Getting a new hard drive! Need HELP!

Okay, so I know how to switch out a hard drive in a Macbook Pro...no big deal. My question is if there is an easy way to get al your personal info, files, iphoto library, music...off the laptop onto one external hard drive. I figure I can hunt around and move it all, but had no idea whether or not the OS had a way of boxing up all your stuff within a user account and porting all over ot an external hard drive as one file. That way, when you got OS X re-installed, you could just port that user back onto it. Does that exist?
-Cratin

You could put the new drive in an external firewire enclosure (they're cheap) & clone your current hard drive files to it. Then boot to the new drive to ensure it's working OK. Then install the new drive in your laptop. You can use your old drive as a backup, installed in the firewire enclosure.
To clone, you can use the freeware CarbonCopy Cloner @ http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html , or the freeware SuperDuper @ http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html , or the freeware IBackup @ http://www.grapefruit.ch/iBackup/index.html , or the Restore function of Disk Utility included in OS X.
Here's some helpful laptop sites.
Fix It Guides for Mac Laptops & Mini
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/
The guides can be viewed on-line or you can download a PDF file.
How to Upgrade, Repair, Disassemble an Apple/Macintosh Laptop or Notebook
http://repair4laptop.org/disassembly_apple.html
PowerBookTech
http://www.powerbooktech.com/
(Note - PowerBookTech has some good info, however, some Mac users in other forums were having difficulty getting delivery on parts from them.)
How to Upgrade, Repair, Disassemble an Apple/Macintosh Laptop or Notebook
http://repair4laptop.org/disassembly_apple.html
Laptop Repair Guides
http://www.applerepairmanuals.com/#portables
MicroDock
http://www.microdocusa.com/
 Cheers, Tom

Similar Messages

New hard drive need help

I have the dv4 and the hard drive crashed a while back. Just got a new hard drive for it and installed it and I get a blackscreen with a blinking cursor. I've read some other posts and am currently running the hard drive test through the f10 page. I have a windows 7 disk in the disk drive.wouldn't it load up automatically?
This question was solved.
View Solution.

Hi,
Try the following.
Remove the Windows 7 installation disc and shutdown the notebook.
Tap away at the esc key as you start the notebook to enter the Start-up Menu. Insert the Windows 7 installation disc. Select the Boot Options menu ( usually f9 ). Use the arrow keys to highlight the CD/DVD drive and hit enter - if prompted to 'Press any key to continue......', do so.
Regards,
DP-K
****Click the White thumb to say thanks****
****Please mark Accept As Solution if it solves your problem****
****I don't work for HP****
Microsoft MVP - Windows Experience

I had to get a new hard drive for my laptop. Need help?

I had to get a new hard drive for my laptop. Downloaded iTunes and now it says "this ipod it synced with another itunes library.Do you want to erase this ipod and sync with this itunes library." Will it erase everything on my touch?

It says so, so yea I guess....

I have Windows 8.1. I have had MageMaker 7.0.1 working fine on desktop for MANY years. Had to get a new hard drive. Now computer doesn't read the PM DVD. so I can't reinstall it. Can anyone help?

I have Windows 8.1. I have had PageMaker 7.0.1 working fine on desktop for MANY years. Had to get a new hard drive. Now computer doesn't read the PM DVD. so I can't reinstall it. Can anyone help?

Sorry, but the chance of ever getting PM to work on Windows 8 is somewhere
near zero.
Buy a very old computer or move to a new application.

Had to get a new hard drive and didn't deactivate my creative suite! HELP!

I have windows xp. I had to get a new hard drive. I didn't deactivate my creative suite II and now I can't register and use the software! Please help! I can not afford a new computer or the latest software... They cancelled phone support and I can't find what to do anywhere!

Ericaheery please see Activation server shut down for Creative Suite 2, Acrobat 7, and Macromedia products where this topic has been discussed.

I had to get a new hard drive and now illustrator says i need to reactivate by license - when I go to do it over the phone i get a recording saying my reactivation number is invalid

I had to get a new hard drive, now illustrator says my license is expired and I have to get reactivated. When I used the phone support and entered in all the numbers, a recording comes up saying that my reactivation numbers are invalid. What can I do so I can start working again in illustrator

Where did you purchase illustrator. It sounds like it was from a shady dealer. I would contact Adobe and see what you can do.

My laptop crashed and I had to get a new hard drive. How do I get the music from my Ipod back into my itunes library?

My laptop crashed and I had to get a new hard drive. How do I get the music from my iPod back into iTunes Library?

See this excellent user tip from another forum member turingtest2 outlining the different methods and software available to help you copy content from your iPod back to your PC and into iTunes.
Recovering your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device
B-rock

I have recently restored everything on my iMac after getting a new hard drive. When i try to use Elements, i get the following error code ERROR 150:30. Any ideas?

I have recently restored everything on my iMac after getting a new hard drive. When i try to use Elements, i get the following error code ERROR 150:30. Any ideas?

Did you use migration assistant to copy over programs, documents, and settings? You can't do that with PSE. Elements is not a tidy package in accordance with the apple developer guidelines. The installer strews stuff all of your hard drive in place the migration assistant isn't programmed to look and you can never hope to find all h the bits. You must always install PSE from scratch on a new machine. By attempting to copy it you have made a lot of trouble for yourself.
You will need to download and run this:
Use the CC Cleaner Tool to solve installation problems | CC, CS3-CS6
and then you can go around and manually remove what you can reach. Look in applications, your hard drive>library>application support>adobe, your username>library>preferences. In the user library also delete any saved application states for PSE.
Then you can reinstall from scratch.

I had to get a new hard drive and some of my pictures show up but when I go to click on them to open them there is a triangle with an exclamation mark.

I had to get a new hard drive and some of my pictures show up but when I go to click on them to open them there is a triangle with an exclamation mark. Did I loose those pictures or is there a problem with iphoto

How about the most likely occurance - something incorrect about how the iPhoto library was transfered
What version of iPhoto '11 (9.4.3 is the latest)?
exactly how was your iPhoto library transfered to your new hard drive
This indicates that there is a problem in the iPhoto database - a possible solution to try is Back up your iPhoto library, Depress and hold the option (alt) and command keys and launch iPhoto - rebuild your iPhoto library
Why did you get a new hard drive? What kind of backup do you have?
LN

Trying to restore after getting a new hard drive. I can see the backup on the Time Capsule and on the correct date but it is Greyed out. That is it wont let me open it and restore the machine. Have tried also Migration Assistant, no luck.

Trying to restore after getting a new hard drive. I can see the backup on the Time Capsule and on the correct date but it is Greyed out. That is it wont let me open it and restore the machine. Have tried also Migration Assistant, no luck.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5210788?tstart=0
At startup hold down the Command+Option/Alt+r keys until you see a globe on the screen. Then use disk utility to partition and format the drive HSF+ and then select Reinstall Mac OS X. whatever version of OS X that originally came on your system will be installed and then you can upgrade back to Mavericks.

Computer is getting a new hard drive and my iPods are full of all my stuff!

I have a 3rd generation Nano and a 160GB Classic iPod. Here is my problem and I am hoping that someone can tell me how to proceed through this. My computer crashed and is getting a new hard drive installed now. I have all of my music on the Nano and all of my movies on the Classic. When I get my computer back, it will be completely bare of anything other than the original operating system. How do I set up my new iTunes account so that it won't delete my entire saved libraries when I plug the Pods in the first time? Ideally, I would like to just transfer all of my old content straight back into the new iTunes library after I set it up.
Can anyone give me any guidance on how to pull this off?
Thanks,
MH75
Message was edited by: MH75

I had the same problem when my computer crashed.
What you have to do is under the FILE menu, there is a thing known as Lybray/ Export Lybrary (Depending on your version of ITUNES) And click Export. Save it to a potable floppy/CD/Flash drive. When you get your new Computer, hit IMPORT, and click that file, and everything will be transfer over again. Ill be like you IPOD never left home! =D

HT203177 I had to get a new hard drive in my 27 in IMac. I used time machine to get everything back on my computer. I just turn on time machine and its says it's preparing over 800,000 items to back-up, it never back-up, it stop and starts the process ove

I had to get a new hard drive in my 27 in IMac. I used time machine to get everything back on my computer. I just turn on time machine and its says it's preparing over 800,000 items to back-up, it never back-up, it stop and starts the process over again.

Could be many things, we should start with this...
"Try Disk Utility
1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu at top of the screen. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
*Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.*
3. Click the First Aid tab.
4. Select your Mac OS X volume.
5. Click Repair Disk, (not Repair Permissions). Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk."
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
Then repair the backup/TM drive.

TS2776 Had to get a new hard drive, of course lost all my music in itunes. If I sync my ipod to itunes will I lose my music on my ipod??

Had to get a new hard drive, of course lost all my music in itunes. If I sync my ipod to itunes now will I lose my music on my ipod?

Sync is only oneway, from PC to your device. Unless you have the music on your PC, iTunes is going to wipe out what you have on your device if you are syncing to a new library.
You can only transfer Purchased music over to Itunes on your PC.
iTunes Store: Transferring purchases from your iOS device or iPod to a computer
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1848
As for you own music, you may have to use a third party software to copy over. A good Free one is called Sharepod which you can download from Download.com here:
http://download.cnet.com/SharePod/3000-2141_4-10794489.html?tag=mncol;2

I need to get a new hard drive for the g56..

the one thats in it has a error code 301 and i cant boot it. This is only 16 months old and its only been used about 10 times.

Hi:
Below are my recommendations...
You can get up to a 500 GB 2.5" SATA II notebook hard drive.
5,400 RPM if you want longer battery time between charges
7,200 RPM if you want more performance.
Below is the link to the service manual for your PC.
http://bizsupport1.austin.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c02657369/c02657369.pdf
Hard drive removal and replacement procedures can be found in chapter 4. You can do it yourself.
Just save the old hard drive because you need to take some things off of it (caddy and screws), and transfer them to the new hard drive.
If you live in the USA or Canada, you can order notebook hard drives at reasonable prices from this vendor.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007605%20600003459&IsNodeId=1&bop=And...
The 7,200 RPM drive I recommend is this performance one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136280
The 5,400 RPM one I recommend is this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136953
Paul

TS2518 I recently had to get a new hard drive on my MacBook Pro because of a crash. I was able to restore to my latest backup, but now when I need to upload to an application like DropBox, iMovie, and such, it won't acknowledge Aperture. I have Lion OS.

I recently had my hard drive crash on my MacBook Pro (OS Lion 10.7.5). I was able to restore my new hard drive from my latest backup, but since then have been unable to access Aperture Library from another application. When I 'request' an upload --- like to Drop Box, iMovie, or anything --- and it drops down the window for you to choose which library you want to choose from, Aperture is not acknowledged. It will show my iPhoto Library and Photo Booth.
I can export from Aperture to Facebook and Flicker, but not from the other direction. Any ideas on how to resolve this issue?
Thanks,
Brenda

Brenda,
Do you mean, the Media Browser is not showing the Aperture Library? What version of Aperture 3 do you have, and where is your Aperture library stored, on your system drive or an external drive?
For the Aperture Library to be visible in the Media Browser you need to have enabled the generation of previews in the Aperture "Previews" preferences. Do you have the option enabled "Share Previews with iLife and iWorks"? And have you the generation of previews enabled?
One other reason for Aperture not showing in the Media Browser could be a corrupted Aperture library. I suggest you try the "Aperture Library First Aid Tools" and repair your Aperture Library. Start with reapairing permissions, then try the other options, if necessary. See:
Repairing and Rebuilding Your Aperture Library: Aperture 3 User Manual
Another reason may be a corrupted preferences file; remove your Aperture preferences from your User Library, see Aperture 3: Troubleshooting Basics, the paragraph on removing preferences.
Regards
Léonie

I need to get a new hard drive for my 13" mid-2009 MBP but the model number is worn off. Is there a place to find this?

My hard drive needs to be replaced and I am looking to do it myself. However, I am in need of the model number of my MacBook Pro. The issue with this is, it has been worn off. My MacBook Pro is a 13" Mid-2009 model.
Thanks!

Any 2.5"dia, 9.5mm thick SATA HDD will be compatible. Look at options here:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/hard-drives/2.5-Notebook/
This video will show you how to install it:
http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/macbookpro_13_unibody_hd/
Ciao.

Getting a new hard drive! Need HELP!

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for