Snert The DJ
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Q: Cloning and/or Copying Backup External HD's in Mavericks

So I use external HD's mainly to store my music library and samples for audio production and Dj'ing. Today I just bought a 4TB 7200RPM USB 3.0 external HD and I would like to use it as my main. Is there a way in Mavericks that I can clone or copy the new drive so that I can use it as my main external and avoid having to have my Dj and audio production software re-scan and analyze all the music and samples?

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5), Processor 2.6 GHz Intel Core i7

Posted on Jan 6, 2016 11:51 AM

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Snert The DJ

Q: Cloning and/or Copying Backup External HD's in Mavericks

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  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Jan 6, 2016 11:54 AM in response to Snert The DJ
    Level 10 (271,850 points)
    Desktops
    Jan 6, 2016 11:54 AM in response to Snert The DJ

    Clone Yosemite, Mavericks, Lion/Mountain Lion using Restore Option of Disk Utility

     

    Boot to the Recovery HD:

     

    Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.

     

         1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu then press the Continue

             button.

         2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.

         3. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.

         4. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it

             to the Destination entry field.

         5. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to

             the Source entry field.

         6. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.

     

    Destination means the external backup drive. Source means the internal startup drive.

     

    An alternative is to use Carbon Copy Cloner 4.1.6. CCC can also clone the Recovery HD but not automatically as will be done by Disk Utility.

  • by steve359,

    steve359 steve359 Jan 6, 2016 11:55 AM in response to Kappy
    Level 6 (14,032 points)
    Jan 6, 2016 11:55 AM in response to Kappy

    Kappy ... does the 4TB size cause issues?  Just asking.

  • by Snert The DJ,

    Snert The DJ Snert The DJ Jan 6, 2016 12:00 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 6, 2016 12:00 PM in response to Kappy

    This would be my first time ever doing something like this and I cannot risk losing any data. Is there anything I should be aware of or any common mistakes that can happen?

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Jan 6, 2016 12:02 PM in response to steve359
    Level 10 (271,850 points)
    Desktops
    Jan 6, 2016 12:02 PM in response to steve359

    I don't know why it should. But my largest drive is 3 TBs, so I have no way to test it. I wouldn't think it would matter for CCC. I don't see why it would matter for Disk Utility, but that's just a guess on my part.

     

    You could ask LD since he knows everything.

  • by Snert The DJ,

    Snert The DJ Snert The DJ Jan 6, 2016 12:03 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 6, 2016 12:03 PM in response to Kappy

    Well someone call LD down here, sounds like we need their opinion stat!

  • by steve359,

    steve359 steve359 Jan 6, 2016 12:03 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 6 (14,032 points)
    Jan 6, 2016 12:03 PM in response to Kappy

    Sounds like a WC topic ... I will start it.

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Jan 6, 2016 12:12 PM in response to Snert The DJ
    Level 10 (271,850 points)
    Desktops
    Jan 6, 2016 12:12 PM in response to Snert The DJ

    Perhaps you should contact the manufacturer or vendor's tech support. It may be that support for larger drives was not yet available when Mavericks was released. Have you tried testing the current version, El Capitan, because there are a lot of users with even larger drives in use. Furthermore, drive size supposedly wasn't a limitation for external drives, only internal ones.

  • by Snert The DJ,

    Snert The DJ Snert The DJ Jan 6, 2016 12:18 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 6, 2016 12:18 PM in response to Kappy

    I ended up going with Carbon Copy Cloner. It's a free 30day full trial and I only need it for this one time use...lol

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Jan 6, 2016 12:22 PM in response to Snert The DJ
    Level 10 (271,850 points)
    Desktops
    Jan 6, 2016 12:22 PM in response to Snert The DJ

    There you are. Always a solution, and in your case a free one.

  • by steve359,

    steve359 steve359 Jan 6, 2016 12:25 PM in response to Snert The DJ
    Level 6 (14,032 points)
    Jan 6, 2016 12:25 PM in response to Snert The DJ

    Just saying ... I use CCC as my primary backup solution.  When I perform the backup, I also create a bootable copy of "now" that can be used in emergency.  When you pay full fare it saves old copies of files in case you need to recover them based on date/time.

     

    But as long as you get what you need ... Happy computing!

  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Jan 6, 2016 1:24 PM in response to Snert The DJ
    Level 10 (123,905 points)
    Jan 6, 2016 1:24 PM in response to Snert The DJ

    Steve359 asked I drop in...

     

    4 TB no problem for GUID, & Advanced Format's 4096 Byte Sectors no problem past 10.4.6

     

    APM Partition scheme does have a 2.1 TB limit, but not GUID.

    Maximum volume size and file size (Mac OS X v10.5.3 or later)close to 8 EB (1,3)

    Mac OS X: Mac OS Extended format (HFS Plus) volume and file limits - Apple Support

     

    But there is a File & Folder count...

     

    Maximum number of files (or files and folders) in a folder (all Mac OS X versions)up to 2.1 billion (2)