Installing SSD Into Macbook Pro

Hello,

I tried to search the forum for my questions, but couldn't find the answers.

I have a macbook pro late 2008. I want to upgrade to a SSD from an HDD, and I have some questions.

I am switching to the SSD Samsung 840 Evo 500GB

Questions:

1- When I clone my HDD to the SSD, will it also Clone the OSX, or will I need a bootable OSX from the flash?

2- Will the cloner (Super duper, CC, etc) clone the recovery partition?

3- I already have a SATA to USB2.0, will that still work on a SATAIII SSD when I connect for cloning? I don't mind if it's slower when cloning, I just do not want to buy another cable.

4- Everyone say's that you need to do a firmware updated to the SSD? Is this something I need to worry about?

5- Has anyone upgraded to the samsung 840 evo SSD on this forum? What are your experiences so far? Any tips? Anything to watch out for?

Thanks for all your help!

G'day and welcome to the forums.

If your present computer/external drive is running OS X, then you can clone that.

CCC will clone the Recovery partition, SD does not. Personally prefer the SD option together with a USB flash drive containing the Installer & operating system. Also consider Disk utility here:-

http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/how-to-clone-a-hard-drive-in-windows-mac-or-linux/

Backwards compatible no problems, not the fastest but you have covered that.

Check the Samsung web site for any firmware updates. Have used SSds now for five years and only ever needed to do one update to amercury Extreme.

Personally don't like anything Samsung but that is me after a camera failed badly. Have use/used OWC, OCZ Veterk, Kingston, Toshiba and G.Skill Falcon SSDs and like everything else with electronics you pay your bucks and takes your chances.

Can't say exactly how the Samsung will perform but the difference with my Crucial drive was noticeable. I put the Crucial_CT480M500SSD1 in my late 2008 MacBook Pro. The boot time was cut roughly in half. I turned on auto login for test purposes. My boot time went from about 1:12 seconds to about 38 seconds with the SSD.

I do have two cautions though:

1. When you install the SSD double check both ends of the drive cable. I wasted a couple of days and purchased an extra cable because it appeared the old one had failed. Turns out one end of the cable had disconnected slightly from the logic board. Not enough to see visually but enough to cause an intermittent connection.

2. If you are going to be removing the optical drive and using OWC's Data Doubler kit make sure to put the SSD in the hard drive bay. IIRC that bus is faster than the one the optical bay is on.

Thanks for the Replies. Much appreciated.

I have one more question:

I see that there are multiple methods of cloning the HDD to SSD. Which is the most comprehensive of clones? I've seen some people actually use the Disk Utility and use "Restore" to clone? Will that suffice for a clone of all the data and OSX?

I also have a "theoretical" question. Is it possible to also clone Boot Camp partition in a new partition of the SSD, or will I need to reinstall bootcamp all over agin?

Thanks again!

I also have a "theoretical" question. Is it possible to also clone Boot Camp partition in a new partition of the SSD, or will I need to reinstall bootcamp all over agin?

Click to expand...

"WinClone" download from here: LINK ($29.99)

The Disk Utility Restore method generally irks well but there is one thing to keep in mind though. Disk Utility does not AFAIK clone the Recovery partition. The program Super Duper has the same problem. Some people do not consider this a problem since the clone is bootable reducing the need for the recovery partition.

There is a utility called Carbon Copy Cloner that copies everything including the recovery partition. There may be others.

I've done two recent SSD installs, both Crucial M500 drives, and used CCC to clone. No problems either time.