Cloning Entire HD to a new computer?

[adk]

I have a 15" PB, and I think I'd kind of like to switch to a 12", since I use an external monitor most of the time anyways. I use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone my HD to and External FW drive, and if I were to get a new mac, would it be possible to just clone from the FW drive to the new mac? Is there stuff specific to my 15" PB on the hard drive that would prevent it from working on a different model (ie firmware etc.)? I'd like to clone all my stuff over and have the exact same computer, just with 3" less monitor. I wouldn't have another mac around so Target Disk isn't an Option.

 

[yankeefan24]

well one choice is migration assistant or whatever they call it now.

i don't think you can exactly clone it, others might have better ideas, but migration is my best recomendation.

 

[adk]

well one choice is migration assistant or whatever they call it now.

i don't think you can exactly clone it, others might have better ideas, but migration is my best recomendation.

Totally forgot about that, but can I just migrate stuff from the external HD? I'd rather sell the 15" before getting the 12" since I HATE charging things that I don't yet have the money for.

 

[Heb1228]

With them both being laptops, it should work fine. (Some of the Energy Saver pref files are different from laptops to desktops, among other things.) If you end up having problems, just do a clean install on the new one and copy your user folder from the external and you'll have most stuff preserved.

 

[yellow]

Or just use Carbon Copy CLoner or SuperDuper to clone your current lapttop to the external HD (assuming it's firewire and therefore bootable), and then clone it onto the new computer or use the migration assistant.

 

[danny_w]

There might be some small differences, but cloning to the external hd and then back to the new laptop would probably be fine. My son has a 20" iMac G5 with an external hd clone, and when he was home at Christmas he booted my mini off his hd with not problem; the laptops are certainly more similar than a G4 mini and a G5 iMac, so they should be fine I would think. Hopefully software update would find and take care of any major differences.

 

[adk]

Or just use Carbon Copy CLoner or SuperDuper to clone your current lapttop to the external HD (assuming it's firewire and therefore bootable), and then clone it onto the new computer or use the migration assistant.

That's what I want to do, but I was wondering if anything computer specific was on the hard drive.... like Firmware, Serial Number, battery management etc.


So basically, if I were to get a new computer I could just boot off the FW drive and clone it onto the internal?

 

[PlaceofDis]

That's what I want to do, but I was wondering if anything computer specific was on the hard drive.... like Firmware, Serial Number, battery management etc.


So basically, if I were to get a new computer I could just boot off the FW drive and clone it onto the internal?

yes this should work without a problem. i wouldn't delete your system from the FW for a few days just to be sure that everything is fine and dandy. but it should work no problems.

 

[tjwett]

i've always wondered something about cloning drives, say with CarbonCopyCloner for example....

can i clone an 80GB drive to say, a 250GB drive without anything weird happening? the 250GB won't be read as only 80GB, would it? when i think of cloning the drive i think of it making an exact dupe of the whole drive, not just the contents.

 

[Heb1228]

i've always wondered something about cloning drives, say with CarbonCopyCloner for example....

can i clone an 80GB drive to say, a 250GB drive without anything weird happening? the 250GB won't be read as only 80GB, would it? when i think of cloning the drive i think of it making an exact dupe of the whole drive, not just the contents.

Yeah, you can clone a drive to another drive of a different size. I do it all the time. Somebody else would have to explain how that works from a technical perspective. But it can definitely be done.

 

[tjwett]

Yeah, you can clone a drive to another drive of a different size. I do it all the time. Somebody else would have to explain how that works from a technical perspective. But it can definitely be done.

good to know, thanks!

 

[Mechcozmo]

Clone to the external. Migration assistant will see it as a FireWire drive. A Mac has to be in FireWire Target Disk Mode anywhoo to be 'accessed' by Migration Assistant, so your external drive will show up just fine. (And if that doesn't work, Migration Assistant will still see it as another drive and be happy with it) It will get all your data, but keep the right settings for the new computer.

 

[adk]

i've always wondered something about cloning drives, say with CarbonCopyCloner for example....

can i clone an 80GB drive to say, a 250GB drive without anything weird happening? the 250GB won't be read as only 80GB, would it? when i think of cloning the drive i think of it making an exact dupe of the whole drive, not just the contents.

I'd recommend partitioning it. I have a 250GB drive that's partitioned 100GB for CCC and the rest for other stuff.

 

[yellow]

can i clone an 80GB drive to say, a 250GB drive without anything weird happening? the 250GB won't be read as only 80GB, would it?

It's just copying data from point A to point B. Hard drive size is not a factor in this copy. Other than trying to copy more data from point A to what point B can hold.

I'd recommend partitioning it.

Why?

 

[adk]

Why?

Well, it's my understanding that Carbon Copy Cloner is for making exact copies of the hard drive. I have a 100GB internal HD and a 250GB external. I have a 100GB partition for backing up, and the rest for other stuff. This way if my internal ever fails I can just boot from the Backup partition and clone it back onto a new internal drive. If I were to just have my backup files and everything else on one partition, I wouldn't be able to just hit the "clone" button, since it wouldn't all fit.

 

[yellow]

If I were to just have my backup files and everything else on one partition, I wouldn't be able to just hit the "clone" button, since it wouldn't all fit.

That's not true at all.

You're cloning 100GB to a 250GB disk. As long as you have 250GB free it'll work fine. What you need to make sure is that you don't erase the target before cloning, then all the other data on there will get nuked. In that case partitioning makes sense.

Personally, I have an external drive that I use for NOTHING except clonged back ups. It's never on unless it's getting used for a back up. This minimizes the chance of failure, whereas using a partitioned disk for other things doesn't save you at all. If the disk fails, the disk fails. Partitions won't save you.