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Replacing hdd in uMBP, now what about OS

kels0119

kels0119

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 10, 2008
46
0
Cumming, Ga
I tried MRoogling this and I couldn't find anything, maybe I wasn't phrasing it right but...

I have a 15in uMBP Intel Dore 2 Duo and I upgraded it to 4gb RAM, I have a 250gb hard drive and I'm down to like 60gb remaining. I do photography editing and some design work but I hate using and ext hard drive (because I am bad at keeping track of it).

I am planning on getting a new hdd and replacing it myself but once that's done I just power up and pop in the software disc that came with the laptop? I guess it's kind of a n00b question but I am used to stupid windows and all their serial number bs. The only other thing is all my apps thru iTunes, is that stored remotely so when I reinstall they will be there or do I need to export those like I do my music?

Is there any easier way to do this that I am over looking or is there a thread that talks about it that I have missed? Any tips or links would be greatly appreciated...
Thanks
 
Do a Time Machine backup before you change the drive, then once the new drive is in, pop the Leopard disc in the drive & hold down 'C' on the keyboard to get it to boot from the drive. Partition, format & install. when OSX loads, there is an option to restore from a Time Machine back-up, using the Migration assistant, bosh, job done - your Mac should be back to where you were before the HDD swap, but with more room1 :cool:
 
After you install the new drive, you boot from the OS disk. First go to disk utility and create a single partition as hfs+ journaled. Then after the format you should be good to go with installing the OS. If you take a time machine backup of your current drive, a simple restore should bring you back to where you were with your files.

As for iTunes, I'm not positive, but I believe the apps you've purchased are linked to your account.

I've been researching because my 750GB drive will be here tomorrow. :)


DAMN! I'm a slow typer today. :D
 
Copy the Itunes Media Library.xml and iTunes Library from ./My Music/iTunes/ to the new HD's ./My Music/iTunes/. That should recover all ur songs if u use them in an external HD.

Hell, just copy the entire ./My Music/iTunes/ Folder and replace it, Better be safe. =D
 
Thanks for all the great tips, I haven't picked a hdd yet but when I do it I will report back with the details.
 
I am currently in the process of a backup with Carbon Copy Cloner to an external hdd.

After that I just install the new hdd, turn on, boot from the OS disk, format it, then restore from my external hdd? I guess that's all. I think I am just making myself paranoid over it...

does that sound about right?
 
You boot from the cloned backup via holding down the OPTION key during startup and selecting the clone.
Once the cloned Mac OS X has fully loaded, start Disk Utility (Spotlight will find it), erase the volume/partition with the defunct Mac OS X installation.

Then open CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper (whichever application you took in the first place) and choose the newly formatted (erased) partition/volume as target and clone the working backup back to it.
 
Time machine is what makes me love mac's. Doing something like this is such a breeze. Time machine backup, swap drives, install OSX, restore from backup.
 
Done!

Wow!:D That was so much easier then I thought it was going to be. I was really preparing for the worst. I don't know why though.

Followed what y'all suggested and I pretty much did what Spinnerlys said. Was done quickly (as quick as transferring 190 gigs over). So thanks to all of you guys for the tips and instructions.

I ended up getting the Seagate Momentus 500gb 7200.4... I previously upgraded to 4gbs ram.

Anyways, thanks again! Y'all rock!
 
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