Cloning (Imaging) a partition to the same HD

Joined
Feb 25, 2011
Messages
19
Reaction score
2
Points
3
Hi--New to the Mac OS. When I get a Windows machine, I always repartition the brand new machine to the C: drive (OS partition) and a data partition (D:drive). Then I make an image of the C: drive and store it on the D: drive. This way if I ever feel I need to wipe my OS clean, I just restore the C: drive partition (now an image file) back to the OS partition therby rewiping it.

So I want to do the same thing to my new Macbook Pro. I want to repartition the 500GB to a OSX partition and a data partition. Then I want to clone or image that OSX partition and write it (store it) to the data partition.

From what I understand I can insert the Install Mac OSX DVD, hit "C" and then use the disk utility to repartition and also clone my OSX partition to the new data partition I made.

But everyone seems to pooh pooh the Disk Utiliity app and prefers CCC or Super Duper.

I do not need my cloned OSX partition to be bootable. I just want an exactly replica of it. Can I just use Disk Utility?

Thanks,

Marc
 

bobtomay

,
Retired Staff
Joined
Dec 22, 2006
Messages
26,561
Reaction score
677
Points
113
Location
Texas, where else?
Your Mac's Specs
15" MBP '06 2.33 C2D 4GB 10.7; 13" MBA '14 1.8 i7 8GB 10.11; 21" iMac '13 2.9 i5 8GB 10.11; 6S
Everyone "pooh poohs" it because OS X is not susceptible to the same rot as Windows - there is no registry - every app you install does not put it's junk all over your system files.

You're in a new world here - a lot of those things we use to do in Windows really do not apply here. And this is one of them.

As an old time gamer that was in the habit of doing a clean install of Windows about once every 6 months, I can testify this is a last resort with OS X and is extremely rare that anyone needs to do such a thing. I have not done one in over 4 years except after a new OS has been released. My wife's machine has now gone 4 years without a clean install and it has gone through 2 OS upgrades - try that in Windows - and still runs just as fast as the day it was brought home.

Having a backup of the original install is a bunch of wasted space on your drive. A clean install can be done in under an hour with your OS X discs.

What you need is a "backup" of your current up to date system, not a fresh install, so that if your drive dies, you're able to restore all your data. A backup on the same drive as your OS, is not a backup at all.

Even while you're saying you don't, have to say what you want is a bootable clone, not only for backup, but it comes in quite handy for troubleshooting purposes also.
 
OP
M
Joined
Feb 25, 2011
Messages
19
Reaction score
2
Points
3
Thank you. I did forget to say that I back up my data drive all the time. It is just an incremental step in my process.

Okay here is the deal and maybe it shows my windows baggage. I like to try different software and not sure what my final application list will be. In Windows, the registry gets bloated and the uninstall process is never clean so that is why I like to occassionally rewipe and reinstall the apps after I get smarter about which ones I may or may not use.

Are you saying that uninstalling an application as large as Photoshop CS5 is essentially a clean process where there will be no lingering side effects?

For a backup, you recommend CCC?

M
 

bobtomay

,
Retired Staff
Joined
Dec 22, 2006
Messages
26,561
Reaction score
677
Points
113
Location
Texas, where else?
Your Mac's Specs
15" MBP '06 2.33 C2D 4GB 10.7; 13" MBA '14 1.8 i7 8GB 10.11; 21" iMac '13 2.9 i5 8GB 10.11; 6S
During the first 2 years of owning a Mac I installed well over 200 apps per year. We both know what that does to a Windows system and why I had to do clean installs on my gaming rigs once every 6 months as they would already be starting to show signs of slowing down if I had installed 10 apps during that time.

Apps that install via drag and drop can safely be drug to the trash. They will leave a preference file behind. They are stored in your data partition (your home folder) not in the system folders and are never called into play until you open the app. Most of them are so small as to be inconsequential related to worrying about freeing up the space even.

Apps that come with their own installer, like CS5, you would use their provided uninstaller to remove them. These typically do remove pretty much all their junk. I seriously have had no issue with experimenting, installing and uninstalling apps having any effect on boot times or system responsiveness.

As I said, there is no registry to get bloated in OS X and thus no associated 'registry rot'. If you follow the rule of using the uninstaller for apps that had an installer, you should be in good shape. I have no qualms about installing and uninstalling apps just to test someone else's issue with an app I know is going to be deleted as soon as I'm done testing, which I would never do on a Win system.

My old regimen of 4-5 hours of weekly maintenance running a full scan of A/V, Spybot, AdAware, going through and emptying all the temp folders, making sure all services I didn't use were shut down, making sure any app I installed wasn't running at startup and finishing off with a defrag are pretty much all unnecessary.

My maintenance now consists of running Onyx once every 2-4 months and running a defrag (twice now in 4 years) when I've let my free space get too low.

Personally I bought and use SuperDuper!, but there are plenty of folks using CCC also.
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top