Would it be possible to just swap the HD's?

[wcalderini]

Purchased my daughter a new 13 MBpro for xmas.
Last year at this time I upgraded her old MB, white x3100 graphics, to a 500GB drive. Since the processors are SO similar, and the only REAL difference
should be the graphic subsystem, would it be possible to just swap the HD's?
I know Time Machine and Migration Assistant are great tools, but she also has a Windows XP build on there with a decades worth of Sims 2 games to contend with. (Sometimes they transfer well, sometimes you just gotta start from scratch, and with all the expansion packs, that can be an all day sucker)

Any experience out there with this?

WRC

 

[GGJstudios]

Each Mac OS X installation is model-specific. You can't simply swap the hard drives without causing problems with hardware drivers that are specific to each model.

 

[Ifti]

Each system will have specific drivers for its own hardware, so you cant just remove a drive from one machine and put it in another - you need to reinstall the OS so that the new drivers can be installed, then use a backup, or migration assistant to move the rest of your data/apps across.

 

[mulo]

Each Mac OS X installation is model-specific. You can't simply swap the hard drives without causing problems with hardware drivers that are specific to each model.

doesn't matter, they system contains drivers for all hardware it is supposed to run on, I have done this many times.
only difference is the first boot will take a bit longer as it figures out what drivers to use instead.

 

[dime21]

Use Migration Assistant for OSX. It's a brilliant tool. Use a Windows migration software to move the Windows stuff (it's bootcamp I assume). If it's VMware, you can simply copy the virtual machine over and it'll boot right up, no changes needed.

 

[wcalderini]

Appreciate the input.
Maybe I should have mentioned that regardless of what route I use to get there I will still be using the same 500GB drive in the new MacBook Pro.
I just know it's gonna be a PITA to back it all off the drive on to a secondary drive, wipe the drive and put it in the new comp, then have to restore it all from the backups. And yeah, the XP installation is Bootcamped, so I should be able to use a windows cloner. (I have done so in the past)

I was just hoping that there may have been a way to pop the drive in, run an archive and install or something on the existing system and go.
It would have sure saved a lot of time, especially since the plan would be to have it all working and ready when she opens it. (I'm cool that way, LOL)

Thanks for all the advice.

WRC

 

[dime21]

Appreciate the input.
Maybe I should have mentioned that regardless of what route I use to get there I will still be using the same 500GB drive in the new MacBook Pro.
I just know it's gonna be a PITA to back it all off the drive on to a secondary drive, wipe the drive and put it in the new comp, then have to restore it all from the backups. And yeah, the XP installation is Bootcamped, so I should be able to use a windows cloner. (I have done so in the past)

I was just hoping that there may have been a way to pop the drive in, run an archive and install or something on the existing system and go.
It would have sure saved a lot of time, especially since the plan would be to have it all working and ready when she opens it. (I'm cool that way, LOL)

Thanks for all the advice.

WRC

Sounds like a big pain in the butt. Hard drives are dirt cheap. I would just buy another one instead of spending many many hours moving data around to re-use this one.

 

[adnoh]

Sorry to op for hijacking the thread but is it therefore possible to swap the he's between 2 models that are the same eg if I buy a new 13" mbp, save some files and out the hard drive in a brand new 13" mbp it will work ok?