I need help using Super Duper.....please

SuperDuper! doesn't have a method for backing up selected folders. It's intended to be used to clone an entire drive.

Where the paid version shines is in the Smart Update feature. The free version will only clone a drive by erasing the target drive and copying everything each time you use it. Smart Update only needs to clone the entire drive the first time. After that, it takes only minutes for it to make the target drive match the contents of the source by only copying to, or deleting from the target whatever is necessary to make it match the source drive.

I'm very frustrated I hope you don't mind asking for some help since I'm gettin zelch from Stuff shirt, even though people raved about how great Dave is.

That's unusual for Dave. He's normal very helpful and prompt.

I'm trying copy my image files (first time) to an Ext Dr, which will be my primary Dr, since I only put Apps in my Int HD.

You boot to the OS on an external, but install and run your applications from the internal drive? It's your business of course, but why would you want to do that?

So I select Source DR and destination Dr, Using Backup -all files

Right, you want to clone the entire drive. That way it's a bootable clone that you can copy back to the main internal drive in case of any kind of disaster.

Erase Destination Dr, then copy files from Source Dr (at this point is irrelevant since its the first time) right?

Correct.

However, going forward is where I'm getting very confused.

If I'm trying to back up files from Ext Dr #1 (source) to Dr #2,#3 (destination)

During copy what would be the best setting SMART Update Destination Drs from Source Drive??

If you're going to clone the same source (drive #1) to two more drives, then you will be doing a full clone, same as the first one, even on the Smart Update option. Anything that's on drives #2 and #3 will be erased or added to as necessary to match the source drive. In the end, you'll have two drives/partitions that are identical to the source drive.

Somehow, I read that Smart Update will copy/delete files as necessary from the destination Dr outside the user files. So does it mean that I need to move all the source files to the"user folder"?

No, there's no need to move anything around. Here's what Smart Update does.

1) You make your initial clone. This will take the longest amount of time since it has to copy everything from the source drive to the target. Doesn't matter if you use the option to erase and backup, or Smart Update. It will take the same amount of time.

2) After your initial clone is done, that's where Smart Update comes in. You select the same source and target drives you did initially. What SU does then is update the target drive to match any changes made to the source since the initial clone. Since all of the OS, program and user files are already on the target drive, it will usually only take 5 minutes or less for SU make the target match the source again.

The whole purpose is to keep at least one partition as an up to date clone of the drive you normally boot and run from. If you were to clone drive #1 to drives #2 and #3 as you plan, then you can use Smart Update to keep two up to date clones of your main drive going. Essentially, you would be creating a redundant backup.

Then if your main boot drive ever fails, all you have to do is replace it, boot to either of your clones and use SuperDuper! to clone that information to the new drive. You can even do a "hot copy" with SuperDuper! Meaning, you can clone the drive you're currently booted to with it. Just be sure to leave the computer alone while it's running if you do a hot copy. Not a good idea to be changing what's on the drive at the same time you're cloning it.

Or the most expensive one & my favorite, Tri-Backup, does everything you could want...

http://www.tri-edre.com/english/tribackup.html

You have no idea how much I appreciate taking the time to help me out.

No problem. That's what the community of users are here for.

The first round on all 3 Drives is going to be slow, but easier. However, in order to copy to DR #2 and #3 they already have some files that are in Drive #1 having said that should I then select "Erase Drive #2, #3, then copy from Drive#1, or SmartUpdate or ??

Smart Update. That's the whole purpose of owning the full version. Remember, you've already copied the source drive in its entirety with the initial clone. It doesn't have to copy the entire drive every time you want to create a new clone. It will add or delete only those files necessary on the target drive to make it match the source.

Say you've added another program to your drive, changed a few preferences and deleted a couple of older apps you never use anymore. When you run Smart Update, it will remove those same programs on the target drive for you since they no longer exist on the source. Likewise, it will copy only those files that now do exist, or have changed in any way on the source drive, but not yet on the target drive. That's how it updates an existing clone so quickly.

Then, once I have completed copying or cloning Dr 2 and 3 and any subsequent copy should I select the SmartUp setting?

Yes, for the reasons just explained, always use Smart Update after the initial clone.

I don't know what the raving is all about his tech support. It's a total waste of time...

That is very unlike Dave. I have a feeling you're getting responses from someone else while he's on vacation or something. I find it very hard to believe he wouldn't recognize quotes from his own documentation.

No, only installed Apps in my Int HD, and have partition my Ext HD #1, and in that partition I have a copy of the entire HD that is a bootable copy, without any image files.

Oh, I think I get what you mean. Sounds like my same setup. I keep the OS and all apps I use on the main drive. Except for Entourage and Quickbooks, which insist on having their data on the same drive, I keep no files I create there. That way, the main drive rarely changes much, so updating my clone is always quick. Files I create in Photoshop, Word, or whatever all get saved to a separate partition.

Included Script - Scripts commands. Are you familiar with this feature? Not user friendly if you ask me, but somehow this is where you can be very selective as to which file to exclude during the copying process.

I was reading up on it a bit yesterday while I was trying to find a way to backup only selected folders with SuperDuper!. But as you also found, you can only do the reverse. Exclude folders from a full backup. I guess a person could keep adding folders until only their user account was left, but that defeats the purpose of having a complete clone of your drive. I'd much rather have a full clone any day. If I were to have to replace my main drive, I wouldn't have to spend literally days reinstalling the OS, all of my apps (I have a lot) and setting all of the preferences for everything back to my liking. Restoring a full clone would only take about 30 minutes as opposed to doing everything from scratch on a blank drive.

so I had in mind format them as FAT32 in order to use it with my XP laptop so I could get access to the images using windows. If I don't use the script is going to be a very tedious process just making straight copies right.

That's a completely different problem that will make SuperDuper! pretty useless. SD will only clone to a drive formatted for Mac. You can't have a bootable clone on a drive formatted for DOS/Windows. Maybe what you should do instead is keep to different types of backups going. One of your two external drives should be a clone of your boot drive made with SD. That drive will have to be formatted as Mac OS Extended (HFS+). Format the other drive as FAT32 and use it only for transferring files between your Mac and the computer running XP.

That would be a standard setup since Windows can't read or write to a Mac formatted drive on its own. Now, if you prefer to keep both of your external drives formatted for Mac, you can install Mac Drive on your XP laptop. It will then be able to read and write to a Mac drive.