Transferring hard drive to another macbook

Ok well long story short I had water spilled over my macbook which I bought in the summer of 2008. My mom also has a macbook which was bought in December of 2009. she gave me her macbook while she purchased a new one. I am trying to figure out how to transfer my hardrive (which was not damaged) to my "new" macbook. I really don't understand macbooks that well so if someone could please explain to me step by step how to transfer my hard drive to my new computer I will be so grateful. ( I also took my computer to the apple store and they tried to literally switch my hardrive out from the old and into the new but they could not get it to work.) Thanks

Since they tried swapping drives there may be a problem with your old drive. One thing you could try is going to Other World Computing or other business and purchase a drive enclosure to install your old one in. Then you could plug it in to your MacBook and try and read it as an external drive.
How do you know your hard drive was not damaged? What happened that makes you think this?

Similar Messages

  • Move hard drive to another macbook pro

    can you just move a hard drive to another macbook pro.

    As Shootist states - No and Yes.
    I just actually did that the other day.  My newer MacBook died on me.  So I took that drive out and installed in my older 2009 Macbook Pro and it works.
    I however, can't tell you if moving your older Macbook Pro hard drive to your newer Macbook Pro might work.  If the OS is the same version, it might.  But if the OS in your older Macbook is not the same version, it might not.
    Good luck

  • Use one hard drive in another MacBook

    Got a new MacBook Pro and want to take my SSD drive out of my old one and use it as the boot drive in the new one. Can I just switch them and no problem or are there going to be issues?
    If there are issues can I clone my SSD hard drive to me new one, erase the SSD, then clone it back as the boot drive?
    Thanks.

    Get the enclosure as Ralph suggests.
    Insert the SSD in the enclosure and attach it to the new MBP via USB.
    Open Disk Utility>Erase and select Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and click on the Erase button.
    Then use Disk Utility>Restore.  Select the HDD in the MBP as the 'Source' and the SSD as the 'Destination' and click on the Restore button.
    Swap the two drives and the new MBP with the SSD should boot.
    Ciao.

  • Transferred backed-up data from external hard disk to new hard drive on my MacBook Pro which seemed to be successful. I now find that some (or maybe all) old emails have been resent. Can anyone tell me what has happened?

    Transferred backed-up data from external hard disk to new hard drive on my MacBook Pro which seemed to be successful. I now find that some (or maybe all) old emails have been resent. Can anyone tell me what has happened?

    Greetings,
    I've never seen this issue, and I handle many iPads, of all versions. WiFi issues are generally local to the WiFi router - they are not all of the same quality, range, immunity to interference, etc. You have distance, building construction, and the biggie - interference.
    At home, I use Apple routers, and have no issues with any of my WiFi enabled devices, computers, mobile devices, etc - even the lowly PeeCees. I have locations where I have Juniper Networks, as well as Aruba, and a few Netgears - all of them work as they should.
    The cheaper routers, Linksys, D-Link, Seimens home units, and many other no name devices have caused issues of various kinds, and even connectivity.
    I have no idea what Starbucks uses, but I always have a good connection, and I go there nearly every morning and get some work done, as well as play.
    You could try changing channels, 2.4 to 5 Gigs, changing locations of the router. I have had to do all of these at one time or another over the many years that I have been a Network Engineer.
    Good Luck - Cheers,
    M.

  • I transferred my iTunes library from one external hard drive to another and added more music on the same day. How do I get rid of my duplicate files without going through them one by one which would take forever?

    Please help. I have transferred my iTunes library from one external hard drive to another plus added additional music now I have duplicates of the same music in many albums. How do I delete the duplicates without going through them one by one which would take forever? I understand how to get the "show exact duplicate" feature up on iTunes but, because they were added to the library on the exact day I can't seperate them I'm that manner. So each duplicate is right next to eachother in the exact duplicate screen.

    My DeDuper script is designed to help clean up. See this thread for background.
    tt2

  • If i have Time Machine backed up on an external hard drive, do i just plug the drive into another macbook pro and all my stuff is in the new computer?  also, does it matter if the new computer is running Lion when the backed up info came from Snow Leopard

    If i have Time Machine backed up on an external hard drive, do i just plug the drive into another macbook pro and all my stuff is in the new computer?  Also, does it matter if the new computer is running Lion when the backed up info came from Snow Leopard 10.6.8?

    No and Yes
    Don't use TM for this purpose, clone your drive to an external, plug the external into another MBP and reboot from it. Please note that booting a machine that came with Lion may not be possible from a drive with Snow Leopard.

  • Is there a way to access my iTunes Library, which is stored on a (PC) External Hard Drive, on a MacBook Air (through an Apricorn Universal Hard Drive Adapter), without transferring the music files off of the external hard drive?

    Is there a way to access my iTunes Library, which is stored on a (PC) External Hard Drive, on a MacBook Air (through an Apricorn Universal Hard Drive Adapter), without transferring the music files off of the external hard drive?
    In other words, because the MacBook Air only has 120 gbs of hard drive space & my old hard drive, from a Lenovo, has 500 gbs of hard drive space (and I have over 120 gbs of music), I’m looking to manage my iTunes music from the external hard drive permanently. Upon attempting to access the iTunes library held on the external hard drive the following message comes up: “The iTunes Library.itl file is locked, on a locked disk, or you do not have write permission for this file”.  Is there a way to get around this?
    Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks so much!

    You will have to engage a split library which means you will have to start answering questions on this forum because you will need to learn a lot about how iTunes works in order not that have a big mess at the end of it all.  It also won't be easy when the time comes to relocate it all to different drives.
    You can go to advanced preferences and turn off organize media and copy to items to media folder when adding items to library.  Next read about how to selectively consolidate items to the external drive.
    Sept. 2010, Consolidate selected content - https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2589812 and April 2014, https://discussions.apple.com/message/25414357
    "...selected the new tracks directly in iTunes, Control-clicked on the selection, and saw that now you can consolidate selected items." - http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20090919000326840
    Remember that when you start iTunes without the external drive turned on iTunes will present you with a bunch of broken links.  If you have automatic downloads enabled with iCloud you may have to turn that off to prevent iTunes from repopulating your drive trying to deal with those "missing" tracks.
    If you add tracks in bunches to iTunes and want them to go to different media folders you will need to either add them by holding down the option key while dragging if the desired media folder is not the one set in preferences, or by changing the media folder in preferences.  Changing media folder preferences only applies to new files added, not old ones.
    Okay, I am going to stop typing because you might just reply to me, "Oh, okay, forget it," and I don't need the exercise.
    What are the iTunes library files? - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1660
    More on iTunes library files and what they do - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes#Media_management
    What are all those iTunes files? - http://www.macworld.com/article/139974/2009/04/itunes_files.html
    Where are my iTunes files located? - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1391

  • Transferring playlist from one mac to external hard drive- to another mac

    Hi, a buddy made a playlist of music for me (about 3 days worth) of his music. We tried to download the list to his extenal hard drive so that I could then upload it to my itunes. However, whenever we tried to send the playlist to his external, the titles show up momentarily then are no where to be found in the external hard drive. Help
    MacBook   Mac OS X (10.4.9)  

    guess I didn't think of it as stealing music since all the music we were trying to copy is from cd's he purchased. What's the difference between transferring the file and me borrowing all his cd's and copying them to my Itunes?

  • How can I transfer files from my macbook pro hard drive to another target drive

    The hard drive on my Macbook is corrupted and so I am trying back up files from the hard drive on my Macbook to a target disc so that I can wipe the hard drive on my Macbook and re-install the system software. I am only able to access the Macbook via disc utilities using the start up system DVD. Is there a way of accessing the files while I'm in disc utilities so that I can transfer to the target disc?

    Some MacBooks have Firewire, while others do not.  See this tip:
    https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-2502
    If both of yours have Firewire, you can use the Target Disk mode described at the end of the tip.  Otherwise, you'll need to pull the hard drive out of the machine that it is in, and put it in a 2.5" hard drive case that supports the ports that are on the other machine.
    Note, if you can't read the data on the other machine, using a data recovery tool to a hard drive at least as large with no data on it is recommended.  This tip explains how to do data recovery:
    https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-1689

  • How to use an external hard drive on a MacBook Air?

    Hi there.
    Recently I bought a portable USB external hard drive for my MacBook Air due to my full startup disk. I also bought multiple disks for the hard drive. I inserted the disk, hooked up the USB, and did everything properly. When I first hooked it up, I lost all internet files that I had saved. All images, videos and downloads (such as Minecraft and other gaming downloads) from the internet were gone and unable to find.
    Now, I don't want to make the wrong move and lose all of my internet files again, so I am asking how to transfer files SAFELY to the USB without any files being deleted. I tranfered files before, but they were just short cuts to the original file, so I am also asking how to fix that as well. My Dad was a computer technician, although he didn't work for Apple, so he doesn't know how to use the USB.
    I've tried everything to find my internet files, but nothing. If there is a way to get them back, I'd be glad if you shared that with me. My dock files aren't working due to this insanely full startup disk, so I'd appreciate it if you could tell me ASAP how to use the USB, how to SAFELY transfer files without them turning into shortcuts, and how to get my internet files back.
    Thank you very much.
    P.s My OS X version is 10.8.3 (Not with Mountain Lion)

    You cannot format a drive so that files will be automatically put on that drive when you run out of room on another drive. Transferring the files must be done specifically by you. You will need to learn how to manage free space on the SSD because 64 GBs is a bit small for much more than OS X.
    Drive Partition and Format
    1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
    2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
    3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
    4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
    5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Security button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
    6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.

  • What is the exact name of the cable I need to connect my old hard drive from my macbook pro (it has been taken out of the computer) to my new macbook pro?  I need to transfer files from the old hard drive to the new computer.

    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?

  • Hard drive failing on Macbook 13" OS 10.7.3 Need to xfer all files to an iMAC 21.5. How to do this?

    Hard drive failing on Macbook 13" OS 10.7.3 Need to xfer all files to an iMAC 21.5. How to do this?

    Can you boot the MacBook into FireWire Target Disk mode? That turns it (temporarily) into an expensive hard drive. You can then move files.
    Another way would be to use an external hard drive, attach it to the MacBook and user software such as Bombich's Carbon Copy Cloner to copy the hard drive (assuming you have sufficient space on the iMac.)
    Best of luck. Please keep your data backed up in the future to avoid this. It'll make your life easier.

  • I am semi-retiring my old mac mini and want to use it as a hard drive for my macbook pro.  Does anyone know how to do this?

    I am semi-retiring my old mac mini and want to use it as a hard drive for my macbook pro.  Does anyone know how to do this?

    1. Remove the drives, install them in external enclosures.
    2. Use a Firewire cable to connect to your computer. Boot the mini into Target Disk Mode - Transferring files between two computers using FireWire

  • 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 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 help

    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.

  • Is it possible to remove my hard drive from the Macbook and install it in a new Macbook Pro?

    I currently have a 2009 Macbook and am wanting to upgrade to a new Macbook Pro.  I have upgraded my hard drive in the macbook to a 500gb and have a duel boot with Windows 7 installed with Boot Camp along with other software that I do not want to lose.  Is it possible to remove my hard drive from the Macbook and install it in a new Macbook Pro?

    A much better solution is to hook your two Mac together and the first time you start the new Mac and it asks if you wish to recover data from another Mac, answer yes. This will invoke Setup Assitant which will do the job for you but intelligently.
    I know because I just used Setup Assitant. It worked like  a charm.
    Allan

Maybe you are looking for