11 replies to this topic

[lostanddazed]

I have a mid(2009) MacBook pro. The question is if my MacBook pro comes on but don't load up all the way to the home screen. How can I transfer my old hard drive to my new hard drive if my computer will not completely load up to the home screen? I went to the apple store and after they ran their diagnostics they said I need a new hard drive.

[R. Proffitt]

I'd pop in the new HDD boot the Apple OS X DVD and start fresh. Then restore from my backups. Sometimes folk forget a few things so you put the old HDD into some USB or Firewire case (depends on the apple model and the owner's preference) then you let them copy over the files they forgot. If the drive is totally gone you remind them how important backups are and tell them about drivesavers.com

[lostanddazed]

So it's really no way I can do it myself?

[R. Proffitt]

Folk by the thousands have done what I wrote about. Drives fail all the time. Usually at the worst moment.

[lostanddazed]

I really appreciate that advice on my way to best buy

[R. Proffitt]

BB is not my go to place for such. Fry's, Amazon and woot. You didn't share the HDD size but for the price I see BB selling drives I can order a SSD from Amazon, Woot or pickup at Fry's.

[lostanddazed]

Ok I will do my research at the stores you sent me too. I'm trying to replace it with either a 500GB or 1TB. 1 more question where did you find your tools to work on the laptop?

[R. Proffitt]

But I ran computer repair shops in the 1980's so I haven't looked for tools for some time. Fry's usually has the stuff. For 150, a 500GB SSD is at http://www.amazon.co...d/dp/B00RQA6M5Y BB has not been a good deal for me. Shop around.

[mrmacfixit]

and possibly as Phillips #1 Home Depot, Lowes, Amazon or eBay. You can get a whole set for $8 on Amazon. P

[id_design]

amazon I prefer the delivery cost are cheaper !

[mrmacfixit]

which I endorse, a little more detail. Remove the old HD and replace it with a new one. The replacement drive does NOT have to be "Mac" specific, hard drives are the same but formatted differently according to the type of machine you have. You will be prompted to format the new drive as Mac OS X Extended (journaled) With your old drive removed and housed in an external case, fire up the MBP using the disks that came with it. Use Drive Utility to format the drive and then reboot and install OS X . Once done, connect the old drive, in its case, to the MBP and it will appear on the desktop. You are now free to drag whatever you want, music, documents, movies, iTunes, etc. from the old drive to the new. Is it too much to hope that you have a Time Machine backup of your MBP? If yes, great, the installer will move everything for you from the old drive to the correct place on the new one. If No, then why not! While you are in Best Buy, get yourself a 2TB external hard drive, USB will do, and start backing up with Time Machine Remember, we only lose what we fail to backup. Let us know how you get on. P

[lostanddazed]

I never backed anything up on my time machine. It's more so I have my music and photos and some documents. Thank you Once I get everything I will let you know how it goes.