Migration Assistant will let you choose what to move over to the new drive. That’s apps, data, etc. You mentioned having a Time Machine backup as well. You could invoke Time Machine to restore everything as well, if you chose to.
The problem with having all your stuff on the old hard drive is that there are no pointers to it on the new SSD. Using Migration Assistant would do that for you. You could also go in and create alias’, but that get tricky real quick. Understand that when you create a new boot drive that there are things that have to live there for the system to work properly. This is a good explanation of the home folder (which is really your user name, not “home”): http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/the-home-folder-in-os-x-yosemite.html Once you have everything set up, you can move your home folder to the other drive, taking a lot of stuff off of the SSD. http://www.macworld.com/article/1164891/keeping_mac_os_and_data_on_separate_drives.html Dan > On Dec 6, 2015, at 5:49 PM, Rich Thomas via Mercedes <mercedes@okiebenz.com> > wrote: > > Thanks but questions... > > Once you’ve booted from the SSD, you can use Migration > Assistant in the Utilities menu to move everything over to it. > > What does that mean "everything over to it"? MA to move everything from the > old HDD over to the SSD? Apps and data and other files? Or just apps? Or > nothing to the SSD but onto the new HDD from the old one now in the external > drive after I get both new drives installed in the imac? The apps can't live > on the HDD? > > Your “home” folder can live on another drive, but the boot > drive has to be able to point to it. Apps have to be installed on the home > drive as well. > > So the "home" drive is not the SSD, which is the "boot" drive, and the "home" > can be on the old/new HDD? What exactly is the "home" folder? My > challenge/confusion/ignernce is how to make (either of) that happen either > using the old HDD or a new HDD with a TM backup loaded onto it. > > --R > > > > On 12/6/15 5:19 PM, Dan Penoff via Mercedes wrote: >> Do this: >> >> Download the latest OS from the App Store on a good (working) Mac. Download >> the file, don’t do the install (it will ask you which one you want if it’s >> the same as the one currently on the machine you’re downloading to.) If >> you’re using an older OS that’s on optical media, just boot from the optical >> drive ("Command-C” at boot up.) >> >> Connect the SDD to the Mac you just downloaded the installer file to. Use >> your external drive enclosure to connect it up. >> >> Run the installer and choose the external (SSD) drive as the one you want to >> install to. If it doesn’t show up in the list of drives when you start the >> installer, click on the “Show other drives” arrow and it should show up. >> >> install the new OS to the external drive. Your existing machine will reboot >> several times to do this, ultimately booting from the external drive when >> the install is done. >> >> Shut the machine down, remove the external drive, and install it in the >> iMac. It should boot from the SSD, or you can just hold down the “Option” >> key on boot (after you hear the “bong” tone) and you’ll get to choose what >> drive to boot from. >> >> Once you’ve booted from the SSD, you can use Migration Assistant in the >> Utilities menu to move everything over to it. >> >> Your “home” folder can live on another drive, but the boot drive has to be >> able to point to it. Apps have to be installed on the home drive as well. >> >> I use a 120GB OWC SSD on my Mac Pro as the boot drive. A mechanical drive >> that’s 500GB serves as my data drive where my home folder lives. I have a >> pretty well stocked app folder, and my boot SSD is barely half full. >> >> I just did this exact thing last night on a 300GB hard drive that will be >> the boot drive for the Mac Pro 1,1 if I sell it. >> >> Dan >> >> >> >>> On Dec 6, 2015, at 5:04 PM, Rich Thomas via Mercedes >>> <mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: >>> >>> on the iMac with the overheating HDD. I am trying to decide if I should >>> open it up, clean it out, and see if the HDD recovers and functions OK. I >>> believe it has 10.6.8 on it which I wish to keep using as I spent money on >>> Parallels that would require spending another $50 if I upgrade to a higher >>> version of OSX. I think 10.6.8 is called Mountain Lion or is it something >>> like Parrot or some such? (I have 10.10.5 on this laptop that is called >>> Yosemite). I have no idea why they have all these confusing names and not >>> just call it by the version, but whatever... >>> >>> Option 2: I also got an SSD that I could install at the same time to use >>> as the boot drive but I am unsure as to how to point it to all the apps and >>> files and such on the existing HDD so it just boots off the SSD then knows >>> where everything else resides and runs stuff from there and puts files >>> there (and I have an install CD/DVD with 10.6 which I think can then update >>> itself after install to 10.6.8). I have seem some somewhat confusing >>> accounts of doing this, some that require terminal futzing and some that >>> use Migration Assistant (I am not sure what that is) to get the SSD to >>> see/run all the stuff on the old HDD. I believe Martha Dan Poos did this. >>> >>> Option 3 (preferred): I also got a new big HDD along with the SSD. I would >>> rather put both in, load 10.6 onto the SSD of the CD/DVD that came with the >>> machine, and then let it update itself to 10.6.8 or help it do that, >>> whatever. I have an external enclosure for the old overheating HDD that I >>> think would work if I put it in there. I also have a time machine backup >>> from before it started going funky. So I could install the SSD and OSX >>> 10.6, let it update to 10.6.8, then either use the time machine backup to >>> put stuff on the new HDD or somehow copy it off the old HDD onto the new >>> HDD. (I don't have Carbon Copy but I guess I could get it if the utilities >>> in the OS won't work) My confusion comes in how to convince the SSD OSX >>> install to do whatever it does to get the machine started up, then move >>> everything onto the new HDD either from Time Machine or the old HDD so that >>> the SSD startup sees all the apps and other stuff on the new HDD. It looks >>> like either Migration Assistant or terminal commands, and some monkeying >>> with setting up a new "My Account admin" or something per >>> http://macperformanceguide.com/SettingUp-Relocating-HomeDir.html >>> >>> I have no great compulsion to upgrade to the latest OSX just because I >>> don't want to have to buy Parallels again then reinstall Winders on that >>> VM. I might have to reinstall it all anyway if it won't do it >>> automatically somehow as in option 3 which might then bugger up my apps on >>> the Winders OS in Parallels VM. >>> >>> I would rather just do 3 and be done with it so I don't have to open up the >>> machine again and fool with all that. >>> >>> HELP! >>> >>> --R >>> >>> _______________________________________ >>> http://www.okiebenz.com >>> >>> To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ >>> >>> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: >>> http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com >>> >> >> _______________________________________ >> http://www.okiebenz.com >> >> To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ >> >> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: >> http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com >> > > > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
