New HDD, want to clone OSX?

[Pravius]

Pardon me if this has already been posted, just a quick question for you mac pros. I am in the IT field so I think that I have a good idea of how to do this but just want to make sure that I am on the right track.

Just bought a new HD for my macbook pro mid 2010 model. I do not want to have to reinstall OSX and just want to take and transfer all my stuff to my new drive. So here is how I understand it:

1. Take out old drive, put in new drive.
2. I have an external SATA case > USB I can put the old drive in.
3. Pop in Snow Leopard CD that came with machine.
4. Boot from the DVD.
5. Go into the Disk Utility
6. Format new drive to Mac Filesystem.
7. Apparently there should be something in there that says something to the affect of copy HDD?
8. Copy the drive, select the source, and things should be good?

Am I thinking right?

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Connect the HDD via the USB enclosure to your running Mac and use Disk Utility from Mac OS X (no need to boot into the installation DVD) and format the HDD using "GUID" as partition map scheme and "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" as format.
Then use CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper to make a 1:1 copy.
Then switch the HDDs.
MRoogle is a good tool to search the forums and might have answered your question faster, as it comes up every now and then.

 

[ctucci]

Pardon me if this has already been posted, just a quick question for you mac pros. I am in the IT field so I think that I have a good idea of how to do this but just want to make sure that I am on the right track.
...<snip>

I would just use Time Machine. Last two times I've had to have a drive replaced, I just hooked it up to Time Machine, booted from the Install DVD, and restored from Time Machine.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

I would just use Time Machine. Last two times I've had to have a drive replaced, I just hooked it up to Time Machine, booted from the Install DVD, and restored from Time Machine.

It just takes longer though, as you need to backup first (which can take twice as long as doing the clone) and then need to restore again (which even can take thrice as long as the cloning process).
Thus a one hour process to copy 60 to 80 GB of data via cloning can take up to five hours via Time Machine.

 

[Vantage Point]

I did this last week for my MBP. I used Disk Utility to format and check the new drive. Then I just used Carbon Copy Cloner to clone the drive. Then I simply swapped drives - here are some videos I watched to learn how. I prefer CCC to TM (I use both methods for my backups with TM better for a new computer and CCC better and faster for a replacement drive. TM can screw up some software registration and take longer.

The physical swapping took about 15 minutes - you will need the right tools which are mentioned in the video. I own one of these which I use for my backups and clones and connected using firewire 800 cable for the clone. A USB will be about half the speed but no big deal. Cloning takes longer than copying.

 

[MacBookPr0]

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Once it's formatted you can just copy the harddrive to the one in the enclosure then swap and yoir ready to go

 

[simsaladimbamba]

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Once it's formatted you can just copy the harddrive to the one in the enclosure then swap and yoir ready to go

Not via Finder. One has to use a cloning application like CCC or SD, as many files and folders will not be copied via Finder due to permissions and hidden statuses.

 

[Vantage Point]

Not via Finder. One has to use a cloning application like CCC or SD, as many files and folders will not be copied via Finder due to permissions and hidden statuses.

Exactly. Cloning is just that, an identical copy so no worries. CCC or Super Duper do this task and keep life very simple. They are also one of the best ways to create a backup. If you hard drive ever dies you simply swap drives. Cloning protects you from drive problems while TM protects you from yourself or new software issues - so using both methods to backup is the best protection.

For a replacement drive in the same computer cloning is the fastest and simplest way to get up and going, period.

 

[Pravius]

Not via Finder. One has to use a cloning application like CCC or SD, as many files and folders will not be copied via Finder due to permissions and hidden statuses.

That was my next question. Thanks for answering without me asking lol.

So CCC will stop the running processes or just copy them while running. Sounds like CC is my answer and it looks free too which is cool. I will donate if it works and I like it, I just hate being forced to buy software.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

That was my next question. Thanks for answering without me asking lol.

So CCC will stop the running processes or just copy them while running. Sounds like CC is my answer and it looks free too which is cool. I will donate if it works and I like it, I just hate being forced to buy software.

It doesn't stop any running processes, as far as I know. It doesn't need to. It just works and I have used CCC for quite some time, successfully.

 

[Vantage Point]

So CCC will stop the running processes or just copy them while running. Sounds like CC is my answer and it looks free too which is cool. I will donate if it works and I like it, I just hate being forced to buy software.

Best not to be doing anything while creating a clone just to be safe. CCC will do plenty of ads while working until you donate but it is worth every cent plus they keep updating it. I think the suggested donation is $10 or $15 which is nothing considering it just works. IMO it is a must have software (unless you use Super Duper instead)

 

[Pravius]

So CCC will stop the running processes or just copy them while running. Sounds like CC is my answer and it looks free too which is cool. I will donate if it works and I like it, I just hate being forced to buy software.

Best not to be doing anything while creating a clone just to be safe. CCC will do plenty of ads while working until you donate but it is worth every cent plus they keep updating it. I think the suggested donation is $10 or $15 which is nothing considering it just works. IMO it is a must have software (unless you use Super Duper instead)

Very cool. Thank you guys for a new, easier solution!

 

[NewMacOldGuy]

Clone Drive Doesn't boot ...

I tried this procedure w/o success.
Can you please help me figure out what I'm doing wrong?

Reason of HDD swap: I'd like to try the Seagate Hybrid HDD Momentus XT (4G SDD + 500G HDD) on my MBP.

System: MBP 2.53GHz (got it in Nov 2009), OS X 10.6.7, 250G HDD Fujitsu, space used 98.71G.

Procedure I used:
1. I got a working WD Passport USB drive, removed original HDD and installed the Seagate Momentus XT HDD (i.e. used the internal passport USB to SATA interface). I also upgraded the HDD firmware from SD 23 to SD 25 w/o issues.
2. Using Disk Utility, I partitioned the drive with one Mac OS extended (journaled) 500G partition (GUID) and named it Macintosh HD.
3. Using Disk Utility, I verified the disk. No errors.
4. Using CCC, I cloned the internal HDD to the USB HDD. I left all options default (backup everything and delete items ... unchecked). It took less than 2h to complete w/o errors.
5. I shutdown the computer gracefully and swapped drives.

Now the MBP does not boot with the cloned drive. It boots normally with the original Fujitsu drive.
I can see the seagate drive in Finder and it seems that all the files are there. Space used is 98.71G. "Get Info" between original and clone drives also look the same.

BTW: I tried this multiple times. I do not think the drive is bad. I think I'm missing something.

Any suggestions?
Did I miss something ?
Thanks in advance,
Luiz

UPDATED 6/24/11:
I'm giving up on Seagate and the Momentus XT drive now.
I tried few other times with all failing the same way. The drive clones ok and can be verified ok when connected via USB. The moment you install it in the SATA interface the drives gives errors, dies during verify and refuses to boot the computer.
Thanks on your comments.

UPDATE 6/26/11:
I'm really giving up on Seagate and the Momentus XT drive now. Really.
I got another new MXT drive (this one came with SD24) and had the same experience.
At this time I tried PRAM and SMC reset without success. The drive works fine on USB but not with the MBP 2009 SATA interface. I could not even load OS X from DVD because the load was hanging up around 28 minutes. There is definitely an issue with this driver's SATA implementation (HW/FW?) and the MBP 15" 2009. I don't know how other users are being successful with this ...
Thanks on your comments.

 

[r0k]

I tried this procedure w/o success.
Can you please help me figure out what I'm doing wrong?

Reason of HDD swap: I'd like to try the Seagate Hybrid HDD Momentus XT (4G SDD + 500G HDD) on my MBP.

System: MBP 2.53GHz (got it in Nov 2009), OS X 10.6.7, 250G HDD Fujitsu, space used 98.71G.

Procedure I used:
1. I got a working WD Passport USB drive, removed original HDD and installed the Seagate Momentus XT HDD (i.e. used the internal passport USB to SATA interface). I also upgraded the HDD firmware from SD 23 to SD 25 w/o issues.
2. Using Disk Utility, I partitioned the drive with one partition of 500G, named it Macintosh HD and used Mac OS extended (journaled)
3. Using Disk Utility, I verified the disk. No errors.
4. Using CCC, I cloned the internal HDD to the USB HDD. I left all options default (backup everything and delete items ... unchecked). It took less than 2h to complete w/o errors.
5. I shutdown the computer gracefully and swapped drives.

Now the MBP does not boot with the cloned drive. It boots normally with the original Fujitsu drive.
I can see the seagate drive in Finder and it seems that all the files are there. Space used is 98.71G. "Get Info" between original and clone drives also look the same.

BTW: I tried this multiple times. I do not think the drive is bad. I think I'm missing something.

Any suggestions?
Did I miss something ?
Thanks in advance,
Luiz

I just did the same thing. I had CCC copy my 160 Gig drive to a dmg on my firewire 1 TB drive. But that wasn't enough. I didn't want to bother with the whole sata to usb cable thing so I decided to let Time Machine make a backup, also to the 1 TB drive. Once that was done I shut down, popped out the old drive and popped in the Monentus. I then booted from the SL DVD, used disk utility to format the new drive HFS journaled, etc. I installed the OS. When prompted, I picked "restore from Time Machine" and browsed to the backup I just created earlier on the firewire drive. What I didn't know at the time is I could have browsed to the Time Capsule on the network if I had wanted to. I've had problems with corruption when backing up over the network so I didn't want to take a chance. I let the install finish and everything was back where I left it.

Everything except mail.app. I had to delete mail.app's prefs and data folder and start over. No biggie. Now I'm enjoying my Seagate Momentus hybrid drive and my boot times are more than twice as fast and I'm not always obsessing about disk space. Nice. Very nice.

If I were you, I suggest backing up to a USB or firewire drive using Time Machine and doing an install to the new drive using the OS X DVD. Then you'll know it will be bootable. When prompted, pick the TM backup you just made and you are good to go.

I wanted to try CCC but since I didn't want to shell out for the usb to SATA cable, I decided it was worth waiting a little longer for a full TM backup and a full TM restore. All that's left now is to wipe the old 160 gig drive and put it in one of the kids' Mac Minis so they can have more space.

 

[wilsonhaven]

I'm hoping this question fits the thread. It seems to be the closest. I cloned my stock hitachi 500G drive to a new WD 750G drive in a USB enclosure. I installed the WD into my MBP 5,3 running 10.6.7. The performance is improved. The odd thing is that Acrobat Reader will not print any longer. It says that no document is selected to print. My Sprint SmartView application no longer has a toggle to switch between 3G and 4G. I've reinstalled both applications. Any thoughts on why this might happen? The permissions are fine and the drive validates as ok with Disk Utility. If I boot from the old drive, every thing works fine.

Thanks