Reformat hard drive on a macbook pro - for a beginner
I recently purchased my first mac for my college major. Until now, I had only used a mac once a week during the last semester, so I know almost nothing. I bought it used, and the person I got it from didn't bother to remove their files. Its a 320 gb hard drive, of which I only have 42 gb at my disposal. He also installed a partition with snow leopard on it; because OS X didn't like his old adobe software, its got 100 gb of free space, the whole thing is empty. I want to remove the snow leopard partition and replace it with a recovery partition and reformat the hard drive to get rid of his stuff (it won't let me put it in the trash), also there are some settings it won't let me change. So since I don't know much about it, please help! I also have a few specific questions.
Even though I'm not the original owner, can I call apple care for an install disc? It doesn't seem likely.
Barring that option, can I use a 32gb flash drive, or a set of back up discs, and save the OS (and the programs and files I do want) somehow? I need instructions if I can. I've looked on here at the previous questions and answers, and there was a lot of technical jargon that was over my head. I feel foolish saying that, but I really need assistance and I don't want anyone to think I haven't been looking. I have a decent understanding of computers, but I have only ever had access to pc.
Please help, as I am about to start using this for my class and I know it'll just be messier after that. Any and all advice welcome, please be courteous.
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.
Lion and Mountain Lion do not come on a disc. They are only available for download from the Mac App Store. You must have 10.6.6 or later to access the App Store and you must have an Apple ID, which you have since you are on these forums. Since the Lion system on the computer belongs to someone else, you will have to purchase your own personal license then download from the App Store. Lion is no longer available unless your particular model is unable to support Mountain Lion.
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
My recommendation is that you get your copy of Snow Leopard from a local Apple store. Boot the computer from it then repartition the drive to a single partition. Then install Snow Leopard, upgrade it to 10.6.8, then go to the App Store to purchase and download Mountain Lion.
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i just replaced the hard drive on my macbook pro, reformatted new hard drive, installed a back up from time machine and now have kernel panic ( you must restart your computer) what do I need to do?
If you're able to boot, launch the Console application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ If you’re running Mac OS X 10.7 or later, open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the page that opens.
Select the most recent panic log under System Diagnostic Reports. Post the contents – the text, please, not a screenshot. For privacy’s sake, I suggest you edit out the “Anonymous UUID,” a long string of letters, numbers, and dashes in the header and body of the report, if it’s present (it may not be.) Please don't post "shutdownStall" or "hang" reports.
If you can't boot in the usual way, try a safe boot. The instructions provided by Apple are as follows:
Be sure your Mac is shut down.
Press the power button.
Immediately after you hear the startup tone, hold the Shift key. The Shift key should be held as soon as possible after the startup tone, but not before the tone.
Release the Shift key when you see the gray Apple icon and the progress indicator (looks like a spinning gear).
During startup, you’ll see a progress bar, and then the login screen, which appears even if you normally log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
Safe mode is slower than normal, and some things won’t work at all. -
Reformat the hard drive on my macBook Pro 10.5.8
how do i reformat the hard drive on my macBook Pro 10.5.8 - dvd player doesn't work - otherwise what is the best way to delete stuff off the hd - thanks a million. I want to keep the os on it.
Get your PRAM battery replaced. It may fix your optical drive in the process, if it is over 4 years old.
Read my FAQ*:
http://www.macmaps.com/diskfull.html -
Do I need to install virus protection for the windows portion of the partitioned hard drive on the MacBook Pro?
You are running Windows, so yes. I like Microsoft's built in protection and how 8.1 is 'hardened' but I also install Malwarebytes. I will not use Kaspersky anymore. But you do need something. And 8.1 is more secure than prior versions definitely but there were some major zero-day security updates on this month's "Patch Tuesday."
The forum for you is "Boot Camp" and this if you look above: Communities / Desktop / Mac Pro is not for MacBook Pro
MacBook Pro
Boot Camp -
What is the exact name of the cable I need to connect my old hard drive from my macbook pro, which has been removed from the computer, to my new macbook pro? I need to transfere files from the old hard drive to the new computer.
No eSATA to USB. Just a SATA/IDE to USB adapter. Google SATA/IDE to USB adapter and you will get tons of links to buy them. Most likely your local computer electronics store has them, although they might be more expensive buying locally than online.
I have several. You can get either USB 2, which what I recommend, or USB 3. USB is backward compatible so a USB 3 adapter will work on a USB 2 port and a USB 2 adapter will work on a USB 3 port. Backward compatible in both directions.
I suggest a USB 2 type because there have been some problems with certain USB 3 devices, the USB 3 interface used isn't all that good in those certain devices. USB 3 is still fairly new where as USB 2 has been around for over 10 years.
synghem wrote:
Thank you LowLuster,
At the apple store they said I needed an esata to usb wire. But looking at wires on line has been confusing. Is sata the same as esata? How do I know if I need a usb 3 or usb 2? -
Hello. I have installed a new hard drive on my Macbook Pro with OSX Tiger. I tried to reinstall Logic 8 Pro but it refuses the serial number when I try to install it. I took the serial number from the "About" box when Logic was still installed but no good. The software was originally an upgrade, and I don't think I have the disks for the previous version. What do I do? This is important because I only use the computer for music. Thank you.
There's actually an even simpler solution that doesn't include buying a new version of Logic. He can use his original version easily. Of course, that depends if the OP knows how to effectively use his computer though...
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I've lost the use of Appleworks by upgrading to 10.9.2.
Is it possible to partition the internal hard drive of my MacBook Pro and install an older Mac OS (10.6.8) on the second partition with OS 10.9.2 on the other? I'd like to be able to boot to the older OS when I need Appleworks and few other applications that aren't available on OS 10.9.2.
Any suggestions?
Thank you for your help.Hello again, WZZZ,
Here's an update. I was successful in creating two partitions on my internal drive, and in installing OS 10.6.6 on the second partition, as per your guidence. I now have it up to 10.6.8 with all the security updates and AppleWorks. A great thing.
Some thoughts:
• The partitioning had one hitch; it failed at first. But once I "repaired" the disc with Disc Utility the partitioning went thru.
• The partitioning took a long time in 'resizing the partition.' A few hours I think it was. Lots of progress bar watching.
• If I had it to do again, I'd size the two partitions differently. My original data was occupying about 230 Gb of the 320 Gb disc. I made the new partitions share the space, about 230 and 75Gb. That left very little available space for the main disc. I ought to have put some breathing room in there. As it is, it's an incentive to clean up all those files, especially all those iTunes files. I now have about 10% of available space there and mean to continue deleting.
So, all in all a good project that got me where I wanted to go. Thank you for your help.
Appreciatively,
wallah -
I have just changed my internal Hard drive on my MacBook pro. I had recently downloaded some movies on iTunes which I want to put into my iTunes library on my new internal hard drive. I have put my old internal hard drive into an external capsule but when I open the icon of the hard drive from the desktop I can't find my movies.
At the moment I have the new movies downloading again from the cloud but it is literally taking hours for even one movie to load.
When I changed the internal hard drive I restored my info from my old external hard drive which hadn't been backed up in a month and hence does not have my latest movies...
I am concerned that I might go over my internet usage limit (flatmate is refusing to change to unlimited package!!!!) by downloading all the movies again from the cloud never mind how long it is taking...
Is there any way to restore all my info and media from the old internal Hard drive in the capsule as well as from the external hard drive?It means there is no bootable system on the drive. If you still have access to the old drive, then I suggest you boot from it then clone it to the new internal drive. Use OPTION boot to boot from the Recovery HD on the old drive:
Boot to the Recovery HD:
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.
1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu then press the Continue
button.
2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.
3. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
4. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it
to the Destination entry field.
5. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to
the Source entry field.
6. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Source means the external old drive. Destination means the new internal drive. -
can this device be used as an external hard drive with a macbook pro laptop and use files on the airport time capsule?
If you mean an AirPort base station other than the Time Capsule, it doesn't have internal storage.
If you mean a Time Capsule, its internal drive can be used for regular file storage but shouldn't be; as with all drives, it'll eventually fail. You're better off using a standalone drive and setting Time Machine to back it up as well.
(112309) -
Is it possible to change the hard drive in a macbook pro, if so where from? and how?
is it possible to change the hard drive in a macbook pro, if so where from? and how?
secondrow wrote:
whats a green drive? thnks
Green is a marketing term for a drive designed for lower power use, lower noise, and lower heat. The side effect is that it's not as fast. Black drives are designed for highest performance, so they might use more power and run hotter and noisier. I upgraded my Apple Time Capsule with a green drive, but I put a black drive in my Mac Pro.
Kappy wrote:
7200 RPM drives are faster than 5400 RPM drives.
As in cars, RPM is not the sole determinant of performance. In some cases, a newer drive at a lower RPM is faster than an older drive at a higher RPM, when the newer drive uses better technology. I have heard that some of today's high-capacity 5400RPM drives are faster than 7200RPM drives of lower capacity simply because the very high density of a 1TB drive means more data passes under the head even at a lower RPM. Certainly there have been times in Apple's past when new lower RPM drives were faster than higher RPM drives of the previous generation, a notable example being when 4200RPM perpendicular recording drives were introduced and beat 5400RPM drives.
Yes, generally RPM can be used to compare, but it is important to realize it isn't always true. -
External hard drive compatible with macbook pro 10.5.8
external hard drive compatible with macbook pro 10.5.8, i need a hard drive that will work with 10.5.8 to back everything up before upgrading to 10.6. a hard drive that is compatable with 10.5.8 has been impossible to find, a hard drive that works with both opperating systems is what i am looking for, any information that can help is appreciated
You can buy just about any USB2.0 hard drive and use it with your MacBook Pro. Many older external drives come pre-partitioned and formatted FAT32 for use on Windows. Your Mac can use that file system as well, but it has limitations on file sizes. You can always re-partition your external drive and re-format it as HFS+ (MacOS Extended Journaled) then your old Mac OS version and your new one should both be able to access it just fine. One thing to keep in mind is that many older OSes don't really handle drives larger than 2TB well, so you would probably want to try to keep your external drive to something smaller than 2TB...
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How much should it cost to replace a hard drive on a MacBook Pro.
How much should it cost to replace a hard drive on a MacBook Pro? I think the drive that failed was 500gb.
This is an international community. Prices vary from country, state, city, etc.
You should call the repair shop of your choice and ask for an estimate. Make sure the estimate includes taxes, labor costs, etc. -
How do I a setup an external hard drive on my Macbook Pro?
How do I a setup an external hard drive on my Macbook Pro to my primary hard drive for my iTunes library?
I ask this because every time I try to do this it my Mac book pro always wants to use the external hard drive I plug in as a time machine back up rather than my primary hard drive. I figured it would be cheaper and more efficient to use an external hard drive rather than have apple charge me an arm and a leg to replace and upgrade my current hard drive in my Mac book pro.I responded to this in your duplicate posting at: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2690347
I recommend giving a first post a chance before posting a second time, especially since it may result in a lot of duplication in effort from the people volunteering their time here. -
Can somebody please advise urgently...
I backed up my entire hard-drive of my macbook pro - just prior to installing osx mountain lion.
I put everything into a folder on my desktop - then backed it up onto an external drive. Once this was done - i deleted the folder off my desktop - and following this - things started to go all weird...pages hanging, the coloured 'wheel of death' appeared for ages. So i had to employ a 'hard-boot' restart - as i had not other options.
I'm pretty sure i made copies of of files/apps/folders etc - however not so sure now as i cant even start up my laptop!!!
Can somebosy please help me urgently??!!!Got the exact same problem, and I also did this operation many times before, from 500Gb to 750Gb, and then from 750Gb to 1 Gb. Not My HD got a little such complaining about bad sectors when in windows bootcamp, but still runs fine though.
So I bought a new 1Gb drive exactly same drive as the one thats getting sick. I did the clone thing, with super duper, CCC, DU, but no matter it will not boot when i move the new drive inside the macbook…….**** thing exuse me, but wasted so much time.
Now I get this strange feeling that something must have changed in the macbook itself. Just wondering if this could be a EFI "mac bios" prevention thing, they made just to sell more new computers, when you can't improve or fix your old one.
If so, then its pretty scary. If not then I simply can't figure out why this suddenly becomes a problem for so many people, as I see so many posts about this!!
BR Pete -
i see that i have a problem after installing my new hard drive on my macbook pro mid 2009 version. I put a new hard drive, with all of my information from my old drive installed on it, into the computer. but now have the blinking question mark folder. I see that it means that it isn't reading the new hard drive.
did i miss a step between transferring all of my information from my old hard drive to the new hard drive and installing the new hard drive into the computer. I believe that i installed properly. it was quite easy.
thanks for your helpIt means there is no bootable system on the drive. If you still have access to the old drive, then I suggest you boot from it then clone it to the new internal drive. Use OPTION boot to boot from the Recovery HD on the old drive:
Boot to the Recovery HD:
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.
1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu then press the Continue
button.
2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.
3. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
4. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it
to the Destination entry field.
5. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to
the Source entry field.
6. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Source means the external old drive. Destination means the new internal drive.
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