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Proper method to switch to a new SSD Harddrive.

R

R4226

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 26, 2011
42
0
Hi,

I just bought a Intel 320 SSD 160gb in retail box for my late 2008 Macbook. I'm just wondering whats the best way for me to switch to the new ssd given my situation. I have Mac OS 10.5.5 install dvds, and upgraded to snow leopard(discs) then lion(download). I have an external harddrive that I use for time machine.

Also are there any other things I need to be aware of with this new ssd? Like trim for example. Should I follow these instructions? http://www.mactrast.com/2011/07/how-to-enable-trim-support-for-all-ssds-in-os-x-lion/

Thanks!!
 
Easiest way to switch is to put your new HD in an external enclosure and connect it to your MB. Then use one of the drive cloning programs like SuperDuper, etc...to clone your old drive's contents over to the new one...

Then swap the drives and now you have new drive in MB and your old drive in external drive enclosure and can use to back up files to or emergency boot drive...

As for trim setup, not familiar with it on Macs...have used it on SSD's in my Windows laptops...
 
Same way I'm doing it. I bought the Crucial M4 512GB w/ data transfer cable. Copying to the SSD right now. I'll restart and boot from the SSD as an external drive. If it boots fine, I'll then pull out the old HDD and swap in the new SDD. Seems pretty simple, but I'll post here if I have any hickups....
 
The only problem with just cloning to the new drive is you will not have the Lion Recovery Partition. If you care about that, you will need to save your Lion install to a USB key and start from that after you install the new drive. After you have installed Lion from the USB key, you can restore your data to the new SSD from your Time Machine backup.
 
I got the retail box SSD so it comes with cables (looks like a usb to connect the HD from the pic).

But would it be better to put in the new SSD then:

install mac 10.5.5 from the discs
install snow leopard from the disc
install lion by downloading it again
restore from time machine
 
R4226 said:
I got the retail box SSD so it comes with cables (looks like a usb to connect the HD from the pic).

But would it be better to put in the new SSD then:

install mac 10.5.5 from the discs
install snow leopard from the disc
install lion by downloading it again
restore from time machine
Click to expand...

Why go to all that trouble. Just install Lion like I described in the post above then restore your data from the backup.
 
Weaselboy said:
Why go to all that trouble. Just install Lion like I described in the post above then restore your data from the backup.
Click to expand...

I've been trying to redownload lion from the app store all day but with no luck so far. All the articles online say to control click the install button which changes the button from "Installed" to "Install" but the download never starts when I click install. Does anyone have any other tips to redownload Lion from the app store so I can perform a fresh install of Lion? Thanks.
 
OK finally used another macbook that has an out of date version of lion installed that allowed me to re-download lion. I burned the InstallESD.dmg to a dvd.

Will this allow me to boot from, partition the SSD, and install a fresh copy of lion when I install the new SSD tomorrow?

How do I restore from time machine after I install a fresh copy of Lion?

Thanks.
 
R4226 said:
OK finally used another macbook that has an out of date version of lion installed that allowed me to re-download lion. I burned the InstallESD.dmg to a dvd.

Will this allow me to boot from, partition the SSD, and install a fresh copy of lion when I install the new SSD tomorrow?

How do I restore from time machine after I install a fresh copy of Lion?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Yes... you can boot from the DVD and use Disk Util to format then install from the DVD. Once completed you can select Migration Assistant to import your data from the Time Machine backup.
 
Just to report back...

I put the SSD in and booted from the Lion dvd and selected restore from time machine which did a perfect job except that there is no lion recovery partition on my new SSD. SO I guess it is better to actually install Lion and then use migration assistant.
 
R4226 said:
Just to report back...

I put the SSD in and booted from the Lion dvd and selected restore from time machine which did a perfect job except that there is no lion recovery partition on my new SSD. SO I guess it is better to actually install Lion and then use migration assistant.
Click to expand...

Just install Lion from the DVD over top of it and it will give you a restore partition. Make sure you install as an update and not fresh install and all your data will still be there.
 
How exactly do I install lion as an update. Do I boot from the DVD and if so where is the install as update option?
 
I want to switch to SSD so badly, but would need to replace my superdrive with a HDD for the storage. Too much of a hassle to then switch back in the event I need to take my MBP to the Apple Store.
 
Can you:

1. Hook up the new SSD to the computer by usb

2. Plug in a usb thumb drive that has lion on it.

3. Boot to the thumb drive and have it install lion on the new ssd.

4. reboot to the old internal drive and use carbon copy cloner to clone the current drive to the new ssd.

5. Install the ssd.


Or install the new ssd first and install lion from the thumb drive. And then hook up the old drive by usb and boot to it and run carbon copy cloner to clone it to the newly installed ssd.

The goal being to have a recovery partition and clone the existing drive.

If these ways work are they any better then using migration assistant?
 
Weaselboy said:
Just install Lion from the DVD over top of it and it will give you a restore partition. Make sure you install as an update and not fresh install and all your data will still be there.
Click to expand...

Awesome!! Choosing reinstall created the lion recovery partition and left my data intact.

Also another great thing happened after reinstalling. The LaunchDaemon that enables the -noatime flag on the SSD magically started working!! I spent hours last night trying to get the .plist to run on boot up.
 
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