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Upgrading to SSD- difficult to install?

B

bigfoamfinger12

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 29, 2011
10
0
My situation: just bought 13" MBP for $1000. Not too worried about having a C2D or Sandy Bridge etc etc, but really want a SSD....which I can make happen now

I found an Intel SSD at Best Buy for $225ish, and was wondering how difficult this upgrade is to perform? I am a total newb, so is it expensive to have Best Buy do it?

I hear you can take the HDD and make it an external drive. Is this difficult to do?
 
If you can use your hands and a screwdriver, then this should be an easy task for you.
 
Thanks for the responses. I watched some videos and it does not seem tough at all! Is the Intel X25M a good SSD?

Is it difficult to re- install software onto the SSD after the install?

Would this cause me to lose any data on the current HD after disconnecting it? (plan to use it as USB external)
 
Last edited:
bigfoamfinger12 said:
Thanks for the responses. I watched some videos and it does not seem tough at all! Is the Intel X25M a good SSD?

Is it difficult to re- install software onto the SSD after the install?

Would this cause me to lose any data on the current HD after disconnecting it? (plan to use it as USB external)
Click to expand...

Intel is behind on speed, you want a drive with a sandforce controller(OWC and OCZ are two I know of) and you can clone the HDD to the SSD using CCC or just do a time machine restore after installing snow leopard.
 
very easy to do ....

I have a feeling the prices of SSD are about to drop soon (ie within the next two months). As soon as it hits, I'll be picking one up as well.
 
I pretty much concur with everyone else, a HDD and/or RAM install on the MBP is a pretty easy thing to do. Should take you about 15 minutes if you've never done it before. I've got an Intel SSD on my MBP and it's lightning fast, you should notice an immediate difference in speed/boot time.
 
Doc750 said:
very easy to do ....

I have a feeling the prices of SSD are about to drop soon (ie within the next two months). As soon as it hits, I'll be picking one up as well.
Click to expand...

I agree with this. I can't afford a 200+GB, and the 120 just isn't really enough. Waiting for a price drop would get me the bigger SSD I really need.

Thanks all for the help. It seems very easy to perform this update!
 
Doc750 said:
very easy to do ....

I have a feeling the prices of SSD are about to drop soon (ie within the next two months). As soon as it hits, I'll be picking one up as well.
Click to expand...

I agree with that. I am going to upgrade my MBP 15" when the price comes down a little.
 
This is something that I am interested in doing as soon as I get my MBP (I won't choose the BTO because they overcharge)

I don't know anything about cloning drives. Could I just pop the OS disc in and install it fresh?
 
evanrousso said:
This is something that I am interested in doing as soon as I get my MBP (I won't choose the BTO because they overcharge)

I don't know anything about cloning drives. Could I just pop the OS disc in and install it fresh?
Click to expand...

cloning drives is easy just run time machine, and go have lunch. When you come back it's done.
 
Intel makes a 160GB which is less than the 200-250 and a bit more than the 120...IIRC a few make a 180GB as well.

Intel is also supposed to be releasing the latest X-25 update which will drop the price, so if you are strapped for cash, it might be worth waiting.
 
DuffCal said:
I agree with that. I am going to upgrade my MBP 15" when the price comes down a little.
Click to expand...

Agreed. 1k for a 512GB SSD? Wtf flash is getting cheaper not more expensive...:mad::mad: I don't know how people even consider those little 64GB SSD's....I dont like carrying external drives at all, prevents the "I left it at home!".
 
Doc750 said:
cloning drives is easy just run time machine, and go have lunch. When you come back it's done.
Click to expand...

Time machine doesn't create a clone.

What I did was buy an external case for $7 from Amazon, put the SSD in it, and cloned my drive using Carbon Copy Cloner. Then I swapped the hard drive with the SSD. Done.

But to answer evanrousso's question, since you will have a new computer, yes you can install OS X on an SSD fresh.
 
Cougarcat said:
Time machine doesn't create a clone.

What I did was buy an external case for $7 from Amazon, put the SSD in it, and cloned my drive using Carbon Copy Cloner. Then I swapped the hard drive with the SSD. Done.

But to answer evanrousso's question, since you will have a new computer, yes you can install OS X on an SSD fresh.
Click to expand...

I purchased the OWC kit which came with a external case. I placed the new drive in the case, and ran time machine. Once it was complete, I then switched the HD inside the MBP with the new HD inside the case..

How is this not a clone?
 
I'm not sure what you did, but you didn't do what you just described. Macs can't boot from Time Machine backups.

Time Machine creates backup archives which are not bootable. Clones are bootable drives that is an exact snapshot of the original. See here for the difference between TM and clones.
 
Doc750 said:
I purchased the OWC kit which came with a external case. I placed the new drive in the case, and ran time machine. Once it was complete, I then switched the HD inside the MBP with the new HD inside the case..

How is this not a clone?
Click to expand...

I used the same kit but that is not what OWC advises doing. Did you use your OSX CD to install OSX to the new SSD? There are a variety of ways to do it but OWC includes specific directions on their recommended installation procedure.
 
bigfoamfinger12 said:
Thanks for the responses. I watched some videos and it does not seem tough at all! Is the Intel X25M a good SSD?

Is it difficult to re- install software onto the SSD after the install?

Would this cause me to lose any data on the current HD after disconnecting it? (plan to use it as USB external)
Click to expand...

Not at all, as long as all your data fits onto the new hard drive. If you turn the old internal drive to an external one then it is very simple indeed: Open the MBP. Remove the old drive. Put it into the external case. Put the new drive into the Mac. Close the Mac. Plug the external drive into the Mac and reboot - the Mac will boot from the original drive which is now external.

Start "Disk Utility". Make sure that the internal drive is formatted as "Mac OS X Extended (Journaled)". Then click on "Restore". Drag the old hard drive onto "Source" and the new drive onto "Destination", then click on "Restore". That will take a while. When it's done, eject the external drive and reboot. Enjoy.

I'd leave the external drive unchanged for a week or so, because if something is wrong with your new drive, it will be most likely to fail within the first week. After that, reuse the external drive any why you like.

And you should have a Time Machine backup of your data.


Doc750 said:
I purchased the OWC kit which came with a external case. I placed the new drive in the case, and ran time machine. Once it was complete, I then switched the HD inside the MBP with the new HD inside the case..

How is this not a clone?
Click to expand...

Time Machine backup is not a clone. Time Machine uses a special format that allows it to store dozens of different versions of your hard drive (the state right now, one hour ago, two hours ago, ..., 1 day ago, 2 days ago etc. etc. ) in a very space efficient way. You can recreate the original data from a time machine backup, but a time machine backup is not the same as the original data. See above for the easiest way to create a clone.
 
NickZac said:
I used the same kit but that is not what OWC advises doing. Did you use your OSX CD to install OSX to the new SSD? There are a variety of ways to do it but OWC includes specific directions on their recommended installation procedure.
Click to expand...

it's been like a year since I did it. I know in the directions it wasn't the way OWC recommended it. But I thought, I was pretty sure the way I described it, was the way I did it. I guess I'm wrong here ...
 
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