Hard drive upgrade and Win 7 installation on MacBook Pro

I am planning on installing Win7 on my MacBook Pro using bootcamp. I also plan on installing a new 500 gig HD. I also have a new unformated external hard drive I plan to use a a backup drive for both the mac OS and The Win7 OS. What is the most efficient way to accomplish these tasks? Since this is my first Mac exposure I am not exactly sure what order I perform these tasks. I am fairly familar with The MS OS family having used the OS since the DOS days. Some expert direction would be appreciated.

This should be fairly simple, first you will want to make a backup of the current internal drive. I would recommend using the external drive for that. I recommend an external FW drive for speed but a USB will work, it's just SLOW! Here is how you will format the external drive.
1. Launch Disk Utility
2. Select the external drive on the left side of the pane.
3. Click the Erase tab and format the external drive as *Mac OS Extended (Journaled)*
Next you will want to download a copy of SuperDuper (SD), you can get a free license however I strongly recommend paying the $27 for the full licensed version so you can do things like schedule backups, access all it's features and finally get support if needed.
Once you have installed SD create a bootable clone of your internal drive, then you have a full backup in case something goes haywire. Directions for doing that are very straight forward.
Next physically install the new HD into the MBP. Once it is installed you will want to format it from the install disc that came with the computer. You will find Disk Utilities on the install disc, format it the same way you did the external HD.
After you have formatted the new internal HD then you will do one of two things:
1. Either do a fresh install of OSX from the Install Disc OR
2. Restore the SuperDuper backup from the external HD.
If you choose option 1 then go ahead and do the installation from the Install Disc following the simple directions.
If you choose option 2 then you will boot from the External HD (hold down the Option Key on startup) and then using SD restore what you have on the external HD to the new internal HD. Once you have completed this task then you can boot from the new internal HD, the first time you will again hold down the Option Key on start up choose the internal HD. Then using System Prefrences-Startup Disk and choose the internal drive.
Once you have completed either Option 1 or 2 then you can begin Bootcamp Assistant and CLOSELY follow the instructions for loading Microsoft Windows.
Once you have ruined your MBP by installing MS Windows then you can still use SD for creating backups of the internal HD to the external HD.
Regards,
Roger

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My internal hard drive isn't being recognized on my macbook pro but when I put the HD in my Mac Pro (desktop), the desktop computer recognizes the HD. When I insert the installer CD on my laptop, it also doesn't recognize my hard drive. Please help!

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stephan ach wrote:
but i read that there are lots of problems with the new macbook pro. i have all my data on ext. la cie hard drive. i wont have a problem reading them?
What problems specifically? If you have a problem you should start your own thread and explain the problem in detail.
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Is it bad for the hard drive or the processor to carry my macbook pro while it is asleep?

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Welcome to Apple Support Communities
In general, it is dangerous to carry any laptop with a physical hard drive while it is turned on, as the hard drive might get damaged. However, the MacBook Pro with Retina display (the same applies to the new MacBook and all MacBooks Air) uses flash storage, so you can just put the computer to sleep and carry it (you can do it even if it is turned on): no parts will be damaged.

I would like to replace the hard drive cable for a 13" mid 2010 macbook pro. What is the right model of the hard drive cable?

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https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Parts/MacBook-Pro-13-Inch-Unibody-Model-A1278-Mid-2 009-Mid-2010-Hard-Drive-Cable/IF163-013-1
Apple Part #: 922-9062, 821-0814-A

Hard-drive upgrade and warranty

Hi,
I bought a laptop online and upon reception noticed that the seller upgraded the hard-drive and did not mention it when i asked how he upgraded the laptop. "we upgraded the RAM from 2GB to 4GB" did he say... only!
I knew this could have some issues with the warranty so I browsed the web about this issue but could not find any official information.
I contacted Apple support who told me that changing the hard-drive can only be done by an Apple-Authorized technician otherwise it voids the warranty. Apple told me that when an upgrade is done to an Apple machine the upgrade is recorded in the Apple database.
1. Can anyone confirm that? My seller says it is not true.
I contacted the seller who told me that "the upgrade was performed by the largest Apple VAR and Service Center but there is no such system to log any upgrade"
I asked the seller to provide me the service receipt indicating the serial # of the laptop and the upgrade performed but after 2 days he has failed to do so.
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There's some debate about it and it's been discussed here quite a bit.
If you read the warranty, my view is that legally, the wording means that only damage resulting from the replacement drive itself or damage caused in the process of replacing the hard drive is not covered.
As a practical matter, someone at Apple could claim (even if incorrectly) that a future fault was caused by the drive or in the process of changing it. The longer the machine runs, the less credible such a claim would be.
UNLESS - replaced by an Apple authorised provider - in which case the assumption is that it was done correctly.
I think the support person is lying about the database. I know of Apple Authorised Centers who have replaced drives and just provide a receipt - so I'm with your vendor on that one.
Chances are if you have an unrelated fault AppleCare won't be looking at your drive. The drive itself is not covered obviously.
Personally, I wouldn't be too concerned - but then I'd be quite happy to argue my view of the warranty wording. If you're really concerned, you could always ask an Apple Tech to open the machine and check it - and give you a receipt that all is well.
Hope that helps.
Best of luck.

Hard Drive Upgrade and AppleleCare

Hi Everyone,
There is all kinds of conflicting information, both here and at the Genius bar about upgrading the hard drive in the MBP. I was told point blank by an Apple Genius that the warranty was only void on a MBP if you screw something else up while doing the upgrade. But then I here that if an Apple Authorized Service Center does the upgrade, warranty and AppleCare remain intact. This seems like a volatile situation. So my question, is there anyone here who has upgrade their MBP hard drive, and then received warranty/AppleCare service? I need more space, as with BootCamp and Age of Conan installed, both my Vista partition and OS X partition are sitting at over 60% full, not much space for growth. But, I am concerned with the possibility of a bad nVidia card, and don't want to be stuck with a $2000 paper weight because I upgraded my hard drive. Thanks in advance!
Rich S.

There is a recent post here: http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=7941198#7941198
250GB done by an amateur and the result is a dead as a smelt MBP. Pay for someone to do it.
Not sure why you have to have only a non-portable 'wall-wort" drive - I have quite a few external drives for the MPB - two Maxtor One Touch, one OWC Mercury on the go, a Rocstore encrypted drive and a pair of no name drives - USB 2 to SATA that I can carry in my pocket, need no power supply at all and have added a total of 80160+100+100+250250 or 940GB plus my internal drive that gves me a lot of flexibility.

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Is there a pattern to the time of day or other detail that may be
traced back to a OS X system cause of this odd phenomenon?
Are there any copies of system files on any of the attached USB
external drives? Any libraries, such as iTunes, iPhoto, etc?
Once the drives are indexed by Spotlight, are their permissions
ignored by the OS X? Content, if neutral, should not affect the
wake or sleep cycle; especially if they're ignored by the OS X.
Could there be a bad cable or other component? If so that would
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most suspect components in the USB stream (external to Macs)
is a rote way to mechanically test that idea; & not 100% sure.
Does the equipment all have a good ground to the utility or house
electrical field? An intermittent ground may affect more than sleep.
Hard to say at this point. Maybe a late-night talk radio guru on
remote viewing could peer into your situation and sleuth it out?
Sorry to have run out of ideas, but the process must be electrical
& mechanical to some extent. - Or perhaps odd software inspired.
Do you have any phone-home spyware items inside, just jumping
at the chance to spill your information? Little Snitch may help.
PS: Perhaps the computer needs to go into Apple & have a genius
or product specialist at AASP test the unit thoroughly... BlueTooth?
see:
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=Wake+reason:+XHC1
Good luck & happy computing!
edited 2x

What is max internal hard drive transfer rate compatible with a 2007 MacBook Pro?

In attempt to upgrade my mid-2007 MacBook Pro (Intel Core 2 Duo), I bought a Seagate 750GB listed as compatible with my computer on MacSales.com . . .
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The drie is rated to work on 6GB SATA bus but it certainly can not transfer data that fast. It should be backword compatible to work on slower buses.
Your drive is 750GBs in size. Not wure where you are getting this 5.5TB (that is 5.5 Tera Bytes which is 5500 Giga Bytes. Your drive is under 1TB)
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Can I partition an external hard drive to run windows games on my Macbook Pro

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Dave The Newbie,
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Hard drive upgrade and Win 7 installation on MacBook Pro

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