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EDITOR NOTES
Carbon Copy Cloner is uncrippled 'donationware', the developer suggests a $10 (USD) contribution.
DESCRIPTION
Carbon Copy Cloner... Clone, synchronize, backup. Schedule and forget it. Try it 'til you trust it.
In its simplest form, CCC will clone one hard drive to another, copying every single block or file to create an exact replica of your source hard drive. This is very useful if, for example, your laptop is damaged and you must send it in for repair.
CCC can also be used to perform regular backups of your data. When you select a source disk in CCC, you are presented with the contents of that disk (hidden items too). Simply uncheck the items that you do not want to backup, and CCC will provide ample indication what will and will not be copied. Select a target disk to which you would like to backup, then press the clone button.
The key to a successful backup plan is to actually do the backups regularly. When left to a human, the task often gets tacked on to the end of a very long list of other things to do. When you eventually have a catastrophe, the data is simply gone. You know that feeling -- you just lost six years of family photos. Your kids being born, their first birthdays, their first everything. The answer to this is consistent and regular backups, placed on a schedule and handled automatically by your computer. CCC includes that functionality, and takes it even further.
WHAT'S NEW
Version 3.3:
- Added support for HFS+ filesystem compression that was introduced in Snow Leopard.
- To correspond with how the Finder and Disk Utility report these values on Snow Leopard, CCC will now use base 10 for reporting MB and GB on Snow Leopard. CCC will continue to use base 2 to report these values when booted from Leopard or Tiger.
- Improved the performance of backing up a large number of files with extended attributes.
- It is no longer a requirement that CCC be installed on media that supports the setuid bit.
- Added a bootability notification that will notify users when a target volume's underlying disk is partitioned with the MBR partitioning scheme (rather than the Apple-recommended GUID or APM partition scheme).
- Increased the increment value of the disk image segment size stepper from 1 to 25. Now it takes mere seconds to get from 650MB to 4.6GB.
- Addressed an issue in which the source and target menus would not be properly updated if a disk disappears unexpectedly in the middle of a backup task.
- CCC now properly excludes the Time Machine database when backing up a hard drive using the "Backup everything" cloning method in file-level mode.
- Much like the Snow Leopard update, this release includes hundreds of tweaks and adjustments to improve performance and reliability.
REQUIREMENTS
Mac OS X 10.4.8 or later.
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| Carbon Copy Cloner User Reviews (129 posts) | Write A Review |
 | Apr 17 2009 |
FSCKTHEMEMBERSHIP! I've made donations over the years to the developer especially during the early years of Mac OS X when the transition from Mac OS 9 was rough (i.e. restorable images, clone, etc. for the lab) but, the advertisements for OWC (I purchase from this company often) while cloning is less than professional. Make it shareware, retail or opt-out of the banner ads... Keep a simple program simpleĀ
do not create a CPU resource hog!
(Version 3.2.1) | |
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 | Aug 26 2008 |
MAC4DREW Anyone who claims this app erased their data is careless. Seriously. There is a very clear option to erase data, followed by a warning box, followed by an authentication box that pops up before the program deletes anything. The only reason this program WOULD ever delete anything is if you use a disk with files on it for the Target drive. The program is extremely straightforward and logical. This program just works. However, if you're the kind of person who clicks "OK" on dialog boxes without reading them, you may want to skip it.
(Version 3.1.1) | |
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| Nov 1 2008 |
PHILHARVE I have used CCC for several years in preference to other commercially available and, perhaps, better known backup programs. Each version just gets better and better. The latest version (3.1.2) is a big improvement. Previously CCC would would create a fresh backup each time it was asked to 'clone' my hard drive. The latest version is different. It normally takes about 2 hours to clone almost 80Gb but on the latest occasion it took barely 20 minutes. It seems that CCC can clone faster if an existing clone/backup already exists. I call this 'incremental cloning' because it is not unlike an incremental backup. I like CCC because it produces a bootable copy of the source disk and this has proven invaluable when my internal hard drive is in need of routine maintenance. I boot from the clone and use the disk maintenance utilities on it to repair my internal hard drive. No fuss, no bother.
(Version 3.1.2) | |
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| Oct 14 2008 |
HODAGACZ I love this program! Upgraded my MBP to a 250 GB drive...no problem. Restored my tower from a backup when the drive ate itself...no problem. Allows incremental backups for my 72 year old mother who is not very computer literate...no problem. It's simple and reliable and keeps getting faster with each iteration. Get it. You may not need it now, but I'm sure you'll need it sometime!
(Version 3.1.2) | |
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| Oct 14 2008 |
DMNELSON Bombich's Carbon Copy Cloner and NetRestore are by far the two most useful apps I use as a Mac admin and tech. Dead simple for basic cloning/imaging, but capable of being used for much more sophisticated applications if needed.
(Version 3.1.2) | |
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| Dec 12 2008 |
MONKEYJUNKEY I've been using CCC for about 1 1/2 years without any problems. It's been of great use to me when replacing harddisks in my MacBook or doing general backups BUT: Since version 3.1.2 I'm getting error-messages after cloning my disk ("The Sync-Engine couldn't be started"). And v.3.1.3 does not adress this issue. I visited the forum. The error is known but the fix discribed there doesn't help me. I already got the right settings. And no matter if I do an incremental or a complete backup, I get the same error. I mailed the developer but didn't get ANY responce. So now I'm off to SuperDuper, which worked flawlessly. Having to leave CCC makes me sad, because I got used to it and really liked it, but getting zero support and having a version which doesn't work makes it difficult to stay...
(Version 3.1.3) | |
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| Dec 8 2008 |
BOWLINGTON I have moved on from Carbon Copy Cloner. I used it for a bit to satisfy my cloning needs back in the 2.x series of releases. After some issues and going to a shop that had used SuperDuper for cloning purposes, I veered away from CCC. However after a period of time where SuperDuper didn't seem to receive updates, I went back to the CCC 3.x chain of releases. That was until the 3.1.2 release (possibly 3.1.1) that changed the complete back end of the cloning system without notification (and apparently proper testing) that caused any volume with the incorrect "Ignore Ownership of this Volume" setting to not clone into a bootable state. All forum posts to the CCC forums were met by rude answers from some forum hound that just blamed the users for not testing their clone. Something that is not possible in every cloning situation. Not to mention the developer said the issue would be addressed in 2 to 3 weeks with no major notification to users about this potential show stopping bug. Use SuperDuper.
(Version 3.1.3) | |
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| Sep 24 2009 |
THMGHTD It's true... you only need to be burned once before you get serious -- real serious -- about backing up. I, too, use Time Machine as well as CCC. Carbon Copy Cloner has made switching, troubleshooting, and backing up disks infinitely easier. And I love the new icon. So great; so unexpected.
(Version 3.3) | |
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| Jul 8 2008 |
BONOBO I just donated for a second time within the past 3 years (I think), because I'm very glad that Mike Bombich is continuing his work on CCC. I especially love CCC's ability to automatically initiate a clone (i.e. ask me whether to clone or skip) whenever I connect a particular HD, this makes backups much more practical and I hope to convince many more of my clients more easily to do regular backups (and to donate as well ;) )
(Version 3.1.1) | |
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| Sep 23 2009 |
MISHA Nice, new icon. And of course CCC is great as always.
(Version 3.3) | |
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