Hard Drive swap

Hello Everybody,
I am about to perform a lobotomy on my mid 2010 MacBookPro 7.1. I have watched the video and the hard drive swap appears to be pretty straightforward, but the installing of the OS and putting the data back has me a bit nervous. Any sage wisdom and advice would help. Once I get started, I might not be able to ask for help....

I assume you have the mechanical part all in order and are now concerned about the software issues. This is how I have done it.

With the original drive in:
1. Create or update a Time Machine backup.
2. Make a clone copy of the current drive using SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner - even if you plan a clean install.
I know CCC has a free trial. I think Superduper does too.

Now install the new drive - hold down Commend + R, reinstall from the internet and then reinstall your apps and data from Time Machine.
OR
You can download the latest version of OS X by going to your purchases. Then create a USB boot drive. There are a couple of ways to do that. You can google how or post back and I will give you suggestions.
OR
If you want to keep exactly what is on your current drive, cloning is the way to go. BUT - the drive you will clone to has to be the same size or larger although I have cloned to a slightly smaller drive successfully but I think I got luck it worked.

Lisa

Hello Lisa,
You are correct, the mechanical part is no problem. I want to make sure I do all of the correct steps in the correct order to get my OS back on the new drive and then put all my data back as well. OWC has sold me a new 2Tb drive and I can't wait to get it up and running since I have about maxed my original drive with mostly pics and video.
I was really concerned about "formatting" the new drive? and reinstalling a clean OS? before putting my data back on the drive. This is like Greek to me.