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Installing new SSD - moving old data

G

Geekparrot

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 13, 2014
19
5
Hi all!

My first post on the boards, so go easy on me :)

I have an iMac 2010 with a 500gb 7200rpm HD in it. I am having a shop here install a new 250GB SSD drive, and moving the old 500GB HDD over to the optical slot.

What I would like to do is put the OS, apps, etc on the new SSD and have the older HDD just for storage (iPhoto Library, iTunes Library, etc). I would assume I would install OS X on the new SSD (brand new install), then copy over the library items from the old HDD.

Is this the recommended way. Thanks in advance!
 
Geekparrot said:
Hi all!

My first post on the boards, so go easy on me :)

I have an iMac 2010 with a 500gb 7200rpm HD in it. I am having a shop here install a new 250GB SSD drive, and moving the old 500GB HDD over to the optical slot.

What I would like to do is put the OS, apps, etc on the new SSD and have the older HDD just for storage (iPhoto Library, iTunes Library, etc). I would assume I would install OS X on the new SSD (brand new install), then copy over the library items from the old HDD.

Is this the recommended way. Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

After the clean install on the SSD, use the Apple migration app (in Utility folder) to copy all or selected system files, apps, etc. Much easier and safer than doing it by hand.
 
Gochugogi said:
After the clean install on the SSD, use the Apple migration app (in Utility folder) to copy all or selected system files, apps, etc. Much easier and safer than doing it by hand.
Click to expand...

Actually, if Mavericks is installed the migration assistant can do it during the initial OS setup. I did that with my MBP when I did my SSD install.
 
Thanks guys! Does it matter that my new SSD is 250GB and the old HDD is 500GB?
 
AxoNeuron said:
Why have a shop do it? It's extremely easy to do it yourself.
Click to expand...

I have a 2010 iMac that I am having the shop do the actual installation of the new SSD and moving the other HDD to the optical slot. I am doing the data migration myself :)
 
Yeah, but I mean, why don't you do the actual installation yourself? I've done the same operation on the same 2010 model and it's very easy to do. Are you afraid of breaking it or something?
 
AxoNeuron said:
Yeah, but I mean, why don't you do the actual installation yourself? I've done the same operation on the same 2010 model and it's very easy to do. Are you afraid of breaking it or something?
Click to expand...

Yep, pretty much :)

I did the on a MacBook Pro and it was fine, but this involves using suction cups to remove the glass, sensors, etc. Worth it to me to have a pro do it for me :)
 
I installed a SSD in my old MacBook Pro and it was easy but took a while with all the disassembly. MacPro was silly easy. But an iMac is not for the faint of heart.

The Migration assistant lets you customize transfer to only certain apps and account information and data can be left out.
 
Yeah I have watched the videos and breakdowns on iFixit and various sites. It looks to be much more difficult. My plan now actually is to replace to current 500GB drive with a 3TB drive (since they are so cheap now) and have the SSD installed into the optical drive slot. I'll just reinstall OS X from scratch and copy all my info back over from an external USB hard drive.

I assume when I do the initial install, the system should allow me to choose the SSD (in the old optical slot)?
 
Geekparrot said:
Yep, pretty much :)

I did the on a MacBook Pro and it was fine, but this involves using suction cups to remove the glass, sensors, etc. Worth it to me to have a pro do it for me :)
Click to expand...

I was the same. I installed the drive in my MBP with no problem but opted to have our local Apple service center install the SSD in my wife's iMac. Too much stuff to mess up and result in an unhappy wife. Unhappy wife = unhappy life.
 
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