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20 Replies Last post: Mar 14, 2007 10:20 PM by GlennG   1 2 Previous Next
Click to view Macworld.com's profile Enthusiast
Macworld.com
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Feb 6, 2004
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Apr 24, 2006 3:30 PM

Mac Gems Weblog: Super(er) Disk Cloning

SuperDuper 2.1 is even better than the version that won an Eddy Award. In other words, it's pretty good. more
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Click to view Nobody's profile New Member
Nobody
58,347 posts since
Oct 18, 2007
1. Apr 24, 2006 4:19 PM in response to: Macworld.com
Re: Mac Gems Weblog: Super(er) Disk Cloning
Is SuperDuper better than Retrospect? I mean, on reliability and performance, not considering price. I have always used Retrospect and it seems rock-solid to me! A bit awkward interface sometimes, though. Thanks.
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Click to view msealey's profile New Member
msealey
71 posts since
Sep 2, 2004
2. Apr 24, 2006 4:32 PM in response to: Nobody
Re: Mac Gems Weblog: Super(er) Disk Cloning
I've been using SD for about six months. It really is the very best! And tech support is second to none.

It's different from Retrospect, which can file or burn or archive, compress changes.

SD - when using 'Smart Copy' (essentially a delta between your source and target bringing the latter to the state of the former) can back up and make bootable in about 5 mins for 30 GB.

If the next Dantz upgrade is costly or hasn't much to recommend it, I'll probably ditch it in favour of SD, which is all you need - if it's not important to keep previous snapshots.

Well-priced, robust, attractively-designed and simple to use yet very powerful, I'd recommend SD in every way!
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Click to view rmcellig's profile New Member
rmcellig
53 posts since
Mar 4, 2001
3. Apr 24, 2006 4:37 PM in response to: msealey
Re: Mac Gems Weblog: Super(er) Disk Cloning
I second that comment. Superduper is fantastic. I have been using it for a few months now to back up my main drive to two seperate Firewire drives. It's flawless and support is beyond reproach. It's fantastic!!
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Click to view AndrewRodney's profile New Member
AndrewRodney
130 posts since
Jul 19, 2005
4. Apr 24, 2006 5:04 PM in response to: rmcellig
Re: Mac Gems Weblog: Super(er) Disk Cloning
Yes SuperDuper is awesome and deserves all the praises given. I've been using every back up application I could get my hands on since my first Mac way back in 1988 (back then I think it was DiskFit). I've used Retrospect and while it's powerful, it's overkill. SD is elegant, so easy to use my mom could figure it out and rock solid. Worth many time its price. A gem.
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Click to view Dan Frakes's profile Macworld Editorial
Dan Frakes
3,181 posts since
Apr 14, 2003
5. Apr 24, 2006 5:59 PM in response to: Nobody
Re: Mac Gems Weblog: Super(er) Disk Cloning
In reply to:<hr />
Is SuperDuper better than Retrospect? I mean, on reliability and performance, not considering price. I have always used Retrospect and it seems rock-solid to me! A bit awkward interface sometimes, though. Thanks.

<hr />


First, I should be clear that Retrospect is a true "backup" utility, whereas SuperDuper is a cloning utility. The difference being that Retrospect can perform incremental backups, saving a copy of every version of a file; SuperDuper will clone your drive's current state, so if you've made changes to a document on the source volume, the older version on the clone will be replaced by the newer version the next time you back up the source volume. Retrospect can also back up to CD, DVD, or tape. So there are advantages to using something like Retrospect.

That being said, in my experience, SuperDuper has been the most reliable backup software I've used. Part of this is because it doesn't use a proprietary format -- plug a SuperDuper-created clone into any Mac and it's accessible. But just as significant is that SuperDuper also seems to handle OS X's permissions and metadata better than any other utility. (Check out this article about the various backup utilities for OS X and how well they handle metadata: http://blog.plasticsfuture.org/2006/04/23/mac-backup-software-harmful/ ) I've run into problems restoring data from Retrospect backups -- both in terms of file metadata and recreating a bootable volume.

I still use Retrospect for versioned backups of particularly important files where I might need to go back and view an earlier version. But for my day-to-day data security, I've migrated to SuperDuper.

Dan Frakes | Senior Editor, Macworld
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Click to view SeanoVox's profile New Member
SeanoVox
79 posts since
Aug 29, 2004
6. Apr 24, 2006 7:12 PM in response to: Macworld.com
Re: Mac Gems Weblog: Super(er) Disk Cloning
Can't I do this with OSX's Disk Utility app. Open the App, on a drive, and select the Restore tab, drag and drop source and destination drives and press restore. it makes a perfect copy of your drive. I did this last year when my wife's iBook HD was failing i bought a new 2.5" drive w/usb enclosure and used this method to back up the internal drive onto the new drive. then booted off the external drive to make sure it worked. it was fine. so i cracked open the cases (iBook and USB enclosure) and put the new drive (with all the copied data) into the iBook. closed it up and rebooted from the new internal drive. No you cant do incremental backups but you can clone it with free software from apple.

Sean
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Click to view moose_n_squirrel's profile Old Hand
moose_n_squirrel
2,809 posts since
Sep 16, 2004
7. Apr 24, 2006 7:24 PM in response to: SeanoVox
Re: Mac Gems Weblog: Super(er) Disk Cloning
Sure, you can clone with Disk Utility, but other utilities are used for their additional features that Disk Utility does not have. Incremental updates are very important to me, so I can't use Disk Utility. It's the difference between a 90-minute full clone and a 15-minute quick backup. Disk Utility can't do the short version. Carbon Copy Cloner can do incremental updates, and Super Duper has many more options than CCC or Disk Utility, that's why people use them instead of Disk Utility.
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Click to view tomtom's profile Member
tomtom
886 posts since
Jan 6, 2006
8. Apr 25, 2006 12:12 AM in response to: Macworld.com
Re: Mac Gems Weblog: Super(er) Disk Cloning
Good review.

I use Intego Personal Backup X4 for making clones and have found it excellent for PPC discs.

It now has most f not all of the functionality of Super Duper. "What will happen" is less explicit and is not immediately visible since the developer assumed that this can be tucked away after the first use. However, there are short explicit warnings about each Clone or Backup scenario. For example before a clone starts, the authenticated user is warned that files on the cloned volume that do not exist on the source volume will be deleted. .

As a matter of interest, what is or will be your backup strategy for a Windows volume - presumably a backup using a windows utility?
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Click to view Jamus's profile New Member
Jamus
115 posts since
Aug 27, 2004
9. Apr 25, 2006 6:26 AM in response to: Macworld.com
Re: Mac Gems Weblog: Super(er) Disk Cloning
Great app. The only problem I ever had come up with it was when I attempted to clone various RAID drives. It failed when cloning mirror and striped RAID disks to a disk image. That may be fixed by now though I have not had the time to test it again.

Other than that it has been a great app and hope to purchase a full license soon.
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Click to view stiix's profile New Member
stiix
13 posts since
Feb 25, 2003
10. Apr 25, 2006 8:10 AM in response to: Jamus
Re: Mac Gems Weblog: Super(er) Disk Cloning
I want to be sure I understand the following paragraph from your article:

(Clones are also useful when rebuilding your Macas I found out this past weekend after a power surge wreaked havoc on my system. You can erase your main hard drive, install Mac OS X on it, and then use OS Xs Migration Assistant to import all your user accounts, files, and applications from the clone.)

If I have to erase my main hard drive, for whatever reason, I need to install OSX and then use Migration Assistant.
Why can't I use SuperDuper to clone everything back onto my hard drive?
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Click to view ncrbrd's profile New Member
ncrbrd
2 posts since
Apr 25, 2006
11. Apr 25, 2006 9:07 AM in response to: Macworld.com
Re: Mac Gems Weblog: Super(er) Disk Cloning
You might have a look at this extensive comparison of Mac backup/cloning utilities. SuperDuper is the only one unreservedly recommended. Many others, including stalwarts like Retrospect, come in for some unexpected criticism:

http://blog.plasticsfuture.org/2006/04/23/mac-backup-software-harmful/

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Click to view Dan Frakes's profile Macworld Editorial
Dan Frakes
3,181 posts since
Apr 14, 2003
12. Apr 25, 2006 2:09 PM in response to: ncrbrd
Re: Mac Gems Weblog: Super(er) Disk Cloning
ncrbrd: I linked to that article in a post above


stiix:
In reply to:<hr />
If I have to erase my main hard drive, for whatever reason, I need to install OSX and then use Migration Assistant.
Why can't I use SuperDuper to clone everything back onto my hard drive?

<hr />


You could... unless, like me, you didn't realize your system was hosed until after you ran your daily clone backup (In other words, the OS on the clone was then hosed, too. So I just erased my boot volume, installed OS X, and then restored all my files and apps from the clone.)

Dan Frakes | Senior Editor, Macworld
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Albertr
725 posts since
Apr 19, 2003
13. Apr 26, 2006 4:25 AM in response to: AndrewRodney
Re: Mac Gems Weblog: Super(er) Disk Cloning
The absolute best feature if Superduper is the support. You email to them and the answer is almost immediate. By the way, I used to use pricey Retrospect too. I dumped it when they gave me lip instead of helping they claimed that I had called a year before and they would have to charge me, I hung up and tried Superduper. Easy to use, great support, exactly what everything should be. I put two companies in the bin not deserving my support: Smartdisk sale as "Got you!" and Retrospect loosy support. If ever an application needs good support, a Back up app. is it!
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Click to view dougster's profile Old Hand
dougster
4,118 posts since
Feb 25, 2001
14. Apr 29, 2006 11:42 AM in response to: Macworld.com
Re: Mac Gems Weblog: Super(er) Disk Cloning
I use to think CCC was the answer to a perfect clone until it tossed a KP on me. Sooo, now its SuperDuper, and all has been perfect for a few months now. Its just ::sweet:: to have software do what it says it'll do w/o any speed-bumps.

-doug
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