10.5.6 update - How to make a Backup copy

See my backup FAQ*:

http://www.macmaps.com/backup.html

You can use cloning software, or Time Machine.

There are strengths of either method.

Feel free to ask questions for further clarification.

- * Links to my pages may give me compensation.

if I understand you correctly you want to make an install DVD that installs 10.5.6 instead of 10.5.5 as your original install DVD does? that's not possible (at least nobody figured out how to do this yet). It's also quite unnecessary. you can download 10.5.6 combo update from the apple website and save it on an external drive. if you ever need to reinstall you can use that update without redownloading it.

Keeping a copy of 10.5.6 combined update will assure that you can always update back to it from an backup of your entire system.

As V.K. suggested, it is not possible to easily make your own install disk, but if in the future you needed to restore your system, you could do an Archive & Install from the 10.5.5 install disk that came with your computer. It would be difficult, if not impossible to mess up your computer by using that method.

Then to apply the 10.5.6 update, you could then download the Combo install from Apple’s Download site and update the 10.5.5. If you want to keep a copy of the update on an external disk, you can copy the .dmg file to the external disk by holding down the option/alt key and dragging it from your computer to the external disk (if you don’t hold down the option/alt key it will only copy an alias, which will not be able to install the update).

You may have a copy of the 10.5.6 update on your computer if you manually downloaded the update from the Apple Download site. Look in your Users/yourusername/Downloads/Application folder for a file named MacOSXUpdCombo10.5.6.dmg.

Option-drag that to an external disk to make a copy so you won’t need to download it again if you need to restore.

Also, as brody recommended, you should always have a bootable backup.

CloneX can make bootable DVD's:
http://www.tri-edre.fr/english/clonex.html

Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC) can make clones (on external drives):
http://www.bombich.com/software/index.html

Kj

KJK555 wrote:
CloneX can make bootable DVD's:
http://www.tri-edre.fr/english/clonex.html

that's an interesting app. I haven't heard of it before. I just downloaded the trial version and looked at the manual. i don't think it can make a 10.5.6 install DVD out of a 10.5.5 one.

You're correct. It can't. Plus, at 69 Euros, it's a bit expensive for cloning.

Thanks for the info - think I know what to do now

Methinks you're not there yet. Since you've installed 10.5.6 and it works well, you're best bet to *make a copy, on disc - that I can use in future, to restore the "new" system, if need be* is to get a bootable, external HD (preferably FireWire, since it's faster than USB and designed for data transfer), and make a bootable backup/clone before updating/upgrading and ensure that it's bootable and works like the original. That allows you to revert to the previous good state without having to reinstall anything. In addition to a brody's backup link, see these for more details:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106941
http://www.macmaps.com/upgradefaq.html
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/installswupdates.html
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/backuprecovery.html

Once you get that figured out and develop a backup/update/upgrade strategy, see these:

Switching from Windows to Mac OS X,
Basic Tutorials on using a Mac,
MacFixIt Tutorials,
MacTips, and
Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Leopard Edition.

Additionally, *Texas Mac Man* recommends:

Quick Assist.
Welcome to the Switch To A Mac Guides,
Take Control E-books, and
A guide for switching to a Mac.

"i don't think it can make a 10.5.6 install DVD out of a 10.5.5 one"

It probably won't do that, but can make yourself a sweet little repair disk, a mini clone of
your OS. Using Carbon Copy Cloner you can restore your main System and Library files and
many times get your OS back up and running. 🙂

Of course it doesn't hurt to slap a few of your favorite disk utilities on there too.

Kj

Dacpro - Yes, those three steps should do it for you, succinctly put.

The option/alt key when copying files is mostly just for copying to ejectable media like CD’s or DVD’s. Copying from the internal drive to an external drive should make a full copy just by dragging it. You can tell if a file is an alias because it will have a small arrow in the lower left corner of its icon.

Option-drag also works if you want to copy a file from one folder on your disk to another folder. If you simply drag the file it will move it, not copy it. If you want to keep it in the original folder, but make a copy of it in another folder, the option/alt-drag will do that.

But there are rare cases when one would want to have two full copies of a file on the same drive. If you wanted to access an original file from another place on the computer, it is better to make an alias of the original and move it where you want, to be able to get access to it perhaps more conveniently, like to the desktop.

you can always do it the disk utility way - but after booting from a retail disk, load disk utility, unmount your drive and THEN you cacn save a .dmg of your Leopard drive for easy cloning...