Can't make disk image of hard drive

ku4hx wrote:

Are you wanting to use the image to create a duplicate of your Mac on a different Mac? If so, you'll be far better off using SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy Cloner to create a bootable clone on an external SSD.

I used to make bootable clones with CCC, but now use SD! The SD! clones boot flawlessly on five different Macs we have.

Are the SuperDuper! clones bootable right away like ASR clones? Or do you have to install macOS on top of them like CCC standard backups?

If you can boot SuperDuper clones right out of the box, I'm tempted to try it out :)

Are you wanting to use the image to create a duplicate of your Mac on a different Mac? If so, you'll be far better off using SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy Cloner to create a bootable clone on an external SSD.

I used to make bootable clones with CCC, but now use SD! The SD! clones boot flawlessly on five different Macs we have.

You won't be able to boot from a .DMG, let alone an encrypted one … unless perhaps you are talking about booting an instance of macOS in a virtual machine. You'll need something to boot the Mac with to be able to restore that .DMG onto an actual drive.

As others have indicated, it would make more sense to use a program like Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper! to prepare a bootable backup on an external drive. I don't think you're going to be able to encrypt the backup – and still have it be bootable. The internal drive of a Mac with a T2 security chip or Apple Silicon SoC is a bit of a special case (and there, the real-time encryption doesn't actually prevent anyone from reading the drive unless you forcibly separate the drive from the stored encryption keys).

debbdrex wrote:

Hi! I'm trying to create a disk image of my hard drive. The drive shows up in Disk Utility but when I go to "File" and click "New Image" the option to make an image from "Macintosh HD" is grayed out. I've tried booting from an external drive as well as the drive on the laptop with the same results on each.

OS Ventura 13.2.1

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciate it!

Thanks, Debbie

What is it are you hoping to accomplish here?

If you are wanting to make a backup of your user data there are better options...not a disk image.

Back up your Mac with Time Machine - Apple Support

https://bombich.com/

https://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html

3-2-1 Backup Strategy: three copies of your data, two different methods, and one offsite.

Hi debbdrex,

You can encrypt bootable clones after they are made. Simply start up from them and enable FileVault. Given that your clone is bootable and is a clone of an existing install, it should already have everything needed to support FileVault in the hidden Preboot volume.

If you have an Apple Silicon Mac, there might be a few additional steps to do before starting up from the clone (such as selecting it in System Settings -> General -> Startup Disk and authorizing users on the clone), but once that's done you should be able to boot from it and enable FileVault without issues.

I have the same problem when creating an image from my hard disk to an external disk. Copying is fine, but I really need a .dmg to use Stellar.