Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

itou

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 16, 2008
222
0
i'm planning on upgrading my powerbook hdd by buying a new 250gb hdd. i've got leopard and want to use the opportunity to do a fresh install. is it possible to just take out the old hdd, pop in the new one, then install leopard from the dvd?

thanks.
 
so i don't need to install first the discs that came with the powerbook right? i'm worried about that because it's been years since i've had to use it and i think i canned it a long time ago. so pop the dvd in, change the hdd, press and hold C, and boot?
 
I did this, it was very straight forward.

I had initially plonked my intended target disk for the fresh OS in an external enclosure so that I could completely build my OS and apps up while keeping my macbook unchanged, this failed at the same point every time during OS install so I just swapped out disks. Because I had tried it the other way first, the disc was already formatted.
 
You'll have to format the disk first, but yes, it IS just that easy :eek:

how would you format the disk? i'm assuming that with the blank drive installed, there's no mac osx in there to format the drive? or are we talking about formatting the new hdd in an external case before swapping it in? or will the mac osx installation format the drive as well?

sounds easy but confusing. perhaps i'm thinking too much and should just wing it.
 
The leopard install DVD has disc utility on it, I believe you can select it from the menus within the installer if that's where you're booting from.

Edit - And from memory, I think you get the option to format during the process anyway.
 
like the others have stated.

1. Replace the HDD with the new one you want.
2. Place the Leopard DVD in (should boot from it automatically however you may need to hold C or Option during boot to get to select it)
3. Do you your full erase and install (this formats the drive during the process, so its all straight forward)


then your good to go, no need for the other disks at all.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.