How to Test Your SuperDuper! Backup

  Matt Cone       December 13, 2011      Tutorials Mac Apps Backups

If you use SuperDuper! to back up your hard drive, you should test the backup disk to make sure it worked. (See Back Up (Clone) Your Mac’s Hard Drive with SuperDuper! for instructions on backing up your computer with SuperDuper!) Since SuperDuper! creates an exact copy of your primary hard drive, you can set the backup drive as your startup disk and try booting your computer from it. If all goes well, your computer will start up from the backup disk and look exactly like it normally does. That’s how you know the backup worked!

Here’s how to test the backup drive:

  1. Connect the backup drive to your computer, if it is not already connected.
  2. Set the backup drive as your startup disk. For instructions, see How to Change Your Mac’s Startup Disk.
  3. Restart your computer. Your Mac will start up from the backup drive.
  4. Verify that your Mac starts normally, and that all of your files are accessible. (Try opening a couple applications just to make sure that everything works.)
  5. Change the startup disk back to your primary hard drive. For instructions, see How to Change Your Mac’s Startup Disk.
  6. Restart your computer. Your Mac will start up from the primary hard drive.

If everything works, you’ve finished testing your backup drive. Now just make sure you store the drive in a safe place!

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