Totally confused about Sandbox
I'm pretty techie, but I'm having trouble understanding how this works. I've read the user guide, I still don't get it.
So let me get this straight, regarding the process: 1) Boot your main drive (Mac HD), and run Super Duper 2) Run the Sandbox operation in SuperDuper (shared users & apps) and it copies Mac HD to another HD called Sandbox 3) Now you boot the Sandbox volume and use that as your day-to-day drive 4) Weeks pass by, maybe months..then suddenly after a system update, your system is toast. Now the problem is, my Mac HD system files are way way out of date. If I boot to the Mac HD, sure, the bad update that hosed me is gone, but so are the 50 other system apps and other stuff I've installed since then! I also don't understand this, from the user's guide: Quote:
Someone help clear this up for me. I just don't understand it. And I also don't get: why use the Sandbox as the day-to-day boot drive? Why not just dump to Sandbox, and keep using Mac HD, update to Sandbox once in a while, and when Mac HD gets toasted, boot Sandbox and update to Mac HD? |
The general idea is that you update the main drive from the Sandbox when you know things are working (or you install the things you were 'testing' on the Sandbox). Both operations are explained in the User's Guide.
You want to run from the Sandbox when you're doing something 'risky'. You don't really have to run from it everyday unless you're installing risk stuff every day. |
Hmm, ok. But a regular SuperDuper backup can also act as a sandbox. If I'm wary of something, I can just boot the backup and install whatever, to see if it works. Sandbox seems like the exact same thing as a regular backup, except that user files & apps are shared from the Mac HD to the Sandbox in real time, correct? Question: if I boot the Sandbox and install an app, it's not shared back to the Mac HD, right? In other words, it's a 1-way share?
Ok, so basically I still use the Mac HD most of the time, I can just use the Sandbox volume when I want to try something I'm wary of. The user guide kinda makes it sound like you should use the Sandbox volume all the time, which threw me off. In case you're curious, this is the part that made it sound like the Sandbox becomes your full time boot volume: Quote:
This is also confusing: Quote:
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No, a regular backup can't do the same thing. If you receive mail, for example, or work on a document, if you restore the backup you'll lose the changes you've made. And, if you're testing out an update, or a new OS version, you might be testing for a few days, and you'd probably want to get some work done.
3rd party apps are shared at the time of sandbox creation, but /Applications itself is not shared. A new install on the Sandbox will go onto the Sandbox volume, and thus won't be on the original drive. |
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If you update the Sandbox after (with Smart Update, as explained in the quote you posted above), yes.
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Sorry for all the Q's.. |
Shared applications shared 3rd party applications, but not the Applications folder. Shared users (only) does not.
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Basically things not provided with the OS by Apple.
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But... 3rd party apps also go into the /Applications folder. So 3rd party apps are backed up.. yet.. the /Applications folder is not?
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We're not talking about 'backing up' here, though. We're talking about a Sandbox. The Applications folder is created on the backup. Some files in there are shared/linked with the originals. Some are copied. New files -- new applications -- will only be on the backup, because the folder is not shared -- some of its contents are.
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