Adding a 256GB SSD to a 2011 Mini

FearTec · 13th August 2012, 11:59 PM

Hello

I am planning on adding a 256GB SSD to my 2011 Mac Mini.

I have ordered a SSD and a Dual Hard Drive kit from here http://www.ifixit.com/Apple-Parts/Ma...-Kit/IF171-005

My big question is when I am ready to plug in thenew drive how can I migrate my OS to the new SSD and not reinstal?

First I plan to delete anything I dont want to migrate then backup then?????

Anyone done this before?

atech · 14th August 2012, 12:13 AM

If the disk A (your current mac mini disk) is the same size as disk b (new SSD) then it will make things easy.

I recently used Clonezilla for my MacBook to go from standard hdd to SSD and was a breeze.

I also have the dual hard drive bay in my mac mini - takes a bit of fiddling around, especially with the wireless cables but all eventually works.

To clone your disk you can pop disk B into an external enclosure and boot from Clonezillas live cd

nitro_jawt · 16th August 2012, 8:12 AM

Use carbon copy cloner, it'll copy your system to another drive without caring about drive sizes - so long as the files on your source disk fit on the SSD you're good to go. I've used it myself a few times to transfer a running OSX system to a new drive.

armbarcrash · 19th August 2012, 1:54 PM

You could just use the DD command to clone one disk to another.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dd_(Unix)

FearTec · 24th August 2012, 9:37 AM

Installed the new drive, blog post here: http://simon.fearby.com/blog/?p=673

yoink · 24th August 2012, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearTec

Installed the new drive, blog post here: http://simon.fearby.com/blog/?p=673

Nice one

That is an incredible difference in speed

13th August 2012, 11:59 PM	#1
FearTec Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: NSW Posts: 2,337	Adding a 256GB SSD to a 2011 Mini Hello I am planning on adding a 256GB SSD to my 2011 Mac Mini. I have ordered a SSD and a Dual Hard Drive kit from here http://www.ifixit.com/Apple-Parts/Ma...-Kit/IF171-005 My big question is when I am ready to plug in thenew drive how can I migrate my OS to the new SSD and not reinstal? First I plan to delete anything I dont want to migrate then backup then????? Anyone done this before? __________________ Seen my Stolen Items: Canon 350D (S:0710C007[AB]), Dell D820 (S:6WJKL1S), iPod (engraved: simon.fearby.com)

14th August 2012, 12:13 AM	#2
atech Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 200	If the disk A (your current mac mini disk) is the same size as disk b (new SSD) then it will make things easy. I recently used Clonezilla for my MacBook to go from standard hdd to SSD and was a breeze. I also have the dual hard drive bay in my mac mini - takes a bit of fiddling around, especially with the wireless cables but all eventually works. To clone your disk you can pop disk B into an external enclosure and boot from Clonezillas live cd __________________ [ Intel Owners Club Member [#124]

16th August 2012, 8:12 AM	#3
nitro_jawt Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Melbourne Posts: 302	Use carbon copy cloner, it'll copy your system to another drive without caring about drive sizes - so long as the files on your source disk fit on the SSD you're good to go. I've used it myself a few times to transfer a running OSX system to a new drive. __________________ ~~i5 3570 \| 16Gb RAM \| ATI 5870 \| Vertex 2 120GB SSD \| WD Raptor 10K 150Gb \| Dell 2405FPW \| Windows 8 Pro~~ Retina MacBookPro 768GB SSD

24th August 2012, 9:37 AM	#5
FearTec Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: NSW Posts: 2,337	Installed the new drive, blog post here: http://simon.fearby.com/blog/?p=673 __________________ Seen my Stolen Items: Canon 350D (S:0710C007[AB]), Dell D820 (S:6WJKL1S), iPod (engraved: simon.fearby.com)

19th August 2012, 1:54 PM	#4
armbarcrash Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 618	You could just use the DD command to clone one disk to another. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dd_(Unix)