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Changing HD MacBook Pro


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By any chance have any of you guys changed a HD on a MacBook Pro. Fitting looks easy but what do I do to get it up and running once fitted. I did do a back up in November but is this all I need.
I don't own a Mac but the concept must be the same as pc, once installed you must give the HD format in the "Disk Utilities" (I don't remember the name of the app) search on the web, there must be tons of tutorials to follow.
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Connect the new drive to USB (you may need an adapter), use a piece of software called Super Duper to clone your existing drive to the new one.

https://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html

Very simple to use but follow the instructions obviously.

Check that the mac can boot the USB drive by holding down Option when booting and choose the USB drive to boot from.

Once confirmed, take the old drive out and put the new drive in.

Done this many times, Super Duper has never let me down.

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1 hour ago, M.Frias said:
1 hour ago, clockboy said:
By any chance have any of you guys changed a HD on a MacBook Pro. Fitting looks easy but what do I do to get it up and running once fitted. I did do a back up in November but is this all I need.

I don't own a Mac but the concept must be the same as pc, once installed you must give the HD format in the "Disk Utilities" (I don't remember the name of the app) search on the web, there must be tons of tutorials to follow.

 

On a PC the best software for cloning a disk and making it bootable is https://www.easeus.com/

I used it a couple of weeks ago when installing a new SSD to my editing laptop and it was flawless.

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5 minutes ago, clockboy said:

It’s not possible to make a bootable disk because the HD is broken

I think it's better that you give it to a shop for OS installation. You could prepare an USB stick yourself using another Mac or  PC, but that can be very time consuming including obtaining and converting installation media, reading how-to's, etc.

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1 hour ago, oldhippy said:

Can't you clone or copy an image?

No the MacBook is at present a dead en. I took it to Apple and after several hours they could not get the HD to write so there opinion is it is most likely the HD is the fault. However because it is 6 years old Apple no longer support it which has pissed me off a bit. They have given me a a address of third party company that might be able to help.

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Connect the new drive to USB (you may need an adapter), use a piece of software called Super Duper to clone your existing drive to the new one.

https://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html

Very simple to use but follow the instructions obviously.

Check that the mac can boot the USB drive by holding down Option when booting and choose the USB drive to boot from.

Once confirmed, take the old drive out and put the new drive in.

Done this many times, Super Duper has never let me down.

Thanks Mark the problem is the HD is not functional I think. So making bootable drives etc is not possible I think. The Guy at Apple formatted the HD and tried to restore but no good. I hate

bloody computers!!!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Thanks Mark the problem is the HD is not functional I think. So making bootable drives etc is not possible I think. The Guy at Apple formatted the HD and tried to restore but no good. I hate
bloody computers!!!!
 
 
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Don't hate computers, just learn more about them as you already do for watches. Yes, Hard Disk Drives are not optimal if you want them to last forever, if you want reliability use normal Solid State Drives or even M.2 SSD, they are expensive but they're quicker and last longer.
Tip: don't buy any Mac, they are more restricted in terms of repairing and are just compatible with their on hardware, PC's are more compatible with third party components, they are also more affordable for the same performance.
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I used to own PC,s but just got hacked off with constant updates & then periferals such as printers not working etc. So 6 years ago I changed to Mac and this is the first problem.My wife has a PC laptop and it is nothing but trouble slow and a constant flow of updates. The problem now is Mac seem to be  losing their way since Jobs passed on. I have spoken to a third party today and they do a diognostics test for £35 + VAT.

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The thing is M.2 SSD haven't been around too long, so regarding how long they last, we don't know.
It's been around for about 6 years, and their reliability resides in the architecture of the m.2 itself, they are even better than normal SSD (SSD mSATA) as they don't need power from the power supply, making them even better is something goes wrong with a discharge.
But my previous point about the difference of HDD and SSD mSATA/SSD M.2 is that the HDD is at constant spinning and this creates a mechanical wear. That's usually the problem with HDD's in general.
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I used to own PC,s but just got hacked off with constant updates & then periferals such as printers not working etc. So 6 years ago I changed to Mac and this is the first problem.My wife has a PC laptop and it is nothing but trouble slow and a constant flow of updates. The problem now is Mac seem to be  losing their way since Jobs passed on. I have spoken to a third party today and they do a diognostics test for £35 + VAT.
You can control the updates and select the ones you want, you can even disable them. But to each their own, I don't like to deal with the over inflated prices of a Mac, I built my own pc on 2014 and just upgraded the graphics card once, I love my pc, never had a real problem with it or a slowdown in performance.
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Lets not turn this into a MAC vs PC thread - it wont go anywhere.

If you press command and r on bootup you should get to the recovery console. Then you can restore the backup to a drive connected to USB. Once this is done put the new drive in the MAC.

If you don't feel confident then you are best paying a local computer boffin to do it for you, but really, its not that difficult. 

If you have not got a working backup then download Sierra (or High Sierra) and make a USB boot disk (a 16GB thumb drive will do) then put the new drive in and install osx from the USB boot disk - loads of tutorials on the net for this, you should even find a youtube video showing how.

Downside - you will need another computer to make the USB boot disk.

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I have taken it to a repair shop and after a quick diagnostic it looks like it is the HD. The guy has recommended fitting a solid state HD instead of re fitting the same. All down to cost now will give an update when it is resolved 

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2 hours ago, oldhippy said:

The thing is M.2 SSD haven't been around too long, so regarding how long they last, we don't know.

M.2 (and NVMe) is just a physical / interface specification. The flash memory modules themselves are the same. Unknown to most, some cells "regularly" fail with wear over the years, but these are transparently remapped to good ones.There is no doubt that flash memory storage is a better purchase, and it has been since years already.

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Just now, clockboy said:

The guy has recommended fitting a solid state HD instead of re fitting the same. All down to cost now will give an update when it is resolved 

He's correct. To save a little you can shop on the net, Samsung being the technology leader.

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58 minutes ago, Mark said:

Lets not turn this into a MAC vs PC thread - it wont go anywhere.

If you press command and r on bootup you should get to the recovery console. Then you can restore the backup to a drive connected to USB. Once this is done put the new drive in the MAC.

If you don't feel confident then you are best paying a local computer boffin to do it for you, but really, its not that difficult. 

If you have not got a working backup then download Sierra (or High Sierra) and make a USB boot disk (a 16GB thumb drive will do) then put the new drive in and install osx from the USB boot disk - loads of tutorials on the net for this, you should even find a youtube video showing how.

Downside - you will need another computer to make the USB boot disk.

Thanks Mark I think that what Apple tried. I have taken it to a boffin recommended by Apple store engineer 

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@clockboy; I've changed out HDD's a couple of times on my Macbooks, but it has been a while ago. Depending on the age of your Macbook, whether it has a CD drive and came with installation disk, or else you may need to get a bootable USB-stick with OSX on it ...... which OSX depends on what your computer will take, or perhaps better, where it came with ...

Bootable USB's with OSX are available on eBay. You can buy a quality new, I assume 2.5", HDD. Now, from top of my head, once the new HDD is installed, and the bootable CD/USB inserted, press the power button and hold down the "alt" key. It should ask you where you like to boot from and from there follow the instruction. Once the new OSX is installed, you can upgrade to the next OSX. If you have done your last back-up via time-machine on an external HDD, it is easy to re-install you back up.

Every time I found plenty of instructions on the internet and with time-machine it shouldn't be hard to get your Apple back to life..... if it is indeed just the HDD? There is nothing wrong with HDD's and I wouldn't invest in flash-drives.

Last year I bought a brand new Macbook Pro, the last 2012 model to be precise with HDD and CD-drive. Those are the ones you can repair yourself and my 2007 Macbook is still going strong too. So, don't give up without a fight ......

As said, it has been a while since I've done it, but if it is just the HDD, with help of the internet  and a bootable medium, you should be able to get your Mac back on the road without too much pain .....

Suc6 !

Edited by Endeavor
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Congratulations ! A 6 years old Mac with an SSD drive !! You better be proud on it, as those old Macbooks are in my opinion superior to the new & far more expensive Macbooks. At least you are able fix it yourself or get it fixed by a boffin. With the newer models that needs to be seen?? I consider myself lucky that I end 2016 could pick up a brand new Macbook Pro A1278, which is a mid-2012 model. It still has, what was at that time normal, all the USB ports, mag-safe, SD-card, ear-phone & "you-name-it" ports. Now you have to pay a lot extra to get a port at all !! Forget about DIY upgrading or repair.

I do agree with you, Apple lost its marbles and I have no idea what to buy next when my Macbook enters the computers prehistoric age. My first 2006 Macbook is now 12 years old, but it's still working on OSX Lion.

apple_macbook_white.jpg.8891c23c737b24507ffccf489e73b029.jpg

Admitting, it needed some DIY surgical interventions / modifications / upgrades.  With a bit of luck, you can enjoy yours for another 5 years or more ! :)

Edited by Endeavor
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22 minutes ago, Endeavor said:

Congratulations ! A 6 years old Mac with an SSD drive !! You better be proud on it, as those old Macbooks are in my opinion superior to the new & far more expensive Macbooks. At least you are able fix it yourself or get it fixed by a boffin. With the newer models that needs to be seen?? I consider myself lucky that I end 2016 could pick up a brand new Macbook Pro A1278, which is a mid-2012 model. It still has, what at that time was normal, all the USB ports, mag-safe, SD-card, ear-phone & "you-name-it" ports. Now you have to pay a lot extra to get a port at all !! Forget about DIY upgrading or repair.

I don't see the point in insisting on old HW, and please note that I'm a stingy late technology adopter.
The moment you're hands-on with a current top product, the previous one from more than 2 or 3 yrs ago looks like almost unusable. This has been true form me since the last 35 years including servers, desktops, laptops and smartphones. I never buy top of the line, overpriced latest model, but look instead for good deals with the best price/performance ratio. I find no benefit in pressing on with obsolete hardware, it's not like vintage watches.
Case in question, if you don't like the current Apple hardware offer, get a Thinkpad, Dell, or Asus laptop and install MacOS or you favorite OS on it. Then sell the old one for whatever you can get, or give it away for a good cause, and move on.
The couple of days spent in setting up and learning about the new machine will be well worth with the boost in performance and experience.
 

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