How to backup a backup when the computer says I can't?

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Level 1

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How to backup a backup when the computer says I can't?

So here's an annoying little problem. I'm trying to duplicate a backup file on the right from a disk that's going bad to the drive on the left, and after about an hour of cataloging everything that has to move, I get this little gem:

So... I'm trying to duplicate a 1.08 TB backup file to an utterly empty 2TB drive... and there's not enough free space? It seems like I've got around 920 gigabytes to spare (well, minus the 852.7 MB of directory data already on the disk).

Can someone make sense of this for me?

Mac mini, macOS 10.13

Posted on Apr 9, 2020 5:28 PM

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Answer 1

BDAqua

Level 10

250,373 points

Apr 9, 2020 6:39 PM in response to macmikey

Have you run Disk Utility>First Aid on the bad drive?

Might try Carbon Copy Cloner...

http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html

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Answer 2

macmikey Author

Level 1

50 points

Apr 20, 2020 7:16 AM in response to BDAqua

Yes, I ran Disk Utility on it. Now the drive won't mount at all, so it's kind of a moot point. (I doubt Disk Utility rendered it useless; as it was taking longer and longer to mount already.) I did, in fact, use CCC to backup a couple of other drives to my new backup, mainly because I didn't realize Time Machine was by default assuming I meant to exclude all the other drives and didn't think to check why this would be! Dumb on my part. All is figured out now.

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Answer 3

BDAqua

Level 10

250,373 points

Apr 20, 2020 8:37 AM in response to macmikey

Good to hear you got it backed up anyway, stay well.

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How to backup a backup when the computer says I can't?

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