How to copy and replace new Mountain Lion hard drive with old Snow Leopard drive?

So far I have not found an answer to my question, so I am hoping that this is feasible.
A while ago I purchased a used 2010 Macbook Pro running Snow Leopard that did not have the installer disc. A week ago the hardware died on me, so I replaced it with a new 2012 Macbook Pro running Mountain Lion.
The problem is that I purchased a 1 TB aftermarket HD for my old Macbook Pro and want to replace the current smaller hard drive in my new computer with it. I've already run Time Machine and put all of my data in my new computer so I figured that it would be possible to simply copy that disk image back over to my old drive and replace it. However the computer showed that they weren't compatible. When I tried to put my old hard drive in my new computer there was not a bootable OSX available.
Since Mountain Lion already came on my new computer I do not have an installer that I can use.
Is there anyway I can copy the current Mountain Lion information from my new hard drive and basically have a fully functioning, bootable copy on my old hard drive that I can put back into my new computer?
Thank you.

Well, if you put the HDD from the old Mac into an external enclosure you can use a tool like Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper! to clone the Mountain Lion installation onto the 1TB drive. If you go this route, I would suggest you consider using CCC as it does have the option to clone the Repair Partition as well as the boot volume.
Another route you could take would be to put the 1TB drive into the new MBP, and then boot to the Internet Recover . From there you can re-partition the drive and install Mountain Lion clean on the 1TB drive. During the installation process, you will have the option to use the Migration Assistant to migrate your data & apps. You can use your Time Machine backup for that, or if you have the original drive in an enclosure, you can migrate directly from the external drive. I have used this latter method myself a few times.

Similar Messages

While intending to perform a clean install of Mountain Lion while continuing with old apps and files, is it a waste to restore a backup that was made while running Mountain Lion as an UPgrade from Lion?

While intending to perform a clean install of Mountain Lion while continuing with old apps and files, is it a waste to restore a backup that was made while running Mountain Lion as an UPgrade from Lion?
Originally I was running Mountain Lion as an UPgrade from Lion. I created a backup in Time Machine, performed a clean install of Mountain Lion, then I proceeded to use Time Machine to restore the back up.
When thinking about the essence of a back up restore, it occurrs to me that for all I know, I may have just wated my time IF Time Machine also restores all the old unneeded files that remain from Lion after an upgrade.
Since the backup was made while running Mountain Lion as an upgrade from Lion, did restoring this backup defeat the purpose of a clean install by reinstalling old Lion files?
If so, how can I re-do the last portion of the process so that I get all my home-folder files and apps back without the full bulk of old Lion files? Migration assistant I'm guessing?
-Chris

Hello John!
Thank you for your response which solved my problem. For other users who may stumble upon this, I'll clear up the confusion and share how I solved the problem with your help; When looking for answers to my computer problems, finding unresolved questions where person B offers a solution and person A never comes back and says "That worked, thank you.", it demonstrates a "k-thnx-bye" user mentality that leaves others with the same problem lost. Without further ado:
It is not clear what you did because the meaning of "clean install" is vague. You can erase a volume and install an OS which leaves none of its previous content intact,
This is what I did: I erased the volume leaving no previous content intact, while then installing OS X Mountain Lion.
or you can upgrade an existing OS (or reinstall the same one) which does not alter your user - installed files.
An upgrade to Mountain Lion from Lion is what I started with initially before erasing anything. This was undesirable. Since this can cause Macs to run slower (especially whereas I'm using a mid-2011 Mac Mini), my goal was to go from operating within an upgrade to Mountain Lion, to operating within an installation of Montain Lion that was not preceded by any other oprating system.
Hence a "clean install of Mountain Lion while continuing with old apps and files" is confusing.
Well put and understood. What I should have said was:
1.Erase the volume
2.Install Mountain Lion clean
3.Confirm that Mountain Lion is functioning properly
4.Proceed to use either Time Machine or Migration Assistant to Import/Migrate/Copy over only two things; My old apps (That had been stored originally in the designated Applications folder) and all files and folders originally stored in the home folder under users.
If you restore from a Time Machine backup then all modifications that occurred subsequent to that backup become erased. It renders moot any OS X upgrade performed subsequent to that backup.
That makes sense and is just as I later suspected.
If so, how can I re-do the last portion of the process so that I get all my home-folder files and apps back without the full bulk of old Lion files? Migration assistant I'm guessing?
Yes.
This is what I did and everything works perfectly. Thank you so much once again!
-Chris

I have Mac OS X 10.5.8, can I upgrade to Mountain Lion without first upgrading to Snow Leopard or Lion?

I have Mac OS X 10.5.8, can I upgrade to Moutain Lion without first upgrading to Snow Leopard or Lion first?

No.
Upgrading to Snow Leopard, Lion, or Mountain Lion
You can upgrade to Mountain Lion from Lion or directly from Snow Leopard. Mountain Lion can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for $19.99. To access the App Store you must have Snow Leopard 10.6.6 or later installed.
You can purchase Snow Leopard by contacting Customer Service: Contacting Apple for support and service. The price is $19.99 plus tax. You will receive physical media - DVD - by mail.
Third-party sources for Snow Leopard are:
Snow Leopard from Amazon.com
Snow Leopard from eBay
After you install Snow Leopard you will have to download and install the Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1 to update Snow Leopard to 10.6.8 and give you access to the App Store.
You can purchase Lion by contacting Customer Service: Contacting Apple for support and service. The cost is $19.99 (as it was before) plus tax. It's a download.
Be sure your computer meets the minimum requirements:
Apple - OS X Mountain Lion - Read the technical specifications.
Macs that can be upgraded to OS X Mountain Lion
1. iMac (Mid 2007 or newer)
2. MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer)
3. MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer)
4. MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer)
5. Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer)
6. Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer)
7. Xserve (Early 2009)
Are my applications compatible?
See App Compatibility Table - RoaringApps - App compatibility and feature support for OS X & iOS.
Am I eligible for the free upgrade?
See Apple - Free OS X Mountain Lion upgrade Program.
For a complete How-To introduction from Apple see Apple - Upgrade your Mac to OS X Mountain Lion.
Model Eligibility for Snow Leopard and Lion.
Snow Leopard General requirements
1. Mac computer with an Intel processor
2. 1GB of memory
3. 5GB of available disk space
4. DVD drive for installation
5. Some features require a compatible Internet service provider; fees may apply.
6. Some features require Apple’s MobileMe service; fees and terms apply.
Lion System Requirements
1. Mac computer with an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, or Xeon processor
2. 2GB of memory
3. OS X v10.6.6 or later (v10.6.8 recommended)
4. 7GB of available space
5. Some features require an Apple ID; terms apply.

I had Leopard on may Mac. I upgraded to Mountain Lion using Snow Leopard. I can't use my video with Mountain Lion. Can I load Snow Leopard on an external hard drive so I can use it with my camera?

I had Leopard on may Mac. I upgraded to Mountain Lion using Snow Leopard. I can't use my video with Mountain Lion. Can I load Snow Leopard on an external hard drive so I can use it with my camera?

First, you cannot do this if you have a Boot Camp partition.
Second: Create a new partition.
1. Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
After the main menu appears select Disk Utility and click on the Continue button. Select the hard drive's main entry then click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
2. You should see the graphical sizing window showing the existing partitions. A portion may appear as a blue rectangle representing the used space on a partition.
3. In the lower right corner of the sizing rectangle for each partition is a resizing gadget. Select it with the mouse and move the bottom of the rectangle upwards until you have reduced the existing partition enough to create the desired new volume's size. The space below the resized partition will appear gray. Click on the Apply button and wait until the process has completed. (Note: You can only make a partition smaller in order to create new free space.)
4. Click on the [+] button below the sizing window to add a new partition in the gray space you freed up. Give the new volume a name, if you wish, then click on the Apply button. Wait until the process has completed.
You should now have a new volume on the drive.
It would be wise to have a backup of your current system as resizing is not necessarily free of risk for data loss. Your drive must have sufficient contiguous free space for this process to work.
Third: Install Snow Leopard.
Boot from your Snow Leopard DVD. Follow instructions for installation being sure that before you actually install Snow Leopard you have selected the new partition as your target destination.
Booting From An OS X Installer Disc
1. Insert OS X Installer Disc into the optical drive.
2. Restart the computer.
3. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the "C" key.
4. Release the key when the spinning gear below the dark gray Apple logo
appears.
5. Wait for installer to finish loading.

Can I reformat and partition a new internal hard drive with the Snow Leopard disk?

I'm planning on installing a new internal hard drive in my 15'' Macbook Pro. Can I format and partition the new drive with the Snow Leopard disk or is it just an upgrade from Leopard? Thanks much.

You should be able to do that.
If you want to change the sizes of existing partitions this may help:
Enlarging a partition

I want to migrate to new Mac. How do I also Restore the partition with old Snow Leopard?

I will install a second internal HD first, and use Time Machine Restore to it with the Migration Assistant on the new Mac's Mountain Lion.
Then I will erase the preinstalled Mountain Lion internal HD, and:
How do I now proceed to Restore to an internal partition on the new Mac, my (still) left Time Machine copy of Snow Leopard,( just a spare system partition, also for Power PC Apps)?
If I install a new Snow Leopard first from DVD and then tries the Migration Assistant in it, can it us a Mountain Lion Time Machine backup of the Snow Leopard partition? Or can Mountain Lion Migration Assistant be used for Restoring and Migrating Snow Leopard.
I do not have a Snow Leopard Time Machine backup copy of the partition left. Otherwise I could have taken that on a new installed Snow Leopard.
Thankful for all ideas, also I understand that HD Restore fully on the whole partition without using Migration Assistant will not work.
Another question:
I hope that I can use my new Mac with the old Mac OS X licenses and transfer the new preinstalled Mac OS Mountain Lion license to the old Mac, before giving it away?
Thanks,
/groundliner

Thanks!
I'm not familiar with the issue of what Mac OS new Macs manages. That puts things in another perspective. I have Lion on a fast 8 GB USB Stick, can I not boot from that either? Of Course, I may be able to put the Mountain Lion Installer on the stick, instead. It could not upgrade the stick to Mountain Lion due to not having enough space for that. But I maybe could fix that. Just wondering - I have several hard disks around, I could try to put the preinstalled Mountain Lion OS version on one of those. Best copying method?
I did not know that transfer of OS Mountain Lion was not allowed. Leopard license document mentions transfer of hardware and software to another person. So I thought the Mac App Store license was similar - bought for and on just this old iMac, that it also could be transferred to another person. Which would solve the problem for my friend who should have it!
I keep planning, but I think running old Power PC Apps maybe was no big deal.
/groundliner

Mid 2010 Macbook Pro (7,1) - Downgrading from Mountain Lion (10.8.3) to Snow Leopard

Hi everyone!
I am looking for some help with downgrading my macbook pro from ML back down to SL. I'll start off with some information about my case:
I bought this computer mid 2010 - I believe in July, if that matters. It is a Macbook Pro 7,1 model. The computer came with two disks, one being the Snow Leopard 10.6.3 install dvd, and the other being the applications install dvd. I do still have these dvd's, sitting beside me as I type this. Just like many others, I upgraded my computer to Lion, and from there went to Mountain Lion. I have been on Mountain Lion for several months now, currently running 10.8.3. I know a lot of you out there are disappointed with this OS, and many have experienced significant adverse effects on the overall performance of their computer. That being said, I also know that a lot of you have not had these sorts of issues running the OS. As you can tell, I mysef fall into the first category, as I have not had the greatest experience with it. It just seems to tire out my computer at activity levels which, on Snow Leopard, would not be problematic. I say tire out here in that my computer will overheat, slow down, and even sometimes crash (the crashes primarily begin with the spinning rainbow wheel, attempts to quit / force quit the applications I am running, followed by complete and utter frozenness). When this happens, I have no choice but to press the power button until the computer shuts off, then I restart, occasioanlly taking multiple attempts because of kernel panics the first one or two times. Who knows why this happens...I upgraded my RAM a couple months ago from 4GB to 8GB, which has seemed to help some but not fix the problem entirely. So, I have been wanting to downgrade back to Snow Leopard.
Ok so, I have made multiple attempts at this. For starters, I can tell you that the computer simply will not boot from the Install DVD (it is the one which came with the computer, not a retail version or anything like that). Additionaly, I cannot restore the SL DMG file from the dvd, neither to my hard drive nor to a USB drive. Because of this, I ended up trying this: I downloaded the snow leopard installation files (I believe just the content of the DVD ripped from the disc) via a torrent. I then got a 16 GB USB flash drive, wiped and formatted it (Mac OS Extended (Journaled)), and copied to the USB drive the install file I downloaded. I'll also note that I have done the same thing for Mountain Lion, copying the install file from the app store to a separate 16 GB USB drive. Ok, onto the results of my attempts at downgrading:
Each time I have tried to downgrade, I have taken the following step:
1) Power down the computer
2) Insert Snow Leopard USB drive
3) Boot up the computer, holding the option/alt key
4) Selecting the Snow Leopard USB drive
     -It would successfully boot from the USB, and would bring me to the language selection window, as expected
5) After selecting English, the window gives me the option to continue with the install, or access any utilities, and I would go to Disk Utility
6) I selected the internal drive in Disk Utility (the whole drive, not the indented partition), and I went to the partition tab, partitioning the drive to have 1 partition, Mac OS Extended (Journaled), erasing the current partition
     **Note: I have not tried this, but I feel like maybe If I were to first Erase the drive, opting to zero out all data (1 pass) in the security options, then partition the drive the same way as I did in step 6, perhaps the installation would go smoothly without returning any errors...thoughts?
7) After step 6, I would return to the install os x window and begin installation of snow leopard.
     -Every time I have done this, the install has returned an error about mid-way through, and I would be prompted to restart and try installing again
8) Now having a non-booting computer, I would end up powering down, swapping out the snow leopard usb with my mountain lion usb, booting from that, partitioning the drive the same way as before, and reinstalling mountain lion
     -This beings me back to square 1. A working, booting computer on Mountain Lion...
I believe that my issues surrounding the use of my install dvd (that came with the computer) are caused by a bad optical drive. When in mountain lion, if I insert the dvd, it will read it, but it will do so very slowly. For example, after inserting the dvd and the install os x window coming up, if I select optional installs or instructions, each of these folders would open, but take a very long time to display their contents. It also is a struggle to get the disc to eject in this situation.
So, if anyone has had a similar situation and came out on top, I would truly appreciate your help!
Thanks guys,
Nick

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaDMbmsRqkQ

If I have OS X 10.5.8 installed, how do I upgrade to Mountain Lion? Do I need Snow Leopard first?

I have a MacBook Pro from 2008, and I would like to install Mountain Lion, but I currently have 10.5.8 (which I think is Tiger?). Do I need Snow Leopard first in order to get Mountain Lion? Where can I buy Mountain Lion (since I can't get Mac App Store with my current OS...
Thanks!
Jo

You'll need to purchase Snow Leopard (10.6) from the Apple Store before you can use the App Store application.

Why is mountain lion so slow compared to snow leopard?

Just installed Mountain Lion from Snow Leopard (skipped Lion).   I like the features of Mountain Lion but it is incredibly slow in overal start-up and general system responsiveness compared to Snow Leopard.
Running iMac and Macbook Pro and both are the same in really slow performance.

OK, been a busy week but I've installed RAM.
Had iMac 2007 model (iMac7,1) with 2GB of RAM (two 1GB modules).   Upgraded recently to 6GB of RAM (one 2GB and one 4GB module), yes, I know this is above the original specs of 4GB, but this model does indeed support 6GB with Snow Leopard or newer.   This now works fine under Mountain Lion with no spinning multi-colored ball.   With a couple of applications like Safari and Mail open, it has (using Activity Monitor) just under 2GB free memory.   Page Outs are now a very small (close to zero) fraction of Page Ins.   So, it works well.     If you are not upgrading memory then stick to Snow Leopard as it is a much lower memory footprint.
Had Macbook Pro 2008 model (MacBookPro5,1) with 4GB of RAM (two 2GB modules).   This wasn't performing as bad as the iMac with Mountain Lion but was still slow.   Anyway, upgraded to 8GB of RAM (two 4GB modules).   This is also now working fine with no major issues observed.
If running VMWare fusion, then a lot of the memory will be used up.   The free memory is very slim on on an iMac when running VMware Fusion with MS Win XP (ugh!), which I only do for a couple of scientific antenna analysis programs that I like to use that just aren't available on the Mac, but it is workable. Occasional memory address messages appear from the guest OS but othrwise fine.
So, in summary, if you have older machines (with low RAM) or have a multitude of apps open then Mountain Lion requires careful consideration as it needs just over 4GB when a couple of memory hungry apps open. Do anything exciting andmemory usage will increase causing tons of Page Ins compared to Page Outs and you'll be running in slow virtual memory.   So, for machines that you won't upgrade in RAM stick to Snow Leopard.   For modern Macs with 8GB, 16GB or more, then all will work well.
I still wish they could make the memory footprint leaner though.

Saved a document created on mountain lion can't open on snow leopard, saved a document created on mountain lion can't open on snow leopard

I saved a document created on mountain lion on my flash drive. I cannot open the falsh drive on my other computer which is snow leopard. I was able to go back and forth until I installed snow leopard. Is this normal?

How is the flash drive formatted?
And, which application and which format did you use/save the document in?

Mountain Lion cannot see fibre raid, Snow Leopard can?

Hi, I have a 3,1 Mac Pro, 8 core, 2.8GHz with an LSI 7404 fibre card. The card is connected directly to my 2 medea raids (no switch). The raids mount perfectly in Snow Leopard, but in Mountain Lion 8.2 only half of each raid can be seen in disc utility. Mountain Lion lists the fibre card as "driver installed" as well. Any help would be greatly appreiciated.

I would expect Disk Utility to still report the Physical drives, even if it could not see the Logical Volumes correctly. Does it see all the Physical drives?
If not, what kind of enclosure are they in? does the manufacturer have anything clever to say about this version of Mac OS X?
EDIT: Have you considered buying and installing Lion and installing it on another drive? It IS still available. You can buy a download code if you call the Online Store. Under US$30.

How to download and install Georgian Qwerty to Input Languages list on Snow Leopard?

I'm using a mac with Snow Leopard and would like to add Georgian Qwerty as an input language. Unfortunately, it does not show up pre-installed in the list of languages that can be added as an input source. Is there a way to download and install it? Thanks in advance!

Try
http://www.freshblurbs.com/articles/georgian-keyboard-layout-mac-os-x

New Mountain Lion problem compatibility with Parallells Desktop!!! Help

Poverammè

You need the latest version of Parallels. Log into your account on their website, go to the downloads page, then click the "already have an activation code" link. Click on the link in the email message they send to you to get the latest version.

I downloaded the new Safari 5.05 along with latest Snow Leopard and now my hotmail account causes my Safari and Firefox to crash suddenly. I tried repairing but still getting the same results. Please help...

Problem report for Safari reads: Safari quit unexpectedly while using the coreclr plugin.

Go to /Library/Internet Plug-Ins. If you see the Silverlight.plugin, move it to the Trash.
Now click your Apple icon (top left in your screen) then click Software Update to make sure all your software is up to date.
Restart your Mac if any updates were installed.
Try Safari / Hotmail.
If Safari crashes again, press the Report button on the CrashReporter dialog box to view the crash information.
Copy/paste the entire contents of the Crash Reporter window into your reply. If the crash report dialog does not appear or the crash is hard to reproduce, crash logs can be retrieved from the ~/Library/Logs/CrashReporter> folder.

I have 10.5.8 and want to upgrade, Do I have to download Snow Leopard before download the Mountain Lion?

I have 10.5.8 and want to upgrade, Do I have to download Snow Leopard before download the Mountain Lion?

Upgrade Paths to Snow Leopard, Lion, and/or Mountain Lion
You can upgrade to Mountain Lion from Lion or directly from Snow Leopard. Mountain Lion can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for $19.99. To access the App Store you must have Snow Leopard 10.6.6 or later installed.
Upgrading to Snow Leopard
You must purchase Snow Leopard through the Apple Store: Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard - Apple Store (U.S.). The price is $19.99 plus tax. You will be sent physical media by mail after placing your order.
After you install Snow Leopard you will have to download and install the Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1 to update Snow Leopard to 10.6.8 and give you access to the App Store. Access to the App Store enables you to download Mountain Lion if your computer meets the requirements.
     Snow Leopard General Requirements
       1. Mac computer with an Intel processor
       2. 1GB of memory
       3. 5GB of available disk space
       4. DVD drive for installation
       5. Some features require a compatible Internet service provider;
           fees may apply.
       6. Some features require Apple’s MobileMe service; fees and
           terms apply.
Upgrading to Lion
If your computer does not meet the requirements to install Mountain Lion, it may still meet the requirements to install Lion.
You can purchase Lion by contacting Customer Service: Contacting Apple for support and service - this includes international calling numbers. The cost is $19.99 (as it was before) plus tax. It's a download. You will get an email containing a redemption code that you then use at the Mac App Store to download Lion. Save a copy of that installer to your Downloads folder because the installer deletes itself at the end of the installation.
     Lion System Requirements
       1. Mac computer with an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7,
           or Xeon processor
       2. 2GB of memory
       3. OS X v10.6.6 or later (v10.6.8 recommended)
       4. 7GB of available space
       5. Some features require an Apple ID; terms apply.
Upgrading to Mountain Lion
To upgrade to Mountain Lion you must have Snow Leopard 10.6.8 or Lion installed. Purchase and download Mountain Lion from the App Store. Sign in using your Apple ID. Mountain Lion is $19.99 plus tax. The file is quite large, over 4 GBs, so allow some time to download. It would be preferable to use Ethernet because it is nearly four times faster than wireless.
     OS X Mountain Lion - System Requirements
       Macs that can be upgraded to OS X Mountain Lion
         1. iMac (Mid 2007 or newer) - Model Identifier 7,1 or later
         2. MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer) - Model Identifier 5,1 or later
         3. MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later
         4. MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer) - Model Identifier 2,1 or later
         5. Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later
         6. Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later
         7. Xserve (Early 2009) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later
To find the model identifier open System Profiler in the Utilities folder. It's displayed in the panel on the right.
     Are my applications compatible?
         See App Compatibility Table - RoaringApps.
     For a complete How-To introduction from Apple see Upgrade to OS X Mountain Lion.

How to copy and replace new Mountain Lion hard drive with old Snow Leopard drive?

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