Steps to upgrade HDD

Question

I'm going to take out my old hard drive tonight, and install a new one...actually it's my bro in laws former one, but it will be new to me.
I already understand what needs to physically be done to remove the old one, and put the new one in, but what steps do I have to take on the "software end" in order to get my old date onto this new one.
Basically, once that new baby is in place, what should my first steps be?
Put in Snow Leopard Disk and follow prompts to restore data from Time Capsule? Is it as easy as that? Thank you all for your help.

Answer 1

Hi N,
NittanyAgent wrote:
Put in Snow Leopard Disk and follow prompts to restore data from Time Capsule? Is it as easy as that? Thank you all for your help.
Just about. Need to format/partition the new HD first.
1. Boot from install disc (press power button, immediately insert install disc and hold down c key).
2. Select your language.
3. Open Disk Utility from Utilities menu.
4. Select the HD in the left pane (the manufacturer’s name and the HD model number).
5. Click on the Erase tab.
6. Choose the Format: Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
NOTE: if you want to zero the HD (which I always think is a good idea, but does take time), click on Security Options, click the button for Zero Out Data, click OK. The larger the HD, the longer this will take, in some cases several hours.
7. Click on Erase and wait for the entire process to finish.
8. Click the Partition tab.
9. Click on Volume Scheme: and choose the number of partitions (normally just one unless you have other plans).
10. Click on the Options button (located underneath the Volume Scheme pane) and select GUID.
11. Click Apply.
12. Quit Disk Utility and continue to the restore option; when finished, reboot, repair permissions, run any additional updates (in Apple Menu > Software Update), and repair permissions.
Smooth sailing.
Message was edited by: tjk