On Nov 22, 2024, at 12:50 PM, Joan Sax via groups.io <jsax@...> wrote:
I have been using SuperDuper for years to automatically backup my iMac to a backup drive. But I also backup to iCloud. I had a problem installing the latest version for Sequoia, after paying for it and so I asked for a refund. Before I try once again to buy the latest version, it is still a good idea to have this?
SuperDuper is still wildly useful for making a clone backup.
The controversy is over whether you CAN make a BOOTABLE backup, and if if a bootable backup is even worth anything.
People using CCC as still reporting that they are having problems making bootable backups. Folks using SD are having much more success. Instructions here:
Part of the problem is that Apple Silicon Macs will ONLY BOOT FROM AN EXTERNAL THUNDERBOLT DRIVE (not a simple USB-C drive)!
You also have to set the security of your Mac so that it allows you to boot from the external drive:
A word about how useful a bootable drive is is you have an Apple Silicon Mac¡
Lots of folks are going around saying that a bootable clone backup is worthless because if an Apple Silicon Mac¡¯s internal hard drive fails, it won¡¯t startup at all, even from an external bootable clone. And that¡¯s true, but it¡¯s not the entire story.
First, Apple has made the OS much more robust recently. So robust, that having an an internal SSD drive fail due to a corrupted directory just about never happens anymore. In fact, I, personally, have yet to hear of someone having their internal SSD fail in an Apple Silicon Mac! And I¡¯m on half a dozen Mac discussion lists, comprising hundreds of thousands of Mac users.
Second, when SSD¡¯s fail from, basically, old age (i.e. they become over-full), they don¡¯t completely die. They just become read-only. That means that you can still start up your Mac, and you can still effectively boot up from an external bootable drive!
So while a bootable clone backup isn¡¯t as useful as it once was, having one isn¡¯t worthless either.
In any case, the one thing that hasn¡¯t changed at all, is that having a backup of your data is still invaluable. A clone backup is a very useful format for a backup, even if it isn¡¯t bootable. You can re-create your data, right down to its organization, on a new Mac, or on your old Mac if it comes back with a new SSD, easily using your non-bootable clone.
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Randy B. Singer
Co-author of The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th, and 6th editions)
Essential But Hard To Find Macintosh Software and Advice
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