[hab]

My desktop (iMac C2D) is going back to Apple to replace a dead superdrive and may be gone a week. I have backed up the machine to an external using SuperDuper. While the iMac is away, can I (is it safe to?) boot my MacBook from the external in order to use a few applications that are on the iMac but not on the MacBook? I am primarily thinking EyeTV and Quicken. Thanks for any insight.

Edit: I just realized that this message may be better placed in the Mac Notebooks Forum - sorry.

[ChrisF]

It'll work just fine as long as the system version of the iMac isn't lower than what's required on your MacBook. If you have everything updated to 10.5.6 you should be fine.

[Simon]

Personally, I would not work on the clone itself. I'd consider it safer to work on a clone of the clone so that you always have one backup clone that's left untouched. Of course if aside from that clone you have a TM backup too you already have enough redundancy.

The rules are quite simple: If the OS X version is newer than the Mac it's running on it will work.

Also, next time you do a clone use the built-in tools. Their free, fast, and more stable any of these commercial solutions. Cloning is built right into OS X. /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility > Restore. Select erase destination to get a bootable clone in block copy mode (fast!).