Need a Mac Geek for Reinstall Help! Help!

Geekomatic on 09/03/2018 - 00:21

Hi all,

A friend with a Macbook Pro (circa 6 or so years old) wants to have me put an SSD into it. I told him that a 240-256GB would suffice, but his current HDD is 500gb (nowhere near full).

He doesn't have any sort of disc to install from & his system is acting odd— so I want to install new vs. clone.

Being a Windows/Linux girl, I don't know how to proceed.

I have a Macbook 13.3" set of discs left behind after a dead mobo— would they work? I also have Snow Leopard which looks retail. Can I upgrade from there?

He wants the newest Mac OS, if possible. Now running high sierra. It's an i7/4GB ram.

Am I screwed w/o his DVD's?

Ta

Computing

Comments

  • altomic on 09/03/2018 - 00:27
    -1

    remove the optical drive and insert the SSD (in a caddy) into it's place. check out ifixit for a guide.

    here is a link to the 2012 macbook I did a while ago

    you can download the high sierra (is the latest iOS) from Apple for free.

    create a bootable USB stick - use disk creator - here is a link

    easy.

    I just did this with an older iMac with Sierra yesterday , and installed Mountain Lion onto a 2009 macbook today.

    • SimpleRoger on 12/03/2018 - 09:25

      Why in a caddy? The speeds would be significantly slower.

      • altomic on 12/03/2018 - 09:35
        -1

        ?????

  • Geekomatic on 09/03/2018 - 00:51

    Thanks, Altomic, you're the best!

    How can I do it tomorrow- no caddy?

    I have a lot of equipment, but no caddy. I'm trying to get it done as I suspect the HDD is dying. I have external drives, a cloner (toaster), drives up the *ss—- but not wanting to wait to get the caddy (though I'll buy it now just because you said to ;)

    How do I download High Sierra for free? Does it go through his Apple ID??

    Thanks so much!

    :)

    • o53djz7qTPY4der on 09/03/2018 - 02:21

      Carbon copy Cloner.

      Put the SSD in the main hd slot of the MacBook not the DVD drive slot. You could put the old hard drive here but not the SSD.

      The reason being is the negotiated speed through the sata cable can, on older machines, be slower/less reliable in the DVD bay.

      You'll need a USB case for the SSD to do the initial copy with carbon copy cloner. Cheap as chips at msy etc.

      • Geekomatic on 09/03/2018 - 02:47

        Thanks.

        I do have 2.5 enclosures.

        Can you possibly give me your successful steps?

        I'm downloading high sierra on the mac now. I tell you— it's def got issues. it takes a LONG time from click to whatever…

        I don't want to use a clone of what might be corrupted. I want to d/l the fresh os to usb in order to reinstall, copy what data out I can from likely failing HD, swap to SSD, reinstall.

        Copy back whatever data must be on the SSD.

        • o53djz7qTPY4der on 09/03/2018 - 03:45

          You'll need to create a bootable USB and install to the new SSD. You can put the new SSD into the MacBook once you have your bootable USB.

          To boot from USB hold ALT/Option on startup before the chime.

          Once you're into the installer it's a simple process.

          Then I'd hook the HDD up via USB and then got from that to recover my files. (be warned, boot will probably be slow with a USB HDD.

      • altomic on 09/03/2018 - 08:33

        The sata bus speeds for the optical drive and the hdd are the same. It makes no difference which goes where.

        As you don't have a caddy then whack the ssd in where the HDD was. If your friend wants extra storage then get a new HDD and caddy to place in the optical slot.

  • No Username on 09/03/2018 - 07:26
    -1

    What you need to do is go to this webpage:
    http://dosdude1.com/highsierra/macOS%20High%20Sierra%20Patch…

    This will download the latest version of Mac OS X and put it on a USB for you at the end of the installation if you choose to.
    Once installed eject the USB and put it on the MacBook you want to upgrade.

    Spam C as you start the computer and it should boot from the USB.
    During the installation, if you want you can transfer files from Time Machine.

    • o53djz7qTPY4der on 09/03/2018 - 07:59

      Do not download from anywhere other than the Mac app store

      • No Username on 09/03/2018 - 08:02

        This program uses the Mac Server. Then just writes the dmg to the USB. It's safe. I've used this many times to upgrade and fix my clients computers.

  • StickMan on 09/03/2018 - 12:52

    2011-2012 macbooks allow you to boot from internet recovery, and reinstall the base OS. You then upgrade this to latest available.

    Alternatively, you can use an existing mac and create a bootable USB. Use google for either case, reply with questions if stuck.

    In any case, I recommend just installing the blank SSD and starting with a fresh OS install. Also, highly recommend grabbing 8GB RAM for it - it's cheap and will be a good upgrade along with the SSD.

  • Geekomatic on 11/03/2018 - 00:11

    Thanks all.

    I ended up downloading High Sierra to his Macbook & sending it to an external for safe-keeping. I then downloaded Disk Creator & used High Sierra to create a bootable flash drive.

    Swapped drives, booted, had to initialize (Mac file system) the new drive>>> all smooth from there.

    Cheers!

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join