Can I remove my hard drive, install it in an external enclosure, and install OS X?

Discussion in 'MacBook Pro' started by blownsphinctr, Jan 4, 2011.

Most Liked Posts
  1. blownsphinctr, Jan 4, 2011

    blownsphinctr macrumors newbie

    Joined:
    Dec 6, 2010
    #1
    My MBP was recently squished in a motorcycle accident and its hard drive and superdrive were destroyed. Is it possible to buy a new hard drive, put it in an external USB 2.0 enclosure, then install OS X on it using the discs that came with my destroyed MBP in a different Mac, then put the hard drive into the squished computer and have it use that hard drive as its startup disk? The motherboard on the squished computer is fine, I just can't install OS X on it because it has a broken superdrive.
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
  2. Dalton63841, Jan 4, 2011

    Dalton63841 macrumors 65816

    Dalton63841

    Joined:
    Nov 27, 2010
    Location:
    SEMO, USA
    #2
    The disks that came with your Macbook Pro will only allow installation from a Macbook Pro. They are "model specific" I guess you would say. Otherwise yes you would be able to do that.
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
  3. riyadc, Jan 4, 2011

    riyadc macrumors member

    Joined:
    Dec 31, 2004
    #3
    Yes, you can do that. I had a harddrive on my Macbook Air die and I installed OSX on a USB 2.0 Drive I had for a few weeks while I got a replacement internal drive. The only problem I remember having was that the laptop would crash if I put it in sleepmode and tried to wake it up.
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
  4. mainomega, Jan 7, 2011

    mainomega macrumors 6502

    Joined:
    Jun 5, 2007
    #4
    Why don't you just use an external dvd drive or the MBA's super drive ? Install the new HD and run the install.
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
  5. ctyhntr, Jan 7, 2011

    ctyhntr macrumors 6502

    ctyhntr

    Joined:
    Jul 21, 2010
    #5
    If you get a Firewire HD enclosure, and a cable then you can boot up using an external HD using the Target Disk Mode feature.
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)

Share This Page