If the backup is made by cloning your hard drive then it should be bootable. Firewire is preferable to USB 2.0 as USB 2.0 is pretty slow to boot from but in a pinch it works. If your backup was done with Time Machine then it's not bootable.
If you want to see if your backup is bootable, you can choose the boot drive by holding down the option key at startup. On Mar 11, 7:01 am, Anne Keller-Smith <[email protected]> wrote: > To anyone affected in or by Japan's crisis, I want to just say I am so > sorry. > > OK, my question: with our Intel iMacs, can we use any external hard > drive as a system backup? Can you boot up on them? Do they have to be > Firewire? > > I have an iomega, and yes, it's got Firewire. I do complete backups on > it frequently but have never had to boot > from it ... > > Anne Keller Smith > Down to Earth Web Design > > Intel iMac 2.4gHz Core 2 Duo > 1GB RAM, 250GB Hard Drive, OS 10.5.5 > > Intel iMac 2.66gHz Core 2 Duo > 2GB RAM, 264GB Hard Drive, OS 10.5.6 > > G4 Quicksilver 733mHz Tower > 896 MB RAM, 40 GB hard drive, OS 10.4.11 > > mailto:[email protected]://www.downtoearthweb.com -- You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list
