the Panther Clone, even get back onto this Support discussion and ask for help, otherwise it would have to be another computer you use. Usually things work fine, but...

It's up to you, is a Firewire Drive worth the ???. And you can always use it otherwise, as most come with both USB and Firewire... And you only need one about as big as your internal one, but with cost per Gig, a little bigger is sometimes cheaper and yes, you will eventually use it all.

Both the Cloning Programs can be had off VersionTracker... remember, get the version that will work on Panther, as that is what will be making the clone.

shickolas:

Another option is to remove the USB drive from the case and place it in a firewire enclosure like this one, and, Presto! you have a firwire external HDD.


Cheers 🙂

cornelius

cornelius

Hi again,

Ah yes, so you do have a 'Conditioned Program' that could make this upgrade more of a challenge. We all do! Who leaves a Mac like it came when they are so 'adaptable'? We do tend to Personalize our Mac for what we do with them... you are a true Mac owner. And yes, the audio programs may need some 'tweaking' to fine-tune in Tiger just the way you want it. A working Panther Clone while the tweaking is going on in Tiger sounds like a good safety net in your case.

It also sounds like you have it under control with the option's you will pick and follow. Good Luck! If you have any more inquiries, feel free to ask... we are here.

Bo