From an article by Apple (here) it seems that the best way to copy a TM backup (from one external HD to another) is to drag and drop through the Finder. CCC doesn't do this (and neither does Mac Backup Guru)—due to proprietary file types by Apple. My ™ Folder is around 1.6 TB. Is the Finder still the best method to use? tx
MacBook Air (13-inch Mid 2011), OS X El Capitan (10.11.1)
Yes, according to the article. 1.6 TBs will take a very long time since you will be transferring via local network. I suggest you use Ethernet. The 2011 model should support Firewire. If the other computer also supports Firewire, then use that. If it supports Thunderbolt, then get the adapter from Apple. It will likely take upwards of 2.5 days.
Thanks. It is from one USB drive to another, so there is no option for ethernet; and my machine has only USB 2.0. I don't mind waiting a few days though. As long as the process can complete itself.
If you are transferring from one USB to another then I suggest you use either Disk Utility to clone/Restore or Carbon Copy Cloner. They are both faster than any other choice and will guarantee all privileges will remain the same for all data. Unfortunately, USB is pretty slow if it is USB 2.0 - a bit faster than Ethernet would be. At that rate it may take a week or longer to move that much data. I believe that last time i did that sort of transfer between two USB 3.0 drive the throughput rate was around 160 MBs/hr. So you can figure how much time it will take for 1.6 TBs of data. USB 2.0 will be much slower.
best way to copy time machine backups to another disk
