May I install an SSD disk on an MacBook 2009?

Have a MacBook dual core duo with an 250 GB HD and 4 GB RAM. I would like to speedup my MacBook so I'm thinking to swap the HD against an SSD having the same GB capacity. Will this work?

There are a number of SSD drives available that claim to be compatible with the MacBook, such as those on this page. I would be sure to use a reliable dealer, so if it doesn't work you will have their support. Note that if you have an Apple warranty or AppleCare still on your MacBook that it would not apply to the new SSD.
Other users have reported dramatic speed increases from using SSDs.
Best of luck.

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Installing an SSD drive in a Macbook Pro

Hello All. Thanks all for detailed replies.
I may not have read all your posts properly but today I tried to clone the SSD with my current HD in disk utilities but it wouldn't let me. Told me to use disk utility in recovery mode -I was able to "clone" the HD. Then proceeded to shut down my mac, switched out the HDs, then pressed start.....got the folder icon with a ? mark. Read some other discussions regarding that so I tried the different key combos before booting up. None worked (mac auto shuts off instead of rebooting second time after command prompts i.e. CMD +R; Shift Key; Option, NVRAM reset....).
***A little background issue***
Luckily I had an external HD where I created a Mac OS boot drive (when I first created the external HD boot drive) I must have done something wrong cause I have no recovery disk icon in System pref -> Startup Disk (Only have the main HD drive icon). Not to mention that doing so wiped my HD so I had to manual recover from TC.
After booting from the external HD boot drive (with the SSD installed) I made progress but was stopped at the grey screen w/ stop sign. I back-tracked and re-installed my original Mac HD back into the MBP and have not done anything further in fear of messing it up again.
From all your comments plus my hands-on-approach, I now understand that TRIM is still enabled and needs to be off prior to hardware mods. If I am understanding this correctly, the reason I was unable to boot whatsoever with the SSD installed is because there is no OS installed on the SSD. Am I safe to make this assumption?
And, if so, what way should i install the OS onto the SSD? A follow-on question is, once my SSD has an OS installed on it, I should enable TRIM, reboot MBP, then shut-down again before I install the SSD, correct?
Hopefully I made sense in a orderly fashion so someone more intelligent than me in this field can yay or nay my process. Thanks all!

wyun0514 wrote:
...I looked at the System Info and it says TRIM is disabled. Is that supposed to happen? I thought one had to physically disable TRIM...
If TRIM was actually activated on your source drive, I'd expect it to be carried over but it's a good thing it didn't. TRIM is excellent to have active when using an SSD, but in Yosemite, it's blocked by design because the kext which has to be modified to make it work on third party SSD's fails the new kext-signing test that's a Yosemite security feature. You can turn it back on by disabling that security feature entirely but when you do any OS update, there's a real risk that the partition will simply refuse to boot. Read this for a detailed explanation of the risks.
You can look through this link for an explanation of what TRIM is and why it's good to have it running. It's possible to activate TRIM and, when doing any kind of OS update, turn it off and back on when it's done, but circumstances may arise where you forget or it just isn't possible and you may get burned. I did once, before the conflict was generally recognized, and it was a real pain to start over.

Problems with iTunes after installing an SSD/HDD on my Macbook Pro

Hello everybody,
I decided to install a SSD on my Macbook Pro, replacing the optical drive with it, then I set up the new disk to be the boot drive and left the HDD on its place to store media and stuff.
Obviously, my library now is on the HDD, but when I try to delete a file via iTunes I get a partial elimination, or no elimination at all. The songs remain on their place on iTunes. I have no idea why. My only theory is related to the TRIM option: I have a small application that enabled it on both drives, so maybe it may be a pain for the HDD?
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Thanks!

First, spinning hard drives don't use TRIM, so you can't enable it on your HD, only your SSD.
Is your SSD your boot drive? Where do you have your iTunes media stored? There's a right way and a wrong way to change the location of the media - see http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1449.
Good luck,
Clinton

How Do I Install an SSD Into My 15" Macbook Pro?

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If you got the data transfer cable with your SSD, the procedure should be pretty simple - and there should be step-by-step instructions in the box. You're simply going to remove the bottom case of your computer (using a Phillips #00 screwdriver), take out the two screws in the bracket holding the hard drive into place (using same screwdriver), remove the drive and (use a Torx 6 screwdriver) remove the four screws that hold the hard drive in place. Then put in the SSD and reassemble the machine.
Then you'll plug up the old hard drive by using the SATA to USB cable and use the option key to boot from the old drive. I don't know what data transfer software Crucial provides, but I would recommend formatting the SSD using Disk Utility from your old drive ("Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" with a single GUID partition) and then use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone your old drive to your new SSD (see this user tip for cloning - https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4122). You needn't worry about getting an enclosure since you have the data transfer cable and you don't want to use your old hard drive.
There are a number of videos on YouTube that take you step-by-step through this procedure - many specific to Crucial SSDs and their data transfer kit - do a little searching there if you're unsure of how to procede.
Clinton

How do I install an SSD into my 2007 Macbook?

Hi All,
I did some searching online, but couldn't conclusively find a step-by-step procedure to installing an SSD into my 2007 Santa Rosa Blackbook.
My mac has been running slow, and I've upped the memory to 2gb (I will be upping it to 4 shortly), but also wanted to consider an SSD as well. I know how to physically install the SSD, but my questions are:
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I have Snow Leopard 10.6.8, will that have this "TRIM" update for SSDs?
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Hey Eric,
Thanks for the link! Though, I actually know how to physically install the SSD. It was my other questions that I'm getting puzzled by. Any ideas on those?
EDIT: Actually, it answered one of the questions about transferring my data, so cool!
Thanks!

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http://chris.pirillo.com/how-to-move-the-home-folder-in-os-x-and-why/

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Hi all!
I've bought a new macbook pro 13" 2012 to replace my old macbook pro 2010.
In my old macbook pro 2010 I was using an Sandisk 480 SSD that has everything working and installed, as I sold the old one, I put my hard drive and format it to sell to my friend.
In the new macbook 2012, I soon I receive it, I replace the HDD with my old SSD an everything works normally except some problems that I'm discovering now!
MY new macbook boot without no problems and until now every software that I've testes is working ok! Some of them ask me to register again but all of them is working.
My problems starts with my VPN configuration, the new macbook looses all my VPN connections, but as it wasn't so much (only 6) I'm reconfiguring them as I need it.
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Missing file system after installing in SSD MacBook
Hi All
I recently installed a SSD drive in my Macbook, I used the Disk Utility to clone the old HDD.
When i reboot the machine with the new disk I get the image of a folder with question mark.
If i reboot the machine again and hold the alt key at the chime I can see two disks.
One called SSD and another called Recovery.
if i choose the SSD the OS starts as normal and if i choose the recovery option and check the disk with disk utility
it tells me that everything is fine.
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Hi I'm installing an SSD on a 15" Macbook Pro (Mid 2012) model this weekend. I just had a few questions to run by people who have done the same thing. First I've noticed in the how-to videos I've watched that there are two main ways to format the drive: 1.) Erase the drive in disk utility, or 2.) Partition it. Is there a difference, and if so is one better?
My second question is once I take the back of the computer off is it necessary to disconnect the batter? Again I've seen several how to videos, and this seems to vary.
Finally, I've noted that anything I've read says to ground yourself by touching the case of the computer. Is this referring to the back portion that I removed or the main body of the computer?
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Foofighter62091 wrote:
there are two main ways to format the drive: 1.) Erase the drive in disk utility, or 2.) Partition it. Is there a difference, and if so is one better?
Those are potentially three different terms there:
"Erase" just means delete the disk directory file so that even though there might still be millions of files on the drive, there is no longer any record of where they are. Using the drive will gradually write new files over the old ones.
"Partition" means to divide the drive into multiple volumes. Each volume can be mounted or dismounted separately as if it was a separate drive, even though there's just one real drive. Partitioning used to require erasing the whole drive, but now you can at least adjust partition sizes without erasing at all.
"Format" can mean Erase, but there is also a "low-level format" that remaps the entire drive, blocking off bad sectors and optionally writing over old data so it can't be read. That would go well beyond a typical Erase.
Now, what you want to do with any new drive for your Mac is to select it in Disk Utility and make sure it has been formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled). If it's formatted as anything that does not start with Mac OS (like Fat32), you need to format it as Mac OS X Extended (Journaled). From there, you can partition it if you want, but it is best not to partition unless you have a specific need to.
Foofighter62091 wrote:
My second question is once I take the back of the computer off is it necessary to disconnect the batter?
I have never disconnected the battery when replacing the drive in current MacBook Pros, but I guess if you do it might be safer. In old models where the battery was removable, I did take it out then.
Foofighter62091 wrote:
Finally, I've noted that anything I've read says to ground yourself by touching the case of the computer. Is this referring to the back portion that I removed or the main body of the computer?
You need to ground yourself in the electrical sense. That means some part of your body should touch some part of the computer that is metal and leads to the ground, to dissipate any static charges. The best way is to use a grounding strap that is connected to a grounded metal fitting in the room like a pipe. I touch the metal part of the power cord (the end you plug into the laptop). I believe touching the computer case has no effect if the case is not grounded (like a desktop plugged into the wall) because the static has nowhere to go, but someone with more electrical knowledge should clarify that.
However you ground yourself, during the operation you should stay in one place like your chair and avoid shuffling your feet, especially on carpet. Once I'm handling components I will not walk across the room until I put down the component, and when I come back I won't pick up the component again until I first touch a ground.

All device mappings lost, including DVD, trying to install Windows 8.1 on a new SSD disk containing no OS

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Install Boot Camp/OS X on SSD disk, use internal harddrive for storing applications for Boot Camp

Hello everyone!
I have a SSD drive that I have installed Yosemite on and have the following question:
I have an iMac with an external SSD disk on 250 GB that I have connected in a thunderbolt enclosure and have an internal hard drive on 500 GB SATA drive.
First I wonder if it's possible to have a dual boot on OS X and Boot Camp on my SSD disk?
But here comes the tricky part. I want to have my internal hard drive (500 GB) on my iMac to use some sharing to Windows.
So my idea is just boot to Boot Camp and use my internal hard drive, that I want to partition to two parts (one partition for OS X and one partition for Windows) to have the applications (like games/user applications) installed on so I don't fill up my SSD drive with all that data. I just want to have the SSD disk to boot in and use the speed for the Boot Camp system.
I also have file vault activated on Yosemite and want to have encryption activated on both volumes (OS X/ Boot Camp) so it's secured.
So is this idea possible to do or do I need to have all the user applications / games installed directly to my Boot Camp partition?
Sorry for my grammar, hope you understand what I want to do. If not I will try to explain better and more detailed if needed.
Thanks so much in advanced!

Trendchaser wrote:
Hello everyone!
I have a SSD drive that I have installed Yosemite on and have the following question:
I have an iMac with an external SSD disk on 250 GB that I have connected in a thunderbolt enclosure and have an internal hard drive on 500 GB SATA drive.
First I wonder if it's possible to have a dual boot on OS X and Boot Camp on my SSD disk?
Please see http://bleeptobleep.blogspot.com/2013/02/mac-install-windows-7-or-8-on-external. html for installing on an external Thunderbolt disk.
But here comes the tricky part. I want to have my internal hard drive (500 GB) on my iMac to use some sharing to Windows.
So my idea is just boot to Boot Camp and use my internal hard drive, that I want to partition to two parts (one partition for OS X and one partition for Windows) to have the applications (like games/user applications) installed on so I don't fill up my SSD drive with all that data. I just want to have the SSD disk to boot in and use the speed for the Boot Camp system.
You can create a FAT/exFAT partition via Disk Utility on the 500GB SATA disk. After Windows is installed, format this partition to NTFS from Windows, and use it as Windows D: (or appropriate drive letter depending on your environment) and install Games/Applications. Be careful with the read-only HFS partitions which get drive letters assigned automatically. This partition cannot be resized using Windows tools or OSX Disk tools.
I also have file vault activated on Yosemite and want to have encryption activated on both volumes (OS X/ Boot Camp) so it's secured.
FV2 (and any other CoreStorage volumes) are unreadable in Windows. Only HFS+ volumes are supported by the Apple read-only HFS driver provided by BC drivers. Windows volumes require BitLocker encryption, FV2 cannot be used for such volumes.

Trying to install a SSD Hard Drive on a MacBook Pro.

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Can I install a SSD on an optical drive in a HP Envy Phoenix

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Any suggestions and/or recommendations is highly appreciated it.
Thank you.
3rd Generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4960X processor
•4TB 7200 RPM SATA 6G RAID Hard Drive
This question was solved.
View Solution.

Hi,
Your PC is already using a Windows 8 boot loader and if you load the SSD in UEFI mode then you will add another Windows 8 boot loader to the eligible boot device menu. This will lead to confusion. I would suggest that you avoid this situation by trying the following procedure:
Be sure to create the external HP recovery media
Install the SSD on port 1 or 2
Disable secure boot in the BIOS and switch to legacy mode
Boot into the Intel OPROM and rebuild the RAID 5 array
Boot back into the BIOS and enable UEFI mode
Boot the external HP recover media and load the SSD (SSD recommended size is 240 GB or larger)
Once you are up and running then go into Disk Management and format the RAID array as GPT
The above procedure may or may not work but it's what I would first try.
HP DV9700, t9300, Nvidia 8600, 4GB, Crucial C300 128GB SSD
HP Photosmart Premium C309G, HP Photosmart 6520
HP Touchpad, HP Chromebook 11
Custom i7-4770k,Z-87, 8GB, Vertex 3 SSD, Samsung EVO SSD, Corsair HX650,GTX 760
Custom i7-4790k,Z-97, 16GB, Vertex 3 SSD, Plextor M.2 SSD, Samsung EVO SSD, Corsair HX650, GTX 660TI
Windows 7/8 UEFI/Legacy mode, MBR/GPT

May I install an SSD disk on an MacBook 2009?

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