[kjbee]

I purchased 4GB RAM and a 500GB hard drive for my MacBook 2,1 ($140 from Newegg). It should arrive today. I recently upgraded to 10.5 via the generosity of a friend, and have been waiting to install Snow Leopard until I do this upgrade. I have Time Machine set up.

I've searched, but haven't been able to find a good tutorial on how to move over all the data (MacNN search always seems wonky for me - I put in the most basic stuff and I never get anything!). I get how to do the physical install (easy enough), but I want to make sure everything moves over correctly. I DO have the Snow Leopard install disc, but I do NOT have the Leopard install disc.

Again, I currently have backups through Time Machine set up on an external 500gb drive (with one partition for random other files from my old PC). I want to move everything over to a shiny new 500gb internal.

Thanks in advance for any help or links.

[Simon]

Run TM on old disk one last time. Install new hard drive. Boot from Leopard DVD. Select MA from Utilities menu. Restore from TM backup to new disk. Boot from SL DVD. Install SL update. Done.

[kjbee]

Thanks!

Is there any way to do it without the Leopard DVD? I have heard that Leopard is included in SL...I actually borrowed the Leopard install disc from a friend (shhhh, I know), so I'd have to re-borrow it. It's be great if I could do it without either or just using SL. I've never done a Time Machine restore. That would just be within Time Machine after the clean install of Leopard, right?

(For those who may see this thread later, instructions to boot from DVD: In Mac OS X, how can I boot from a CD or DVD and/or ignore my startup disk? - Knowledge Base and Time Machine restore: Restore Your Data with Time Machine - How To - Lifehacker)

[Simon]

Originally Posted by kjbee 

Is there any way to do it without the Leopard DVD?

You should be able to do it with the SL DVD. Boot from the SL DVD, select MA from the utilities menu. Restore the TM backup to your new disk. At this point you might chose to wait and boot from the new internal disk first to verify everything worked. Otherwise, proceed to install SL.

I've never done a Time Machine restore. That would just be within Time Machine after the clean install of Leopard, right?

No need for that. Just launch Migration Assistant from the DVD's utilities menu. One of the options is to restore from a TM backup.

This will work just fine. Especially since you already have a TM backup. An alternative (mainly for those who don't have TM) is to clone the old disk to the new one with Disk Utility. That works very well too. But if you use TM and you chose the cloning method you have to get TM to use the new disk like nothing had happened. That can be done, but requires extra effort.

[kjbee]

ah-ha. Got it. Thanks so much!

Would you recommend installing SL on my current hard drive first and then doing a final Time Machine backup with that setup before installing the new HD and moving everything over, or would it not really matter? Seems like with the current order, it would already essentially be installing (via the TM backup) whatever OS I was running previously, so it would be just as easy to do it after making sure everything verifies, as you said.

Hopefully this all goes smoothly. My stuff from Newegg should be here today and I plan on installing everything in the next couple days when I have downtime. I'll try to remember to post and share how everything went.

[Simon]

You should be able to do it both ways. If you prefer, you can upgrade install SL first, and then do the transplant and the restore from TM.

Extra tip: Make sure you have everything on that TM backup you want to migrate. Check your TM exclusions first to be sure.

[kjbee]

OK...here's what I did.

1. Installed Snow Leopard on my old HD and did a Time Machine backup. Put in Snow Leopard Disc before shutting down. Shut down.
2. Replaced physical HD.
3. Turned MacBook on and booted from disc by holding down OPTION after the "bong" on startup. Click on disc (not the arrow under it, that'll eject the disc" to boot from disc.
4. Up on the menu bar, open Dick Utility under "utilities".
5. Click on the name of the new hard drive and partition it as Mac OS Extended (Journaled). You'll generally only want one partition here (and name it whatever), but of course if you want multiple partitions, do it now.
6. After that's done, close out DU and you'll go back to the OSX install disc's menu. Again, up in the menu bar in 'ultilities,' choose "Restore System From Backup."
7. Follow the prompts to install on your newly named and partitioned HD.

That's where I am now (typing this on my hubby's computer and getting the heebie jeebies bc his has one of those "smooth" trackpads and it makes my fingers feel sooooo gross). Formatting/partitioning it before install threw me for a second before I remembered I'd prob have to do that step. I've still got an hour to wait while it installs, but if all that goes well, I'm in business!

[kjbee]

Annnnnd done and back! That was super easy. SL took about an hour to install and now everything is back exactly as it was, only I have like 400GB more space on my internal HD. suh-weet.

Note: You will need both a tiny phillips head screwdriver (like the ones you use to fix your glasses) and a T8 (Torx 8). I couldn't find my T8, so I ran down to Lowe's and got a set that has a bunch of small screwdrivers in a little case, including both of these, for $12. You'll also need a phillips head to replace RAM (you take off the same piece).

Find the latest Performance Upgrades, Firewire and USB Hard Drives, SATA, Memory, Laptop Battery, and more at OWC has some great tutorials (can't put my fingers on them atm) as well as easy guidelines for how much of an upgrade each Mac version can handle. To find out which version you have, see  > About This Mac > More Info > Hardware - Model Identifier (mine is MacBook 2,1).

[cbrfanatic]

What if i want to include my NTFS formatted Bootcamp partition?

[kjbee]

I don't have a BootCamp partition installed yet (need to get my hands on a copy of Windows), but it seems like it brought over everything else so it should be able to bring over the partition as well?

Worst case, I'd think you could install the SL partition, then boot from Windows and move everything over from that partition separately (manually I suppose, but I have a transfer cable I'd probably try to use). I think the problem would be that you'd have to tell the new hard drive how to allot space for OSX and Windows/BootCamp, so it might not be able to move things quite so automatically. You might be able to resolve this when you format/partition the new hard drive in Disk Utility. Can't confirm, though, or give you insight into exactly how you would go about doing it so that everything came over automatically.

Hope all this info helps others. I wasn't able to find it all in one place anywhere else.

Also please note RE my typo a few posts up, that you should open "Disk Utility" and not "Dick Utility" (if only Macs came with *that*!).