Fitting larger hard drive to MBP 13"

Hi I'm a new convert to MAC and I am still getting to grips with OSX. I have a late 2011 13" MBP with a 500GB drive and would like to fit a larger and possibly faster hard drive. When doing this on a PC I have used Acronis true image to create an image of my hard drive on an external drive then swapped in the new HD restored the image and then resized the partition to take advantage of the larger drive.
Are there any issues to be considered regarding drive compatability (will a 7200 rpm drive work ok or are there any brands to favour or avoid) and what software do i need to clone and restore the exisiting drive? any advice would be appreciated
thanks
Mike

Sorry to tell you there is no program like Acroins TI for the Mac/OS X system. Which I have used on the windows side for years.
There is what are called Cloning software. But they don't copy/clone the compete hard drive. They only clone visible partitions and leave behind any hidden partitions. Which may of been fine for older Mac OS's until Lion. With the normal install of Lion there is a hidden Recovery partition created that you can boot into to do diagnostics, disk operations and the like and to re-install the OS if needed (by downloading the OS from the apple website).
So if you are going to replace the original hard drive with a bigger, faster model then you can use one of these cloning programs to make a bootable copy of the OS partition along with any programs and files you have on the drive. But you will need a way to get the function of the hidden recovery partition so you can re-install the OS if you ever need to (and lets not kid ourselves. The OS may need to be reinstalled just it does sometimes in Windows. If it didn't there would not be forums like this one and many others for the Mac/OS X platform).
To gain back the functionality of the hidden Recovery partition Apple has made available a download that contains the complete Recovery partition files that you can burn to disc or load on a USB thumb drive. Sorry don't have a link to it but a google search will turn it up.

Similar Messages

  • Hard Drive on MBP 15" makes more than normal grinding noise?

    I have the new MBP 15" with a fujitsu 320GB hard drive, 5400 rpm. the other MBP that colleagues hhave are quite silent running. They have the 250 GB drives. This newly bought computer's hard drive makes a background noise, kind of a low grade grinding, that is loud enough for me to hear when playing itunes song on half way volume.
    Any suggestions? Isa this the norm for the larger hard drive, or should it be as quiet as the 250 GB. The brand is Fujitsu. Is that significant.

    Drives do vary in how much noise they make. I replaced a 30 GB Toshiba drive with a 120 GB Western Digital drive, and the WD did run a little warmer and makes a more audible whir, but has worked flawlessly since I installed it. I can barely hear my 250 GB Fujitsu if I put my ear next to the case.
    However, I would describe my hard drive noise as a low hum or whir and not as a grind.
    For your piece of mind, you might like to try running S.M.A.R.T. Utility:
    http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/32454
    You can download the demo and run it several times for free.
    A new drive should show zero errors.
    If you can hear it over music, it may well be a grind and not a normal sound. If you are concerned, you might want to run it by Apple or an AASP. In the meantime, keep a good up to date backup.
    Good luck!

  • Upgrading to a larger hard drive?

    Hi everyone,
    I'm considering upgrading my MBP hard drive to one that has more space and want to get more info to see how much of a hassle it would or would not be. I bought my MBP last February right at the end of the month when they had that slight upgrade in HD size and speed. It has the 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo and 2 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM and has a 200 GB hard drive.
    I would like to upgrade to a 320 GB drive and was wondering if this is something Apple stores did? If not, does anything I do to the memory or hard drive automatically void the extended AppleCare plan that I have?
    Also, are there official Apple-made internal hard drives or am I just looking at third party? And if so, are there certain companies that you recommend above others? I have always bought Western Digital externals.
    And, if I upgrade to a larger hard drive, does that mean I should also upgrade to more RAM? Or is getting a hard drive with a higher number of rpm sufficient?
    I did a search but wasn't getting many answers to these questions other than seeing that an Apple certified repair place can to do this. I actually found one near me that looks Apple certified, so I might give them a call. http://www.macprosolutions.com/
    I was looking at this site: http://www.macservice.com/macbookpro.html but it's pretty pricy. Has anyone used this method to upgrade?
    If you know of any FAQ/help sites or posts that you could direct me towards, that'd be awesome! This is my first ever Mac after years and years of WIndows PCs (and I'm never going back!), so I'm a but unsure how to go about doing this. Obviously, I'm just starting my research on what to get and how to go about doing this, but I'm trying to get an idea of price and how hard/easy it is. Thank you everyone!
    Message was edited by: Rachel Whitfield
    Message was edited by: Rachel Whitfield

    You will find this link useful in regards to the question on warranty after upgrading the drive. Both answers over there are in my experience spot on.
    So given that you will need to either use a third party service like TechRestore or do the upgrade yourself. (I recently did it myself and so have no experience with 3rd parties.)
    To your other questions - Apple does not make their own hard drives, they use drives from other manufacturers. So you need to buy a reputable brand 2.5" SATA disk - Seagate, Western Digital, Fujitsu are the ones recommended most often.
    You do not need to upgrade RAM in the computer to just upgrade the Hard Disk - those are totally different things.

  • I just installed a second, larger hard drive. Can I copy all of the files?

    I have a G5 Tower with an 80GB Seagate hard drive. I just installed a 160GB Seagate in the second bay. It seems to be connected. I partitioned it. Can I now simply copy everything that was on the old hard drive onto the new one? Do I then tell the computer to boot from the new larger hard drive, and it will boot and operate automatically from the new hard drive, as if I was still using the old hard drive? Will everything work simply by copying (dragging) all of the files from the old drive to the new one?

    Hi James_ Nindel;
    I answered your other post.
    Double posting the same problem is a good way to confuse everyone.
    Allan

  • Where can I buy a larger hard drive for my late 2008, 15" macbook pro?  From reviewing questions and answers on the support community it would appear that having Apple remove the old and install the new hard drive is recommended.  But how/where?

    Where can I buy a larger hard drive for my late 2008, 15" macbook pro?  From reviewing questions and answers on the support community it would appear that having Apple remove the old and install the new hard drive is recommended.  But how/where?

    Welcome to Apple Support Communities
    You can install the new hard disk yourself if you want to. You just need a 2'5" SATA II hard drive, which is compatible with your MacBook Pro. You can buy one at OWC > http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/hard-drives/2.5-Notebook/ You can filter hard drives by computer, so press a "Click to view all...", choose your computer in the sidebar and it will give you the compatible hard drives.
    There are different brands for the MacBook Pro. The most recommended are HGST and Seagate, which have good reputation. A 7200 rpm hard drive will give you extra performance

  • HT1553 I did the back up as instructed... Installed a larger hard drive and followed the restore instructions... Now I get a white screen with a folder icon and blinking question mark. When trying to set startup with new drive I get a bless tool error...

    I did the back up as instructed... Installed a larger hard drive and followed the restore instructions... Now I get a white screen with a folder icon and blinking question mark. When trying to set startup with new drive I get a bless tool error... Help!!

    If you have installed a new hard drive , you will need to have formatted it in Disk Utility correctly. This may explain your problem.
    Boot  into your 10.6 Install disk again at the top menubar > Utilities > select Disk utility and in there select your new hard drive, and select the tab Erase and choose to make the format as  Mac OS Extended Journaled. When that is finished look in the main window to make sure that the partition map scheme says GUID Partition Table.
    Now go to the Restore tab and reinstall from your backup.

  • We have an early 2008 imac and we realize it is not long for this world but we would like to get a few more months out of it until we can afford a newer one. Can we put in a larger hard drive and add some memory?

    Would it be worthwhile to put in a larger hard drive and boost the memory on our early 2008 iMac? We realize it is on borrowed time but we would like to squeeze a little more time out of it.

    Problem description:
    This iMac is running awfully slow, and freezes up often
    EtreCheck version: 2.1.5 (108)
    Report generated December 20, 2014 at 1:40:32 PM CST
    Click the [Support] links for help with non-Apple products.
    Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.
    Click the [Adware] links for help removing adware.
    Hardware Information: ℹ️
      iMac (24-inch, Early 2008) (Verified)
      iMac - model: iMac8,1
      1 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2-core
      4 GB RAM Upgradeable
      BANK 0/DIMM0
      2 GB DDR2 SDRAM 800 MHz ok
      BANK 1/DIMM1
      2 GB DDR2 SDRAM 800 MHz ok
      Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported
      Wireless:  en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n
    Video Information: ℹ️
      ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro - VRAM: 256 MB
      iMac 1920 x 1200
    System Software: ℹ️
      OS X 10.9.5 (13F34) - Uptime: 21:42:10
    Disk Information: ℹ️
      Hitachi HDP725032GLA380 disk0 : (320.07 GB)
      EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB
      Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / : 319.21 GB (204.84 GB free)
      Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>  [Recovery]: 650 MB
    USB Information: ℹ️
      Apple Inc. Built-in iSight
      Logitech USB Receiver
      Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub
      Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
      Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver
    Gatekeeper: ℹ️
      Mac App Store and identified developers
    Kernel Extensions: ℹ️
      /System/Library/Extensions
      [not loaded] com.seagate.driver.PowSecDriverCore (5.0.1) [Support]
      /System/Library/Extensions/Seagate Storage Driver.kext/Contents/PlugIns
      [not loaded] com.seagate.driver.PowSecLeafDriver_10_4 (5.0.1) [Support]
      [not loaded] com.seagate.driver.PowSecLeafDriver_10_5 (5.0.1) [Support]
      [not loaded] com.seagate.driver.SeagateDriveIcons (5.0.1) [Support]
    Startup Items: ℹ️
      HP IO: Path: /Library/StartupItems/HP IO
      Startup items are obsolete in OS X Yosemite
    Launch Agents: ℹ️
      [running] com.seagate.SeagateStorageGauge.plist [Support]
    Launch Daemons: ℹ️
      [loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist [Support]
      [running] com.memeo.Memeod.plist [Support]
    User Launch Agents: ℹ️
      [loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist [Support]
      [invalid?] com.leadertech.PowerRegister.EPS2.fa8d34509cfddcea6fdfd2f145193825.plist [Support]
    User Login Items: ℹ️
      iTunesHelper UNKNOWN (missing value)
    Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️
      DirectorShockwave: Version: 11.5.0r600 [Support]
      Flash Player: Version: 15.0.0.246 - SDK 10.6 Mismatch! Adobe recommends 16.0.0.235
      FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 15.0.0.246 - SDK 10.6 [Support]
      iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0
      QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3
      Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9
    User internet Plug-ins: ℹ️
      BrowserPlus_2.9.8: Version: 2.9.8 [Support]
      Move-Media-Player: Version: npmnqmp 071505000006 [Support]
    3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️
      BrowserPlus  [Support]
      Flash Player  [Support]
    Time Machine: ℹ️
      Skip System Files: NO
      Mobile backups: OFF
      Auto backup: NO - Auto backup turned off
      Destinations:
      FreeAgent GoFlex Drive [Local]
      Total size: 1.00 TB
      Total number of backups: 1
      Oldest backup: 2014-06-08 05:27:16 +0000
      Last backup: 2014-06-08 05:27:16 +0000
      Size of backup disk: Excellent
      Backup size 1.00 TB > (Disk size 0 B X 3)
    Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️
          2% WindowServer
          2% com.apple.WebKit.WebContent
          1% fontd
          0% AppleSpell
          0% aosnotifyd
    Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️
      292 MB Safari
      219 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent
      180 MB mds_stores
      150 MB softwareupdated
      120 MB installd
    Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️
      1.61 GB Free RAM
      1.86 GB Active RAM
      277 MB Inactive RAM
      543 MB Wired RAM
      626 MB Page-ins
      0 B Page-outs
    Diagnostics Information: ℹ️
      Dec 19, 2014, 03:58:57 PM Self test - passed

  • I just installed a larger hard drive, and used my Time Machine Backup to transfer my info back to the new hard drive. When I open Iphoto, my thumnails are there, but they aren't linked back to the actual photos.I see the photos in my HD. What should I do

    I just installed a larger hard drive, and used my Time Machine Backup to transfer my files back to the new hard drive. When I open Iphoto, my thumbnails are there, but they aren't linked back to the actual photos. I see the original photo files in my HD. Is there a way to link the Iphoto thumbnails back to the original files?

    Use the Firewire cable and t boot the old Mac's hard drive to the new Mac's desktop and transfer your entire iPhoto folder.
    Use Disk Utiliy to erase'format HFS+ Journaled your TimeMachine drive and use the free Carbon Copy Cloner and clone your new boot drive to the external, it's hold option bootable.

  • Can i put a larger hard drive in my mac

    running out of space on my hard drive (300gb) and just wondered if you can easily put a larger drive in?

    Yes you can put a larger hard drive in your iMac. Here's a how to video:
    http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+20-Inch+EMC+2133+and+2210+Hard+Drive+Repl acement/1008/1
    I assume you have a back up?

  • Can I add a larger hard drive to my 2009 mac mini

    can I add a larger hard drive to my 2009 mac mini. It has a 120GB now. Can that be replaced with a much larger one?

    Up to 2TB per the following: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/mac-mini/

  • Is the "512GB PCIe-based Flash Storage" on the new mac worth the extra cost?  I am comparing with a refurb with better specs (faster CPU, larger hard drive) and from what I undersand the PCIe flash storage is the big differentiator in cost.

    hello - i am considering two macbook pros
    NEW - http://store.apple.com/us/buy-mac/macbook-pro?product=ME294LL/A&step=config#
    REFURB - http://store.apple.com/us/product/G0ML1LL/A/refurbished-macbook-pro-27ghz-quad-c ore-intel-i7-with-retina-display
    The refurb actually has a faster processor and a larger hard drive.  From what I understand, the big difference in cost is the new macbook pro contains "512GB PCIe-based Flash Storage" versus the refurb "768GB Flash Storage".
    Is the PCIe flash storage really worth the extra cost (and smaller size)?
    PS - Also I believe the brand new one has 2 GB graphics memory as opposed to 1 GB graphics memory.  I don't really care about that as much as I won't be doing a lot of video editing or gaming.

    RestonManJavaLuver wrote:
      Is she wrong - are these actually going to people's homes, being used, then returned and resold?
    Some are some are not. Otherwise Apple has a ton of Mac's sitting around that have been returned by customers under their 14 day No Questions Asked return policy.
    But they not just Returned and Resold. They go back to Apple, checked out (Tested) any parts that are not up to spec replaced and then repackaged in a plain white box to be sold as refurbs.

  • Error 150:30 had to move to larger hard drive.  Once migrated to new hard drive none of my adobe products work

    I recently upgraded to a new larger hard drive.  In migrating everything over things seem to have worked out well, but non of my adobe products work any more.  I get the message error #150:30 What can I do?  If I reinstall each of these software packages, will I loose my templates, brushes and so forth?

    Migrating software programs from one machine or HD seldom works.  You need to actually *install* software from downloads or installation disks.  You don't mention which product ver you have.
    Run the CS or CC Cleaner Tools below to wipe all traces of Adobe products from your HD.  Then re-install the customary way.
    Use the CC Cleaner Tool to solve installation problems | CC, CS3-CS6
    Typically you only need to deactivate if you had previously installed your products on 2 machines.  Creative Cloud software installed on a 3rd machine will deactivate the previous installations.
    If needed, Live Chat is the best way to reach Customer Care.  Agent availability varies by region and time zone.
    Contact Customer Care
    Nancy O.

  • How to move full OS bitlocker partition to larger hard drive?

    Dear Microsoft Win7 Experts,
    I have a fresh Windows 7 Enterprise image on my laptop's 100 GB hard drive. There is only one C: partition with OS+ stuff and it is Bitlocker encrypted.
    Now the hardrive is almost full. I want to do following:
    Buy and install a new 320GB hard drive
    Copy the full Win7 100GB hard disk image into the hard drive (using Gparted)
    Extend the 100GB image to entire 320GB to use it
    Done. No reinstalling everything is needed.
    Is this possible? We have Finnish on-site support from HCL "India's leading IT and technology company". They say that the above plan is impossible because of Bitlocker and that Win7 reinstall is absolutely needed.
    Is this correct that I must reinstall everything when moving to larger hard drive?
    -M

    Since this is one of the articles I found using Google, I hope my experience will help others.
    I have a Dell mobile precision M6800 running Windows 8.1 Pro. It shipped with a 500 GB hard drive.
    Work was kind enough to later buy me a Samsung 840 EVO 500 GB mSATA drive.
    I had already setup Bitlocker and had it running with TPM + PIN for bootup, UEFI only with Secure Boot (All the paranoid options basically.)
    I was able to clone the disk successfully by doing the following:
    1. Suspend Protections on the source disk.
    2. Use Clonezilla (Alternate AMD64 image) installing onto USB via TuxBoot. (Supports UEFI boot.)
    3. Do a device to device copy, letting Clonezilla pick options for me. (Took about 1.5 hours to clone.) Not sure if just luck or Clonezilla being smart, but the partitions all lined up on 4096 boundaries.
    4. Either remove the source disk now and delete the partition table, set it aside for emergencies, or reboot into clonezilla and use parted to wipe the partition table.
    5. Boot from the SDD and enjoy. (I installed Samsung's magician software at this point ad tweaked the settings.)
    What I had to do:
    4. Here is where I had issues: Leaving both source and target in the pc will make the source still boot. (In the M6800, the first hard drive is SATA 0 and mSATA is SATA 1.
    5. Had I just wiped out the source I would have been fine, but no such luck. I tried online-ing the disk is disk managment but that just broke its booting, and had to use the Dell backup and recovery USB stick to get the SSD booting again (Windows repair
    did not work.)
    End ruesults: bootup is about twice as fast (not nearly as instant as I would like), but application load times are almost non-existent now.

  • HT1391 cant play my music in itunes after copying to larger hard drive.

    cant play my music in itunes after copying to larger hard drive.

    I'm guessing you moved rather than copying.
    What steps exactly did you take?
    If you moved the iTunes Media folder from <User's Music> iTunes to some random location then that is wrong way to do it. You haven't complained of an empty library so I'm guessing that's what you did.
    What generally works is to move the entire iTunes folder to say X:\iTunes, and then hold down shift as you start iTunes. You should get a prompt asking you to choose or create a library. Click choose and browse to the moved library.
    If you moved just the media folder then move the main iTunes folder, shift the media folder inside, then shift-start-iTunes. It should all come together.
    tt2

  • New iMac. Flash drive is primary for OS and apps.  I want to use my HD 2 (1 TB hard drive) for my bulky photo and music files.  Can I direct iPhoto and iTunes to use the larger hard drive as the primary target when importing?

    New iMac. Flash drive is primary for OS and apps.  I want to use my HD 2 (1 TB hard drive) for my bulky photo and music files.  Can I direct iPhoto and iTunes to use the larger hard drive as the primary target when importing?

    Yes.  Unfortunately, I don't know the specifics because I don't use iPhoto anymore and I completely copied over 15 years of MP3 files recently when I installed 10.7.  Needless to say, I have not opened iTunes since and probably never will again - not because of iTunes but because of my stupidity.  I did have some of the files backed up but I hadn't backed up in a while.......anyway....
    When I imported my CD's, I had them go directly to my external firewire.  I can't remember exactly how to set it, but in the preference section of iTunes you can specify an import destination to any drive that's available to your machine.  I did this with iPhoto as well way back at one point when I was using Tiger, but I don't remember the specifics on that either.  I can't imagine they would have discontinued support for that feature since then. 
    Sorry I couldn't help more.

Maybe you are looking for