Can SSD in caddy be boot drive?

[satchmo]

I have just purchased an SSD and caddy to put into my 2010 MBP (removing CD drive)
I plan to keep the existing spinning HD in the MBP and have two drives.

Just a quick question...how does MacOS determine which drive is the boot drive?
Can I put MacOS on the SSD (in the caddy) and have that as the startup?
Or does the caddy not work as a boot drive?

 

[Fishrrman]

"Just a quick question...how does MacOS determine which drive is the boot drive?"

The "startup disk" preference pane.

"Can I put MacOS on the SSD (in the caddy) and have that as the startup?"

Yes.
It's as simple as that.

1. Put drive into dock.
2. Restart Mac and hold down option key continuously until startup manager appears.
3. Use arrow keys to select boot drive and hit return.

Note:
Above routine DOES NOT change the setting in "startup disk".
That is, if you just restart, the Mac will boot from whichever drive (internal or external) is set in startup disk.
If you want to always boot from the dock, set it to be your boot drive in the startup disk preference pane.

 

[Johnboy91]

Yes absolutely! What you're talking about here can improve performance on your existing Mac without having to spend £1000+, as long as you're not gaming or editing high end videos etc... which would potentially require a new processor / RAM upgrade. I still have a 2011 MBP and I took the disc drive out and actually installed an SSD and I use that to boot.

As Fishrrman explained it's actually really easy to do you can do it everytime your Mac loads by holding option (not ideal if you always want to use the SSD to boot from, but great if you like to chop and change Hard drives). Alternatively if you want the SSD to be your main boot drive then go to System Preferences > Startup Disk > Select the drive you wish to use. Voila!

 

[satchmo]

So does this sound like the right way to go about it if I want to have a clean Yosemite install and apps onto the SSD?

1) Create Yosemite Boot Drive on USB
2) Backup HD on Time Machine
3) Remove HD from main bay
4) Insert SSD in main bay
5) Install Yosemite onto SSD using USB Drive
6) Install old HD into Caddy
7) Copy Apps folder onto SSD via Time Machine (or Carbon Clone)
8) Delete Apps folder on old HD

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

You're making this WAY too hard.

Do you already have the Yosemite installer app?

If so, there's no need to create a USB installer.
Instead just launch it from your internal drive and "aim it" at the SSD in the dock.

Let it install a fresh copy of the OS directly to the dock.

At the end of the install, you will be asked if you wish to migrate your apps, data, accounts and settings.

Since you're already booted up WITH that information available, just tell the setup assistant to import those things from your internal drive.

All done.

 

[satchmo]

OP:

You're making this WAY too hard.

Do you already have the Yosemite installer app?

If so, there's no need to create a USB installer.
Instead just launch it from your internal drive and "aim it" at the SSD in the dock.

Let it install a fresh copy of the OS directly to the dock.

At the end of the install, you will be asked if you wish to migrate your apps, data, accounts and settings.

Since you're already booted up WITH that information available, just tell the setup assistant to import those things from your internal drive.

All done.

@Fisherrman, thanks for simplifying that for me.

It did seem like a lot of work to simply install Yosemite (which I will download soon).
But there's so much info on the internet that talks about a USB installer (why is this necessary then?)

In the end, I just want a clean install on SSD, migrate apps, and then specify which drive to boot from.

BTW, I assume the SSD and existing HD is interchangeable with the main HD bay and caddy?
Thanks again.