switch hard drives between two macs

[d4q1n]

Hi,

Recently I got a new macbook pro and am now wondering if I can just pull out the hard drive on my old macbook to replace the one in the new macbook pro. Any folks here have a clue if this is possible and if doing this would create any problems? Any suggestion is appreciated! Thanks.

d4q1n

 

[joegomolski]

Yes you can do this.

With 1 caution. Make sure the MacBook has the latest complete OS X version.

Download the COMPLETE upgrade for OS X, and you should be fine.

Alternative, use firewire to transfer your files to the new MacBook Pro.

 

[aarchitect]

I agree that cloning your current drive via firewire is probably a better solution. Connect them with target mode and use CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper! It's far easier than cracking both cases. I would also think that the MBP drive is faster anyway.

 

[d4q1n]

Thanks for the help. As I'm replacing a smaller hard drive with a larger one, I would actually take my chance to use the old hard drive on the new MBP directly. My question is what will happen if that didn't work out. Will the OS and apps on the old hard drive be damaged in any means?