Need help with new SSD

[mrt209]

Hi,

I just bought a new SSD, a Samsung 830 256gb.

Currently I have a OWC 120 gb with two partitions, one for OS X (95gb) and one for Bootcamp (25gb).

What I want to do is move the OSX partition to the new SSD and keep the Bootcamp partition on the OWC SSD but use the full capacity (120gb) not just 20gb. How would I go about doing this?

Also, is it better to have the boot drive for OSX in bay 1 or in the optical bay or does it not matter?

Thanks for your help

 

[dmax35]

Hi,

I just bought a new SSD, a Samsung 830 256gb.

Currently I have a OWC 120 gb with two partitions, one for OS X (95gb) and one for Bootcamp (25gb).

What I want to do is move the OSX partition to the new SSD and keep the Bootcamp partition on the OWC SSD but use the full capacity (120gb) not just 20gb. How would I go about doing this?

Also, is it better to have the boot drive for OSX in bay 1 or in the optical bay or does it not matter?

Thanks for your help

For what it's worth. I would just buy a cheap 500mb drive and use that for bootcamp and your windows apps etc, rather than hassle creating partitions on the SSD as well as less wear and tear.

I put my SSD boot drive in the optical bay and (3) 2TB drives in bays 1,2,3 and my bootcamp drive in bay 4.

 

[mrt209]

For what it's worth. I would just buy a cheap 500mb drive and use that for bootcamp and your windows apps etc, rather than hassle creating partitions on the SSD as well as less wear and tear.

I put my SSD boot drive in the optical bay and (3) 2TB drives in bays 1,2,3 and my bootcamp drive in bay 4.

Well I'd rather run bootcamp on the OWC, I do keep games and large files on a separate HDD though.

 

[nanofrog]

Hi,

I just bought a new SSD, a Samsung 830 256gb.

Currently I have a OWC 120 gb with two partitions, one for OS X (95gb) and one for Bootcamp (25gb).

What I want to do is move the OSX partition to the new SSD and keep the Bootcamp partition on the OWC SSD but use the full capacity (120gb) not just 20gb. How would I go about doing this?

1. 
   Basic procedure:
2. Clone OSX to the new drive (partition if you wish first, then make sure to select the desired partition).
3. Set this as the new OSX boot location (via Disk Utility).
4. Clone Windows to another disk, such as a portable mechanical drive (this is temporary).
5. Clear out the partitions on the OWC SSD.
6. Clone Windows from what you put it on to the OWC SSD.

Alternative:

1. Clone OSX to the new drive (partition if you wish first, then make sure to select the desired partition).
2. Set this as the new OSX boot location (via Disk Utility).
3. Clear out the partitions on the OWC SSD.
4. Reinstall Windows from the original media/installation file (no need for Boot Camp, as it's not sharing a drive with OSX).
5. Re-run the Windows drivers on the BC disk.
6. Update Windows.

This method may be simpler in the long run, as it will make sure that the Boot List has the Windows installation pointed to the correct disk. Will likely take longer however due to updating Windows after the Apple Drivers for the MP have been installed.

Also, is it better to have the boot drive for OSX in bay 1 or in the optical bay or does it not matter?

So long as the SATA spec is the same, it won't matter. Where you can run into issues, is with the Boot Camp drive (i.e. ODD_SATA ports in a 2008 MacPro won't natively boot Windows <IIRC, there is a hack posted here in MR for these machines>).

 

[ActionableMango]

1. [Optional] Back up old drive.

2. Clone Drive.

Use Clonezilla to clone the old OS X partition to the new drive. This works fine as long as the destination drive is larger than the source drive. Clonezilla is not that user friendly, but just follow the recommended prompts if you come to a decision you don't understand.

If you cannot figure out how to clone just the OS X partition, go ahead and clone the whole drive either with Clonezilla or with something easier to use.

3. Test.

Boot into OS X from the new Samsung and Windows from the old OWC drive to ensure everything is working properly in both systems. If you did not make a backup, I would go so far as removing the drive that you are not booting from, so that you are absolutely certain which drive you are booting from.

4. Clean up the OWC drive.

Boot Windows from OWC drive. Start "Computer Management". Delete OWC OSX partition. Extend OWC Windows partition to full drive.

5. Clean up the Samsung drive (if you cloned the whole drive in step 2).

If you cloned just the OS X partition in step 2 you can skip this step. Boot OSX from Samsung. Start Disk Utility. Delete Windows partition. Extend OS X partition.

Notes

At all times ensure you are booting from the right drive, deleting the correct partitions, and extending the correct partitions. I strongly recommend a full-drive backup in step 1.

There may be easier ways to do this, but I am partial to Clonezilla because it is self-booting, open, and free.

Don't blame me if something goes wrong. Free advice from random person on the Internet is what it is.


...aaaaand Nanofrog beat me to it.

 

[mrt209]

Thanks a lot for the detailed posts! Will follow the steps and I'll let you know if I run into any problems.

Thanks again!

P.S. - is CCC still the best app for cloning? I also have Super Duper.

 

[GermanyChris]

Thanks a lot for the detailed posts! Will follow the steps and I'll let you know if I run into any problems.

Thanks again!

P.S. - is CCC still the best app for cloning? I also have Super Duper.

IMHO it is but it not free anymore.

 

[dmax35]

I hope you have better luck with bootcamp than me, I can't get Windows 7 to run more than 3 minutes with out crashing "blue screen"

 

[mrt209]

Done, was fairly easy

Just plugged in new SSD, and used Carbon Copy Cloner to clone the mac os x partition.

Then used Winclone to create a clone of bootcamp, then deleted the bootcamp partition, create a new one, and finally loading the bootcamp clone back on the disk.


Thanks for everyone's help!