Ordered SSD, What's next?

[quadcoreguy]

Hey guys so I've finally bit the bullet and got myself a 512gb crucial m4 with the transfer kit, arriving probably next week . On the hardware end, I have no problems installing the drive . I'm confused on the software end though . I have a 2011 15' MacBook pro , 160 Gb used on the HDD. So what would I do next? I'm already running ML. Basically what I want to achieve is a clean install of ML on my SSD , and later on do a spring cleaning, by transfering important data from my HDD To SSD, leaving out the junk. Theoretically it sounds easy , but rather confusing when it comes to the actual duty. Would any macrumornians care to share a step by step instruction on this? Thanks

 

[CausticPuppy]

Do you have an external USB drive bay?
I just went through this on my old MBP, new SSD with a clean install of ML. I'm only reinstalling apps when I actually need to use them (thus avoiding having leftover cruft).

Being able to access your old data via USB will make it a lot easier. The main thing you'll want to transfer first is probably your iTunes library, so that you can continue synching any iOS devices you have.

 

[Krazy Bill]

Basically what I want to achieve is a clean install of ML on my SSD , and later on do a spring cleaning, by transfering important data from my HDD To SSD, leaving out the junk.

That's how to do it. Not sure what you're asking.

Nobody knows what your important data is but you so you'll have to pick and chose from your user library as you see fit. Going beyond that however kind of negates the purpose of a clean install.

I would recommend however that you get another cheap external USB drive and simply clone your existing internal drive first before you dive right into this swap. You'll need one any way for backups. If you can afford that crucial, this shouldn't be a problem.

 

[grizfish]

The question by the OP has yet to be answered. Anybody out there who thinks on a basic level? I went through this same thing last month and never did find the answer.

What program is used? Where do you find that program? Do you drag and drop some item? What are the steps taken to get a clean install of ML on a new SSD using a MBP that did not come with a pre-installed copy of Lion or ML?

 

[quadcoreguy]

Thanks for the prompt reply . I do hve an external HDD , so do I clone my internal HDD onto the external one , swap the ssd in , and move what I want back into the ssd from the HDD? It doesn't make sense to move the ssd in as it doesn't have the OS in it yet , right ?

 

[tillsbury]

Recommendation to buy a cheap external drive is a good one. Then you can do a backup (if you haven't already got one) and swap your existing HDD into the caddy afterwards, then you can use your old drive through USB.

If you're more confident, just buy a USB3 drive caddy bare (I found one for only $10 online), and put your Mac's HDD into it.

For the transfer itself, I can recommend MuCommander, a free Finder-alike which is much easier to use for large-scale transfers. I used it a lot for transferring data from my old Windows drives onto my MBP. I don't use it as much now, but it was handy for the transfer.

 

[shigatashway]

The m4 comes with a SATA to usb connector, so while a traditional external drive is always useful and helpful to backup and restore from, it's not entirely necessary, as once you remove your current internal drive, you can still access all of the data on it through the SATA adapter.

Once you've installed the m4 and done a clean install, you can transfer your old data simply by dragging and dropping from the old drive to the new SSD (you don't need to install any special software that comes with the drive to achieve this).

 

[quadcoreguy]

So do I just make a backup of my HDD, swap in the SSD , and boot ? Is it even possible to boot my comp with an empty ssd in it ?

 

[shigatashway]

So do I just make a backup of my HDD, swap in the SSD , and boot ? Is it even possible to boot my comp with an empty ssd in it ?

I'm saying you don't need to back it up to transfer your data: just plug in your old HDD on your system once you've installed ML.

And in regards to installing ML from scratch, there are dozens of threads all over the place about how to do it, and a google search would suffice as well. You'll need to make a ML Boot disk or thumb drive and boot from that.

 

[sofianito]

So do I just make a backup of my HDD, swap in the SSD , and boot ? Is it even possible to boot my comp with an empty ssd in it ?

For me, a fresh neat install would be:
1. Backup your HDD
2. Create a USB installation boot drive of ML (Google for instructions). You'll need at least an 8GB USB stick.
3. Swap in the SSD and boot from your USB (you'll have to hold the option key in order to chose what disk to boot from).
4. Install ML and updates.
5. reInstall all your apps.
6. Move your important data (generally located under your home directory) from hdd to ssd.
7. Wipe your hdd.

If you want to have more disk capacity on your MBP, you could replace your DVD with an optibay+hdd.

 

[Irock619]

You can use the above method or this method from apples website......
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1433

This method you only need 01gb of space on a thumb drive and Internet connection.

 

[Ifti]

I didnt clone my HDD to my SSD, as cloning will not move your recovery partition etc across (unless you pay for Carbon Copy Cloner).

This is exactly what I did:

1. Attach an external HDD (preferable FW800 or USB3 if poss) and use Time Machine to create a backup.
2. Create a Mountain Lion USB Flash drive (I have videos on how to do this step-by-step in my Youtube channel).
3. Once done, shut down the MBP and install the SSD (I have videos on how to do this step-by-step in my Youtube channel).
3. Boot off of the USB Flash drive and install Mountain Lion as normal.
4. Part of the ML setup will ask you if you want to restore from a backup - select this option and attach the Time Machine backup drive.
5. Restore all settings and applications (you can choose what to restore if you dont want to restore everything) and once ML boots your system willl be exactly as it was before.

For me, this was the best way to upgrade as I have exactly the same system, with a fresh install of ML and recovery partition, as well as all my applications and settings intact.

 

[quadcoreguy]

Hey thanks . Very informative posts here can I use The recovery disk assistant to make a recovery partition on the crucial , and create a ML boot disk with a pendrive , then swap the drives , boot comp with the ssd in it by booting into the pendrive recovery ?

 

[sofianito]

Hey thanks . Very informative posts here can I use The recovery disk assistant to make a recovery partition on the crucial , and create a ML boot disk with a pendrive , then swap the drives , boot comp with the ssd in it by booting into the pendrive recovery ?

Not sure if I understood:

* The bootable pendrive will hold the ML installer. It is created with Disk Utility using the ML installer disk image (InstallESD.dmg). (instructions).

* The recovery partition will be created automatically on your SSD once you install ML on it.

 

[quadcoreguy]

HAHA SOO , I create a bootable disk , swap drives , and boot from the bootable disk?

 

[sofianito]

HAHA SOO , I create a bootable disk , swap drives , and boot from the bootable disk?

Exactly. You boot from pendrive in order to install it on your ssd.

 

[quadcoreguy]

Right HAHHA thanks

 

[32KFJ]

i have one question.

last time i called apple care and asked how to switch from hdd to ssd and how to install mountain lion the guy said to me that i first have to install ML on the hdd, then built in the ssd and start the internet recovery when starting my macbook pro, so ML will be downloaded and installed without problems.

has anyone tried this method?

description of the internet recovery:

If your Mac problem is a little less common — your hard drive has failed or you’ve installed a hard drive without OS X, for example — Internet Recovery takes over automatically. It downloads and starts OS X Recovery directly from Apple servers over a broadband Internet connection. And your Mac has access to the same OS X Recovery features online. Internet Recovery is built into every new Mac.

 

[quadcoreguy]

i have one question.

last time i called apple care and asked how to switch from hdd to ssd and how to install mountain lion the guy said to me that i first have to install ML on the hdd, then built in the ssd and start the internet recovery when starting my macbook pro, so ML will be downloaded and installed without problems.

has anyone tried this method?

description of the internet recovery:

Has anyone tried that successfully ? Installing the ssd clean and getting Internet recovery already in it ?

 

[Irock619]

Has anyone tried that successfully ? Installing the ssd clean and getting Internet recovery already in it ?

All you have to do is install the SSD and then boot from the thumb drive that you created using Internet recovery disk assistant via apples website. I guess I'll break it down for you.....

1. Create thumb drive using this method http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1433
2. Install new SSD
3. Boot while holding the option key and select the thumb drive
4. Connect to your wireless home network
5. Open disk utility and format/partition SSD (OSX Journaled)
6. Install ML
7. Restore from time machine backup

That's it...done! I did this a month ago and it worked flawlessly. Took about 1.5 hours to complete everything from start to finish. If you are still unsure about this process there are many YouTube videos you can watch. I watched a couple videos and did a little research on this site before doing my upgrade.

Once you install ML the recovery partition is already created on the SSD. However, it is always a good idea to keep that little thumb drive with you in case you have a complete drive failure.

 

[quadcoreguy]

Phew, after all your recommendations , I think I'm ready for action Don't want to hijack my own thread , but how's the m4 in a 2011 mbp? Performance wise

 

[Irock619]

Phew, after all your recommendations , I think I'm ready for action Don't want to hijack my own thread , but how's the m4 in a 2011 mbp? Performance wise

Outstanding!! Couldn't be happier. Also make sure you purchase and install ML before removing your HDD. I'm not sure if the recovery disk assistant gives you the option to buy ML from the app store before installing. It's just easier to upgrade to ML as your OS before beginning the SSD upgrade.

 

[Krazy Bill]

but how's the m4 in a 2011 mbp? Performance wise

I have an Early 2011.

250 mb/s Write
500 mb/s Read

Just install the crucial and use it.

Over a year now. No degradation. I don't have TRIM enabled as I'm living proof Crucial's garbage collection algorithm's work. (So nobody shove TRIM enabler down my throat).

 

[phyrexia]

Has anyone tried that successfully ? Installing the ssd clean and getting Internet recovery already in it ?

I've done this with Lion but not Mountain Lion.

 

[quadcoreguy]

My current machine's running ML HAHA but imo the spinning platter is the bottleneck in the current situation , whereby occasional beach balls appear , especially when I'm managing a 50gb and growing photo library

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I have an Early 2011.

250 mb/s Write
500 mb/s Read

Just install the crucial and use it.

Over a year now. No degradation. I don't have TRIM enabled as I'm living proof Crucial's garbage collection algorithm's work. (So nobody shove TRIM enabler down my throat).

Good to hear that ! I might opt to stay away fom TRIM, no clue what it helps in real life though .