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Upgrade SSD & transfer EVERYTHING

D

donl1150

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 13, 2014
27
4
What is the best way to transfer EVERYTHING from my original SSD to a soon to be installed larger, faster SSD in my MacBook Air? Here are the details:

MacBook Air 4,2
13” Mid-2011 Model
1.7 GHz Intel Core i5
256 GB Memory

1 TB OWC Aura 6G SSD + Envoy Upgrade Kit
Includes Aura 6G SSD

The computer is working just fine I simply want more storage space. I have a complete backup on my network using Time Machine to my AirPort Time Capsule. I am running Windows 7 via Parallels Desktop 11 and have many programs, both Mac and Windows, that are also working just fine. What is the best way to go about this installation and transfer?

Here is how I plan to proceed:
  1. Make sure my backup is current.
  2. Remove original SSD and install it in the Envoy enclosure.
  3. Install new SSD into the Mac.
  4. Using Command R, boot up to Mac OS Utilities with the Envoy.
  5. Install Mac OS onto new SSD in the MacBook.
  6. With Utilities & Time Machine, transfer a complete copy of EVERYTHING to the new SSD.
  7. Disconnect the Envoy and boot up the computer via the new SSD.
Does this plan of action accomplish what I hope it will?

Thanks
 
No need to be too complicated. There are two easy ways to do it:
1) Use Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC) and make a 1:1 copy of your existing drive (CCC offers 30 day trial)
2) Use the macOS Disk Utility (DU) from Recovery partition (hold down the alt/opt key as you boot and you'll see it)

CCC will allow you to clone a "live" partition but DU will not, and that's why you have to use the DU from the recovery partition.

I prefer CCC. Put the OWC disk into your Air and the original Apple SSD to the Envoy enclosure (Envoy enclosure will not accept the OWC disk and there is a warning about not putting the OWC disk into the Envoy by the way). Then boot your machine as you hold down the alt/opt key to see the boot disk options. Chose the original disk in the Envoy enclosure.

Once the machine finishes booting, you will practically be using your Air as it exists, however, it is operating from the external USB. Ignore iCloud passwords and Dropbox passwords if they are asked at this stage.

Start the CCC and clone the external Envoy disk to the internal OWC disk. If CCC asks you to create the Recovery Partition on the new OWC drive, say yes and create the Recovery Partition on the new drive.

Once the cloning is finished, restart normally. Your Air will boot from the internal drive this time and you will be practically continuing from where you left on your new OWC drive.

You can use the DU to clone the Envoy to the OWC drive in a similar fashion if you wish. Your procedure steps 1-5 inclusive is fine but from step 5 on, use the DU from the utility menu.

However, I prefer CCC because it is also an excellent backup program to use as an alternative or addition to the Time Machine.
 
Just use CCC to clone everything from the old ssd (still in the MBA) into the new ssd (in the kit), then swap the 2 ssd's. AFAIK, CCC not only copies the files, but the OS and boot sectors as well. When you turn the MacBook on with the new ssd everything should be in place. I've done twice on my 2012 MBP, when I upgraded my hd to sshd, and then from the sshd to ssd.
 
makinao said:
Just use CCC to clone everything from the old ssd (still in the MBA) into the new ssd (in the kit), then swap the 2 ssd's. AFAIK, CCC not only copies the files, but the OS and boot sectors as well. When you turn the MacBook on with the new ssd everything should be in place. I've done twice on my 2012 MBP, when I upgraded my hd to sshd, and then from the sshd to ssd.
Click to expand...
Don't do that. OWC specifically warns that Envoy is only compatible with the original Apple SSD and NOT with the OWC SSD.

I stated that in my previous post.

Here, see for yourself.
Screen Shot 2017-02-08 at 14.25.40.jpg
 
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flowrider said:
If you haven't bought your OWC SSD yet, I suggest you read these:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/owc-ssd-upgrade-2012-macbook-air-buyer-beware.1459847/

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/owc-1tb-sdd-failed-for-third-time.2011947/#post-23850076

Lou
Click to expand...
[doublepost=1486602225][/doublepost]Thanks for the input.....albeit I found it a bit too late. This new drive soon to be installed will be a replacement for the OWC that failed. I bought it in July last year so it looks like I got quite a few good months out of it. Working with their support staff was a decent experience and after a few tests, they quickly provided me with an RMA to send it back to them for replacement. That was yesterday so I will see how quickly it arrives. I will give this one a try but apparently I should not be surprised to see another failure.

Thanks for the advice on installation/transfer and also the heads up on OWC products. I will report back should I experience another failure.
 
DanBig said:
Don't use CCC! While it was a useful tool in the past it just makes a mess with the newer OS's.
Click to expand...

You are the first person I have ever seen post that. What problems have you had with CCC?

Myself and many of us on the forums use it all the time with no issues.
 
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Any reason everyone is on board the CCC train? I've always used SuperDuper in the past with nary an issue.
 
I've never tried CCC to SuperDuper. I use the Volume Cloning tool in TechTool Pro. We al have out favorites.

Lou
 
oldtime said:
Any reason everyone is on board the CCC train? I've always used SuperDuper in the past with nary an issue.
Click to expand...
SuperDuper is good, but it does not have one major feature that is important to me. CCC will include cloning the Recovery partition if desired. I use CCC to clone my bootable drives with the intention to have a clone that I can use to COMPLETELY restore my internal drive if needed. Including the the ability to also restore the Recovery partition is important to me.
 
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oldtime said:
Any reason everyone is on board the CCC train? I've always used SuperDuper in the past with nary an issue.
Click to expand...
Like CoastalOR mentioned, CCC will move over the recovery partition and SD does not.

But if you just need a one time clone for a new drive install, you don't really need CCC or SD... you can just use the restore feature of Disk Utility. That will clone the drive as well as the recovery volume.
 
CoastalOR said:
SuperDuper is good, but it does not have one major feature that is important to me. CCC will include cloning the Recovery partition if desired. I use CCC to clone my bootable drives with the intention to have a clone that I can use to COMPLETELY restore my internal drive if needed. Including the the ability to also restore the Recovery partition is important to me.
Click to expand...

Ah, okay. Good to know.
 
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I've been using CCC since V3 and never had any problems with it.

The only thing I can criticize is about restoring a specific version of a file, which is a simple job with TC, and with CCC locating the file you want within the _CCC SafetyNet folder is time consuming.

CCC is not designed for reverting back to an earlier version, be it on a file basis or a whole-disk basis.
 
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bingeciren said:
CCC is not designed for reverting back to an earlier version, be it on a file basis or a whole-disk basis.
Click to expand...
I used CCC to move the contents of my iMac boot drive (an SSD), which was running Yosemite, to my Macbook Air which came with Sierra. Other than my aged MS Office 2011 which wanted my key number, I had no problems. I had an SATA to USB adapter for the old SSD and booted from it as an external disk using the Option key boot mentioned above. I then formatted the SSD in the Air before doing the full restore. The formatting may be the key to a full disk restore. Don't try to simply restore over the newer OS. The whole process was certainly a lot easier than trying to cope with installing applications one at a time into Sierra. In addition I had some software that I knew was incompatible with Sierra.
 
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Kanunu said:
I used CCC to move the contents of my iMac boot drive (an SSD), which was running Yosemite, to my Macbook Air which came with Sierra. Other than my aged MS Office 2011 which wanted my key number, I had no problems. I had an SATA to USB adapter for the old SSD and booted from it as an external disk using the Option key boot mentioned above. I then formatted the SSD in the Air before doing the full restore. The formatting may be the key to a full disk restore. Don't try to simply restore over the newer OS. The whole process was certainly a lot easier than trying to cope with installing applications one at a time into Sierra. In addition I had some software that I knew was incompatible with Sierra.
Click to expand...
Perhaps I should have been more specific. If you have a full backup of an earlier time period and you want to go back to that time by fully erasing your current disk and replacing it with that one, you can indeed go back to that version. As a matter of fact, I had a fully intact copy of my El Capitan on a dedicated backup disk before I upgraded to Sierra and I used that backup disk to roll back to El Capitan last week because of the PDF kit problems I've been having with the Preview in Sierra.

What I'm trying to explain is this: Suppose you have been using a CCC backup disk and your earlier backup goes back a few months. Then for some reason, if you wish to revert your system back to a specific time, say to the previous week, you cannot do it with the CCC backup disk you use unless you make separate (not incremental) backups each time you do a backup.

Also, if I had been using the same backup disk doing an incremental backup with CCC and upgraded to Sierra from El Capitan, and continued using the same disk after the upgrade, I would not be able to roll back to El Capitan using that CCC disk.

Similarly, let's say you are editing a document over a period of time and you wish to go back to a previous version. You will have to search the version you want in the _CCC SafetyNet folder and extract it from there. Not impossible but not as easy as it is with Time Machine.
 
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