Transferring a Hard-Drive from a Mac Book to a Mac Book Pro

[herb80]

Hi guys,

My wife's Mac Book screen is broken, but the hard drive was replaced few months ago. Because we can't buy a new computer, I was thinking about removing the hard drive from the mac book and installing it on the mac book pro. The Mac book pro i have is from 2007, it worked fined until a hard drive failure shut it down.

Can I do this, is it technically possible? I have seen some tutorial video on youtube on how to access and remove the hard drive, and I thin I can do it alone.

Thanks for your advice

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Yes, it is technically possible, as long as the OS on the MB's HDD has at least a version of Mac OS X the MacBook Pro came with.

Example: You MBP came with 10.6.3, thus the OS on the MB's HDD should be 10.63 at least.

MacBook, MacBook Pro: Replacing the Hard Disk Drive, transferring data to the new HDD

the guide includes:

• 0. Identify your MacBook or MacBook Pro
• 1. Getting a new HDD
• 2. Guides to replace the internal HDD with a newer one
• 3. Transferring data from the old HDD to the new HDD
• 4. Using the optical disk drive (ODD) slot for placing an SSD or HDD inside the MB/P (OPTIBAY)

​

There is always Target Disk Mode.

 

[herb80]

RE: Transferring a Hard-Drive from a Mac Book to a Mac Book Pro

Well, that's where the tech issue may be located. My MBB was from 2007, and the new HDD in the MB was installed las year, and new, so i guess that it will only contains the most recent OS. She has been using Snow Leopard.

The MBP came with the tiger OS and was upgrade to the Leopard OS.


It will not work then ?

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Well, that's where the tech issue may be located. My MBB was from 2007, and the new HDD in the MB was installed las year, and new, so i guess that it will only contains the most recent OS. She has been using Snow Leopard.

The MBP came with the tiger OS and was upgrade to the Leopard OS.


It will not work then ?

What OS is on your Mac and what exact Mac do you have?

Identify your Mac and Mac OS X version, visualised in a more elaborate image
Identify your Mac and Mac OS X version using this 25 second video tutorial (3MB, .mp4, H.264)​

 

[herb80]

Well I can't access this info on the MB cause the screen is dead, and because the MBP HDD is dead.

The MBP HDD died in september 2007 and was running leopard, the MB HDD was installed in summer 2011, with leopard and upgrade to snow leopard, if I remember well. The Tekserve dudes in Manhattan did it for me, and it was expensive

So I guess it's game over?

Can I at least try without damaging consequences for the MB HDD ?

 

[Bear]

The OS Should be fine as it is more recent than the computer you want to stick it in.

The only thing I can't remember is the physical size limitations on the drives for those systems. Just make sure the drive you're installing fits in without being forced. one way to check is to compare the 2 drives.

 

[herb80]

well i am going to buy some screwdrivers and will try to work on it. Thanks to both of you for your advices, I will check the physical size before plugging it in !

 

[/user/me]

well i am going to buy some screwdrivers and will try to work on it. Thanks to both of you for your advices, I will check the physical size before plugging it in !

There shouldn't be a physical size difference. both of them should be the standard laptop 2.5 inch drive.

 

[herb80]

well i have open both laptop, and removed both HDD and that was an easy step. The disks have the same size, but the connecting ports are different, My macbook pro is using an IDE connector, and i presume the MB is using SATA.

Is this game over or should I look for an adaptor ?

 

[simsaladimbamba]

well i have open both laptop, and removed both HDD and that was an easy step. The disks have the same size, but the connecting ports are different, My macbook pro is using an IDE connector, and i presume the MB is using SATA.

Is this game over or should I look for an adaptor ?

The MacBook Pro and MacBook use an S-ATA interface.
The following shows an S-ATA interface (bottom) and an IDE/P-ATA notebook interface (top):

Can you maybe make photos of MBP and MB interfaces and both HDD interfaces and attach them to your next post?

How to attach an image to your MR post.​

 

[herb80]

well, my mac book pro is actually a power book using an internal HDD 40 pins IDE connection made by Hitachi and my wife internal HDD is a PATA . Both HDD are for laptop size. I am looking at a connector that would allow me to get the new HDD internal drive plugged into the IDE connector.

I need something very slim to fit into the laptop . Does it exists ?

 

[simsaladimbamba]

well, my mac book pro is actually a power book

That's what I suspected.

using an internal HDD 40 pins IDE connection made by Hitachi and my wife internal HDD is a PATA .​

IDE and P-ATA are the same. If your wife has/had a MacBook, it is S-ATA, if your wife has/had an iBook, it is IDE / P-ATA.

Both HDD are for laptop size. I am looking at a connector that would allow me to get the new HDD internal drive plugged into the IDE connector.
I need something very slim to fit into the laptop . Does it exists ?

A 40-pin P-ATA to S-ATA adapter exists, but as they are "big" (due to converting the signal), there will probably be not one you can use.

And if there were, you can not use your wife's MacBook HDD (if it is a MacBook, sorry for the wariness, but you called a PowerBook a MacBook Pro, even though PowerBook is written on it) as startup volume, as it is wrongly partitioned (Intel Macs use a different partition map scheme than PPC Macs*) and as Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard is Intel only and will not run on PPC Macs.

Just get a proper 40-pin P-ATA HDD and use that for your PowerBook.
And for the MacBook HDD just get a USB enclosure for 2.5" S-ATA HDDs, they cost 10 € and more and you will be able to access the data on it.
Or use Target Disk Mode to connect the MacBook and PowerBook.

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