Billhummer
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Q: Upgrading Hardrive/ Re-installing Snow Leopard Macbook Air

I just bought a bigger hard drive for my macbook air. I already backed up with time machine. My plan was to install the new hard drive, install snow leopard, and then do a time machine restore. My problem is I own the snow leopard disk but the macbook air doesnt have a dvd drive. How do I re-install the OS without a DVD drive and does my plan make sense?

Thanks

MacBook Air

Posted on Apr 30, 2012 5:32 PM

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Billhummer

Q: Upgrading Hardrive/ Re-installing Snow Leopard Macbook Air

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  • by captfred,

    captfred captfred Apr 30, 2012 5:35 PM in response to Billhummer
    Level 7 (26,329 points)
    iTunes
    Apr 30, 2012 5:35 PM in response to Billhummer

    A better plan would be to use Carbon Copy Cloner and clone your internal disk to a usb attached disk.

    Then after replacing your internal, you can boot from the usb disk clone and clone it back to the internal drive.

     

    CCC available here:

     

    http://www.bombich.com/

  • by John Galt,

    John Galt John Galt Apr 30, 2012 5:40 PM in response to Billhummer
    Level 8 (49,839 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 30, 2012 5:40 PM in response to Billhummer

    If you want to install Snow Leopard on your Air, Remote Install OS X is designed to accomplish that:

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2129

    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.6/en/21219.html

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1777

     

    You need another computer with an optical drive, but it can even be Windows: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL112

     

    After Snow Leopard is installed, it will present the option to migrate your account and settings from the TM backup.

  • by Billhummer,

    Billhummer Billhummer Apr 30, 2012 5:52 PM in response to captfred
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 30, 2012 5:52 PM in response to captfred

    Thank you both for your quick replies.

    captfred wrote:

     

    A better plan would be to use Carbon Copy Cloner and clone your internal disk to a usb attached disk.

    Then after replacing your internal, you can boot from the usb disk clone and clone it back to the internal drive.

     

    CCC available here:

     

    http://www.bombich.com/

    This option seems interesting. Do you have an article how to do this properly?

    Thanks!

  • by captfred,

    captfred captfred Apr 30, 2012 6:03 PM in response to Billhummer
    Level 7 (26,329 points)
    iTunes
    Apr 30, 2012 6:03 PM in response to Billhummer

    Documentation on CCC is available from their site, but it's very straightforward. 

     

    First download CCC (free) then attach a usb drive formatted GUID partition table / Mac OS Extended (Journaled)

    with enough capacity to hold your internal drive and Clone to the external.

     

    Boot the external drive to test by holding down the Option key at the startup tone.  The boot manager will give you the option to boot from the internal or the external clone.  Once you've checked it out for proper operation, shutdown and replace the drive.

     

    After the replacement, boot with the Option key again from the external clone and format the new drive using Disk Utility (if required) and use CCC to copy the clone to the internal drive.

     

    I use CCC on a regular basis as do many here.

  • by MikeK5117,

    MikeK5117 MikeK5117 May 1, 2012 4:38 AM in response to John Galt
    Level 2 (169 points)
    Notebooks
    May 1, 2012 4:38 AM in response to John Galt

    A faster way if you have the proper bits and pieces is to install the new drive in a USB enclosure, and then just clone your current drive direclty to the new one. Then swap drives and you are good to go. Have done this many times when upgrading laptops but getting the correct enclosure for your MBA may be the main drawback.

  • by Graham3D,

    Graham3D Graham3D Apr 10, 2013 6:18 AM in response to Billhummer
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 10, 2013 6:18 AM in response to Billhummer

    My problem is slightly different.

    My hard disk died, and I am replacing it with an SSD.

    The SSD is unusual in that it has to be a 1.8" size with a ZIF PATA connector.

    So it is not easy to simply connect up to anything apart from the Macbook Air (Internally).

    I have a remote disk available -connected via ethernet (Windows 7).

    I think it would be much easier if I could copy the Snow Leaopard Install Disks onto a USB.

     

    Can I do this?

    If so, How?

  • by Eustace Mendis,

    Eustace Mendis Eustace Mendis Apr 10, 2013 6:25 AM in response to Graham3D
    Level 7 (25,402 points)
    Apr 10, 2013 6:25 AM in response to Graham3D

    Suggest you post this as a new question. It will get more attention, and will not interrupt the conversation on this thread.

     

    https://discussions.apple.com/community/notebooks/macbook_air

  • by Graham3D,

    Graham3D Graham3D Apr 12, 2013 5:36 AM in response to Graham3D
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 12, 2013 5:36 AM in response to Graham3D

    I solved this. The new SSD connector layout was a different way round to the original drive. So I turned it over.

  • by Graham3D,

    Graham3D Graham3D Apr 12, 2013 5:40 AM in response to Billhummer
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 12, 2013 5:40 AM in response to Billhummer

    I solved this by

    formatting an 8GB USB

    creating a GUID partition using Disk Utitlity

    Creating a Install USB disk and using that to boot from.

    (NB you have to keep pressing "C" while booting for up to 3 minutes for it to recongnise the USB)