External HD Partions w/ Disk Utility

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Hi All,

In another thread, I've been asking about making a bootable clone of my iMac & MacBPro using CCC (Carbon Copy Cloner) & a single external HD w/ 2 partitions.

Today I received my new 1 TB OWC HD and am already having questions - using Disk Utility, I made 2 equal partitions (the utility seemed to not let be make unequal partitions - is that correct?) - below are 3 pics showing the overall HD & the 2 partitions labeled w/ my two computers. The partitions are shown to be formatted appropriately, BUT the HD still states FAT 32 - is this expected or should the latter also show the Mac OS format?

So before I go ahead and start cloning & testing, I just want to make sure that the external HD is ready? If not, please explain how to get this right. Thanks!

OWCHD1.png

OWCHD2.png

OWCHD3.png
 
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When you did the original format you forgot to set the required macos. Simple to see click the apple hdd for partition description. Your new drive should be formatted first then partitioning second. Same with windows on installation loading for c drive or like Linux c and d drive.
 

bobtomay

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Sorry, but no. Formatting is done after partitioning - a partition is what gets formatted to a particular file system. Even if you format the entire drive - you're not actually formatting the drive - you're creating a single partition on that drive and then formatting that partition (which would comprise the entire drive).

Related to the above pics:
You are on the "Erase" tab in all 3 pics.
First - you do not want to use the 'Erase' tab at all - unless you want to "erase" a drive or partition (aka volume).

If you want to see what your current drive and partition status is - you would look at the bottom of the "First Aid" tab.

With the "drive" highlighted, you can also look at the "Partition" tab to get an overview of the size of all partitions and a picture view of the amount of used/free space.

Second the "Erase" tab does not indicate what is the current format of a drive or partition - it offers a drop down box with the available choices for it to be formatted with - after you erase it.

The first pic indicate that if you proceed, it will erase the entire drive - including both of the partitions on the drive - it will then create a single partition called "UNTITLED" and format that partition as FAT.

The 2nd and 3rd pics - will erase only the single partition you have highlighted in each pic, rename the partition as is noted in each pic and then format the partition with the current choice selected in the drop down menu of: Mac OS Extended Jounaled...
 

bobtomay

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If you want different sized partitions - you would create 1 partition and set the size you desire for it.
Then create a 2nd partition from the free space - set the size you want for it.

You can also create the 2 (or more) partitions at the same time - then Disk Utility allows you to grab the line between the partitions and move it up/down to adjust the size of each partition.

If you don't make that manual adjustment, then the default is to make all partitions the same size.

You can check it out your self by highlighting the drive - go to the Partition tab, change it to 3 partitions - as an experiment - then try grabbing the line between partitions - it will not make any changes until you click on apply.

PS
Just to be clear - the "Erase" tab does not necessarily tell you anything about the current format of a partition.
Those are options for formatting after it is erased.
 
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Thanks for the replies - not sure how I exactly proceeded relative to Bobtomay's suggestions but I was able to have all 3 of those previously shown images show the 'Mac OS Extended....' format; so I'm assuming that the drive was fine to go.

Thus, went ahead and cloned my MBPro using CCC to the partition of that name - 52 GB done in about 15 minutes - then booted into the partition successfully and was able to use Finder, Safari, and and a few other programs. I'll clone my iMac to the other partition tomorrow.

Thanks again for the help - believe the process is working despite my lessening ignorance - Dave :)
 
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Thanks for the replies - not sure how I exactly proceeded relative to Bobtomay's suggestions but I was able to have all 3 of those previously shown images show the 'Mac OS Extended....' format; so I'm assuming that the drive was fine to go.

Thus, went ahead and cloned my MBPro using CCC to the partition of that name - 52 GB done in about 15 minutes - then booted into the partition successfully and was able to use Finder, Safari, and and a few other programs. I'll clone my iMac to the other partition tomorrow.

Thanks again for the help - believe the process is working despite my lessening ignorance - Dave :)

Well, just a follow-up from today - cloned my iMac w/ CCC successfully w/ the same results as above for the MBPro - interestingly, there was about the same amount of data (mid-50s GB) but took 24 minutes to complete; both machines have USB 3.0 ports & same drive; but did boot fine.

And from a comment in another thread concerning CCC finding a 'bootable' recovery partition - did and put it on the external HD first and proceeded to clone on both computers. So I guess w/ this program, a periodic running will simply synchronize the files. Dave :)
 

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And from a comment in another thread concerning CCC finding a 'bootable' recovery partition - did and put it on the external HD first and proceeded to clone on both computers. So I guess w/ this program, a periodic running will simply synchronize the files.

I've got loads of various programs on my Macs but the one I consider my most important is Carbon Copy Cloner. It has saved my old bacon numerous times. A recent rescue was just last Friday when the hard drive on my 2011 iMac decided to die. I just simply booted with my CCC clone and pressed on until I took the machine to my local Apple store for repair. (It was still covered by Apple care, thank goodness.)
 
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I've got loads of various programs on my Macs but the one I consider my most important is Carbon Copy Cloner. It has saved my old bacon numerous times. A recent rescue was just last Friday when the hard drive on my 2011 iMac decided to die. I just simply booted with my CCC clone and pressed on until I took the machine to my local Apple store for repair. (It was still covered by Apple care, thank goodness.)

Hi Chscag - thanks for the comments and encouragement - I actually do feel more relaxed now about these computers! :)

Question if you please - how often should one re-clone a computer w/ CCC - we are not going to do a lot of software additions/removals and will mainly accumulate personal files at a slow pace - just wondering what others may do w/ this cloner as to updating? Thanks - Dave
 

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I don't use CCC to clone back to my Macs unless I have to. There are times when an OS update goes bad, something was accidentally removed, or like my little incident last Friday when my drive went south; that's when it's a life saver. As far as using CCC for making backups, I do so every other day along with a Time Machine backup. CCC backups, if done right, are bootable whereas Time Machine backups are not.

Mac OS X is pretty good about keeping things neat and is resistant to fragmentation as long as you leave plenty of open space on your hard drive. I have a copy of iDefrag which I haven't used in some time. I did use it when I owned a MacBook with a smaller hard drive.
 

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I also haven't used iDefrag in some time - primarily due to my primary Mac now having an SSD.

I use SD! in lieu of CCC. But, I've only used the cloned backup to reclone to my internal twice.
Once after playing around with system files I shouldn't have and screwed up OS X.

The other time doing an experiment with a 70% full 500 GB drive where I was noticing the typical slow downs I've historically seen at that point - restoring from SD! and then running iDefrag just to compare the 2 of them related to boot/app launch times as well as overall feel of speed improvements between the 2.

In that case, a restore from the clone did improve boot/app launch times marginally and did provide a little peppier experience just due to giving me back the contiguous free space - running iDefrag afterwards took it to a whole other level cutting boot times by >20% - and pretty much eliminating any app bouncing on launch.

I have tended to keep old versions of OS X around in those clones - up until the drive finally died a few weeks ago, I still had my last clones prior to upgrading from 10.4 all the way through 10.7.

Other restores have all been done with a clean install, clean installing apps and manually migrating data from the clone or using Time Machine
 

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I have tended to keep old versions of OS X around in those clones - up until the drive finally died a few weeks ago, I still had my last clones prior to upgrading from 10.4 all the way through 10.7.

And here I thought I was a pack rat! I keep telling myself that one of these days I'm going to clean out my shelves of CDs and disks. I have disks going all the way back to DOS 3.3, and Windows from 3.0 up until Windows 7. (I did skip over Vista though.) :p
 
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And here I thought I was a pack rat! I keep telling myself that one of these days I'm going to clean out my shelves of CDs and disks. I have disks going all the way back to DOS 3.3, and Windows from 3.0 up until Windows 7. (I did skip over Vista though.) :p

Boy, now I go back to 1980 w/ an Apple II+; switched to PCs in the mid-80s (work related decision) - started w/ one of the DOSs and progressed up to Windows for Workgroups - those early days of the Web were really a PITA! Got as far as Windows XP & Vista before switching back to Apple in the spring - all that I have to show is an idle Dell DT w/ XP - :D

Just me but don't like to save old electronics, software, etc. BUT wife & I do need to clean out our closets and all of the STUFF stored in our son's room (which he has not occupied for 22 years!) - Dave :)
 

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Just me but don't like to save old electronics, software, etc. BUT wife & I do need to clean out our closets and all of the STUFF stored in our son's room (which he has not occupied for 22 years!) - Dave

Thank goodness my son is married and is long gone, however, I have a grown daughter, single, and still living here at home! She occupies two rooms plus two large walk in closets in our 4 bedroom home. You need a backhoe to even get into her room. ;P
 
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Thank goodness my son is married and is long gone, however, I have a grown daughter, single, and still living here at home! She occupies two rooms plus two large walk in closets in our 4 bedroom home. You need a backhoe to even get into her room. ;P

LOL! ;D You need to post some pics! ;) Now that back bedroom is on my mind - must attend to it soon - hope that there are no dead cleaning people in there from years ago? Yikes! Dave :)
 

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