User profile for user: pmsingwhale
pmsingwhale Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Only cloning the operating system.

I've created clones of my hard drives before, using carbon copy cloner. but are there any utilities that clone only the essential files and folders that are needed to boot? Or do i have to install from an installation CD to do that. Completely cloning a system takes a long time and I'd like to find out a way to clone just the operating system and the necessary files for it to work.

Macbook Early 2008, Mac OS X (10.5.7)

Posted on Aug 16, 2010 3:33 AM

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13 replies
User profile for user: Barry Hemphill
Barry Hemphill
User level: Level 8
40,468 points

Aug 16, 2010 3:46 AM in response to pmsingwhale

Hello p:

I do not use CCC for a variety of reasons.

SuperDuper! ($28 US at www.shirt-pocket.com) gives you several clone options - including just cloning user files. However, after the first clone, SD has a "smart update" function that only copies files that have changed. That process, on my computer, takes 7-8 minutes. The first backup, of course, takes quite a bit longer.

As an additional thought, Time Machine (after the first backup), makes hourly backups that typically take less than 30 seconds.

Barry
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User profile for user: Barry Hemphill
Barry Hemphill
User level: Level 8
40,468 points

Aug 16, 2010 4:04 AM in response to pmsingwhale

Hello p:

As I understand it, it clones all user files if you select that option. In my own case, I make a complete bootable clone so that I do not have to worry what has changed since my last clone. I overkill backups, so I have bootable clones on separate external drives as well as a Time Machine backup.

Since my own clone creation (after the first one) takes less than 10 minutes, I instruct the program to copy everything.

Barry
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User profile for user: pmsingwhale
pmsingwhale Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Aug 16, 2010 4:08 AM in response to Barry Hemphill

Hmm. The SuperDuper! documentation says:
Backup – user files is similar, but it does not create a bootable backup.
Instead, it only backs up user specific files in the Home directories of the
various accounts on your system (as well as the special iSync files that are
stored elsewhere in Panther). This type of backup is not bootable, since it
doesn’t contain operating system files, but is useful for storing copies of your
personal data. It’s much harder to recover from a disaster if you’ve only got
your personal files backed up.

Is there any kind of program or option where it only copies operating system files, as i want to cut down on the time needed to create a clone. I usually keep my files somewhere else so if i have a bootable drive, I can copy the files from another drive. Unless SuperDuper! does a much quicker job of it than CCC. It took CCC around 4 hours to completely copy my drive, which had around 140GB on it. Maybe the huge amount of space taken up might've contributed to the relatively slow processing.
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User profile for user: Barry Hemphill
Barry Hemphill
User level: Level 8
40,468 points

Aug 16, 2010 4:47 AM in response to pmsingwhale

Hi again:

As I indicated, I always make a complete clone as a complete restore is easy and the time is not an issue. The first clone using SD takes quite awhile, but the "smart update" function (part of the $28 functionality) is only about 8 minutes (55GB used on my HD). Triple that (IMHO) would be longer, but not significantly so.

As I mentioned earlier, Time Machine is also a good option. I have used it to recover deletions (operator error, mine) that would have been difficult/impossible with a clone.

I think SD also has the ability to schedule backups (I do not use that feature). Time Machine automatically makes updates hourly and they are (in my case) less than 30 seconds.

Barry
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User profile for user: Pondini
Pondini
User level: Level 8
38,863 points

Aug 16, 2010 4:20 PM in response to pmsingwhale

pmsingwhale wrote:
. . .
Is there any kind of program or option where it only copies operating system files,


What would you do with that? No internet configuration, no user accounts? If it would boot at all, the first thing you'd see would be the "Welcome" video, and you'd have to either set up a user account or migrate from another Mac or it's backups, and boot up again, to be able to actually do anything.

If you want to be able to use it, your best bet would be to create a partition, install OSX on it, set up a user account, internet configuration, etc., as with a new Mac. When it reboots, update OSX via Software update.

An alternative would be to use either CCC or SD, and just omit some large things, like most of the stuff in the user home folders.
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User profile for user: Pondini
Pondini
User level: Level 8
38,863 points

Aug 17, 2010 7:43 AM in response to pmsingwhale

pmsingwhale wrote:
Is there an option to omit user folders and things?


CCC's defaults is to save everything (almost), but you can selectively omit things. I've not used SD, but understand it's similar.

But if you exclude /Users (or all user folders), you can't log on.

If you make a partition with just OSX, minimal configuration, and a single Admin user, you could boot from it, but the OS on it would get out of date, and you wouldn't be able to do much.

As MacJack says, if all you want is to be able to boot and run Disk Utility, Network Utility, restore from backups, etc., as you can from your Install disc, make an 8-10 GB partition, and use the Restore tab of Disk Utility (or CCC or SD) to copy your Install Disc to it. Then you can boot from the partition instead of the Install disc (and it will boot and run much faster than from the disc).

What is it that you want to be able to actually DO with this bootable drive?
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User profile for user: pmsingwhale
pmsingwhale Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Aug 17, 2010 8:48 PM in response to Pondini

Create boot drives in case of catastrophic hard drive failure. It's humid where i live and the daily trip to and from school is really harrowing. I've dropped my computer quite a few times already and my mac's crashed quite a few times. I used the 10.5.8 combo update and so far no problems but physical problems will probably kill my drives before the software bugs up. And I want to create boot drives quickly. Moving files manually is fine by me, so just cloning the OS would save a bunch of time. School's getting tough now so saving time on anything helps.
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User profile for user: Pondini
Pondini
User level: Level 8
38,863 points

Aug 17, 2010 9:32 PM in response to pmsingwhale

pmsingwhale wrote:
Create boot drives in case of catastrophic hard drive failure. It's humid where i live and the daily trip to and from school is really harrowing. I've dropped my computer quite a few times already and my mac's crashed quite a few times. I used the 10.5.8 combo update and so far no problems but physical problems will probably kill my drives before the software bugs up. And I want to create boot drives quickly. Moving files manually is fine by me, so just cloning the OS would save a bunch of time. School's getting tough now so saving time on anything helps.


If you mean "bootable backups" with all your data, then you want CCC or SD. Either will do updates of changes in a relatively short time, rather than full replacements.

I still don't understand why you want an incomplete boot volume. Where will you move your files manually FROM if your internal HD fails?
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User profile for user: Pondini
Pondini
User level: Level 8
38,863 points

Aug 18, 2010 7:34 AM in response to pmsingwhale

pmsingwhale wrote:
I have several externals, one of which is for storage only. My macbook's 160GB drive isn't enough so I use 2 externals, one as a bootable clone, another with every file I have ever had on this mac. It wouldn't matter if i had to create a new account or anything.


Then make sure you have at least one (admin) account on the internal HD, make a clone of the internal, and update it regularly.

But also regularly back-up the other drive somehow, somewhere, some way -- all drives fail, sooner or later.
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Only cloning the operating system.

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