if I remove my 2011 MB Pro hard drive and put a blank one in will I be good to go?

Discussion in 'MacBook Pro' started by jesusplay, Jul 15, 2016.

Most Liked Posts
  1. jesusplay, Jul 15, 2016

    jesusplay macrumors 6502a

    Joined:
    Sep 6, 2007
    Location:
    SOUTH
    #1
    Trying to start fresh, I don't need anything off my old HDD, can I just swap them out or do I need to make a boot disk or something?
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
  2. maflynn, Jul 16, 2016

    maflynn Moderator

    maflynn

    Staff Member

    Joined:
    May 3, 2009
    Location:
    Boston
    #2
    Your new blank drive will not have any operating system on it, and so you'll not be able to boot the computer.

    2011 models did not have the internet recovery, You will need to boot up off the system disks that came with the Mac. Another option is to clone the old drive to the new drive, by getting an external enclosure and copying the contents before swapping the drive.
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
  3. osnola ibax, Jul 16, 2016

    osnola ibax macrumors member

    osnola ibax

    Joined:
    Jul 17, 2014
    #3
    This looks like a pretty decent guide to cloning your HD using Disk Utility which is already included in MacOS (no need for third part software).

    I was similar to you and didn't need much from the old disk and used Disc Utility to do it. Seemed the most straight forward at the time. I think you will need a hard disk enclosure though. Inatek do a good cheap one on Amazon

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0...+enclosure&dpPl=1&dpID=41HPyPYuXRL&ref=plSrch

    http://forum.crucial.com/t5/Crucial...ur-old-hard-drive-to-your-SSD-Mac/ta-p/112072
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
  4. Weaselboy, Jul 16, 2016
    Last edited: Jul 16, 2016

    Weaselboy Moderator

    Weaselboy

    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Jan 23, 2005
    Location:
    California
    #4
    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202313

    Your Mac is on this list, so it should have Internet recovery. So just install the new disk then hold command-option-r (all three at once) when you boot. Pick your language and wifi then you will see a spinning globe while the recovery utility downloads. Once the recovery utility comes up use Disk Utility to erase the new disk to Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Then quit Disk Utility and click reinstall OS at the top and wait for the ~6GB OS to download and install.

    That will give you a fresh install of Lion 10.7. From there if you like you can update to El Capitan.
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
    Hustler1337, GoldfishRT, jesusplay and 1 other person like this.
  5. T5BRICK, Jul 16, 2016

    T5BRICK macrumors G3

    T5BRICK

    Joined:
    Aug 3, 2006
    Location:
    Oregon
    #5
    While the 2011 models may not have shipped with the capability, a firmware update later added the ability. I believe these automatically showed up in software update.
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
  6. Johbremat, Jul 19, 2016

    Johbremat macrumors regular

    Joined:
    Feb 8, 2011
    #6
    I can confirm Internet Recovery is available on 2011 MBPs (have run in a few times on an 8,2 and 8,3 in the last 12 months).
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
    baypharm likes this.
  7. jerryk, Jul 19, 2016

    jerryk macrumors 68040

    Joined:
    Nov 3, 2011
    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    #7
    Agreed. I just did this a 3 weeks ago.
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
    baypharm likes this.
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)

Share This Page