If I buy a new HD, how do I make it my primary drive?

[ChaoticBliss]

Sorry if this is a noob question but this is my first Mac. I would like to purchase either an SSD or a 7200 RPM drive and make this my primary drive and then have the drive that came with my Mini (2.3Ghz 2011 model) my storage drive.

What would the procedure be for this? I am guessing something like:
1) Install new drive in second bay
2) Use some sort of imaging program to copy my existing drive to new drive (any recommended programs to do this? does Lion have a built in program)?
3) Make my new drive the boot drive (do I have to physically move the new drive to the original drive slot or can the boot order be changed through software)?

Any help is appreciated or if there is a simpler method, please let me know.

Thanks

 

[Alrescha]

System Preferences, Startup Disk.

A.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Use CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper to make a 1:1 copy.

 

[RUSTYC]

1. Download and install Carbon Copy on your original drive
2. Shutdown
3. Install new drive in bottom bay
4. Boot up Mac
5. Format new drive as "Macintosh HD" in Disk Utility - Partition
6. Run Carbon Copy to clone old drive to new drive
7. Use Startup Disk and select the new drive
8. Reboot
9. Format/erase old drive in Disk Utility
10. Reboot

 

[JimDut]

Another option rather than all this backup malarkey...

Install new HDD or SSD into your top bay and original HDD into the second bay and use Internet Recovery, choosing your new drive as the start disc... Recovery does everything else for you and, broadband speed dependant, takes between 20-60 mins.

http://www.apple.com/macosx/recovery/

Here's a thread where some people have done it without any issues: https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/13065475/

Philip's Topic is useful for you to read (albeit only installing one drive): https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1194678/

And here's iFixit's teardown guide: http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Mac-Mini-Mid-2011-Teardown/6131/1


I'm not actually sure whether you can leave the original HDD as it is, with the pre-installed Lion on it, or, if you'd have to format it... perhaps someone can answer that one?

Jim

 

[ChaoticBliss]

Thanks for the info everyone.

I think I'd just be formatting the original drive after I get everything working anyways and copy all my media over to that. My main concern was whether I could set the new drive as the boot drive while leaving it in the second location because I thought I read somewhere that someone said Lion had trouble with that.