MacKeeper

[honestone33]

Funny that you would mention that and I was thinking the same thing just the other day, then lo and behold, up popped several ads for MacKeeper and that was when browsing with my AdBloker enabled.

So they are still alive and well and no doubt sucking in all kinds of money from all the unsuspecting users.


- Patrick
======

Hmm, so far the ad blockers I use with Google Chrome, Firefox, and Opera seem to work well, and have not seen any MacKeeper ads (along with other ads I do not need to see).

 

[Randy B. Singer]

@Randy Interesting idea. I don't know why that never occurred to me before now. Time to go into the thinking corner and puzzle over things for a bit.

Here is how it could be done:

- We could all contribute to a list of questions that come up all the time (that would be dead easy, I've already listed a bunch of them).

- We could solicit volunteers to each take a question and look up past answers here, and maybe elsewhere, and write up a definitive answer.

- The answers could be posted and opened for review by others.

- The suggestions made by others could be integrated into the answer. (Points of contention could be presented as such.)

- The FAQ answer could be posted in a FAQ section and locked.

(Of course, some answers might be too long, or too difficult, to be appropriate for a FAQ section. That's sort of the point of the Web sites I've created for Mac users.)


Having a Macintosh FAQ page on the Web could be a nice draw to this discussion site. In fact, it could make this the go-to site for Macintosh users looking for a quick answer to a general problem.

 

[Slydude]

Good suggestions. As I read them it occurred to me that there are multiple opportunities in the process for site admins/mods to check the content of such threads. Not to rule with an iron fist so to speak but to make sure that the FAQs accurately represent the general consensus of the best current info.

 

[Rod]

I like it. I would be willing to contribute in any way I can to an FAQ's column.
There is a question which comes up quite a bit lately related to not having a bootable source. It's a kind of "Catch 22" situation where you need to be able to boot in order to fix an issue that is preventing you from booting.
Easily solved if you have a bootable clone or a USB thumb drive macOS installer but commonly this is not the case.
Time Machine offers an option that not many OP's seem to be aware of; it has a backup of the Recovery Partition. You can boot from that and use it to access Disk Utility. So even the bog standard TM backup could save your *** in the case of a system failure. This fact and the steps involve could be valuable info for an FAQ.

 

[honestone33]

I like it. I would be willing to contribute in any way I can to an FAQ's column.
There is a question which comes up quite a bit lately related to not having a bootable source. It's a kind of "Catch 22" situation where you need to be able to boot in order to fix an issue that is preventing you from booting.
Easily solved if you have a bootable clone or a USB thumb drive macOS installer but commonly this is not the case.
Time Machine offers an option that not many OP's seem to be aware of; it has a backup of the Recovery Partition. You can boot from that and use it to access Disk Utility. So even the bog standard TM backup could save your *** in the case of a system failure. This fact and the steps involve could be valuable info for an FAQ.

I also like it. Excellent idea.

As for backups, it is typically a case of either using the free program Time Machine, or using Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper!. I actually read with interest the way one can create a clone via Disk Utility. In fact, I never knew about that.

For me, though, it has always been the ease which I have when I need to either do a Recovery from my backup, or using the backup to facilitate the clean, fresh installation of either a new version of the Mac OS, or even a version "within" the current Mac OS.

As always, there are Pros and Cons to this discussion, and as the old saying goes, "To each his own".

 

[Randy B. Singer]

There is a question which comes up quite a bit lately related to not having a bootable source. It's a kind of "Catch 22" situation where you need to be able to boot in order to fix an issue that is preventing you from booting.
Easily solved if you have a bootable clone or a USB thumb drive macOS installer but commonly this is not the case.

If you have a recent Macintosh, you can simply start up from Recovery Over The Internet:
About macOS Recovery - Apple Support

Time Machine offers an option that not many OP's seem to be aware of; it has a backup of the Recovery Partition. You can boot from that and use it to access Disk Utility. So even the bog standard TM backup could save your *** in the case of a system failure. This fact and the steps involve could be valuable info for an FAQ.

Ever since OS X 10.7.2, Time Machine backups are bootable. They won't boot into the version of the OS that you were running, and you can't log in to your account, but they will boot into the equivalent of your Recovery Partition. From there, you can reformat disks and do a full restore.

As for backups, it is typically a case of either using the free program Time Machine, or using Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper!. I actually read with interest the way one can create a clone via Disk Utility. In fact, I never knew about that.

There is the ability to create a clone backup built right into the Mac OS. But it is quite a bit slower than using CCC or SD. Another huge disadvantage to it is that there in no ability to do a smart update. If your data on your main hard drive changes, you have to do a complete new clone backup from scratch if you want to add your new data to your backup. However, the ability to create a clone backup built into the Mac OS has the huge advantage of being free. Here is how you do it:

- Plug the backup HD into the computer.
- Launch Disk Utility.
- Select the HD you want to copy in the column to the left.
- Click on the Restore tab.
- That HD you just selected should appear after Source:
- From the window on the left, drag the icon of the HD to which you want the Source HD copied.
- You should see a note with something to this effect: Erase the Destination HD and copy the contents of the Source HD to it?
- Click on the Restore button and that’s it.

 

[Slydude]

If you have a recent Macintosh, you can simply start up from Recovery Over The Internet:
About macOS Recovery - Apple Support



Ever since OS X 10.7.2, Time Machine backups are bootable. They won't boot into the version of the OS that you were running, and you can't log in to your account, but they will boot into the equivalent of your Recovery Partition. From there, you can reformat disks and do a full restore.

I didn't become aware that Time Machine backups were bootable until some time after that feature was added. It's a welcome addition to that utility. I always forget the limitation that it doesn't log into your account /or contain the OS you' were running. I use it primarily for backups and clone with CCC because of that. The option to do an incremental "smart" clone with CCC is a bonus.

 

[ferrarr]

There is the ability to create a clone backup built right into the Mac OS. But it is quite a bit slower than using CCC or SD. Another huge disadvantage to it is that there in no ability to do a smart update. If your data on your main hard drive changes, you have to do a complete new clone backup from scratch if you want to add your new data to your backup. However, the ability to create a clone backup built into the Mac OS has the huge advantage of being free. Here is how you do it:

- Plug the backup HD into the computer.
- Launch Disk Utility.
- Select the HD you want to copy in the column to the left.
- Click on the Restore tab.
- That HD you just selected should appear after Source:
- From the window on the left, drag the icon of the HD to which you want the Source HD copied.
- You should see a note with something to this effect: Erase the Destination HD and copy the contents of the Source HD to it?
- Click on the Restore button and that’s it.

Do you know if it still works with APFS? I tried that with my Mac Mini, and I couldn’t get it to work. I thought it was because my internal was an SSD and the external was an HDD?


Sent from my iPad using Mac-Forums

 

[pm-r]

I couldn’t get it to work. I thought it was because my internal was an SSD and the external was an HDD?

Have a read here and see if it could be due to the formatting that was used on the boot Drive:
Which format: APFS or Mac OS Extended
How to erase a disk for Mac - Apple Support



- Patrick
======

 

[ferrarr]

Thanks Patrick, I've read that before, but it doesn't specifically tell me how format an external drive to make a bootable backup. That's where I'm stuck.

 

[pm-r]

Thanks Patrick, I've read that before, but it doesn't specifically tell me how format an external drive to make a bootable backup. That's where I'm stuck.

I'm told I shouldn't bash Apple, but their lack of specific details and clarity and even diagrams or illustrations in their KB "help" articles drives me crazy.

I guess maybe try another more specific Google search unless you can get up Apple search engine to work better than I can.

I'm sorry I didn't supply the correct URL, and I just glanced through it, and I should have read through for more details and to see if the info needed was even included.


- Patrick
======

 

[honestone33]

There is the ability to create a clone backup built right into the Mac OS. But it is quite a bit slower than using CCC or SD. Another huge disadvantage to it is that there in no ability to do a smart update. If your data on your main hard drive changes, you have to do a complete new clone backup from scratch if you want to add your new data to your backup. However, the ability to create a clone backup built into the Mac OS has the huge advantage of being free. Here is how you do it:

- Plug the backup HD into the computer.
- Launch Disk Utility.
- Select the HD you want to copy in the column to the left.
- Click on the Restore tab.
- That HD you just selected should appear after Source:
- From the window on the left, drag the icon of the HD to which you want the Source HD copied.
- You should see a note with something to this effect: Erase the Destination HD and copy the contents of the Source HD to it?
- Click on the Restore button and that’s it.

Regarding recent changes in data/information on the source drive, I do my SuperDuper! backups right after using my machines, along with always keeping both machines in sync. In fact, that is what I am about to do soon, as I am using my Mac Mini right now before I do my maintenance/backup tasks (for my MacBook Air, already did updates yesterday, and my EMail is kept up to date on both machines).

As for free versus not free, while free is nice, as you said, using SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy Cloner is easier for making clones. Also, it makes it easier when doing a clean installation of the Mac OS, and then migrating information from the just completed backup. And the cost is not that bad: SuperDuper! for $27.95, and CCC for $39.95. One can use either of them in demo mode for a period of time, and in fact, when I started using SuperDuper!, I used in in demo mode for almost a year.

So, the ease, convenience, and restore capabilities of either one are an easy trade off for me.

 

[honestone33]

Have a read here and see if it could be due to the formatting that was used on the boot Drive:
Which format: APFS or Mac OS Extended
How to erase a disk for Mac - Apple Support



- Patrick
======

Interesting and informative link. Given that I use Mojave, my internal SSDs on both of my Macs are automatically formatted with APFS with an installation of Mojave. For two of my external SSDs (partitioned with 3 partitions), I formatted each partition (via Disk Utility) as APFS, and that works fine. For my third SSD, given that I use it to watch Movies and/or TV series on our TVs, and plug it into a Roku device, the Roku software recognizes Mac OS Extended, but not APFS (I guess there is the possibility of a software upgrade from Roku that would alleviate that, but for now, it's fine).

 

[Randy B. Singer]

...it doesn't specifically tell me how format an external drive to make a bootable backup. That's where I'm stuck.

Preparing your backup disk for a backup of macOS

Preparing your backup disk for a backup of macOS | Carbon Copy Cloner | Bombich Software

"Choosing a Format for your destination volume

"Mojave and Catalina: Choose APFS if you are backing up your startup disk or another installation of macOS. Do not choose APFS Encrypted. You can encrypt your backup by enabling FileVault while booted from the backup volume.

"High Sierra: both APFS and Mac OS Extended (Journaled) are acceptable formats for a backup of the system. Mirroring Apple's recommendations, we recommend that you choose APFS if your destination device is an SSD and will be used to back up macOS, or if you are backing up a T2-based Mac and you intend to enable encryption on the backup. Choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) if your destination device is a spinning-platter-based device (i.e. a hard disk drive, or HDD), or if you are backing up an operating system older than 10.13."

 

[MacInWin]

I'm told I shouldn't bash Apple, but their lack of specific details and clarity and even diagrams or illustrations in their KB "help" articles drives me crazy.

Here you go, Patrick. Even has pictures!

How to erase a disk for Mac - Apple Support

To get to that article, I went to apple.com, selected "Support" and typed in "Format" and the article was the first on the list.

 

[sllewk]

Hi toMACsh, daft question here - I wonder how a chicken knows how big your eggcup is before it lays the egg???

From Keith in Derby England.

 

[Slydude]

Of all the things I've wondered about in my life that's never been one of them.

 

[pm-r]

Here you go, Patrick. Even has pictures!

How to erase a disk for Mac - Apple Support

To get to that article, I went to apple.com, selected "Support" and typed in "Format" and the article was the first on the list.

Thanks Jake, and rather interesting, but using exactly the same method you used I came up with absolutely zero results, in fact not even close that had anything to do with "Format".

Maybe because I ended up on the Apple Canada site???

But it was nice to see that they actually provided some nice illustrations in the link you provided. I wish they would do more, especially for the new users who have just started using Macs.


- Patrick
======

 

[pm-r]

Hi toMACsh, daft question here - I wonder how a chicken knows how big your eggcup is before it lays the egg???

Actually, with the attitude of most chickens, they don't really give a **** about the size of your egg cup. Their concern is that their egg could be as big as the old biddies eggs on either side of them, but a young hen's eggs will never be as large as the older hens eggs until she ages a bit. And I guess things have to grow and stretch a bit as well to get to that stage.


- Patrick
======

 

[MacInWin]

Patrick, that is puzzling. I went to apple.com, clicked on "Support" and then in the search box typed "format" and before I could even finish that, the article I linked showed up at the top of the list. I'll try the Canadian site later on today and see if that makes any difference. I cannot think of why that should be, or why Apple would have two different support documents for the same topic in the (relatively) same language.