How to move data over...

[Andy348]

I'm just about to pull the trigger on this drive:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136280

I was dying for a 500GB drive, but I can't find a good one for under $100. Anyways, it'll be quite an upgrade from my 120GB 5400rpm with 6GB free space (thanks to SL!). Anyways, I've got a small problem... I'd like to obviously keep everything off of this current drive and mirror it if possible. I know there are programs that do that, but I don't have an external drive to transfer files over to. I do have many PCs with 250GB spaces but I don't see how I could backup everything on my Mac and then re-put it onto the new drive?

Am I SOL? I don't really feel like breaking up all my music into 8GB incriments (biggest USB size) aswel as photos and then redownload all my apps

Anyone got a solution?

Thanks!

 

[Awfdixon]

You'll need:

•External HDD with Mac OS and Carbon Copy Cloner installed
•A caddy for your new drive

You then boot from the external drive (this can be a usb stick -http://www.maciverse.com/install-boot-os-x-leopard-from-a-usb-flash-drive.html) and clone the drive using CCC onto the new one (you'll need to format it using Disk Utility first).

Insert the newly cloned drive into your Mac.

Otherwise, install the new drive and install Mac OS X on it, then using an external caddy, drag the files onto the new drive.

If you don't have the equipment, you're better off having an Apple Authorized Service Provider do it for you.

 

[Designer Dale]

I think he wants to use the free space on his PC as "temp storage" for his Mac files and reload them after installing a new drive. I don't think you can do this. The PC drive can be removed and placed in a caddy to be used to back up the Mac, but it needs to be formatted first, wiping all PC files.

Maybe it could be partitioned in the PC to create a second drive the Mac could use. I don't know.


Dale

 

[Andy348]

What if I bought an external enclosure for the 120GB HD... if I put in the 320GB 7.2K drive with my SL install disk and booted it up, could I then just import everything from the 120GB internal/external drive?

I'm thinking it might just be easier for me to go for the external.

 

[zhenya]

Yes. Just install SL on the new drive, put the old drive in the enclosure and import from there. You can also do this to your PC by just sharing a folder on the PC and backing up to there (Time Machine won't easily do this, but programs like SuperDuper will).

 

[Fishrrman]

RE:
"Anyone got a solution?"

Get yourself one of these:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=usb+sata+dock&x=0&y=0

It will work not only for the immediate task-at-hand, but be a very useful accessory to have around for the future.

Then, do this:
1. Hook up the new drive to the MacBook via the dock
2. Use CarbonCopyCloner to "dupe" the contents of the old drive to the new one
3. Once done, do a "test reboot" from the NEW drive (while still in the dock) to be sure it's working and is set up as you wish.
4. Do the physical drive swap.

Now you can use the dock to do backups, etc.

 

[Andy348]

RE:
"Anyone got a solution?"

Get yourself one of these:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=usb+sata+dock&x=0&y=0

It will work not only for the immediate task-at-hand, but be a very useful accessory to have around for the future.

Then, do this:
1. Hook up the new drive to the MacBook via the dock
2. Use CarbonCopyCloner to "dupe" the contents of the old drive to the new one
3. Once done, do a "test reboot" from the NEW drive (while still in the dock) to be sure it's working and is set up as you wish.
4. Do the physical drive swap.

Now you can use the dock to do backups, etc.

I think this is what I'll do.

So I'll put the new drive into the dock, clone my drive over to it, but then how do I boot off of it?

 

[Fishrrman]

RE:
"So I'll put the new drive into the dock, clone my drive over to it, but then how do I boot off of it?"

After the cloning is done, do this:
1. With everything connected, restart
2. IMMEDIATELY hold down the option key and KEEP HOLDING IT DOWN
3. The "startup manager" will appear.
4. Use the right/left arrow keys to select the volume you wish to boot from, then hit the enter key.

Alternate route: Go to System Preferences and choose "Startup disk".

 

[Thorbjorn]

As far as drives go, I got a 1Tb Fantom Greendrive for about $80 with rebates, now down to $70 with rebates. I've loved mine, very reliable so far. Read the reviews. Here's one link:

http://www.macmall.com/s?rch&q=fantom%20greendrive&includeImage=true

 

[Andy348]

Just ordered the 320GB internal and a USB-Hard Drive dock.

Thanks everyone!