SSD Conversion Problem

[AroundTheFur922]

Hello all, I tried sifting a bit to find a thread that would cover this specific topic but was unable to locate one. I purchased a cMBP about a month ago and just a few days ago purchased an SSD and RAM upgrade. Now, my specific problem is that I'm unsure how to get Mountain Lion onto this new SSD. I used an older HP 500GB portable HDD and set it up to be used as a Time Machine drive last night. After speaking to a Best Buy "Geek" last night, I was told to purchase a 16GB flash drive and create a bootable recovery drive so that I when I installed the SSD, I could boot Mountain Lion from this drive and then use the 500GB Time Machine drive to reacquire my apps, settings, etc. The issue I'm having with this procedure is that in the detailed instructions he gave me, using an app called Lion DiskMaker, it instructs the user to make a copy of the OS from the purchased Mountain Lion Installer in the Applications menu. My Macbook came pre-installed with Mountain Lion and there is no Installer app in my Applications menu. I am basically trying to figure what I should do at this point and any advice woud be greatly appreciated.

 

[Tuleele]

Try this out

My first recommendation is to go to the Mac AppStore and see if you can download Mt. Lion from there. Because of the fact that you own the Mac they should allow you to accept ownership of the installer. That is how I was able to perform my SSD Upgrade.

If that above step doesn't work I would personally torrent the OS Installer(at your own risk) and use it to create the boot drive.

The last bit ok knowledge I will share is, since Apple has done away with the install DVD the OS creates a recovery partition so that you can perform system recovery if needed. Unfortunately for you is that it won't help you in your current predicament. Just a little FYI.

 

[Quad5Ny]

http://support.apple.com/kb/dl1433

Run that on your flash drive and write down your WiFi password, it has everything you need.

 

[Tuleele]

http://support.apple.com/kb/dl1433

Run that on your flash drive and write down your WiFi password, it has everything you need.

Wow I had no idea this tool existed... Thanks for the tip! This is definitely going on my recovery USB

 

[Fishrrman]

"I purchased a cMBP about a month ago and just a few days ago purchased an SSD and RAM upgrade. Now, my specific problem is that I'm unsure how to get Mountain Lion onto this new SSD."

If you want to do it seamlessly, and be sure that it will work BEFORE you do the "drive swap", do this:

- First, get one of these gadgets:
http://www.amazon.com/Plugable-Dock...=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B003UI62AG
The cost is about $28 shipped and you will not regret the purchase.

- Next, download CarbonCopyCloner from here:
http://www.bombich.com/download.html
It's "pay for" app, but you can USE IT FREE the first 30 days.

- Now, put the SSD in the dock and connect it to the Mac.
- Start the Mac, you may get a message stating the attached drive is "unreadable" and asking if you want to initialize it.
- YES, you DO want to do this
- Open Disk Utility and Initialize the docked SSD.
- As long as you have DU running, run the "test drive" option on the new SSD

- When this is done, quit DU and launch CCC.
- On the left, pick your internal drive as the "source"
- On the right, pick your new SSD as the "target"
- Be aware that you can instruct CCC to re-create the "Recovery Partition" as well.
- Let CCC "clone" the contents of the internal to the new SSD.

- When done, BEFORE you do the drive swap, DO A TEST BOOT !!
- Restart the Mac. As soon as you hear the startup sound, hold down the option key and KEEP HOLDING IT DOWN. In a few moments the startup manager will appear.
- Select the docked SSD in the startup manager and boot from it. WARNING: it will look EXACTLY as does the internal. To be sure you're booted from it, go to the Apple menu and choose "About this Mac" -- it tells you from which drive the Mac is booted.

- Now that you've determined the drive is properly initialized, cloned, and is bootable, it's time to "do the swap".

- When done, you can keep the old internal drive in the dock and let that become your backup. And you can use OTHER DRIVES in the dock, as well (which is why I said you wouldn't regret buying it).