First Macbook, upgrading the hard drive?

[Hibbo]

Hi, just bought my first mac, a 13" Macbook Pro, go a couple of questions for all you experienced Mac users.

The model i bought only has a 250gb hd (got a good deal on it £740 brand new) so i want to upgrade the hd straight away, before i transfer all my music, software, files etc... from my old laptop.

I have literalyl only turned my mac on and off, i havent done anyhting else with it, i haven't even opened a single application on it, so i'm wondering, will i still have to 'clone' the current hard drive onto the new one before swithing them over, or as it's a new machine would i be ok to just take out the current one, put the new one in and do a fresh install of snow leopard and the other apple apps from the boot disks that come in the box?

Also, Macupgrades has been reccomended to me over here in England as the place to buy a new hard drive and another 4gb of ram, has anyone on here ever used them, opinions?

Cheers.

 

[imaketouchtheme]

Reinstalling the OS from your Install Discs is definitely the best way to go. You won't run into any problems doing it that way.

 

[xxBURT0Nxx]

a fresh install will be less hassle and you won't run into any problems since you don't need any data off the smaller hdd...

not sure where the best place to buy ram is in england, but there are many forum members here who will be able to help you

Also, just so you know, you can't just buy another 4gb of ram and add it to your current ram to get 8gb. Your macbook has 2 SO-DIMM slots for ram, each of which is currently occupied with a 2gb stick. While you could theoretically run a 2gb and 4gb stick for 6gb of ram it is recommended that both slots have the same ram in them so you should buy an 8gb ram kit with 2 4gb sticks.

 

[Hibbo]

Thanks for the quick replies, think i'll wait on the ram update, 4gb should be fine for the time being for running Traktor, Ableton and Logic.

So i should be ok to just switch the hard drives over and just do a fresh install, i dont have to go through the palava of cloning the original hard drive as i haven't actually put anything on there yet.

 

[imaketouchtheme]

Thanks for the quick replies, think i'll wait on the ram update, 4gb should be fine for the time being for running Traktor, Ableton and Logic.

So i should be ok to just switch the hard drives over and just do a fresh install, i dont have to go through the palava of cloning the original hard drive as i haven't actually put anything on there yet.

Exactly.

 

[Hibbo]

Exactly.

Sound, just ordered a 750gb WD scorpio Blue Sata HD for £70, thanks for helping a new Mac user.

 

[discounteggroll]

if you have nothing on it, then yes, simply do a swap of hard drives and install SL clean. You will find in the future that making images of your hard drive and restoring them for whatever reason (dead HD, stolen computer, hardware failure, etc) will be easier and MUCH faster.

Come to that bridge a year from now.

 

[Hibbo]

if you have nothing on it, then yes, simply do a swap of hard drives and install SL clean. You will find in the future that making images of your hard drive and restoring them for whatever reason (dead HD, stolen computer, hardware failure, etc) will be easier and MUCH faster.

Come to that bridge a year from now.

Thats what i thought, makes life easier in the long term, it's just annoying having my brand new macbook sat there unused until my new hard drive comes.
It'll be worth the wait though i'm sure, thanks for all the help, expect plenty more posts begging for help in the coming weeks as i get to grips with the switch from windows.

 

[xxBURT0Nxx]

Thats what i thought, makes life easier in the long term, it's just annoying having my brand new macbook sat there unused until my new hard drive comes.
It'll be worth the wait though i'm sure, thanks for all the help, expect plenty more posts begging for help in the coming weeks as i get to grips with the switch from windows.

you can still use it in the interum... just know anything you do is not going to transfer to the new hard drive with a fresh install.

If you want to check your mail and surf the internet feel free, no sense in leaving the computer in a box!

 

[getz76]

@Hibbo,

Check out Carbon Copy Cloner. I clone a known-good drive image whenever I do major upgrades. The ability to go back to a known good image with application installs is a nice option versus a full reinstall.