replicating to a stopped server

Hello,

I have a 'strange' situation:

I need to make a replica copy of my database to a reduntant spare
computer.

The reduntant computer is not running postgres, but postgres is
installed. The redundant computer is running in a special run-level (I'm
talking Linux here) in which Pg is _not_ running.

When the primary computer crashes the redundant one will be rebooted in
'normal' mode and Postgres must be started with the databases from the
replica.

a) So... how do I replicate a database to a stopped postgres ?

b) Is it safe just to copy the /var/lib/pg/* directories to the right
place and let Pg boot on that ?

c) I know the right tool for this should be 'pg_dump' but it needs a
live postgres daemon running, in order to install the replica. Is this
correct ?

d) Is it viable to start postgres directlly from the dump ? by
specifying the dump-file in the cmd line ?

thx a lot
joao