Mac Pro 1.1 (2006) upgrading to SSD AND upgrading the OS at the same time

[Majikthese42]

I have an original Mac Pro 1.1 (2006) running OSX 10.4 and I would like to upgrade to a SSD and upgrade OSX to 10.6.

Performing both upgrades as individual processes seems (to me) to be unnecessarily complicated.

Is it possible to just 1.) remove the old HD 2.) install the new SSD 3.) format the new SSD from 10.6 disc 4.) install 10.6 from the 10.6 disc 5.) reinstall the old HD and 6.) then copy files from the old HD to the new SSD?

 

[jfalberti]

That'll work.

That should work just fine.

 

[sarthak]

Unless you're set on Snow Leopard due to old software (perhaps, Rosetta), you should upgrade to the latest compatible version of OS X (that being Lion 10.7.5).

You can always upgrade to Yosemite 10.10.1 by sticking in a new graphics card and following some simple commands to create a USB Installer.

 

[Majikthese42]

Thanks!

My 1.1 still has the original NVIDIA 7300 GT video card; my understanding is that this may not work best with Lion.

I don't want to change everything at once -- would a reasonable strategy be to upgrade the video card, and then upgrade from Snow Leopard to Lion?

 

[Mr. Zarniwoop]

My 1.1 still has the original NVIDIA 7300 GT video card; my understanding is that this may not work best with Lion.

Lion will have no issues with your 7300 GT.

It's after Lion, which requires some hoop-jumping, where the 7300 GT is an issue. Mountain Lion, Mavericks and Yosemite don't support the 7300 GT.

I don't want to change everything at once -- would a reasonable strategy be to upgrade the video card, and then upgrade from Snow Leopard to Lion?

Changing the video card is inconsequential but I'd still try a new card on its own rather than making multiple changes.

 

[Ph.D.]

Personally, I'd much prefer to go-with / stick-to 10.6 (Snow Leopard) than Lion. S.L. was a really solid version with a lot of forward and backward compatibility. Lion didn't come to full maturity until Mountain Lion.

If you can have both your old and new hard disks mounted at once, I'd suggest installing 10.6 on your new disk and then allowing the OS to transfer your stuff over for you via Migration Assistant. Another option is to clone your old disk over to the new one and then updating 10.6 onto the new disk.

Yes, it makes sense to do these at the same time, especially as you can keep your old disk untouched by the upgrade. I pretty nearly only upgrade disks and OS's at the same time for this reason.