Image Mac OSX Core Duo Install ?

[wlee]

Bosses daughter just got a Mac Core Duo Notebook. Everything is working fine, but I don't know of a way to create a "restore disc" for it. Is there any equiv software like Ghost or Arconis for OS-X ?

 

[jhu]

doesn't the computer come with installation media?

 

[keeleysam]

You should be able to boot a Ghost or Acronis CD.

 

[bgwilkes]

There are a number of OSX backup utilities, but nothing exactly like Ghost. The closest thing for individual users is Carbon Copy Cloner from bombich.com. (shareware) If you have a server, there are ways to automate the restore process using his NetRestore, but that's mostly of interest when you have multiple machines to support. CCC can duplicate a disk to another disk (separate files) or to a single disk image file.

While you can make blank disk images with Apple's Disk Utility or the command-line tool hdiutil, keep in mind that the Finder cannot see all the files you will need to copy to an image, so you'll need something more comprehensive. CCC is really just a GUI wrapped around a couple of UNIX commands that move the right files.

Also, most backup progs. will require you to be booted from a different disk than the one you are imaging, such as a CD or external firewire drive.

 

[phisrow]

If you boot the 10.4 install CD, you can access "Disk Utility". This has full provision for making disk images. You'll need another drive to dump the resulting image to, though.

 

[wlee]

Thanks for the replies. I'll try the Apple Disc Utilily and dump the image to an external drive, then burn to DVD.

 

[Kaido]

SuperDuper:

http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html

Problem with a stock OS X install is that it's over 20 gigs. There is no software for OS X that I know of that can do what Ghost can do (i.e. hard drive to DVD) and trust me, I've looked.

 

[MeStinkBAD]

Originally posted by: Kaido
SuperDuper:

http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html

Problem with a stock OS X install is that it's over 20 gigs. There is no software for OS X that I know of that can do what Ghost can do (i.e. hard drive to DVD) and trust me, I've looked.

I don't see much use of a program like Ghost for MacOS X. SuperDuper works great. You can even boot off the duplicate drive. Get an external drive and backup everything to that regularly.

I know the next version of MacOS X has something called time machine. I don't know much about it, it's not a backup program. At this time I try to think of it how Windows Restore should have worked in the first place....

 

[AmigaMan]

Another recommendation for Super Duper. Plus if you pay for it, you can do differential backups where it only backs up what's changed and not have to copy the whole drive over. It's only $30 which is a pittance to pay for something that is critical as your data. I rarely buy shareware apps, but this seemed worth it to me.

 

[Shawn]

Why do you need to make a restore image? Reinstalling OS X is pretty easy. It's not like windows where you need to install drivers and such. Also I'm not sure why you'd ever need to reinstall osx anyway. I thought it wasn't supposed to get bogged down like windows does after a while?

 

[alizee]

My vote goes for Disk Utility. I work at an Apple Store as a Tech Admin (half-Genius) and that's how we back up every customers machine. It's easy, quick (well, as fast as firewire can be) and simple. Plus, if you make the disk image right after you install the OS and software, it's a quick fix to get you right to the beginning while skipping the tedium.

Originally posted by: Kaido
Problem with a stock OS X install is that it's over 20 gigs.

I think it's "only" 15 gigs, but if you choose only the packages you want to install you can whittle that down by a lot. The biggest thing that takes up space is iDVD for all the templates, especially now because it has all the templates for each version preceding it. Kind of a drag.

Originally posted by: Shawn
Also I'm not sure why you'd ever need to reinstall osx anyway. I thought it wasn't supposed to get bogged down like windows does after a while?

Only half right. It get's bogged down, it just takes a lot longer and a lot more use.