Clean install and restore from CCC

[Rod]

Beleive it or not I have never had to perform a clean install and restore.
Could someone tell me what is the best method to perform a clean install of OSX and restore? Restore from CCC or Time Machine?
What are the steps to performing this?
I have both bootable CCC and TM backups and can create an install USB drive it's just the best method to use and the steps involved in restore process.

 

[bobtomay]

What is the purpose of the exercise?

 

[chas_m]

Yes, reinstalls are very rare in the Mac world, and clean installs are largely unnecessary these days. What is it you're trying to do?

 

[Dogbreath]

...and TM is not bootable.

 

[Rod]

I'm probably over thinking this although a clean install at the next OSX upgrade would be a good idea for my wife, what she really wants at the moment is to return her laptop to the state it was in on the 16/07 as we have a CCC copy of that date which works fine.
I have never tried this but is it possible to return the entire HD to a previous date with Time Machine? If so what are the steps?

 

[bobtomay]

It is supposed to be possible to restore to any previous date for which there is a full backup via TM.
I have done only 3 restores via TM - all on my wife's machines - I have never been given the option of a date selection and her TM backup goes all the way back to '08.

Restoring from a cloned backup is always faster (assuming both external drives are using the same connection type) than restoring from a TM backup.
The TM backup requires you to spend the time installing the OS first, cloning does not.

Cloning would be done in exactly the same process you made the clone to begin with except in reverse.
Boot to the clone, open CCC or SD! and clone the drive back to the internal.
I recommend you open Disk Utility and erase then partition the drive prior to cloning.

 

[pm-r]

And they may want to spend the extra time to "zero-out" or do an Optional Secure Erase One Pass on the old volume if it's a HDD. Then clone back the cloned backup.

 

[Rod]

Thanks, I just thought I would get some confirmation before performing what my wife thinks of as "drastic" action.
I have never needed to perform a full restore from TM so I was not sure how that would work.
Zeroing out the data on the Mac HD is probably a good idea but restoring from CCC just by booting from it and cloning back to the original source just seemed too easy. I suppose that's the idea. I did create a recovery partition on the CCC backup so I suppose everything should just go back in place.
Just one other question. What happens to the archived backup folders? CCC is larger than the source, naturally because of the archived safety net folders. What happens to them? Do they get cloned across as well?


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[pm-r]

Yup, It can be just that easy with CCC and that's what you paid for.

As for cloning back the CCC archives, it's your choice if you think you might need them. And probably not if you have everything you need and they can just add to the clutter on the new volume.

 

[Rod]

pm-r I'm guessing that CCC will ask me something of the sort, do you want to clone archived folders as well Yes/No? I suppose I should just bite the bullet (it is my wife's computer after all) and see what happens. Then I can write back to this forum and let everyone know what actually happens.

 

[IWT]

Good luck Rod.

I cannot tell you how refreshing and relieving it is to have a person of such experience as you, asking what, at first sight, seems such a basic question. But a question which many of us hope never to have to face! Your post has furnished some really useful replies and I, for one, am grateful to you.

Ian

 

[Rod]

Thanks Ian, I know we advise people to restore from CCC and TM backups quite regularly as a last resort but this is the first time I have come up against a problem that I couldn't solve in some less dramatic way. The Bombich site is almost too informative on the subject of restoring. I would have preferred a step by step description just so I knew what to expect but I guess I'll just have to play it by ear. It's just a shame I have to use my wife's computer for my first attempt. I had thought of restoring her backup to my MBP just as a trial run. I may yet do just that.
Either way I'll report back on the outcome.
Cheers,
Rod


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[Rod]

What is the purpose of the exercise?

And chas_m Yes, reinstalls are very rare in the Mac world, and clean installs are largely unnecessary these days. What is it you're trying to do?

Sorry didn't mean to ignore your question guys. My wife downloaded the 10.10.4 update and it resulted in a series of odd effects. She lost her smtp server list and a number of other issues with Mail that re entering just would not seem to fix.
Sorry for duplication the original post is here; http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/os...497-lost-smtp-list-settings-after-update.html

So after everyone's advice and contacting the Bombich Knowledge Base who responded within 12 hrs (different time zones help sometimes), this is what I was advised to do;
Preparing your backup disk for a backup of OS X | Carbon Copy Cloner | Bombich Software
And;
How to restore from your backup | Carbon Copy Cloner | Bombich Software

The second link describes what I really wanted to know but still omits a couple of things I was unsure of;
A. Do I leave the Safety Net Button in the ON position? This was answered by the illustrations, clearly, yes.
B. What happens to all the archived files? Well, nothing they remain on the source.
C.This is something I did not think to ask but is worth knowing from a backup point of view should you ever need to do what I did.
When you do an initial CCC backup it will ask if you want to create a Restore folder. I had answered yes to this so it was backed up but it's optional. The info pane which pops up states that it is not necessary for the creation of a bootable clone but being me I thought I might as well.
So if your intention is to have a clone that can completely recreate your HD including the Recovery Partition it's essential that you include it in your initial backup.

So needless to say my wife is very happy and I am very relieved, happy ending

 

[pine man]

As a user of CCC I have been following this with interest but now I am confused.

When the latest version of CCC asked if I wanted to create a restore folder I opted for no as it didn't seem necessary. You say 'So if your intention is to have a clone that can completely recreate your HD including the Recovery Partition it's essential that you include it in your initial backup.' What will happen if I try to use my CCC clone that doesn't include the Recovery Partition?

 

[Rod]

Hi Pine Man, well the only difference will be that the restored volume will not have a functional Recovery Partition. I have found however that accessing Help from the help menu in CCC provides most answers. You can create a Recovery Volume on the CCC backup at any backup by pressing the button bottom right on the selection panel. This link explains it more fully; Cloning Apple's Recovery HD partition | Carbon Copy Cloner | Bombich Software

 

[pine man]

Thanks for that. It's much clearer now and I'll create a recovery volume in future - I think.

 

[Bill Gates Jr.]

Learned from this forum to backup my HD with CCC. Served me well.
CCC initially does a full backup to the ext. HD, but only backs up additional or changed files subsequently It does not do a full backup once the initial backup is created, as far as I know.
Is there a way to use CCC to do a complete backup of a second HD so I have a backup off site, or do I need to copy my CCC ext. HD to another ext. HD? If so, how do I copy the files on my 2TB HD to a 1 TB HD? Note: The backup files are less than 100 Mbytes. My 2TB CCC drive shows 1.91TB free. ( My 1 TB Mac HD shows 925 Mbytes free.)

 

[MacInWin]

Bill Gates Jr., CCC can be set up to clone any drive to any other drive. You'll just need to read the information on the developer website about how to do that. I use CCC to clone two drives to two separate external drives and have all that on a schedule that runs nightly.

 

[pm-r]

CCC will clone to whatever volume or volumes you set it, as long as it's compatible, and it also uses a unique drive identifier to keep them separate, just in case one was stupid enough to use the same name for the identical backup clone drives.

Give them a descriptive name and save some headaches and confusion.

 

[Bill Gates Jr.]

Used CCC to clone second drive. What i don't understand is why the original drive uses 85.42GB and cloned drive only 63 GB? Yes, I did do a clone. Original drive in SOURCE and new Mac formatted drive as DESTINATION. The CCC application does say: "Only items that have been modified since the last backup task will be copied." Could this be the problem?
Note my original posts meant GB not MB but I guess you all figured that out.