CCC is supposed to be an exact clone?

[Peter Franks]

I've only ever used CCC a couple of times and on each occasion it's always been near to the same GB as the SSD/HDD. SSD at 500GB and about 400GB used, and the CCC was around the same when copied, and the same 100GB remaining on the drive.

I've never actually added/updated to it, instead of cloning the drive from scratch as previously done.

Today I updated/added and the SSD shows 100GB remaining still, but the CCC clone SSD shows 70GB remaining. I was under the impression that if the drive fails and I want to use the CCC it was an exact clone, so why has it got an extra 30GB of data on it?

Thanks for any help.

 

[BrianBaughn]

Is the extra in the "_CCC SafetyNet" folder?

 

[Peter Franks]

Ooh, I don't know, how would I find that? Is that the norm, Would that carry 30GB more?

 

[Peter Franks]

On the subject of CCC

Can anyone explain why when showing videos of how to prepare the drive for the clone. You will see

Erase drive - Mac OS Journ/GUID

And also

Partition 1 - Mac OS Journo/GUID

Both are shown as the prepare?

Which one, and why is there not a definitive. Is setting as ‘1’ Partition the same as ‘Erasing’ to prepare the drive for the clone?

CCC site instructions use the ‘Erase’, no mention of partitioned. But most videos I’ve watched on YouTube are partitioned instead. Can anyone verify this at all, and if Erase is exactly the same.

Plus, is it necessary to make the recovery part on the clone?

 

[Fishrrman]

IF CCC's "safety net" feature was enabled, you have "more than" just a clone. CCC also archives older files that have been changed on the source drive. So the target volume will actually have "more" on it than the source.

I suggest you switch the safety net to OFF, then run CCC.
It should result in a target that is close-to-identical of the source.

I believe CCC DOES NOT clone over certain caches, etc.
You'd have to consult the documentation to find out which files are "left behind".

You DO want a copy of the recovery partition on the clone, as well.

 

[Peter Franks]

Thanks. If I have the recovery on the clone too, can it still be eventually used to put in the MacBook Pro as an internal instead of the external?

Reason being, if High Sierra is too much for my old MBP, I can switch out the SSD for the cloned one and go back to Sierra on the clone?

 

[chscag]

Be sure to check for "Local Snapshots" which take up considerable space. CCC will create Local Snapshots in addition to the "Safety Net" files it keeps. You can read up on CCC local snapshots at the CCC site. www.bombich.com

Both Local Snapshots and the Safety Net feature can be turned off. So if you do not feel you need them, just turn them off. To see if there are any local snapshots on your drive, run this command from Terminal:

sudo tmutil listlocalsnapshots /Volumes/

 

[jzuena]

Thanks. If I have the recovery on the clone too, can it still be eventually used to put in the MacBook Pro as an internal instead of the external?

Reason being, if High Sierra is too much for my old MBP, I can switch out the SSD for the cloned one and go back to Sierra on the clone?

If you want to go back, boot from the clone (hold down option on boot and choose the clone), then clone that back to the internal drive and reboot normally. No need to swap drives to get the cloned OS back.

 

[Peter Franks]

Thanks for all the help people, Anyone have an idea about the Partition or Erase in Disk Utility when setting it up? I see both and always wondered which is the one you should use, or does it make no difference anyway. I used 'Erase'. Didn't set any partition?

If you want to go back, boot from the clone (hold down option on boot and choose the clone), then clone that back to the internal drive and reboot normally. No need to swap drives to get the cloned OS back.

And it doesn't matter that the file system is different between Sierra/High Sierra?
Which takes it back to that question, the internal SSD would have to be formatted again prior to that, and would need what, partition 1, or erase?

 

[ApfelKuchen]

Partition is used to divide a physical drive into multiple logical drives. Each logical drive can be formatted separately (different drive formats), and each can be addressed as if it was a physical drive.

Erase can be used to either erase an entire hard drive (all partitions), or it can be used to erase just the contents of one partition.

 

[Peter Franks]

Partition is used to divide a physical drive into multiple logical drives. Each logical drive can be formatted separately (different drive formats), and each can be addressed as if it was a physical drive.

Erase can be used to either erase an entire hard drive (all partitions), or it can be used to erase just the contents of one partition.

Thanks, And when setting up a clone to copy your Mac, erase is OK?

 

[ApfelKuchen]

Thanks, And when setting up a clone to copy your Mac, erase is OK?

Erase the external drive that will hold the clone? Yes, if you aren’t also using that drive for other stuff. If you’re using the drive for other stuff you may want/need to partition that drive. Create the partition in existing free space and an erase/format may be unnecessary.

Erase the internal drive prior to restoring a clone from an external drive? Yes.

 

[Peter Franks]

Thanks for your help! SO much of this does confuse me. Because they do show both versions of preparing clone, Click: Partition 1 or: just erase it. I've no clue which was the one I needed, but assumed I don't need partition because there's no definitive or explanation

 

[jlc1978]

Thanks for your help! SO much of this does confuse me. Because they do show both versions of preparing clone, Click: Partition 1 or: just erase it. I've no clue which was the one I needed, but assumed I don't need partition because there's no definitive or explanation

It depends on your use case. I have a 2TB external drive that I use for Time Machine as well as to why store backups of specific folders made by CCC. I erased it and formatted as a MacOS Journaled with GUID. I then partitioned it into 2 elections, 1.5GB which I named Time Machine and use it for my Time Machine BU, and another simply Backup which I have CCC use to backup.

I did not have too do that but it makes it easier to track what is where.

I am a bit paranoid about backups as I run my business on my Mac and can't afford to lose files. Here is my backup remind:

Forever Save: This program saves a separate copy every =time you do a Control S save in a program; allowing you to roll back to a past version if you mess up and overwrite or delete stuff by mistake.

CCC: Backup my documents and Forever Save vault on an hourly basis to a MicroSD card. This allows me to access my files if my Mac dies I have to buy a new one while traveling. Backup them as well to an external HD periodically.

ARQ: Encrypted backups to a OneDrive account. I encrypt for security in the cloud. ARQ lets name access the files on any device.

Time Machine: Regular full backups. I do not relay just on those as I've had issues with migration assistant not working.

Next step is to buy another external drive and have CCC clone the drive on a weekly basis; or upload an image to my NAS.

This paranoia comes from working at a Big Six consulting firm years ago. The needed to swap my computer and assured me they'd backup everything. IT had set up a partition to store work files on it in addition to the boot partition; a fact I explained to IT and had them write on the work order. Got my machine back with no work files. IT said, Opps, we screwed up. Fortunately I had backed them up separately.

You can never have too many backups...

 

[Peter Franks]

Thanks, This is spot on. I get the partitioning for what you need yes. I also run my business from my one 'vintage' MBP, iPhone/iPad. And it's a worry when things go bad. I do CCC and TimeMachine, but I'm not overly convinced with the TM back ups, as they sometimes have a mind of their own.

I had very strange goings on when I installed High Sierra, and it asked things I'd not seen on any other install. Forced to sign in to iCloud during install that messed a lot up when I did get in, And there was always an option to bypass that on every other prior OS install. It did mess up a lot of other settings, but CCC is probably as near as damn it when it is needed. Do any of the ones you mentioned, Forever Save etc. save as previous OS, or just the files and data?

 

[jlc1978]

Thanks, This is spot on. I get the partitioning for what you need yes. I also run my business from my one 'vintage' MBP, iPhone/iPad. And it's a worry when things go bad. I do CCC and TimeMachine, but I'm not overly convinced with the TM back ups, as they sometimes have a mind of their own.

I had very strange goings on when I installed High Sierra, and it asked things I'd not seen on any other install. Forced to sign in to iCloud during install that messed a lot up when I did get in, And there was always an option to bypass that on every other prior OS install. It did mess up a lot of other settings, but CCC is probably as near as damn it when it is needed. Do any of the ones you mentioned, Forever Save etc. save as previous OS, or just the files and data?

Glad to help. TM is greta, when it works but I do not like having a single point of failure, wether it is TM, CCC, ARQ, etc. so I use multiple ways to backup and secure my data. A with you, I am only one SSD failure on my MBP to be dead in the water.

ForeverSave saves the files only in its own DB. You open it and click on the file you want and it opens and can be edited, saved, etc. like any other file. You have to define what programs you want it to monitor, I have it monitor those I regular use to create files. The DB is portable so you can install FS on another machine and use the DB to recover files. you can check it out at: https://toolforcesoftware.com/foreversave/

ARQ creates its own encrypted files that can only be decrypted with the password and ARQ. I like it because it allows me to store files in the C=cloud without worrying someone could access them in the event of a data breach.I backup my Documents, Downloads, ForeverSave and 1Password db, and the Containers folder to the cloud. I backup Containers since that contains the information used by programs to register, etc. This came in handy when Time Machine wouldn't restore and I couldn't find a registration for a specific program. I moved the program specific file to the Container folder in my new MBP and the program was registered and I could copy the license info to 1PW. ARQ is at: https://www.arqbackup.com

-jlc

 

[Peter Franks]

Thanks jlc, I'd not seen either of them before, but just been watching a few vids of them. Like you say, it's worth checking out more than one. And to be honest, no hard drive back ups are fool proof. Regardless of how they were made, CCC/TM