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<blockquote data-quote="chas_m" data-source="post: 1690899"><p>I have to start by saying that what you really should do is buy something newer. I'm glad you are happy with your 2008 machine, but the reason I suggest getting a new(er) machine altogether is because ... well, starting with the fact that its now nearly eight years old, and unlikely to be supported by OS updates starting next year ... you're missing on that machine some *very key* technologies that are core to the current OS X and iOS experience, including but not limited to 802.11ac, USB 3.0, Thunderbolt, Bluetooth 4.0, and the current generation of *much* more capable graphics chipsets or cards that are used both for traditional graphics purposes but also for offloading CPU tasks. Over the next year or so and going forward, you are going to start running into software that just won't run on that machine because the graphics (about which you can do nothing) aren't up to the specs developers are developing for (the baseline for that is more like five years back, tops).</p><p></p><p>Okay, having said that, if you're still going to go forward with this, just to make it the best 2008 MacBook it can be, fine. To answer your questions:</p><p></p><p>1. Time Machine can format that drive for you. What on earth were you thinking not having a backup before now? I'm glad you made this step one, because it should have been done ages ago.</p><p></p><p>2. Unless you previously got Yosemite and didn't use it for some reason, you no longer have any access to it; only El Capitan is available. Your machine already running Mavericks, it can run El Cap, so this isn't really an issue. I'd suggest the DiskMaker X route, soooooo much easier. Just remember, DO NOT interfere with the process even when it looks like it might be done or appears to be doing nothing -- it is doing stuff and interrupting it would be a bad idea. It will let you know when it is actually done.</p><p></p><p>3. This step isn't actually necessary, but you can do it if you want to. I suggest a format involving a single-pass "zeroing out" of the drive for security purposes, or you can just keep the existing drive as-is and put it in an external case if you want, whatever. You can use the old drive as a spare limited backup of key stuff, or an external media drive, or ... well any purpose you can think of that could use a bit, but not a huge amount, of space. If you had USB 3.0 or TB there would be lots of other uses for that drive (Photoshop or pro audio scratch disk, for example), but USB 2.0 is too slow for any of that.</p><p></p><p>4. If you already have the WD Blue, you could use that external case I mentioned to put *it* in first for easy formatting and El Cap install. I would personally suggest, if the budget allows, using a 500GB SSD instead -- I've seen some very good prices on them, and particularly for old machines the speed increase is thrilling.</p><p></p><p>5. Presuming you are installing El Capitan FROM the DiskMaker-created USB drive TO the hard drive or SSD you put into the machine, then you won't need the USB drive after that's done -- and forget about booting from a USB thumb drive or external USB drive using USB 2.0! Sooooo slow and painful!</p><p></p><p>6. A clone drive (made using SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner) would be better for highly selective data restoration than a Time Machine backup, but that's not to say you can't do it.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="chas_m, post: 1690899"] I have to start by saying that what you really should do is buy something newer. I'm glad you are happy with your 2008 machine, but the reason I suggest getting a new(er) machine altogether is because ... well, starting with the fact that its now nearly eight years old, and unlikely to be supported by OS updates starting next year ... you're missing on that machine some *very key* technologies that are core to the current OS X and iOS experience, including but not limited to 802.11ac, USB 3.0, Thunderbolt, Bluetooth 4.0, and the current generation of *much* more capable graphics chipsets or cards that are used both for traditional graphics purposes but also for offloading CPU tasks. Over the next year or so and going forward, you are going to start running into software that just won't run on that machine because the graphics (about which you can do nothing) aren't up to the specs developers are developing for (the baseline for that is more like five years back, tops). Okay, having said that, if you're still going to go forward with this, just to make it the best 2008 MacBook it can be, fine. To answer your questions: 1. Time Machine can format that drive for you. What on earth were you thinking not having a backup before now? I'm glad you made this step one, because it should have been done ages ago. 2. Unless you previously got Yosemite and didn't use it for some reason, you no longer have any access to it; only El Capitan is available. Your machine already running Mavericks, it can run El Cap, so this isn't really an issue. I'd suggest the DiskMaker X route, soooooo much easier. Just remember, DO NOT interfere with the process even when it looks like it might be done or appears to be doing nothing -- it is doing stuff and interrupting it would be a bad idea. It will let you know when it is actually done. 3. This step isn't actually necessary, but you can do it if you want to. I suggest a format involving a single-pass "zeroing out" of the drive for security purposes, or you can just keep the existing drive as-is and put it in an external case if you want, whatever. You can use the old drive as a spare limited backup of key stuff, or an external media drive, or ... well any purpose you can think of that could use a bit, but not a huge amount, of space. If you had USB 3.0 or TB there would be lots of other uses for that drive (Photoshop or pro audio scratch disk, for example), but USB 2.0 is too slow for any of that. 4. If you already have the WD Blue, you could use that external case I mentioned to put *it* in first for easy formatting and El Cap install. I would personally suggest, if the budget allows, using a 500GB SSD instead -- I've seen some very good prices on them, and particularly for old machines the speed increase is thrilling. 5. Presuming you are installing El Capitan FROM the DiskMaker-created USB drive TO the hard drive or SSD you put into the machine, then you won't need the USB drive after that's done -- and forget about booting from a USB thumb drive or external USB drive using USB 2.0! Sooooo slow and painful! 6. A clone drive (made using SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner) would be better for highly selective data restoration than a Time Machine backup, but that's not to say you can't do it. [/QUOTE]
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