Moving apps from HDD to SSD

[Benito]

I have a 2007 non unibody MBP. I have the OptiBay as well. I'm going to install my old HDD in the optibay because my 2007 MBP has ATA. The SSD will be installed with SATA in the old HD position.

What I'd like to do is to have only the OS and all apps including my virtual machine on the SSD and use my HDD as the files server, but keep the OS and apps there as a back plan in case the SSD dies suddenly. What is the best way to get my OS and apps from the HDD to the new SSD?

 

[chopper dave]

Just install your SSD in the main HD bay and put your OS/apps on it. Use an alias in your user folder to link to folders containing big files on your HDD, like the iPhoto, iMovie, and iTunes libraries. You can even make an alias of the library itself. I have done this and it works perfectly.

I highly recommend keeping any VMs on the SSD, as it is incredibly cool to be able to launch a Windows VM from a saved state (1GB VRAM) in 5 seconds.

Trying to backup OS/apps yourself is a huge pain, and Apple has already done it for you. Just use Time Machine- if you can afford that expensive SSD you can afford a cheap external to connect every once in a while. If you really have to keep it all internal, use carbon copy cloner and do an incremental backup of the entire SSD to a disk image on your HDD.

 

[Benito]

When you say "put your OS and apps" on the SSD, do you mean just drag them over? I'm wondering about the mechanics of it, how do I put copies of them on the SSD from the HDD? Do I just drag them over, or do I have to use a specific program to do it? Sorry if my questions seem kind of simple, but I haven't done this type of thing before. In the past I've just upgraded to a new HDD and just copied the whole HDD to the newer one. I've never tried to selectively copy only certain things.