New Mac mini SSD

You do not mention what year-model mini you got, here is an Ifixit link that may help.

One of the first things I'd do before anything else is making sure the firmware on the drive is current. There was a bug on those drives that was only rectified by an update that Samsung pushed out.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8617/samsung-releases-firmware-update-to-fix-the-ssd-840-evo-read-performance-bug

Once that is done do the following:

1. Get the relevant iFixit or OWC kit for you particular mini.
2. Create a bootable OSX USB stick for the fresh install
3. Install SSD
4. Install OSX
5. Import data


I'm going to assume you will wipe the SSD and remove windows?, assuming that was correct backup any important data BEFORE doing any of this to an external drive so you you can migrate / import once the Mini has been provisioned how you want it. If you have none, igore this and just wipe and install and you're all set!

Good luck!

Unfortunately, it appears that the Samsung 840 EVO performance problems might not be over and there could be another fix needed.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8997/...0-evo-performance-another-fix-is-in-the-works

Samsung 840 Pro and 850 Pro are still great drives.

alex0002 said:

Unfortunately, it appears that the Samsung 840 EVO performance problems might not be over and there could be another fix needed.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8997/...0-evo-performance-another-fix-is-in-the-works

Samsung 840 Pro and 850 Pro are still great drives.

Click to expand...

I agree.

The 840 Pro is still a pretty fast drive with 100k IOPS in the 256GB and 512GB variants, and most importantly, uses MLC NAND.

I would advise you to "prep and test" the new drive BEFORE you attempt to install it into the Mini.

Use either an external enclosure, or a USB3/SATA docking station, or a USB3/SATA "dongle" to make the connection.

Connect the SSD, and use Disk Utility to re-initialize it to Mac format -- HFS+, GUID partition map.

Now use either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper to clone the contents of the internal drive to the SSD.

Now, do a "test boot" by restarting. As soon as you hear the startup sound, hold down the option key and KEEP HOLDING IT DOWN until the startup manager appears. Then select the new (external SSD) drive with the pointer and hit return. You're looking for a "good boot" from the external. To be sure you're actually booted from the SSD, go to the Apple menu and choose "About this Mac..."

Once you do the drive swap, use the enclosure or dock to house the removed HDD.

CCC is FREE to download, and it's FREE to use (fully functional) for 30 days.
SD can do a "full clone" forever without registering (you do have to register to do incremental backups).