Simple process for backing up all files on a Macbook running OS X 10.4

Question

I need a simple way to backup the contents of my girlfriend's Macbook hard drive. The Macbook is running OS X 10.4.11 - Tiger

I don't need to be able to restore the entire OS Install. I just need to make sure that I can get access to saved files. I don't want to hunt through my hard drive now to find all the things that might be important later.

I plan to back up to to an external hard drive.

Can I follow the instructions for backing up using Disk Utility? (Even though I'm using 10.4):

Once the backup is complete, will I be able to easily mount the backup image to access files without restoring the entire thing back to the Macbook's internal hard drive?

Is there another (simpler) way to do it?

Solution

You might want to look at SuperDuper (in particular version 2.7.1).

SuperDuper is Backup software specifically designed for OSX, and though it is commercial software, the free version is sufficient for what you are doing.

It will copy the entire contents of your internal hard drive to an external drive. You will be able to read and write files on the external just by connecting it via USB or Firewire.

SuperDuper does it's best to make the external drive Bootable, but this is not always possible, based on the files that you have loaded onto it and the specifications of your external drive.

Comments

[HikeMike]

The document you link to described four methods. One is explicitly only available on OS X 10.5 and later, the second one creates a full image of the hard disk, the next one requires you to subscribe to a service and the last one is manual backup of selected files. All of this can be gathered from skimming the document. It's not clear what exactly you are referring to, and why you think it might work for your situation.

[slhck]

possible duplicate of Backup tool for Mac OS X?

[slhck]

In essence, use Carbon Copy Cloner, and you will be fine. You can boot from this backup as well, but you don't need to of course.