Help replacing hard drive in MacBook

[KilGil27]

I want to upgrade my stock 60 GIG hard drive in my MacBook to a 120, but I was wondering how I would get the operating system and all my stuff from the one hard drive to the other. Does anyone know how or have a guide or something? Sorry if this is really easy, I've never had a Mac before and I don't want to screw anything up

 

[jeremy.king]

get an external enclosure (USB 2 or Firewire should be fast enough)

Install new drive, install OS from discs, connect old drive (now in the enclosure) and run the Migration Assistant application found in Applications > Utilities.

Once complete, use the old drive for backup purposes. Only format it once you are confident you have copied everything you needed.

 

[KilGil27]

cool, thanks for the help

one more thing, any suggestion for an external enclosure?

 

[jeremy.king]

cool, thanks for the help

one more thing, any suggestion for an external enclosure?

Honestly, I bought some generic from eBay for $20 and it worked fine. I would only suggest that whatever brand you buy, make sure it has an AC adapter incase your lapper can't power it.

Good luck.

PS. Make sure you buy one that can hold a 2.5" drive

 

[KilGil27]

alright, thanks for the help
oh, one more thing (sorry) If I replace the harddrive right away, is there any need for the enclosure/the migrating?

 

[CuteGothTech]

Not if you don't want your stuff.
You want your stuff, you have to have some way of transferring it over from one drive to the other.
Applications won't transfer unless you clone the drive.
You have to reinstall those. As for everything else, user files, user settings, those you can transfer. But you would need a way to do it, thats why you need an inclosure. Firewire is the best iof you don't want it to take half the day.

 

[jeremy.king]

Not if you don't want your stuff.
You want your stuff, you have to have some way of transferring it over from one drive to the other.
Applications won't transfer unless you clone the drive.
You have to reinstall those. As for everything else, user files, user settings, those you can transfer. But you would need a way to do it, thats why you need an inclosure. Firewire is the best iof you don't want it to take half the day.

Applications WILL transfer if you ask the Migration Assistant to do so.

 

[KilGil27]

is there a limit to how many times I can install OSX?

 

[Phatpat]

Nope, reinstalling OS X is much less of a hassel than Windows XP.