Confused about upgrading harddrive.

[sam10685]

I've been saving for a while to get a new 13'' macbook and I think I'll get one now that they are macbook pros. I'm going to get the low-end but I want a beefier hard drive an put 4 gigs of RAM into it. (I don't see 8 gigs being a real benefit for me since I won't be editing movies or anything like that. Just want a faster system.) I know how to physically instal everything but I'm confused as to what I will do when I turn it on. Do I just turn the computer on, instal Leopard from the instal disk that came with my computer then load stuff onto it I want from my current laptop with an external drive? I'm confused.

Edit; I currently have a 5 year old powerbook running tiger. Will I have any processor/OS compatibility issues?

 

[NewMacbookPlz]

You summed it up.

Install the new HD, boot the computer with the Leopard DVD in the drive, and format/install the OS.

After that, setup your user account, and transfer all the old files you want with either an external drive, or you can use Target Disk Mode(which is way faster than USB external drive).

 

[sam10685]

You summed it up.

Install the new HD, boot the computer with the Leopard DVD in the drive, and format/install the OS.

After that, setup your user account, and transfer all the old files you want with either an external drive, or you can use Target Disk Mode(which is way faster than USB external drive).

Thank you. I'm still a little confused though. Never upgraded a hard drive... Will the computer still turn on even after I just have installed the new hard drive and haven't used the instal disk that came with my macbook pro? Sorry if this is a duh question. I'm easily confused.

 

[djharris]

Thank you. I'm still a little confused though. Never upgraded a hard drive... Will the computer still turn on even after I just have installed the new hard drive and haven't used the instal disk that came with my macbook pro? Sorry if this is a duh question. I'm easily confused.

Yes, pretty much all modern computers support booting from the optical drive. Back when I was using linux, it might require changing the boot order in the BIOS, but you can always do it. Apple shouldn't require that though, but correct me if I'm wrong. (If they require changing the boot order in the BIOS, shame on them, apples are supposed to be easy for everyone!)

 

[rdowns]

Thank you. I'm still a little confused though. Never upgraded a hard drive... Will the computer still turn on even after I just have installed the new hard drive and haven't used the instal disk that came with my macbook pro? Sorry if this is a duh question. I'm easily confused.

The computer will turn on but you will get the flashing ? as it won't find an OS to boot up from.

If you restart it with the Leopard DVD, it will boot from that and then you can go through the install process.

 

[sam10685]

The computer will turn on but you will get the flashing ? as it won't find an OS to boot up from.

If you restart it with the Leopard DVD, it will boot from that and then you can go through the install process.

Got it! Sorry, I'm a tad slow. Thank you guys!

 

[apecrazy]

i will be doing a similar thing. as soon as i find an SSD that i am confident with i will be replacing the stock hdd on my new 13" MBP. can i plug the new SSD into the usb port on my time capsule or into the USB port on my MBP and back up the drive to that using time machine and then replace the drive and put the new one into the computer and boot from that like normal? i'm trying to figure out if i can do this myself with my limited knowledge and not screw it up or if i should just pay apple to do it for me and make my life easier.
thanks.

 

[sam10685]

i will be doing a similar thing. as soon as i find an SSD that i am confident with i will be replacing the stock hdd on my new 13" MBP. can i plug the new SSD into the usb port on my time capsule or into the USB port on my MBP and back up the drive to that using time machine and then replace the drive and put the new one into the computer and boot from that like normal? i'm trying to figure out if i can do this myself with my limited knowledge and not screw it up or if i should just pay apple to do it for me and make my life easier.
thanks.

I'd pay Apple if I were you... I don't think there's a USB connector on SSD drives unless you have one of those things that turns an internal drive into an external drive.

 

[bassrocker521]

Pay Apple

I would most certainly Pay Apple, it is the only way to confirm that you will get a SATA II connector (3.0 Gigabits/sec) and not a SATA I (1.5 Gigabits/sec) like the many who bought a MBP in hopes of upgrading to a SSD later..

 

[getz76]

Another option is to just use Carbon Copy Cloner, clone the factory drive to your new target drive (using USB/Firewire).