1. Which Mac Is Best For College Students
2. Which Program On My Mac Is Best For Duplicating Cds On A Mac
3. Which Mac Is Best For Photographers
4. Which Mac Is Best For Music Production

Hello and welcome to my User Tip

Gaming communication software.

Duplicate mp3s, photos, and program files will bloat your system quicker than any other offender. If you have moved from another laptop, or if you think you might have duplicates, you should run a program to get rid of duplicates. MacX DVD Ripper Pro is the best DVD copy software which can freely backup any DVD disc, ISO image, DVD folder on Mac (MacBook Air/Pro, iMac etc) in 1:1 quality to various video formats (MP4, MOV, MKV, AVI, FLV, etc) and portable devices with original quality. The best DVD copy option for Mac is the sibling of the best Windows pick. DVD Cloner for Mac provides the same easy-to-understand workflow, customization options and backup tools as its PC counterpart. For audio CDs, the best way is to import the CD into iTunes and burn a copy. For data CDs, the Mac's Disk Utility feature will make a virtual master copy of your CD on your Mac, which you can use to make exact copies of your original CD.

This is a step by step instruction how to make and boot a bootable clone of your OS X system.

It can be used for backup, moving to a larger drive, moving your users to a new Mac (using Migration Assistant), defragmenting and optimizing the system (with reverse clone), shifting data up on hard drives to make more room for BootCamp or another partition (reverse clone) or as a data recovery/undelete boot drive.

Made before disaster strikes, it's a real lifesaver!

See these other related User Tips.

Cloning is a bootable backup system, it doesn't fix issues in software

Which Mac Is Best For College Students

If you need to make a new/clean bootable system on a external drive to reverse clone with

How cloning/reverse cloning using CCC can defrag and optimize your boot hard drive (SSD's no effect)

Which Program On My Mac Is Best For Duplicating Cds On A Mac

Read this for the differences, advantages and disadvantages of TimeMacine and other backup systems.

Problems with not enough space for a BootCamp partition and how cloning/reverse cloning can resolve that

Getting the right external drive

Get a external hard drive equal to or larger than the drive you intend to replace the internal one with. (if so) So later it will be bootable backup (clone) of that new drive.

If you like the idea of saving the differences between the clone updates, then get a much larger drive. If maintaining a pure clone, then the same size or slightly larger than your primary boot drive will do.

Get a self powered and not a Mac port powered drive! Why? Because Mac's can cut off external hardware drawing too much power which can cause issues trying to boot from the clone.

If you have Filevault enabled on your boot drive, then this User Tip has no further use for you, sorry. To de-Filevault your drive will likley require 50% or more free space available to write all the unencrypted bits. Once the drive is de-Filevaulted it can be cloned.

Formatting

Connect the new drive to the Mac and open Disk Utility in the Utilities folder. (say 'no' to TimeMachine, use another drive for that). Click on the external drive on the left and click Erase, (10. 6 users Secure erase Zero all Data) or move the slider for a 0x-3x secure erase (SSD's not needed), OS X Journaled/GUID as the format and a name like 'Mac10.6Clone' (different than the internal drive) and click apply. Go watch a movie. Warning: Formatting a drive or partition erases all data.

If the scrubbing of the drive fails, try again and if it fails, the drive is bad and needs to be exchanged. All new drives have bad sectors, this scrubbing will remove most of them and make for a much more reliable backup. Highly recommended for all hard drives if it hasn't been done before, SSD's no need.

Once the scrubbing is finished check under Partition that Option: GUID and Format: OS X Extended Journaled or make it that. Quit Disk Utility.

Scrubbing is only for hard drives and not needed if it was done once before as the bad bits were previously mapped off. However if shock to the drive occurred or the 0x erase wasn't good enough, or there is unwanted data, then of course repeat scrubbing again. I've found 0x for defeating software recovery techniques, 3x seems to be adequate for mapping off the bad bits. 7x for defeating magnetic recovery techniques. Physically destroying the drive for the utmost sensitive files.

SSD's cannot be securely erased, however it might be possible to overwrite one's preious deleted files with new data with a method I've outlined here.

Cloning software

Download Carbon Copy Cloner, it's the best cloning software and the only one that also clones the most vital RecoveryHD partition for restoring OS X fresh from Apple. Later you will use it to update your clone once your on the new internal drive. (Optionally is SuperDuper, but it doesn't do the RecoveryHD.)

Use CCC to clone your present internal drive to the external. Do not use the same name as the internal drive on the external, or change it before you boot from the clone using the Finder.

You don't need to mess with CCC preferences for the first clone as it has to to everything. Later when updating the clone it will save the changes between updates and take up much more drive space. If you want to maintain a pure clone, then set that in CCC preferences before doing a update, this is what I advise as it maintains space for later less you need to install additional software or move files for data recovery etc. while booted from the clone drive if the internal drive fails to boot up.

Repair permissions afterwards

Once the clone is finished, use Disk Utility to repair permissions on both drives. Reboot the Mac and hold the option/alt keys down on the built-in or wired keyboard for OS X's 'Startup Manager' there you can select the clone to boot from. Check it out and be careful with your navigation as everything is duplicated, including the pathnames/shortcuts to your internal drive. (Ignore Disk Utility warnings that repeat, those are just changes Apple made)

Internal drive switch

If you have a internal drive switch or install at this time, now is the time to do this. If you run into problems you can option/alt key boot off the clone drive, use the computer like before and get online. TimeMachine doesn't have boot to use ability only boot to restore, which mandates your internal drive be immediately fixed and that's not always very convenient for many.

More advice here:

Reverse cloning, etc

To reverse clone, follow the same procedure as above. First formatting the new or erasing (secure zero or 3x overwrite) the corrupted drive (if so) in Disk Utility first and then using CCC (all while option/alt key booted from the external clone of course), to reverse clone. CCC should ask to restore the RecoveryHD (for 10.7+) in this first clone process, so check that it will/does.

Bootable clones make ideal data recovery drives, just boot from it and grab the latest copy of files (or install Data Rescue for deleted files/corrupted drives) on the primary boot drive and secure erase and reverse clone perfection back on.

It's advised to maintain several time dated clones each on separate hardware, this way one can revert to a earlier OS X version or use older versions of software and to protect against accidents and other unseen acts. Provides maximum software and hardware protection.

Do NOT reverse clone onto a new or different model of Mac as there are hardware driver differences so OS X is ever so slightly different. (But in some cases it's possible, not going there). Instead to be sure, use Migration Assistant in the Utilities folder and target the clone drive as the source of User Accounts and programs you want to transfer to the other Mac.

Corrupted cache rebuilding (optional)

See and perform the #12 OnyX cache cleaning routine here, it's optional but if your reverse cloning it's best to also rebuild the cache files so they are free of corruption and maximize the full performance benefit of the reverse clone proceedure.

Remember 10.8+ users may have to right or option/alt click to 'open' software downloaded from the Internet.

SSD advice, TRIM

If you cloned to a third party SSD, you need to enable TRIM support on it and after each OS X update/upgrade using third party software. Check MacTracker.com for the two versions and update it. Apple doesn't reenable TRIM for third party SSD's only their own.

Remember 10.8+ users may have to right or option/alt click to 'open' software downloaded from the Internet.

TRIM is wear leveling software so that data is written to the least used areas of a SSD because they have limited write capability. Thus SSD's don't have scrubbing ability to securely delete data off of them. Software and forensic equipment is widely available to read all data on a SSD, included deleted data.

SSD's are on many portable tech electronic devices and becoming widespread on computers now. The NSA approved method for data destruction on non-magnetic media (including thumb drives) is to grind them into a fine powder. Since a lot of Apple hardware is coming sealed up, Fusion drives (hard drive + flash memory), and non-user accessible, the entire device will have to be destroyed in order to remove unwanted data from it.

Which Mac Is Best For Photographers

For privacy when reselling without vital data, it might be possible to fill the SSD near completely two times with a LOT of tiny small files to overwrite all areas, but that's no guaranty nor a legal/military/government approved method.

Update your clone

Update your clone occasionally and before a major internal boot drive change using CCC, it will take less time than a full clone each time like Disk Utility unfortunately does. CCC also has scheduling ability to perform the updates automatically.

Do not clone a TimeMachine drive.

Clone to another internal partition

Yes you can clone your boot partition to another partition on the same boot drive. Clone to a external drive first and test for backup as you NEED hardware protection also in case the internal drive or Mac dies or is lost/stolen.

Create another partition in Disk Utility equal to your MacintoshHD partition, format OS X Extended Journaled and use CCC to clone MacintoshHD to MacintoshHD 2. Then Disk Utility >Repair Permissions on both. (ignore warnings that repeat, those are just changes Apple made) Set CCC to maintain a pure clone for this partition as not to fill it up.

If you can't create another same sized partition, you likely need to reduce files and (if a hard drive, SSD's no need) perform a reverse clone while booted from the external clone to shift all OS X data up further on the drive to make room at the bottom for the new partition.

Usefulness in this clone on another partition thing is CCC can update it in the background on a schedule all by itself. You have a resource to recover accidentally deleted files and if your primary OS X MacintoshHD partition is not booting due to software reasons or other software issue, you can immediately option/alt key boot from the cloned partition. A excellent choice for laptop owners away from a fast/reliable Internet connection to fix OS X by redownloading it over itself or carrying a external clone or TM drive around with you. It only takes seconds to boot from the cloned partition.

It's obviously taking half your boot drive space, however it only takes Disk Utility a few seconds to rename/quick reformat (no secure erasing) to make it available for emergency storage needs and later one can use CCC to clone it again in the background. Also on hard drives the second 50% of the drive is slower than the first 50%, so you may realize this while booted from the second partition.

Enjoy peace and software stability. 🙂

Best CD Burning Software 2019 - Top CD Burners for Windows

We spent more than 80 hours researching, testing, rating and ranking the best CD burning software on the market today. At the end of our analysis, our reviewers picked Roxio Creator as the best overall pick. Not only does it allow you to create, copy and customize audio CDs, but it also makes DVDs and Blu-ray discs from scratch. It contains a wide array of audio and video editing tools that make it much more useful than programs that are limited to making audio and data discs. A great pick for almost any disc authoring task.

Best Overall

Roxio Creator

Which Mac Is Best For Music Production

In addition to great audio and data CD abilities, this program also gives you a wide array of audio and video editing tools, as well as the ability to author DVDs and Blu-ray discs.

Best Value

123 Copy DVD Gold

This program may be aging, but it still provides a good deal of utility. You can create, customize and copy audio discs as well as DVDs and Blu-rays for a fraction of the price of other options.

Best for Professionals

DVD MovieFactory

If you’re looking to distribute your CD, DVD or Blu-ray creations, consider this burning software. it allows you to make professional-level discs and mass produce them for your audience.

Product	Price	Overall Rating	Burning	Output	Customization	Help & Support	Ease of Use	Burn Audio CD	Burn Data CD	Burn DVD	Burn Blu-ray	Burn From ISO	Supports Menus	Supports Bonus Materials	Time to Burn Audio CD (minutes)	Time to Burn Data CD (minutes)	Zero Audio Quality Loss	Erase Used Disc	Mac Version Available	Create Custom Audio Discs	Create Custom Data Discs	Audio Editing Tools	Edit Metadata	FAQs or Knowledgebase	Email	Live Chat	Social
Roxio Creator NXT 5	View Deal	5/5	10	9.3	10	10	100%	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	2:01	3:32	✓	✓	-	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
DVD MovieFactory Pro 7	View Deal	4.5/5	8.9	9.5	10	10	70%	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	1:59	3:50	✓	✓	-	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Nero Burning ROM 2017	View Deal	4.5/5	9.3	10	8.3	6	81%	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	6:03	4:36	✓	✓	-	✓	✓	-	✓	✓	✓	-	-
Express Burn 4.52	View Deal	4.5/5	10	7.6	9.2	8	100%	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	4:01	3:12	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	$	✓	✓	✓	-	✓
Power2Go 11	View Deal	4.5/5	7.8	8.6	10	8	89%	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	-	-	1:53	2:45	✓	✓	-	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	-	✓
123 Copy DVD Gold	View Deal	4/5	8.3	8.8	8.3	8	78%	✓	✓	✓	-	✓	✓	✓	4:30	2:47	✓	✓	-	✓	✓	-	✓	✓	✓	✓	-
Alcohol 120% 2	View Deal	4/5	9.1	8.7	3.3	6	74%	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	4:04	2:58	✓	✓	-	-	✓	-	-	✓	✓	-	-
Blindwrite 7	View Deal	3.5/5	9.7	8.2	0	6	93%	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	4:12	6:23	✓	-	-	-	-	-	-	✓	✓	-	-
Acoustica MP3 CD Burner 4.32	View Deal	3/5	4.8	7.2	6.7	6	81%	✓	-	✓	-	-	-	-	5:12	N/A	✓	✓	-	✓	-	✓	✓	✓	✓	-	-
CloneCD 2	View Deal	2.5/5	6.5	6.8	0	6	78%	✓	✓	✓	-	✓	-	-	3:09	5:47	✓	✓	-	-	-	-	-	✓	✓	-	-

Best Overall

Roxio Creator

The first thing to understand about Roxio Creator is that it goes far beyond burning CDs. It’s a comprehensive media creation suite that provides tools for audio, video and image editing.

It also has tools that allow you to digitize media from aging technology like vinyl records and cassette tapes. It contains powerful publishing and sharing tools, including the ability to upload finished projects to Facebook, YouTube and Google Plus right from the application’s interface. You can use it to create music albums, audio books, DVDs, Blu-ray discs and more. It allows you to rip content from unprotected CDs, DVDs and Blu-rays, as well as download content from the internet and even capture streaming video.
This software enables you to back up and archive your music and movie collection with relative ease. It’s a multi-media toolbox that grows in utility and versatility with each iteration. It has a simple, if antiquated, interface that’s easily learned and used by anyone, regardless of computer skill level.
If you ever do need help with any of the program’s tools, you can consult the knowledgebase, forums and FAQs section on Roxio’s official website. Our one complaint is that this software lacks a version that’s compatible with Macintosh computers.

Best Value

123 Copy DVD Gold

Quick In just a few minutes, you’ll have an audio CD you can play in any optical drive. However, if you want to burn a data disc, iTunes simply doesn’t fit the bill.

Another free program worth mentioning is Ashampoo Burning Studio Free. It has all the basics you need to make data and music discs, plus a few extras. For example, it can password protect discs and erase rewritable CDs for reuse. Unfortunately, there isn't a Mac version.

Audio vs. MP3 CDs

Some of the CD burner software we reviewed gives you the option to make an MP3 CD. The difference between an MP3 CD and a regular audio CD is compression. Audio CDs contain uncompressed audio files that have no quality loss from the originals. The typical audio CD can hold about 80 minutes of uncompressed audio. MP3 CDs compress files into a smaller format, which increases the number of files you can hold. You can potentially burn hundreds of MP3s to a blank CD.

The quality of your music will suffer. Since compression requires information to be left out of a file, you’ll lose fine details in music and may not even be able to hear some of the softer background sounds. Additionally, not all CD drives can play MP3 discs. We recommend making a single MP3 CD to test in your player before you start burning multiple discs.

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