how do I use carbon copy cloner?

[Dlatu1983]

I'm trying to put the entire contents of my HD onto another Mac (I'm buying a new one, and I need to transfer my data over)...has anyone ever used Carbon Copy Cloner? Or could I just drag my Library, Movies, Applications, and Music folders over onto the new mac (using target disc mode), and overwrite the folders already on there?

[bobw]

CCC will do it, just read the Intstructions for it.

[chabig]

Yes, use CCC. DO NOT DRAG the files over. It doesn't work in OS X because of file privileges and the number of invisible files.

Chris

[JeffCGD]

Yup. Just connect the two machines with a firewire cable, start up the target machine (your new one) in Firewire Disc Target Mode (hold down 'T' when booting it after connecting it to the other machine), and the drive should show up on the other machine's desktop. Initialize, or reformat the target drive with Disc utility, then start CarbonCopyCloner (After reading the instructions thoroughly!), and clone your complete boot volume to the new machine's blank drive.
Shut down both machines when it's all done (it WILL take a long time). Unplug the Firewire cable, and restart your new Mac holding down the 'X' key to force OSX startup from the local drive, in case it doesn't know where to boot from (set it to your new boot volume in system prefs, assuming everything had gone according to plan and your system is successfully cloned onto the new machine, allowing normal start up & login).

NOTE: If you have multiple partitions, and alias or symlinks to them (you probably don't have any of the latter - or know what they are - if you are asking how to use CCC, so you should be fine), they might need relinking. Or the other volumes might need cloning to respective new volumes on your new machine also - take this into account when initializing your target machine.

Running a prebinding operation (the process you see as "Optimizing System Performance" when updating OSX) would be a VERY good idea as soon as possible (there are a few third party tools to force this: SpeedmeupPro, or Cocktail for example), as would a permissions repair, to ensure everything gets settled in correctly.

[Sharper]

JeffCGD do you know a way to get the same results except over a network?

I want to save a disk image of an OS X machine on a server computer and schedule it to clone onto other OS X computers remotely through IP Addresses.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Sharper.

[Dlatu1983]

The thing is....I'm not going to have my current computer when I get the new one. In reality, all I need are my safari bookmarks, and all my iTunes songs and preferences (the last time I did this, I had to redo all the playlists and equalizer settings...which is NOT fun when you have 5gb of music). What folders do I have to save to get all this info for my iTunes? I'm sure I can just export my safari bookmarks somehow. All my applications can just be saved on a CD, since you just have to drag an app to the Applications folder to install it, am I correct?

[Satcomer]

Carbon Copy Cloner will back just what you want it to. READ THE INSTRUCTIONS! Sorry for shouting but it says right in the instructions how you can back up only what you want. Just read the READ ME.