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Cross-hardware harddrive swap

C

CrzyCanuck72

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
I have a late-2006 C2D MacBook with a 500GB internal drive (running the latest version of 10.6). I'm looking at replacing it with a 13" MB Pro, which comes with a 250GB HD. I want to put my 500GB drive in the Pro while keeping all its contents.

Is it possible to just pop the 500GB drive into the new machine? Will there be issues given the differences between the machines?
 
CrzyCanuck72 said:
I have a late-2006 C2D MacBook with a 500GB internal drive (running the latest version of 10.6). I'm looking at replacing it with a 13" MB Pro, which comes with a 250GB HD. I want to put my 500GB drive in the Pro while keeping all its contents.

Is it possible to just pop the 500GB drive into the new machine? Will there be issues given the differences between the machines?
Click to expand...
Of course, you can "just pop the 500GB drive into the new machine" but the question of whether or not the installation of 10.6 will work with the new machine is another matter, so... Maybe. The hardware is different especially the graphics chip, so i doubt you could just startup without any issues. However, if you startup from a Snow Leopard DVD Install disk after putting the old HD in, and do an OS installation, which works like an archive and install, leaving the user settings intact, you may be OK. In any case, I suggest doing a backup of all your data on the old disk before you try installing it in the new machine. Then, in case a clean install (format and install) is necessary you will be OK.
Still, depending on how old that 500GB disk is, you may be better off buying a new 500GB (Hitachi or Seagate recommended) as the HD technology has improved a lot in the last 4 years since 2006.
 
It will work, without a doubt.
Mac OS X has this awesome ability to work on any Mac as long as the Mac has been released before the current build of OS X you are using.
When I was inbetween Macs, I kept my HDD into a USB enclosure and went to the Apple Store, booting off my HDD and using the hardware as if it was my own computer. It worked on any given one, be it a Mac Pro, a MacBook or an iMac.
 
CrzyCanuck72 said:
I have a late-2006 C2D MacBook with a 500GB internal drive (running the latest version of 10.6). I'm looking at replacing it with a 13" MB Pro, which comes with a 250GB HD. I want to put my 500GB drive in the Pro while keeping all its contents.

Is it possible to just pop the 500GB drive into the new machine? Will there be issues given the differences between the machines?
Click to expand...

Yes it will work fine. If you know what you're doing. I do that for all my laptops. If you mess up though... you're S.O.L.

Nice choice on the 13" though😉
 
Sorry guys, but i disagree. The new MBPs came with a new build of 10.6.3 which includes hardware support for the new systems. I don't think the standard 10.6.3 that the previous models run right now includes the new drivers/kexts for the newer systems. It is only a matter of an update before they do include those drivers, but as far as I know, that update has not yet happened.

Maybe someone with further knowledge on the subject can comment. I've swapped drives between machines before, and it's always worked, but since new hardware just came out, support may not yet be included in the standard 10.6.3 installation.
 
I can confirm that 10.6.3 will work on the new 13" but the new inertial trackpad feature won't be there.

What I did was swap the drive and then do an installation with the DVD that comes with the 2010 MBP. It will upgrade your installation and retain all your files and settings.
 
If the OP buys a HDD enclosure, there can be a few swapping arounds of OSs and HDDs with relative ease in an admittedly time consuming process.
 
Well if all comes to worse, you can still make a fresh install from the DVDs that came with the new Mac and use the Migration Assistant.
 
It sounds like there's no consensus on whether it'll work 'out-of-the-box'. I think my best bet might be to pick up a new 1TB external drive, make a full Time Machine backup, wipe the 500GB drive, and migrate it over. I need a new external HD anyway.
 
trondah said:
I can confirm that 10.6.3 will work on the new 13" but the new inertial trackpad feature won't be there.

What I did was swap the drive and then do an installation with the DVD that comes with the 2010 MBP. It will upgrade your installation and retain all your files and settings.
Click to expand...

ditto, worked like a charm ... put old hd in new machine, then insert new install disk do archive and install and you're all up to date, trackpad, battery meter all accurate no problems.
 
CrzyCanuck72 said:
It sounds like there's no consensus on whether it'll work 'out-of-the-box'. I think my best bet might be to pick up a new 1TB external drive, make a full Time Machine backup, wipe the 500GB drive, and migrate it over. I need a new external HD anyway.
Click to expand...

Read my post 🙂 It will work out of the box except for inertial trackpad. You can do an upgrade with the install DVD to get the missing feature, much quicker than TimeMachine. Although you might want to do a backup first anyways.
 
silencer88 said:
Sorry guys, but i disagree. The new MBPs came with a new build of 10.6.3 which includes hardware support for the new systems. I don't think the standard 10.6.3 that the previous models run right now includes the new drivers/kexts for the newer systems. It is only a matter of an update before they do include those drivers, but as far as I know, that update has not yet happened.

Maybe someone with further knowledge on the subject can comment. I've swapped drives between machines before, and it's always worked, but since new hardware just came out, support may not yet be included in the standard 10.6.3 installation.
Click to expand...

This is what I believe too. Once 10.6.4 is released, hard disk swapping can be done with impunity. Until then...

I once swapped hard disks in a similar scenario; the new machine came with a slightly updated Mac OS that wasn't released to the public yet. When I swapped the hard disks, the monitor wouldn't display colors correctly as the Mac OS installation didn't have the display profiles for the new hardware.
 
I want inertial scrolling on my 2009 MBP!!!

trondah said:
I can confirm that 10.6.3 will work on the new 13" but the new inertial trackpad feature won't be there.

What I did was swap the drive and then do an installation with the DVD that comes with the 2010 MBP. It will upgrade your installation and retain all your files and settings.
Click to expand...

I have a '09 MBP 13" 2.26/4/500@7200 running 10.6.4 and I want inertial scrolling bad!

Can I borrow the DVD install from a friend's 2010 13" MBP and install something from it to make the scrolling feature work on mine?

If so - great please tell me what to do.

If not next question is - if I swap my HDD into his machine (and buy it from him) will all my files, applications (CS 5) etc. automatically be there like it's my present one?

My 500/7200 HDD is one week old so it's a current generation.

Thanks guys!
 
about the desired momentum scrolling...

myself and someone else on these forums tried the 13" 2010 MBP's at two different Apple stores where they were not scrolling with the new feature.

After 30 minutes of deliberation the genius's consensus was that future "updates" would enable the momentum scroll feature like the new 15" and 17" models on display.

Hope this sheds some additional light on this! 🙂
 
Now that 10.6.4's been released, any further thoughts/experiences on whether swapping a harddrive from an old Mac to a brand-new Mac will result in all features being enabled on the new machine (eg. inertial scrolling)?
 
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