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barbourdg

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 23, 2002
65
0
dallas
Can I transfer my hard drive to another computer?

Instead of reinstalling all my software, can I remove my hard drive from my aluminum 15" powerbook and reinstall in a new powerbook?
 

eva01

macrumors 601
Feb 22, 2005
4,720
1
Gah! Plymouth
to void the warranty of the new computer (i believe). Yes you can do that, but wait for more people to respond.
 

barbourdg

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 23, 2002
65
0
dallas
eva01 said:
to void the warranty of the new computer (i believe). Yes you can do that, but wait for more people to respond.

I can go to apple to have it moved. Pro Computing in Dallas, is a registered apple service center. I know the people there, and should not be a problem (I think).
 

mad jew

Moderator emeritus
Apr 3, 2004
32,191
9
Adelaide, Australia
Theoretically yes, but you're kind of asking for trouble opening up a new machine (and I think eva01 is right, it will void the Apple warrantee irrespective of who carries out the job). Plus, it's always good to start with a system from scratch. :)

Potential problems include small firmware issues and discrepancies that may pop up however the fact that you'd be going from an aluminium PowerBook to an aluminium PowerBook should limit/eradicate these.

In short, I don't recommend it.
 

Duff-Man

Contributor
Dec 26, 2002
2,984
17
Albuquerque, NM
Duff-Man says...yeah, it is possible, but if you are buying a new Powerbook it is probably not the best way to go about it. For one - there will be some differences in the hardware that *may* cause some system irregularities. Second - all hard drives have a limited life span...sooner or later they will all fail. Why trade your brand new one for your old used one - especially if it's a few years old.

If it were me, I would keep the drive in my new Powerbook and use the migration assistant - it works great...and before getting rid of the old Powerbook I would keep a full backup (perhaps as an image?) incase you want to grab any little bits from its system later....oh yeah!
 

rainman::|:|

macrumors 603
Feb 2, 2002
5,438
2
iowa
If you like spending time and money (and risking your equipment) to accomplish what a simple drive cloning would, then yes, go for it.

Only way you could convince me to do that is if the original machine is too damaged to access the drive... in which case I would put it in an external drive enclosure, and have two. I have done this before and it worked well.
 

California

macrumors 68040
Aug 21, 2004
3,885
90
mad jew said:
Theoretically yes, but you're kind of asking for trouble opening up a new machine (and I think eva01 is right, it will void the Apple warrantee irrespective of who carries out the job). Plus, it's always good to start with a system from scratch. :)

MJ: Does putting a new hd into a new computer by an Apple certified tech void the warranty?

I don't understand why, if the parts are brand new.
 

mad jew

Moderator emeritus
Apr 3, 2004
32,191
9
Adelaide, Australia
California said:
MJ: Does putting a new hd into a new computer by an Apple certified tech void the warranty?


I don't understand why either but I was told by an Australian certified Apple reseller/servicer that they would replace my hard drive however it would void my warrantee. They could well have got it wrong though, because I agree that it doesn't make sense.
 

snkTab

macrumors 6502a
Nov 13, 2004
580
1
Cincinnati, OH
Try an external hard drive enclosure.

Basically a shell that you put a internal ATA hard drive in that was a firewire cord coming out of it. So you can use that just like you would an external harddrive.

Don't know if laptop harddrives can be connected though. Looks like model wise you are in luck but, I'm not sure if the their are laptop versions of harddrives that contain smaller connectors.
 

mklos

macrumors 68000
Dec 4, 2002
1,896
0
My house!
I've never had a problem with doing that. I've done a bunch of times too. I think its one of the beauties of a Mac. I can take the HD out of my PowerBook and stick it in an iBook, or iMac(w/pin out adapter) and it will boot right up, unlike Windows where it would start detecting all of the hardware and you'd have to install drivers for all of the new hardware. Go ahead and do it, unless it voids the warranty of course. I wouldn't recommend doing that on a brand new Mac.
 

jeremy.king

macrumors 603
Jul 23, 2002
5,479
1
Holly Springs, NC
Duff-Man said:
If it were me, I would keep the drive in my new Powerbook and use the migration assistant - it works great...

I agree with Duff-man, oh yeah!

Use the migration assistant and you can select what you want transfered over...including Applications, Preferences, and user accounts.
 
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