Restoring an Entire System from an External Hard Drive

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Level 1

4 points

Restoring an Entire System from an External Hard Drive

With multiple warnings about the integrity of the 500GB hard drive on my 2010 Macbook Pro, and messages to "service" my battery, I finally backed up all files on a Lacie external drive. Then, nearly simultaneously, both drive and battery completely tanked! I now have replaced the pair with new equipment. The new MBP drive is a 500GB SSD. totally empty.

My concern: What do I do next? I've never been in this situation before, even after having been a Mac user since 1985! The system on the external drive is OS High Sierra.

Please help me. TYIA for a prompt reply.

Bill

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 10.13

Posted on Dec 14, 2020 10:41 PM

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Answer 1

leroydouglas

Level 10

200,652 points

Dec 15, 2020 11:25 AM in response to wecolburn

wecolburn wrote:

I just copied the whole HDD to the Lacie external drive, using TechTool Pro 9 software to build a working system. I have never used TimeMachine, for several reasons: (1) At the time it first appeared on the market, I felt it too "clunky" and difficult to use.; (2) Also I didn't have an external drive big enough (≥1TB?) or portable enough. Now I do.

My concern is not knowing the procedure for directing my MBP's Bios to scan for a working copy of my system. What buttons must I push, for how long, and in what order? [The steps for clearing the PRAM were vexing enough!]

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

Bill

The most trouble free way to move to a new machine, is using the Setup Assistant on the initial boot— you have one shot here. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205749

If that opportunity has past, the second best way is use the Migration Assistant.

How to move your content to a new Mac https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204350

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Answer 2

wecolburn Author

Level 1

4 points

Dec 15, 2020 11:11 AM in response to kaz-k

I just copied the whole HDD to the Lacie external drive, using TechTool Pro 9 software to build a working system. I have never used TimeMachine, for several reasons: (1) At the time it first appeared on the market, I felt it too "clunky" and difficult to use.; (2) Also I didn't have an external drive big enough (≥1TB?) or portable enough. Now I do.

My concern is not knowing the procedure for directing my MBP's Bios to scan for a working copy of my system. What buttons must I push, for how long, and in what order? [The steps for clearing the PRAM were vexing enough!]

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

Bill

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Answer 3

kaz-k

Level 9

51,348 points

Dec 14, 2020 11:15 PM in response to wecolburn

Hi,

Just wonder if you backed up with TimeMachine or just copied whole HDD to external drive.

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Restoring an Entire System from an External Hard Drive

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