[SOLVED] How to create an image of my Macbook HDD

[HulaHula]

Hi, I bought a pretty cheap early unibody Macbook to help me get to grips with MacOX, but I would really like to be able to create a HDD image 'as is' before I start changing too much. It's been wiped and setup as a generic 'user'

This is on one hand to have a backup as the HDD is likely to be old and prone to fail. Also it's so I can revert to previous setups.

I really want something that works in the way Macrium Reflect works on my PC's, it allows me to make multiple images of a HDD which can be saved on just one ext HDD. I don't want to just copy the HDD to another one as this seems a waste of a spare HDD.

I'm a bit puzzled as to what I can do, searching hasn't found a way, any advice would be appreciated.

 

[kenrivers]

If you wish to clone the drive and have a bootable drive then you could try SuperDuper or Carbon Copy which are for use with a MacBook.

How to create a disk image using Disk Utility:
Creating Disk Images with Disk Utility
How to Create Disk Images with Disk Utility
How to create blank disk images with Disk Utility

 

[HulaHula]

Oh thanks Ken. SuperDuper looks a good option as I would preferred a free option like Macrium Reflect as it's not something I'll use much.

Trouble is it looks like with both these options I would have to use up a whole HDD for every image. With Macrium Reflect I am able to have multiple images, so my 4TB drive can have 5 images at different stages and the rest of the HDD is free to use for other data.

Is there a way around this say for instance creating a mac formatted ext HDD with say 5 partitions, 4 of which are 50GB for 4 different clone images, the 5th for just any data with the remaining space.

I may not need 4 different clone images, but more than one for a HDD would be much better.

 

[McHenryB]

SuperDuper allows you to save to a disk image.

 

[HulaHula]

Sorry I think I've been a little confused about the term 'image'. That's what I want a single file comprising the whole HDD which I now understand 'image' means, after a google.

I sort of thought it was the same as the term 'clone'.

So basically looks like SuperDuper does everything and it's free. Sounds perfect I'll get a spare HDD and get testing.

Thanks again THW forum