Im gonna put in a new SSD in my mbp mid 2012. Do I will I need Osx on a usb or something or is there something in the machine that can just fetch it from the internet? I only found tutorials of people trying to back up what was already on there computer. Im not. I just want to start from scratch. that is to say I dont want any of the crap on my current hard drive on the new ssd. Only osx.
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New SSD install OsX
- Thread starter judojustin
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You're referring to a clean install. You can always do an internet install from Apple which will install the original version of OS X that came with your 2012 Mid MBP. However, unless you have a very fast connection, an internet install may take hours or all night. It's better to have a bootable USB flash drive with OS X and use it to install clean. Much faster that way.
Thanks for the speedy response. Follow up, So I installed it. Did everything in the OWC vid on YouTube. Booted it up and all I get is a folder in the center of the screen with a question mark. So I put in the CD that came with the Samsung SSD and it just spins the disc and nothing. Just a blank screen. Could it be a bad Hd ? I did put in new ram as well could it also be that?
Get the install USB. Plug it in. Start up the mac. Hold option key down until it shows the disks. select the install mac USB.
Takes about half an hour after that if USB 2 disk, or no more than 20 minutes if USB 3 disk.
That is all you need.
(There are tutorials on how to do this with terminal on many websites, google is your friend).
Takes about half an hour after that if USB 2 disk, or no more than 20 minutes if USB 3 disk.
That is all you need.
(There are tutorials on how to do this with terminal on many websites, google is your friend).
OWC does have some written instructions "How to Migrate OS X and Your Data to a New Drive".
See Step #7 about formatting your new drive.
See Step #7 about formatting your new drive.
OP:
Important question:
How well is the OS running on your current HDD?
IF there are no problems other than "the slowness of the drive", you could do this, quick-n-easy:
1. Get a USB3 enclosure
2. Put the SSD in the enclosure (temporarily)
3. Connect to Mac, initialize SSD
4. Download CarbonCopyCloner. CCC is FREE to download and use for the first 30 days
5. Use CCC to clone the contents of the internal HDD to the SSD. CCC will even clone over the recovery partition.
6. Now, TEST the SSD BEFORE you install it. Reboot and hold the option key until the startup manager appears, then select the external SSD and hit return.
7. Do you get a "good boot"? Does everything look as it should?
8. If so, NOW is the time to power down and "do the swap".
When done, put the old HDD into the external enclosure to serve as a bootable backup.
Important question:
How well is the OS running on your current HDD?
IF there are no problems other than "the slowness of the drive", you could do this, quick-n-easy:
1. Get a USB3 enclosure
2. Put the SSD in the enclosure (temporarily)
3. Connect to Mac, initialize SSD
4. Download CarbonCopyCloner. CCC is FREE to download and use for the first 30 days
5. Use CCC to clone the contents of the internal HDD to the SSD. CCC will even clone over the recovery partition.
6. Now, TEST the SSD BEFORE you install it. Reboot and hold the option key until the startup manager appears, then select the external SSD and hit return.
7. Do you get a "good boot"? Does everything look as it should?
8. If so, NOW is the time to power down and "do the swap".
When done, put the old HDD into the external enclosure to serve as a bootable backup.
So to reformat the HD I have to either A)do via USB or enclosure before installation or B) have a USB with osx connected after installation to temporarily run on?
So hypothetically,
if I were building a computer from scratch I would need another computer for the reformat process?
So hypothetically,
if I were building a computer from scratch I would need another computer for the reformat process?
No... newer Macs like yours have what is called Internet recovery. This is a small utility in the firmware that allows you to connect to the Internet and download the OS version that came from the factory. From there you can update to Sierra if you like.
Hold command-option-r at boot and select and login to your wifi. You should see a spinning globe while the recovery utility downloads and boot up in memory. You will then see the recovery screen. From there use Disk Utility to format the new disk to Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Then quit Disk Utility and click on reinstall OS X.
