Wanting to install a new hard drive in my Mac Book Pro. Will Time Machine book up the OS on my current hard drive, so that when I do the reinstall it will boot up & operate as before, or do I need to use something like SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner?
Yes. But it does not replace CCC, it is an alternative to it.
Time Machine will back up the OS, but that backup needs to be restored before the computer can be booted from it. Those programs can create backups which are directly bootable.
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Kappy - "Yes. But it does not replace CCC, it is an alternative to it."
Sorry, but if they both do the same thing, why do I need to do it twice?
They don't do the same thing. CCC and SuperDuper create one-shot bootable clones each time they're used. Time Machine creates an archiving system which stores multiple versions of the same files.
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Niel - "Time Machine will back up the OS, but that backup needs to be restored before the computer can be booted from it. Those programs can create backups which are directly bootable."
So are you saying that once I do the restore on the new HD that the computer will boot up as normal?
Yes.
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I did not say "do it twice." I said they are not the same. They are functionally different. However, what's wrong with two different backups. You can never have too many.
CCC and other similar utilities can make directly bootable clones identical to your usual main drive. Time Machine cannot do that. Time Machine also requires more space on a backup drive - at least twice the size of the drives you backup compared to CCC, etal.
If I'm understanding this correctly, if I use Time Machine I'll have to wait until I reload all the OS & saved files, which are backed up on Time Machine, before I can use the computer again, whereas if I use SD or CCC I can use the computer almost straight away from a direct boot from the drive where they are stored?
If my assumption here is correct then it's purely a time issue, but the end result will be the same?
In your case, yes. The main advantage of Time Machine is that you can quickly retrieve a specific version of a single file or folder without needing to hunt through multiple backups or restoring anything else.
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Thanks Niel,
So when I install the new HD, can you give me a brief run down of how to boot from the Time Machine backup & restore everything. I know you have to start the computer while holding down certain keys, but not sure which ones. I can follow the procedure from there once I get the initial process started. I have a 2012 Mac Book Pro with Lion.
Thanks Kappy,
I agree, never have too many backups, so I'll make one as well with SD as well as Time Machine before I pull the old HD out.
You need to boot from an alternate source, such as a Mac OS X install DVD, and restore the backup from there, or install a fresh OS onto the new drive and migrate from the backup when setting it up. See the fourth set of instructions in this article for more information.
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If you are restoring a backup made by a Mac to the same Mac
With your backup drive connected, start up your Mac from the Recovery system (Command-R at startup) or Mac OS X v10.6 installation disc. Then use the "Restore From Time Machine Backup" utility.
My computer didn't come with any discs, so I can't boot that way.
The link you provided says "press command R" at startup, then restore from TM.
Will this work OK?
If you swap the computer's hard drive out, it needs to download a new recovery partition from Apple's servers before that will work. Otherwise, it should.
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Thanks Niel,
I really appreciate your help, but as you can tell, I'm feeling my way here, so I think I'll drop my computer into the Mac store & get them to do a fresh install. I have all the files backed up on a portable HD, so I can restore all that quite easily.
I only have a couple of apps that I can download quickly & I'll be up & running again.
My computer is for a dedicated music playback system, so I only have Amarra & all my music files to put back on to it.
Thanks again,
John
Does time machine back up the OS?
