Slowest iMac

[rpmurray]

If you get a chance, could you run AmorphousDiskMark (free on the Mac App Store) to test the Shield and post the results here?

 

[Arctic Moose]

Hello there and thank you for the reply. I will be doing this tomorrow! I have purchased a T7 SSD ITB drive and a USB C to USB C cable. When I go to the Apple App Store I seemed to be able to download the Mac OS Montery file. I think that it's saved in the Applications folder. I am assuming that I can click on the downloaded file and install the OS on the SSD External drive. I know that I have to unmount the original drive and format the SSD for the OS.

Yes, it downloads to your application folder.

I always create a bootable thumb drive according to the instructions posted above, but I guess you should be able to just start it from your existing system and install from there.

Just don't forget to run Disk Utility from the installer and make sure you set the partition map to GUID and format the entire drive as APFS. (I believe you'll need to click "Show All Devices" from the "View" menu, you can then select the T7 and click the "Erase" icon.)

 

[ramichaud]

Yippee! Here is the drive I will be using! Samsung T7 Shield 1TB USB 3.2 External Solid State Drive (MU-PE1T0S/AM) - Black

Yippee! Here is the drive I will be using! Samsung T7 Shield 1TB USB 3.2 External Solid State Drive (MU-PE1T0S/AM) - Black

OMG, I have just finished installing the T7 Shield drive and whooo......what a difference! Thanks for all of your help. I do have one question that I hope will be my final one. Do you think that I should unmount the internal HDD? If yes, which "part" of the drive do I unmount. I have attached a photo to help explain what I am asking.

 

[rpmurray]

The actual physical drive is the APPLE HDD, you'd unmount that. The container is basically a partition on the drive with the Macintosh HD being the OS and the Macintosh HD - Data being all the important stuff you want to backup.

 

[Arctic Moose]

The actual physical drive is the APPLE HDD, you'd unmount that. The container is basically a partition on the drive with the Macintosh HD being the OS and the Macintosh HD - Data being all the important stuff you want to backup.

I don't think you can unmount the device itself, can you? (Unless it is an ejectable disk, in which case the icon/label will change to "Eject", right?)

OMG, I have just finished installing the T7 Shield drive and whooo......what a difference!

Glad it worked out!

Do you think that I should unmount the internal HDD? If yes, which "part" of the drive do I unmount. I have attached a photo to help explain what I am asking.

I'd say yes, that way you won't hear it spinning up every now and then, and it won't dampen your search performance.

Unmount the highest one in the hierarchy for which the "Unmount" button lights up, which in this case would probably be the Container.

 

[Fishrrman]

Ramichaud:

You can unmount the internal drive by dragging its icon to the trash,
BUT...
...Now and then the Mac may choose to "re-mount" it again, on its own.

Here's something you might try (I have no idea if it will work):
Click on the desktop to bring the finder "to the front".
Go to the menu bar and choose finder/preferences.
In the box that opens, UNCHECK "hard disks" but leave "external disks" CHECKED.
Close finder preferences.

Does this make the internal drive disappear from the desktop?
And still leave the external boot SSD visible?

If so, that's what I'd go with.

If that DOESN'T work, or if it results in undesired behavior, my advice would be to "learn to live with" the internal drive icon on the desktop, even if you don't normally access it...