Existing MacBook HDD into New MacBook Pro?

[natjwest]

I have a MacBook (2.4 Core 2 Duo) running 10.5, which I upgraded the HDD to a Seagate ST9500420AS 500GB, 7200rpm. I really like this HDD, and want to use it in my brand-spanking new MacBook Pro (2.8, ghz bought today). The pro has a 500GB 5400 rpm drive running Snow Leopard.

I also have the original 160 HDD from the MacBook which I would like to reformat and put back into the MacBook (for my wife who gets it as a hand-me-down).

Is it possible for me to upgrade the MacBook's current (500GB Seagate 7200) drive to Snow Leopard, then just put the HDD into the new MBP? I will pull the MBP's HDD and use it for Firewire Time Machine, and finally, put the old 160 GB in the MacBook and reformat/Snow Leopard.

So can I just put the HDD from the MB into the MBP provided it is Snow Leopard?

Thanks,
-Nat West (first post here)

 

[mscriv]

You can swap the drives without any problem. What I'm not sure about is the Snow Leopard upgrade? Of course you can upgrade the drive of preference to Snow Leopard, but what I'm not sure about is whether your provided Snow Leopard disc that comes with your new computer can be used for the upgrade. I don't know if provided discs work on other computers except for the model they are provided with. You may have to purchase a retail copy of Snow Leopard to do the upgrade. Someone else can probably post an answer to this part of your question.

Edit: Now that I think about it you should be able to swap the drives and then do the upgrade after the swap. The provided disc will then be upgrading the drive on the computer with which it was purchased.

 

[natjwest]

Thanks for the super-quick reply mscriv. I had planned on buying the retail "upgrade" disc for Snow Leopard to run on the MacBook. A mac-friend told me that the MBP disc is not an "upgrade" disc and that it would fail. No problem to spend the $25 or whatever it is.

Great to hear that I can do this swappage without problems.

 

[mscriv]

To add another quick piece of advice, I'd go to iFixit.com for a good guide on how to open up your new MBP for the swap. They have excellent how to guides that I've used in the past.

 

[natjwest]

Thanks for the link mscriv. Unfortunately, ifixit does not have instructions for the uber-new unibody, late 2009. Nor does any site I could find. I had to bust open the manual (!!!) to figure it out, which isn't hard.