Switch hard drives between MBPs??

[truebluecoug]

I have two MBPs--both are 13", one is from late 2009 and the other early 2011. My wife uses the 2009 primarily for photos and some video, has Photoshop, etc. I used to use the 2011 for work, but have a new job and have to use a PC so it doesn't get any use anymore.

I'd like to switch all of the stuff (programs, files, everything) from the 2009 to the 2011 so my wife can do her photos on the computer with the better specs. I upgraded the hard drive on her computer about a year ago to a 750 GB drive and it backs up to a Time Capsule.

Is this as simple as just swapping the hard drives between the computers, or is there something else that makes it more complicated than that??

 

[justperry]

Use Migration assistant to move the files over from one computer to the other, you can do so over a wireless connection on the same network which is slow, or a wired network connection which is faster or if both have Firewire with a firewire cable which is the fastest way.

 

[truebluecoug]

Thanks for the reply. The only problem with using the migration assistant is that I actually want to switch the hard drives so my larger drive is in the better computer. Also, they both have different programs set up, so I'd prefer to not have to reload programs if needed. From my understanding (which could be wrong) migration assistant would just transfer files, not programs, right?

 

[justperry]

Thanks for the reply. The only problem with using the migration assistant is that I actually want to switch the hard drives so my larger drive is in the better computer. Also, they both have different programs set up, so I'd prefer to not have to reload programs if needed. From my understanding (which could be wrong) migration assistant would just transfer files, not programs, right?

It will do as much as you want to, including Apps and settings, but, as you say you can also just swap the HD, but, if they both run ML you could run into trouble, 10.8.2 was a Machine specific install, I think 10.8.3 which is just released might have resolved that.