How to back-up and restore my Mac

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I'm thinking about re-partitioning my hard drive (getting rid of the Windows partition for good) and I want to back up everything on my Mac (applications, preferences, settings etc.).

Could I just copy my entire home folder to an external hard drive then copy it back over once I finish the partition and reinstall of OSX (10.4)? And if so, how? Would I need to log in with a different user account with admin rights then copy it over?
 
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Since you are running Tiger and not Leopard, Time Machine won't be available for you. I recommend the application called SuperDuper! to deal with your backing up needs. The site should give you enough information on what to do when you want to backup and restore everything on your Mac.

SuperDuper!
 
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eon.
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SuperDuper looks like a great piece of software but for right now I'd prefer a free option. Is it not possible to just copy my entire home folder like I wanted to do?
 
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SuperDuper! works for Mac OS X Tiger, considering that it doesn't have Leopard and Snow Leopard's Time Machine.
 
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SuperDuper looks like a great piece of software but for right now I'd prefer a free option. Is it not possible to just copy my entire home folder like I wanted to do?

This will screw up everything.

If you end up moving the Home folder, Mac OS X will give you an error upon boot up, requiring that the whole OS be reinstalled. Trust me, you don't want to go there.
 

chscag

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SuperDuper looks like a great piece of software but for right now I'd prefer a free option. Is it not possible to just copy my entire home folder like I wanted to do?

Try Carbon Copy Cloner. It's donation ware but it is fully functional. (SuperDuper is partially crippled until you register it.)

Regards.
 
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Try Carbon Copy Cloner. It's donation ware but it is fully functional. (SuperDuper is partially crippled until you register it.)

Regards.

That looks more like what I'm going for, thanks for the link!

Have you done a restore from a cloned, bootable volume using carbon copy? The backup seems easy enough, I just hope the restore is just as smooth.
 

chscag

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I use CCC as my regular backup strategy in addition to Time Machine. And yes, I've used it numerous times to restore. Works great. Kind of reminds me of the old Windows Drive Image software. :)

Regards.
 

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