I have a full HD on my Macbook Pro 13" 2011 late edition and need to get another one. I know what to get and how to install it. Now I need to know how to get everything off of my old one and put it in my new one - programs and all. And if I need to do anything to the new hard drive to get it up and running after it is put in my Macbook. Will I actually need to put all of the old contents onto an external HD and then load it into the new HD? It seems it will cost twice as much money as an external HD can cost almost as much as an internal HD.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
transferring old hd contents to new
- Thread starter cindyjj
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
1 - buy external enclosure and internal drive. Put the drive in the enclosure.
2 - use disk utility to format the external drive (as guid/mac format.)
3 - download carbon copy cloner trial. Clone your internal drive to the external.
4 - swap the drives from external case to internal and vice versa. Done.
The FireWire enclosure I linked it your other thread is your best option. It will be faster than the USB 2 on your machine. With the extra cable and shipping you are looking at another ~$20 on top of whatever drive you choose.
Acomdata on Amazon + Firewire 400 to 800 cable.
Once you have the new drive installed you can use the old one in the external enclosure for backup. You'll need to be somewhat selective about what you back up since your internal drive will be 1TB and the external will only be 500GB. You really should have an additional larger external drive anyway to use for backup, if you don't already. (Which it sounds like you don't...)
2 - use disk utility to format the external drive (as guid/mac format.)
3 - download carbon copy cloner trial. Clone your internal drive to the external.
4 - swap the drives from external case to internal and vice versa. Done.
The FireWire enclosure I linked it your other thread is your best option. It will be faster than the USB 2 on your machine. With the extra cable and shipping you are looking at another ~$20 on top of whatever drive you choose.
Acomdata on Amazon + Firewire 400 to 800 cable.
Once you have the new drive installed you can use the old one in the external enclosure for backup. You'll need to be somewhat selective about what you back up since your internal drive will be 1TB and the external will only be 500GB. You really should have an additional larger external drive anyway to use for backup, if you don't already. (Which it sounds like you don't...)
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
Will a Retail plus EU30 enclosure work?
Just to be sure I understand what to do -
1. purchase the internal hd and the external enclosure
2. attach the new internal hd to the external enclosure and to my mac and format it using disk utility
3. clone the current hd to the external enclosure
4. swap the current one for the one in the external enclosure
Are there any special wires I need for this?
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
I'd suggest buying a 2.5" USB3 external enclosure.
You can use this to "prep and test boot" the SSD BEFORE you install it, to be sure everything is set up as you wish.
Then, after the drive swap is completed, you can put the old HDD into the enclosure and use it for whatever you need. I'd suggest creating a cloned bootable backup of the internal, using either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper.
Even though the 2011 MacBook has only USB2 (right?), the USB3 enclosure will work fine with it. Someday you will move up to a newer Mac with faster USB, so the enclosure will be "ready for it".
You can use this to "prep and test boot" the SSD BEFORE you install it, to be sure everything is set up as you wish.
Then, after the drive swap is completed, you can put the old HDD into the enclosure and use it for whatever you need. I'd suggest creating a cloned bootable backup of the internal, using either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper.
Even though the 2011 MacBook has only USB2 (right?), the USB3 enclosure will work fine with it. Someday you will move up to a newer Mac with faster USB, so the enclosure will be "ready for it".
This one? - retail plus EU30
Should work. Your steps look fine. The drive comes with a USB cable, you won't need anything else.
Just be prepared to give it some time, it will likely take several hours to clone the drive.
I'm not sure what you mean by "you can put the old HDD into the enclosure and use it for whatever you need" - does this mean the old HDD can be used as an external hard drive? I will probably just want to keep it as an extra copy - it will still have all of it's data, correct?
Also, where is the cloned bootable backup stored? If my current HDD is almost full (480 GB) and I keep a cloned bootable backup, that will be almost 1 TB and the new HDD will be full again. I know it seems I'm not understanding something.
PS Thank you all for all the useful information.
Make sure you use Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC) free trial to make your clone. CCC will also clone your Recovery Partition (it will ask at the end of the clone if you want to clone it). Super Duper does not clone the Recovery partition.
Yes it will but you will be buying a further hard drive which you seemed concerned about. If you do then:
1. Connect new external hard drive
2. Carbon Copy Clone TO it
3. (optional), boot from it to check all is well
4. Shutdown
5. Replace your internal disk with the new one
6. Boot from your external drive cloned in step 2
7. Clone FROM it to your new internal drive
8. Boot from the new internal drive
By buying an internal drive and a case, you are essentially creating a (temporary) external drive.
Buying an external drive won't do you any good if your goal is to replace/upgrade your internal drive.
If your goal is simply to free up space on your internal drive, just buy an external drive, copy some stuff over to it, delete it from your internal drive leave it at that.
Yes, you said you knew what you needed and how to install it...a caddy/enclosure plus drive IS an external drive, its just the sum of its parts.