Firstly heres what I have for a system: Macbook Pro with OS X Leopard with a 120GB hard drive. Heres what I want to do: Ive got a new 250GB hard drive that I am going to install but I dont want to start fresh and have to reinstall everything. So what Im wondering is if there is a way that I can possibly image my current partition (I have plenty of external hard drive space) and then just move it to the new drive? Or maybe use my time machine back-ups to install to the new drive? or maybe use migration assistant? What is the best way to do this?
I'd try Migration Assistant first. Alternately, and it may actually prove easier, use SuperDuper! (or similar) to create a disk image of your current drive, install the new one, and load the image to the new drive. There's info floating around somewhere on the exact procedure, but it's been quite a while since I've done it (I think you just open up disk utility when booting from the installer disk and point to the image).
Carbon Copy Cleaner. ( http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html ) Free app that lets you backup / ghost. There are quite some tutorials online. E.g. http://www.bombich.com/software/docs/CCCHelp/content/dimages.html Another way would be to use Disk Image but it's the same underlying programs. CCC just makes it easier.
buy an external enclosure for your new drive (if you don't already have one. side note - when this is all done you can put your 120 in the external and have a 120gb external drive for whatever.) Use SuperDuper to copy everything to the new drive and then just install the drive when the copy is complete. I've done this many times now. (Just installed a 320gb western digital.) Just an FYI - replacing the HD in a MBP is a bit of a chore. You should be a little scared your first time - it will make you more careful. Make sure you have the exact right tools before you start. (Ice cube tray to put screws in; #0 Phillip's head screwdriver; #6 or #7 torx (can't remember which, but the guides online will tell you which.)
Stupid easy way. Pick up a 2.5 inch usb2 to sata enclosure. Throw the new drive in that for a moment. Open up disk utility. In disk utility click on your usb drive, then hit restore. Now drag the usb drive to the destination section, and your internal drive to the source section. Click on the erase checkbox and hit restore. Go eat dinner or something, it will take a while. Once it's done power down everything pop the topcase off your macbook, swap the drives, hey look, now you have an external drive now too. Fire it up!
Indeed. Have a guide: http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac/Mac.../Hard-Drive-Replacement/115/10/Page-1/Battery (I'm tempted to do the same thing myself, as decent size 7200rpm notebook drives are reasonably affordable these days)
I did the surgery It's a bit of a pain in the ass. I highly recommend you be fairly scared shitless the first time. Once done, it worked great. What I want to know is, why is it that the standard Macbook is so easy to swap drives, and yet the pro is a tremendous and utterly needless PITA?
you have TIMEMACHINE!! just put in the new drive, insert OSX install CD and point it to the timeMachine image, it'll install to what ever date you want in your timemachine backup. Thats one of the major features of it.. Or from the instructions.. Its svn for your install lol
Hey "certified mac guy" - tiny question for you - both MBPs that I have done this to and many others online have developed a tiny gap right above the left hand side of the DVD drive after doing this. On mine, it's only noticeable because I know it's there - but it bugs the hell out of me. Any ideas/advice? I'd take a picture and post it - but you would all make fun of me for how slight it is. Oh - and for what it's worth - it's a brand new 15 inch MBP Thanks.
Ahhh! Sorry, forgot about this thread... Anyway, pull the top case off again and check those little plastic snaps along the edge. They are removable/replaceable and sometimes slide out of alignment when you pull the top. Crap, that's the macbook I'm thinking of. The snaps aren't removable on the pros. You could try using a thin plastic stick, or something that's not going to damage the aluminum, and put it just inside the cd slot. You should be able to snap the top case and bottom case together. You can also try loosening up the screws in the battery bay and squishing the top and bottom together then tightening them back up.
You know - I hate to admit it - Just today, I pushed down really hard on the edge of the case and it just snapped in. I swear I had tried that before, but... My first gen MBP has this same problem only much worse... I've taken it apart 6 or 7 times and I can't fix it...
