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New Mac, want to swap HDDs from old to new

Surely

Surely

Guest
Original poster
Oct 27, 2007
15,042
17
Los Angeles, CA
I have a feeling that I'm following the correct procedures, but I just wanted to run it by the community to make sure I didn't miss anything.

I just picked up a new Mac Mini and I want to transfer the data and the hard drive from my mid-2009 MBP running SL to the Mini (for clarity, I don't want SL to run on the Mini. I just want the actual HDD in the Mini). The Mini came with a 500GB 5400rpm HDD, and my MBP has a 500GB 7200rpm HDD in it. Obviously, I would prefer to use the 7200rpm HDD over the 5400rpm HDD.

So here's what I'm planning on doing:
  1. Run Migration Assistant to transfer all of my data from my MBP to the Mini.
  2. Verify that all of my data was successfully transferred.
  3. Run Time Machine on the Mini to make sure a Time Machine backup is created.
  4. Remove the HDD from the MBP, insert it into an external enclosure, connect it to the Mini, and then erase that HDD.
  5. Run Carbon Copy Cloner to make an exact copy of the Mini's 5400rpm HDD onto the now external 7200rpm HDD.
  6. Remove the Mini's 5400rpm HDD and install the 7200rpm HDD into the Mini.
  7. Boot up the Mini, and hope that it worked!


Did I miss anything? Is there any reason I shouldn't expect this Carbon Copy Cloner'ed HDD to work? Is there a better way of doing this?

Thanks muchly.
 
One problem that I've encountered is Migration Assistant to Lion.

The 10.7.1 update seems to fix this, along with the 10.6.8 supplemental update.

You can install this update to the Lion machine by creating a user named Delete. Run the Software Update (on BOTH machines), then the Migration Assistant, then go to System Preferences and delete the Delete Account.

One word of caution: you should transfer the Applications first, then the Users and other saved data in Migration Assistant or you risk a hang. 10.7.1 hasn't fixed this but it's a simple way to avoid possibly hours of frustration, Shirley.
 
Thanks for the tip Cheat-o.

Besides the potential issue with Migration Assistant, does everything else look hunky dory?
 
All of 7 Macs of mine say so.

I hope Apple fixes this very soon. It frustrated me for a whole day and put off some of my business with the down time.
I felt gracious enough to spare you the same fate...but I will expect something in return in due time >8\
 
Maybe I'm not reading your intentions right but this sounds way too complicated. Just take the hard drive from the MBP and slap it into the mini then update it to Lion. Before or after you do that you can run CCC to dupe the faster hard drive to the slower one which I assume you are slapping into the MBP.

Edit: Also since you mentioned running a Time Machine backup. Do run this before running anything. Not that the update is likely to screw up everything. But because any second your hard drive can fail you never know. Much of the time there is no warning.
 
I just want to point out that depending on how old the drive from your MBP is, your Mini's newer HD might actually be faster (even if it is spinning at a lower RPM).
 
velocityg4 said:
Maybe I'm not reading your intentions right but this sounds way too complicated. Just take the hard drive from the MBP and slap it into the mini then update it to Lion. Before or after you do that you can run CCC to dupe the faster hard drive to the slower one which I assume you are slapping into the MBP.

Edit: Also since you mentioned running a Time Machine backup. Do run this before running anything. Not that the update is likely to screw up everything. But because any second your hard drive can fail you never know. Much of the time there is no warning.
Click to expand...

I don't think that's possible. From what I've read, the new Minis won't run SL naturally/easily, so I don't think it'll read the MBP's HD if I put it in the Mini.

You have to jump through a couple of hoops to get SL onto a 2011 Mini: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1202095/

Quad5Ny said:
I just want to point out that depending on how old the drive from your MBP is, your Mini's newer HD might actually be faster (even if it is spinning at a lower RPM).
Click to expand...

The drive is pretty new.....I just bought it and installed it into my MBP a few months ago. It's a Hitachi Travelstar 2.5 Inch 500 GB 7200 RPM SATA II 16 MB Cache.
 
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Surely said:
I don't think that's possible. From what I've read, the new Minis won't run SL naturally/easily, so I don't think it'll read the MBP's HD if I put it in the Mini.

You have to jump through a couple of hoops to get SL onto a 2011 Mini: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1202095/



The drive is pretty new.....I just bought it and installed it into my MBP a few months ago. It's a Hitachi Travelstar 2.5 Inch 500 GB 7200 RPM SATA II 16 MB Cache.
Click to expand...

Then CCC the faster drive to the slower drive, update the MBP to Lion, plop the drive with Lion into the Mini and take the slower drive with Snow Leopard and pop it into the MBP. If you want both on Lion update the MBP to Lion, CCC the fast hard drive to the slower one, pop the faster one into the mini and the slower into the MBP.
 
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I've gone and done the Migration Assistant step......but there's a discrepancy between the size of the MBP's HD and the new Mini's HD.

When I right-click 'Macintosh HD' on my MBP, it shows 183.42 GB.

When I right-click 'Macintosh HD' on my Mini, it shows 180.53 GB.

Is this merely a difference in the size of SL versus Lion?



Now that I'm finished with the temporary user account that I created in order to update the OS to 10.7.1, which of these am I supposed to choose now that I'm ready to delete it?

Screen Shot 2011-08-25 at 3.30.04 PM.png
 
Last edited:
Surely said:
Is this merely a difference in the size of SL versus Lion?
Click to expand...

Yes. As well as the lack of Front Row, Rosetta, maybe Developer tools etc.

Surely said:
Now that I'm finished with the temporary user account that I created in order to update the OS to 10.7.1, which of these am I supposed to choose now that I'm ready to delete it?
View attachment 300424
Click to expand...

Delete the home folder. Don't worry about checking the box under it.
 
MrCheeto said:
Yes. As well as the lack of Front Row, Rosetta, maybe Developer tools etc.
Click to expand...

Thanks Cheat-0.

It's weird.....when I first fired up the Mini after the Migration, it was closer to 178GB. But after using it for a bit, opening Safari, iTunes, iPhoto, etc. (but not adding any new data to my HD), it grew to around 180GB.

I just got off the phone with AppleCare, and that guy said the same thing.....due to things like Front Row, Rosetta, maybe Developer tools etc.


Delete the home folder. Don't worry about checking the box under it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I deleted it. I checked that box though. Don't hurt me.:p
 
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