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How to Transfer MAC HD to SSD?

D

dgerch

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 7, 2010
53
7
Forgive this basic question:

I just bought a Samsung EVO 850 SSD drive that I want to install on my computer. I found a tutorial on how to actually install it but I can't really figure out how to clone my original HD to the SSD. How do I do this.

I don't have an enclosure for the SSD, but I do have another external drive that I've backed up via time machine. Can I do it this way? Is there something I need to do to the SSD before cloning in terms of preparation or formatting? Am I missing a crucial step here?

Again, sorry for sounding clueless.
 
dgerch said:
Forgive this basic question:

I just bought a Samsung EVO 850 SSD drive that I want to install on my computer. I found a tutorial on how to actually install it but I can't really figure out how to clone my original HD to the SSD. How do I do this.

I don't have an enclosure for the SSD, but I do have another external drive that I've backed up via time machine. Can I do it this way? Is there something I need to do to the SSD before cloning in terms of preparation or formatting? Am I missing a crucial step here?

Again, sorry for sounding clueless.
Click to expand...

You'll need to either:
(a) Get another external drive you can boot from (e.g. a USB stick with a Sierra installer on it) so you can install the new SSD, boot from the external, install macOS on the newly-installed SSD then restore from your Time Machine backup or
(b) Buy an enclosure for your SSD, clone your internal drive to the SSD then install it in the computer. Either SuperDuper or Carbon Copy cloner would do the job for cloning the drive: IIRC Carbon Copy Cloner will copy over the recovery partition from the internal drive as well, so it may be a better choice for this purpose. This might be easier than (a) depending on your setup, how confident you are creating a bootable installer USB (plenty of instructions of this online, though) etc.
 
Gav2k said:
I don't understand why people push apps for this purpose.
Click to expand...
Because:
(a) Disk Utility's Restore function can't clone the drive you're booted from, whereas both CCC and SD can.
(b) Both CCC and SD have additional features over those offered by Disk Utility (like scheduling and smart differential updating) so are useful beyond the scope of a one-time transfer of all the data from one drive to another e.g. for regular backups.
(c) Both CCC and SD have (IMHO) a nicer, friendlier UI for doing this than Disk Utility does.
 
OP:

Here's what you need to do:
1. Download CarbonCopyCloner from:
http://www.bombich.com/download.html
CCC is FREE to download, and it's FREE to use for the first 30 days

2. Connect the new SSD to your Mac. I would suggest that you use a USB3 enclosure (which you can buy for about $20), but you could also use a USB3/SATA "adapter dongle" (less $$).

3. Launch Disk Utility. Initialize the SSD to HFS+ with journaling enabled.

4. Quit DU and launch CCC. Put your "source drive" (the old HDD) on the left. Put the "target" (the new SSD) to the right of it. Let CCC "do its thing". CCC can even "clone over" the recovery partition.

5. Once CCC is finished, it's time to TEST your new SSD:
a. Power down -- EVERYTHING OFF
b. Press the power-on button, and immediately hold down the option key until the startup manager appears
c. Select the SSD and hit return.
d. The Mac should now boot from the SSD.
IMPORTANT: when you get to the finder, it will look EXACTLY as if you were booted from the old drive. Go to "about this Mac" (under Apple) to see from which drive you're booted.

You didn't tell us WHICH Mac you're using. If it's a MacBook Pro, NOW is the time to open it up and "do the drive swap". Be sure to use THE RIGHT TOOLS. Go to ifixit.com to see what's involved (very easy job).

IF you follow these instructions as presented, I -predict- success.
I'm that confident about my methods. :)

Addendum:
The reason you want to use an external enclosure is two-fold:
1. It enables you to set up the SSD BEFORE you take apart the Mac.
and
2. It gives you a place to put the old HDD. Use it for a backup, etc.
 
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You don't say what year your Mac is. Can I assume a 2011 or 2012? You can use Internet Recovery to install the OS once the new drive is installed. Then, during setup you can choose to migrate your data from the TM backup (provided you verified it was current before swapping the drive) using Migration Assistant. This is prompted during the setup of your Mac.
 
alFR said:
Because:
(a) Disk Utility's Restore function can't clone the drive you're booted from, whereas both CCC and SD can.
(b) Both CCC and SD have additional features over those offered by Disk Utility (like scheduling and smart differential updating) so are useful beyond the scope of a one-time transfer of all the data from one drive to another e.g. for regular backups.
(c) Both CCC and SD have (IMHO) a nicer, friendlier UI for doing this than Disk Utility does.
Click to expand...
Yes is can cloan a drive fully!
 
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dgerch said:
I don't have an enclosure for the SSD, but I do have another external drive that I've backed up via time machine.
Click to expand...
Maybe... what macOS version are you on? What I'll describe is broken under El Capitan, but works on Lion through Yosemite and also on Sierra.

Install you SSD then attached the TM disk and option key boot to it. That will boot to a recovery partition on the TM disk. From the recovery screen start Disk Utility and go to the erase tab and format the SSD to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) then quit Disk Utility. Now click restore and the OS and all your data will get moved to the SSD. When it is done restart with another option key boot to the SSD then go to System Preferences and in the Startup Disk pane select the SSD as th boot drive.
[doublepost=1491417242][/doublepost]
alFR said:
(a) Disk Utility's Restore function can't clone the drive you're booted from
Click to expand...
You are mistaken... it can.
 
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Gav2k said:
Yes is can cloan a drive fully!
Click to expand...
Really? Because it specifically says in the article that you've linked to that it can't clone your startup drive unless you boot from the recovery partition or an external:
The practical limitation is that you can’t use the Restore function on the current startup drive, or any drive that has files in use. If you need to clone your startup drive, you can make use of either your Mac's Recovery HD volume, or any drive that has a bootable copy of OS X installed.
Click to expand...
 
alFR said:
Really? Because it specifically says in the article that you've linked to that it can't clone your startup drive unless you boot from the recovery partition or an external:
Click to expand...
The article is wrong. You can use DU to clone a running system. I have done it many times as have others I have helped here on the forums. It will even bring over the recovery partition.
 
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Weaselboy wrote:
"You can use DU to clone a running system."

Actually, I'm surprised that Apple has not made this easier for the average user to see and do (using Disk Utility).

Why not include a simple "clone" feature in DU, LABELED AS SUCH.

The concept of "restore" may confuse the average or new user.

This is why I recommend CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper over and over.
Both use simple interfaces, and both are easily understood by just about anybody.
This is the hallmark of "well-designed Mac software"...
 
Fishrrman said:
Actually, I'm surprised that Apple has not made this easier for the average user to see and do (using Disk Utility).
Click to expand...
Yeah.... I agree it is confusing. I have done it many times and I still have to stop and think where to click for a moment each time.
 
In order to end up with a Recovery Partition on the new drive you will either need to:

either use the separate tool in CCC to create an RP (a regular CCC clone does not do it),

or download from MAS and run the full (c5GB) installer on top of the cloned drive...(won't lose any apps, data or settings)

or use the method Hallux suggested in post#6...fresh install from IR and Setup Assistant migration

There are other ways but these are the three I use most.
 
Weaselboy said:
If you use the restore function in Disk Utility like @Gav2k mentioned it will bring over the recovery partition.
Click to expand...

Interesting! I didn't know that. As I understand that Lifewire link, the Recovery partition will only be copied over if a block level copy of the drive is being done, and a block level requires booting from another drive so that the source and destination can be unmounted, as is usual for block level copies. Have I got that right?
 
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Mike Boreham said:
Interesting! I didn't know that. As I understand that Lifewire link, the Recovery partition will only be copied over if a block level copy of the drive is being done, and a block level requires booting from another drive so that the source and destination can be unmounted, as is usual for block level copies. Have I got that right?
Click to expand...
That article is off. You can attach an external USB disk to your Mac right now and go to DU and click restore and pick the internal as the source and the external as the destination and you will get a full clone including the recovery partition.
 
Weaselboy said:
That article is off. You can attach an external USB disk to your Mac right now and go to DU and click restore and pick the internal as the source and the external as the destination and you will get a full clone including the recovery partition.
Click to expand...

Thanks.....is that block level or not? I assume not since source not unmounted. Would it also copy my Bootcamp partition or does it only copy the RP because it is associated with the macOS partition?
 
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Mike wrote above:
"either use the separate tool in CCC to create an RP (a regular CCC clone does not do it)"

This is INCORRECT.
Properly set up (go to preferences), CCC will clone the main partition of the drive AND clone the recovery partition in a single, combined backup.

Indeed, if you run it in "default mode" (as downloaded), CCC will clone the recovery partition automatically along with the "regular" clone.
 
Fishrrman said:
Mike wrote above:
"either use the separate tool in CCC to create an RP (a regular CCC clone does not do it)"

This is INCORRECT.
Properly set up (go to preferences), CCC will clone the main partition of the drive AND clone the recovery partition in a single, combined backup.

Indeed, if you run it in "default mode" (as downloaded), CCC will clone the recovery partition automatically along with the "regular" clone.
Click to expand...

I don't think you are right. I am not at my Mac at the moment but this page from CCC help says exactly what I thought happens.
CCC automatically archives the RP (into the app support folder on the source drive), the archive is copied to the same location on the clone. The archived copy of the RP can then used in to create an actual RP as a separate operation.

Quote from CCC help:
"This archive of the Recovery HD volume can be used in the future to create a new Recovery HD, and it's the first source that CCC considers when you choose to create a Recovery HD. The archive is not, however, an operational Recovery HD volume, it's just a backup file."

I will have a good look when I get home. Maybe this has all been automated into a single op, in which case I am out of date, and so is the help section of CCC.
 
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Mike Boreham said:
I don't think you are right. I am not at my Mac at the moment but this page from CCC help says exactly what I thought happens.
CCC automatically archives the RP (into the app support folder on the source drive), the archive is copied to the same location on the clone. The archived copy of the RP can then used in to create an actual RP as a separate operation.

Quote from CCC help:
"This archive of the Recovery HD volume can be used in the future to create a new Recovery HD, and it's the first source that CCC considers when you choose to create a Recovery HD. The archive is not, however, an operational Recovery HD volume, it's just a backup file."

I will have a good look when I get home. Maybe this has all been automated into a single op, in which case I am out of date, and so is the help section of CCC.
Click to expand...
With default settings, after cloning, CCC asks if you would like to create a recovery partition unless there is already one on the destination drive.
 
ventmore said:
With default settings, after cloning, CCC asks if you would like to create a recovery partition unless there is already one on the destination drive.
Click to expand...

Quite right, I didn't realise you meant that. Not quite automatic and a separate operation using the Disk Centre, but I think our misunderstanding is cleared up. Apologies for confusion :)
 
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