mac question...

[wellington1869]

ok, mac users, got a question for you.

So I have an ibook g4 with osx 10.5.something.

now, when i first got it, I thought it would be a good idea to back up the hard drive in its current pristine state, since i dont have the installation cd.

So i bought a usb 80gb external hard drive, formatted it as HFS.

I plugged it in, and copied the following folders to it:
applications
developer
library
system
users

all located at the root level of the hard drive

(cuz someone told me those folders is all i need to restore should the hard drive die).

Now, since I havent used my usb external drive that much after all, i'm about to sell it to a friend. So I wanted to ftp those above folders to my godaddy account. Thought I should compress them first.

So I right clicked each folder and said "compress".

On most of them it worked. On "system" and "Library"  it said "you do not have priveleges for so-and-so folder".

my question is - why dont I have priveleges? How can I get them?
And, is there a better/easier way to compress these folders before shooting them (via ftp) up to my godaddy account?  Should I make an iso image instead?

any ideas would help greatly, thanks much...

[timw4mail]

Well, to move the System Folders, you are going to have to use the terminal, and use sudo to have permission to use the move or copy commands.

[wellington1869]

Well, to move the System Folders, you are going to have to use the terminal, and use sudo to have permission to use the move or copy commands.

hmmm, is that the case even if this system folder happens to be on a usb external drive? And I'm moving it (zipping it, actually, and then moving it) from one external usb drive to another external usb drive?

alright, I googled the permissions business, will try it out tonite...

[timw4mail]

hmmm, is that the case even if this system folder happens to be on a usb external drive? And I'm moving it (zipping it, actually, and then moving it) from one external usb drive to another external usb drive?

alright, I googled the permissions business, will try it out tonite...

As long as it requires administrator permission to move the folder, yes.

[wellington1869]

As long as it requires administrator permission to move the folder, yes.

thanks tim.  

here's what i wound up doing --

right click the system folder, "get info".
There's a "lock" symbol in lower right. click it. Enter admin password. Unlocks.
There's a "gear" symbol in lower left. click it. Select "apply to all enclosed". Are you sure? "yes".  "Applying permissions".

After that I could zip up the folder just fine.

I hope the changing of permissions doesnt mess up the functioning of the folder if I ever have to restore it.  I guess if that time comes I can google how to restore the original permissions, lol.

[iMav]

Since your backup exists because you don't have installation media, I'm pretty sure your backed up files are going to be worthless in a scenario where to need to reinstall.

What you should do is create a backup image of your entire harddrive.  (disk utility can be used)

[wellington1869]

Since your backup exists because you don't have installation media, I'm pretty sure your backed up files are going to be worthless in a scenario where to need to reinstall.

lol, thats a pity

What you should do is create a backup image of your entire harddrive.  (disk utility can be used)

yea i was trying to save on diskspace (making an entire image would have used up an entire spare hard drive and I didnt have one to spare like that at the time).

oh well. Its not terribly important I guess. I think I could get the installation media from a friend in a pinch, should the need ever arise.  

along those lines, does anyone know if an apple store will provide said media if I walk into an apple store with my ibook? just curious. I mean if I wipe the drive and walk into an apple store, will they put osx on it for me? (assuming it initially came with osx).

[D-EJ915]

they might have a lost media program but you will have to pay for them, they will probably reinstall as well if you're not competent enough lol (for non computer users mainly)

best way to back up a whole hard drive is to use dd, forget fancy utilities, this thing is the bomb diggity and is a bit for bit copy of whatever it is you are inputting.  Be aware though that doing a dd with if=/ is a bad idea, use if=/dev/sda (linux) or the same thing in mac os x speak is a better idea.

I just did this on a drive I got in my G4 cube the other day, not in OS X but as an external on my linux box though lol.  I also use it to remove and reinstall OSes on my older macs (small drives) when I want to mess with something.