Installing new HD

[TarsierSpectral]

Hi,

I am putting a new HD in my MacBook and need to transfer everything from the old drive to the new one. First, before even putting a new HD in I tried to use Migration Assistant to move everything over to another Mac and then I was intending to using Migration Assistant to put everything back on the new HD once it was installed inside the laptop. Migration Assistant got stuck "Less then a minute remaining" for 1hr. I stopped it and decided to use Carbon Copy Cloner to just make exact copy of that drive to the other mac (I didn't care about completely overwriting the contents of that HD). That also got stuck. So I repaired permissions and verified HD. That had some errors that got fixed. So I was able to make exact copy of the HD but the other Mac would come back with the Mac version of the Blue Screen of Death when I tried to start it up. Right now I am just using Carbon Copy Cloner to make a copy of the HD directly onto the new HD (I have it connected to the USB port). It's taking a while. I was curious if anyone has any other suggestions about how to transfer everything from one drive to another in case what I am doing right now fails as well.

Thanks a lot for any help

Tarsier

 

[biglebowski]

Have you tried using disk utility to make an image of your hard disk. Not sure if it will restore to a different size or different size though.

When I was born I was so suprised I didn't talk for 18 months

 

[TarsierSpectral]

I tried disk utility before and it never worked for me. I have not tried it this time.

 

[twiSSt]

Disk Utility should work, what version of OS X are you running?
One trick we have used here when moving a user from one computer to another is to copy the user folder - create the identical user on a clean install of the OS on the new and then copy the user folder over to the new.
It sounds as thought there is something amiss with the old drive, if you have Disk Warrior you could give it a shot.

Twist

===========================================
Everything will be OK in the end.
If it's not OK, then it's not the end

 

[TarsierSpectral]

I didn't want to do clean install of the OS. I was hoping to just clone the old HD. I am trying SuperDuper right now to see if that will make a full copy of the old HD.

 

[jmgalvin]

It's usually NOT a good idea to copy over the OS to another machine unless that machine is the exact same as the original like from one macbook to another macbook of the same vintage.

You'll do better if, like twist said, just copy over the user folder to the other machine. Then install a fresh copy of the OS on the new HD and then copy the user folder back to that disk.

Using OSX 10.3.9 & 10.4.11 on a G4, G5 & Intel Macbook

 

[TarsierSpectral]

I am going to install the HD in the same computer.

 

[twiSSt]

Control click on the User folder - what is the size, could it easily be moved to a Jump drive, burned to a DVD or CD.

Truthfully if you had disk image fail/hang and CCC hung up you probably don't want a full copy of that drive. Do you have access to a file sharepoint on your network or an external drive?

Twist

===========================================
Everything will be OK in the end.
If it's not OK, then it's not the end

 

[TarsierSpectral]

OK, I couldn't clone the drive. It froze. I don't have access to file sharepoint. User folder is 35GB
I think I will just have the new drive put in and install OS, and then connect the one that was inside by USB and use migration assistant to move files and settings. Any other suggestions?

 

[twiSSt]

There are several suggestions in the previous posts, but it sounds like there is something amiss with the drive. At this point I would go with my suggestion and move just the contents of the Users home folder - after creating the smae user on the fresh install.
From what you have described it sounds as though you have some sort of hardware (drive) issue. What prompted you to replace the existing drive, space issue or were you experiencing some issue?

Twist

===========================================
Everything will be OK in the end.
If it's not OK, then it's not the end

 

[TarsierSpectral]

it was space issue.
Do you think using Migration Assistant is a good way to go?

 

[twiSSt]

I'm not for or against using the Migration Assistant. With over 50 mac user where I work, we usually just copy the home folder, check for user permission errors.

Now if you you need to re-install apps but don't heve the disk(s), then I would give it a go. Or you can try Carbon Copy Cloner, but this time run a permission fix before you clone. When you tried to clone it before where were you trying to clone to?

Twist

===========================================
Everything will be OK in the end.
If it's not OK, then it's not the end

 

[TarsierSpectral]

Yes, I need to keep apps, some I can't reinstall. I did fix permissions before I tried to clone and it always gave me an error towards the end. First I tried to clone to another MacBook but then I couldn't boot that MacBook. Then I tried to clone directly to the new drive, but it would give me an error both times. First I tried using Carbon Copy to clone and then the second time I tried to clone using Super Duper. Both ways failed.

 

[twiSSt]

Did you notice what CCC was copying when it failed? Or does the log file show the failure point?
The only time CCC has failed me is when either the OS is hosed or the drive is hosed, leaving me hosed. You don't by chance have a copy of Disk Warrior? You could run it on the old drive and see if it repairs anything - or you could boot to the OS install disk, go to disk utiltiy and run disk repair on the old drive.


Twist

===========================================
Everything will be OK in the end.
If it's not OK, then it's not the end

 

[TarsierSpectral]

I left CC running over night. It completed with an error message. I did run disk repair prior cloning.

 

[twiSSt]

Where are you trying to clone it to? Did it give you a more specific explanation as to the nature of the error?

Twist

===========================================
Everything will be OK in the end.
If it's not OK, then it's not the end

 

[TarsierSpectral]

I cloned it to the new drive and also to a drive in another machine, both failed