Moving an existing Leopard Installation to new machine

[Cue]

Hello there,

I just ordered a new MBP 13.3' and I'm trying to figure out what is the best way to move my existing Leopard installation (White Core Duo Macbook), along with all my files.

Instead of migrating however, I want to swap my existing hard drive to the one of my new Macbook Pro since it's a 320Gb 7200rpm drive.

Is this going to work if I just drop in my old hard drive to my new MBP?

Thanks!

 

[kropotov]

maby better use TIME MACHINE?

 

[MacDawg]

You can... but the drivers for the hardware won't be the same, so you may experience some issues

I would do an Archive and Install once you swap

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[DoFoT9]

if you INSIST on using your way then you should pop in the hard drive, then do a "reinstall and archive" on the new computer.. that will reinstall all the correct drivers and leave you files and settings

or the better way would be to use time machine

 

[Cue]

I don't insist in any way I'm merely trying to find the best one

So by using time machine it means that I should at least have a spare drive available. Am I right?

I've been trying to find a support document by Apple, but didn't have the chance.

Thanks for your input so far.

 

[MacDawg]

Swapping your drive should not be a problem at all, if you do the Archive and Install. Even if you use Time Machine, you will need to Archive and Install unless you use Migration Assistant.

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[DoFoT9]

I don't insist in any way I'm merely trying to find the best one

So by using time machine it means that I should at least have a spare drive available. Am I right?

I've been trying to find a support document by Apple, but didn't have the chance.

Thanks for your input so far.

ahh ok excellent. was just making sure yes use time machine to back it up to an external, then restore from the time machine backup when installing on the new HD.

Swapping your drive should not be a problem at all, if you do the Archive and Install. Even if you use Time Machine, you will need to Archive and Install unless you use Migration Assistant.

Woof, Woof - Dawg

provided its done with a time machine backup or an archive an install it will be fine, just putting the HD in wouldnt be very wise. it would still work but support might be limited.

 

[Cue]

So let me get this right.

1. Setup time machine on the old Macbook
2. Perform a full backup of the drive.
3. Move the drive to the new Macbook Pro
4. Do erase and install
5. During setup chose migrate using time machine

 

[tersono]

Provided your original Leopard installation is completely up to date and you have not hacked it around too much (i.e. removing drivers), then you should be able to boot the new machine from the old drive without issues. Software update installs drivers for new hardware with each new OS X update. OS X is specifically designed by Apple to permit this - the only transfer that doesn't work properly is moving from PPC to Intel or vice-versa - or, very occasionally, transferring to very newly-released hardware that may have shipped with an interim software update to include new drivers - the next available OS X update fixes this.

I make my living from computer support (both Mac and Windows) and cloning or swapping a hard drive is the usual method of getting a new machine configured. Archive/install is rarely needed - the only thing you need to be aware of is that any software that requires activation (Adobe, RapidWeaver etc) needs to be de-activated on the old machine and then re-activated after the swap.

Play safe and back up your data first.