Can I erase 1 of 2 systems on two drives in 2011 MacBook Pro

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Don Spark Author

Level 1

13 points

Can I erase 1 of 2 systems on two drives in 2011 MacBook Pro

(MacBook Pro 13-inch, Early 2011 - 2.3 GHz Core i5 - 16 GB DDR3 - High Sierra)

2 years ago, I installed an ssd drive in place of the CD drive

leaving the slower stock mac HD disk drive in place and connected.

I thought I had wiped the old disk when I re-installed the new system on the new ssd

but, many or all the old system files, apps and folders are still in place on the old disk drive.

It boots from and running on the new system, on the new ssd. OSX sees only one system on the new ssd.

And, I do not think I am running old apps or accessing the old files. (When I right-click a movie selecting "open with," 2 different versions of iTunes are offered.)

Can I erase the old disk drive to eliminate confusion and possible problems?

PURPOSE

After deleting the old system, I am installing parallels and ubuntu for dual booting on this laptop to begin to process video with ffmpeg. I will need to choose whether to

MacBook Pro 13", macOS 10.13

Posted on Mar 9, 2020 10:40 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

HWTech

Level 9

61,682 points

Mar 9, 2020 7:47 PM in response to Don Spark

See if you can unmount/eject the hard drive "DISK DRIVE". If you cannot unmount/eject it, then you know something is being used. You can also physically remove the hard drive and see if your SSD has everything you need. Then connect the hard drive externally to erase it. Reinstall the hard drive and use as you see fit.

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Answer 2

Kappy

Level 10

361,885 points

Mar 9, 2020 10:58 AM in response to Don Spark

Take care in Step 2 to select the HDD you want to erase, not the SSD.

Drive Preparation - El Capitan or Later

Open Disk Utility in the Utilities' folder.
After Disk Utility loads select the HDD (out-dented (top) entry with the type and size info) from the side list.
Click on the Erase button in the Disk Utility toolbar. A panel should drop down.
In the drop down panel set the partition scheme to GUID. Set the Format type to APFS (SSDs only) or Mac OS Extended (Journaled.)
Click on the Apply button and click on the Done button when it is activated.
Quit Disk Utility.

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Answer 3

Kappy

Level 10

361,885 points

Mar 9, 2020 11:49 AM in response to Don Spark

I assume "DISK DRIVE" is the HDD? At least, that's what it appears to be. There is an OS installed on it but I don't know what version of OS X.

I don't understand what "No chance of a hidden system need?" means. Nevertheless, if you erase that HDD, then there won't be any systems on it - hidden or visible.

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Answer 4

Don Spark Author

Level 1

13 points

Mar 9, 2020 1:18 PM in response to Kappy

Is there any chance of the new system on the ssd requiring something on the old System's hd? How would I know if that was happening in the background? Or, can I just rely on the finder showing the date modified on the old system folder as 2 years ago? Thanks for the help Kappy!

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Answer 5

Kappy

Level 10

361,885 points

Mar 9, 2020 8:22 PM in response to Don Spark

There shouldn't be anything the SSD would require from the HDD unless you have aliased files or folders to the HDD from the Home folder on the SSD. There shouldn't be any issue with erasing the HDD. Just be sure that if you opened an app on the HDD, then quit it before moving forward. As HW has posted, if there is something required by the system that's on the HDD, you will be warned when you try erasing the HDD.

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