Upgrading HD question

[broken1i]

Hey guys, I'm upgrading my MBP's HD and wish to know what method you would recommend for copying the contents of my old hard drive to this new one? Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[miles01110]

Carbon Copy Cloner or Migration Assistant if you have an available backup. Either way you'll need some sort of external enclosure.

 

[broken1i]

Thanks for the help! Dumb question, but should I get the enclosure with firewire?

 

[GGJstudios]

Thanks for the help! Dumb question, but should I get the enclosure with firewire?

It's not a dumb question. You can get an enclosure with USB, Firewire or both. I always buy drives and enclosures that have USB 2.0, FW400 and FW800, for maximum compatibility.

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/MSTG800U2K/

 

[alust2013]

Thanks for the help! Dumb question, but should I get the enclosure with firewire?

You could, it provides a bit better transfer speed, although they are a bit more expensive.

 

[miles01110]

Thanks for the help! Dumb question, but should I get the enclosure with firewire?

Depends on how much money you want to spend. I don't really see the need for FW, others do.

 

[broken1i]

Thanks guys I really appreciate the help on these forums.

 

[NickZac]

It's not a dumb question. You can get an enclosure with USB, Firewire or both. I always buy drives and enclosures that have USB 2.0, FW400 and FW800, for maximum compatibility.

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/MSTG800U2K/

That is definately the best way to go for any external hard drive you plan to use long term, between multiple computers, or if you will have multiple computers throughout the service life of the hard drive.

Some hard drives will soon be (or may already) available in USB 1, 2, and 3 (3 is significantly faster and becoming a standard slowly) and FW 800. I would not be surprised if some upcoming drives even added eSATA. It's worth a few bucks to get as many inputs as you can.