Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

How to install Lion on a new hard drive?

B

brave5213

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 7, 2008
115
1
New York
I just ordered a ssd and I'm planning to swap the old one. My question is, how can I install lion to that new hard drive? I can install to a old hard drive but this one will be new for me. Where should I start? What should I do?

Thanks a lot for help.:)
 
simsaladimbamba

simsaladimbamba

Guest
Nov 28, 2010
22,670
31
located
If you have a recovery partition, you could create a Lion installer on a USB flash memory thumb drive or other HDD:
OS X Lion: About Lion Recovery
Lion Recovery Disk Assistant

Since I don't know, what Mac you have, this is the OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion sub-forum, maybe this guide can't help at all, if you don't want to clone your HDD to an SSD (which is not recommended anyway, a Clean Install is recommended when getting an SSD):

MacBook, MacBook Pro: Replacing the Hard Disk Drive, transferring data to the new HDD

the guide includes:
  • 0. Identify your MacBook or MacBook Pro
  • 1. Getting a new HDD
  • 2. Guides to replace the internal HDD with a newer one
  • 3. Transferring data from the old HDD to the new HDD
  • 4. Using the optical disk drive (ODD) slot for placing an SSD or HDD inside the MB/P (OPTIBAY)
​


 
B

brave5213

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 7, 2008
115
1
New York
hello,

i have a mbp with lion installed. when i get the new ssd, i want to install a fresh copy of lion. i don't want to install from a time machine backup or something else.

what is the first thing that i need to do after i plug the new ssd? what kind of screen will i see on first boot up? can i use lion internet recovery?

thanks.
 
heisenberg123

heisenberg123

macrumors 603
Oct 31, 2010
6,496
9
Hamilton, Ontario
brave5213 said:
hello,

i have a mbp with lion installed. when i get the new ssd, i want to install a fresh copy of lion. i don't want to install from a time machine backup or something else.

what is the first thing that i need to do after i plug the new ssd? what kind of screen will i see on first boot up? can i use lion internet recovery?

thanks.
Click to expand...

you should be able to swap the ssd and hard drive, on the first boot you hold command R during the CHime sound and internet recovery should launch

did you purchase Lion or was it pre-installed??

if you purchased it i would from your current hard drive go back to hte MAS and re-download Lion from the purchased tab and than make a bootable copy of lion on a usb or dvd so you always have it to do clean installs.
 
E

ehhdeerow

macrumors newbie
Oct 5, 2011
11
0
iisforiphone said:
you should be able to swap the ssd and hard drive, on the first boot you hold command R during the CHime sound and internet recovery should launch

did you purchase Lion or was it pre-installed??

if you purchased it i would from your current hard drive go back to hte MAS and re-download Lion from the purchased tab and than make a bootable copy of lion on a usb or dvd so you always have it to do clean installs.
Click to expand...

what if lion was pre installed?
 
Takuro

Takuro

macrumors 6502a
Jun 15, 2009
573
261
If your Mac came with Lion preinstalled, you should be able to download it again at any time directly from the Mac App Store. The app has an embedded "dmg" image that can be burnt to a DVD. Here are the steps:

1) Hold down the option key while launching the Mac App Store, select the "purchased" tab, and and then download the Lion installer app.
2) Right-click on the installer app, and hit "Show Package Contents". Navigate to Contents > SharedSupport and look for a file called "InstallESD.dmg".
3) Open up Disk Utility and drag the DMG file into the left-hand sidebar. Insert a DVD, select the disk image in the sidebar, and hit the "Burn" button.

References:

http://osxdaily.com/2011/08/02/re-download-mac-os-x-lion-from-app-store/
http://lifehacker.com/5823096/how-to-burn-your-own-lion-install-dvd-or-flash-drive
 
Last edited:
B

brangates

macrumors newbie
Jul 13, 2012
21
1
Takuro said:
If your Mac came with Lion preinstalled, you should be able to download it again at any time directly from the Mac App Store. The app has an embedded "dmg" image that can be burnt to a DVD. Here are the steps:

1) Hold down the option key while launching the Mac App Store, select the "purchased" tab, and and then download the Lion installer app.
2) Right-click on the installer app, and hit "Show Package Contents". Navigate to Contents > SharedSupport and look for a file called "InstallESD.dmg".
3) Open up Disk Utility and drag the DMG file into the left-hand sidebar. Insert a DVD, select the disk image in the sidebar, and hit the "Burn" button.

References:

http://osxdaily.com/2011/08/02/re-download-mac-os-x-lion-from-app-store/
http://lifehacker.com/5823096/how-to-burn-your-own-lion-install-dvd-or-flash-drive
Click to expand...

will this be a bootable DVD?, and in theory could i do the same thing with a USB thumb drive.
 
A

Arttrue

macrumors newbie
Apr 4, 2017
1
0
Hi:) I've similar problem with install O.S. on the blank hard drive.

I bought on ebay usb bootable with O.S. X Mountain Lion 10.8.5.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/172427368...258771a951&bu= 44345264036&cp=1&sojTags=bu=bu
but this does not work properly.
See my video link:
I turn on Macbook with usb bootable is displayed "no sign"
and after a moment macbook is shutting down.

Maybe I need updated firmware
but how do this when I don't have Mac O.S. :(

What do I need to install mac os x on blank HDD?

Thanks in advance!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom