backup+macbook+air+m2
I just did a search M2 backup info and got crickets. Backing up my new M2 has been, to say the least, a learning experience. Of course, I first learned how to use Time Machine. It does the job and is convenient because it's hard-wired into the bios, so you don't need to use a boot device. It is, however, rather long in the tooth, "The 90s just called, they want their backup returned!" LOL, I have been spoiled for life by Macrium Reflect Backup. It's fast, elegant, modern and totally free. It has saved my bacon countless times.
So I set out on a quest to find a Macrium-like backup for MacOS. I wanted 100% free, why not, it’s just for home use on one machine, plus on PCs this is not a biggie. I tried so many free options and even crippled versions, but none worked. They all failed at creating a boot USB on the M2. Ok try again, wash, rinse, repeat.
That was until I almost met my Waterloo!! It has the cheery name of Super Duper Backup for macOS. As usual, I d/l it then jumped through all the Apple security hoops, nannies, reboots etc. Once installed It asked me if I wanted to make my Adata 1 TB HDD bootable. Why not, what the heck? Go for it! It then proceeded to overwrite and reformat my Apple Time machine ext HDD drive.
The catch was that as usual the boot wouldn't work, but this time, my new HDD Drive was comatose! Nothing could access it. Utilities could see it, but it was like dead to the world. Every app and utility had it greyed out! I could not reformat it, and the recovery software that might have repaired the drive was breathtakingly expensive.
I worked all day on it and finally manually deleted all the partitions using Mac Terminal command lines, which I knew nothing about. Wow, I hadn't used command lines since my Dos 5.0 days, so it was definitely a blast from the past!
I then reformatted for Time Machine and am now back to square one with Time Machine.
My question to you, The Best and The Brightest, Is what MacBook Air M2 backup Application can actually, successfully create a bootable emergency USB flash drive like we do in Macrium for Windows?
