External boot drive using SuperDuper

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Level 1

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External boot drive using SuperDuper

My iMac(Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2019) has the internal 5400 rpm Macintosh HD, and is slooow!

I was advised to get an external SSD and make it my boot drive. I purchased a Samsung model T7, 2 terabyte drive. After working with multiple Apple experts, they finally recommended calling Samsung support. Samsung recommended purchasing "SuperDuper" software and using it to make the external Samsung SSD my boot drive.

I've got the "SuperDuper" software installed, but being a novice at things like this, I'd like to get some of your opinions on the software, pointers on using it, and tips on operating with an external SSD.

iMac 21.5″, macOS 11.1

Posted on Jan 15, 2021 6:34 PM

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Answer 1

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babowa

Level 9

78,562 points

Jan 15, 2021 9:16 PM in response to sbeklund

At this time, SuperDuper is not yet compatible with Big Sur. They are working on it; go to their website and read up on it. If Big Sur is the OS you have installed, then the only option at the moment is CarbonCopyCloner (the only other cloning software and it is what I've used for years). It has excellent documentation and info about using it on their website.

www.bombich.com

As for creating a clone on an external, there are a couple of steps before actually making a clone: plug in the external hard drive. Open Disk Utility, highlight the top entry of that external in the left column and choose to erase. External drives do not need any software to function. When finished it is ready to use.

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Answer 2

babowa

Level 9

78,562 points

Jan 16, 2021 11:38 AM in response to sbeklund

Do a search here for the Samsung T7 - personally, I am not familiar with it. Make sure it is bootable once you have erased it and formatted it for Mac. And search for it at the CCC site:

https://bombich.com/search/samsung

The developer says that the latest version will work with Big Sur.

As for your other question: yes, Time Machine can back up your stuff, you just need to direct it to the source (the external SSD) and the destination (if your external works, you could use your internal as the backup destination or get another external. No need to make it an SSD, a spinning 7200 rpm will be fine).

https://www.macworld.com/article/3153995/how-to-make-sure-time-machine-backs-up-external-drives.html

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Answer 3

sbeklund Author

Level 1

9 points

Jan 16, 2021 11:04 AM in response to babowa

Thanks for the info! I hope this CarbonCopyCloner works, I'll try getting my money back on the SuperDuper. I got the external Samsung drive right after Christmas, had it partially operational a couple times and the speed improvement was about 10 times faster. Can't wait to see what it does if I can get it bootable.

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