New 2012 13" Macbook Pro and Crucial M4 512GB SSD

There have been no installer discs since the release of Lion. Reinstalling is via the OS X (Lion/Mountain Lion)- About OS X Recovery. The computer comes with OS X already pre-installed. I think you still have some homework yet to do.

I just bought a Crucial M4 512GB SSD.

Before using the M4, you must erase it, choose the correct file format, and install OS X. There are several ways of managing the files afterwards, but the safest is to purchase an external backup drive. That means you also have a drive you can use to transfer data and perform future backups.

Recovery disk/DVD? The MBP doesn't come with DVDs anymore. Recovery Disk is part of the OS.

You know, I strongly recommend asking the help of someone in the Apple Store - someone who can illustrate your options and find the right machine for your needs. SSD prices are going down, so time is on your side. Since you're new to Mac, take advantage of their customer service.

I have a Crucial m4 512GB in my machine - here's what you need to do:

1. Go ahead and boot your machine and go through setup.
2. Get yourself an enclosure ($10-20 from OWC) for your hard drive.
3. Get a copy of Carbon Copy Cloner and install on your hard drive,
4. Install m4 in you computer.
5. Boot from your now external hard drive and use Disk Utility to erase and partition (single GUID partition, Mac OS Extended (Journaled)).
6. Use CCC to clone your old drive to your new.
7. Boot from your new SSD. Be certain that you select the SSD as your boot drive or you may get unusually long (for a SSD) boot times.
8. That's it.

There are some other methods, but this seems to work with no hitches.

Good luck,

Clinton

Yes. But there's no need to perform any recovery on your new computer. If you wish to boot from the SSD, then you will need to clone OS X to the SSD:

Clone Lion using Restore Option of Disk Utility

Boot to the Recovery HD:

Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.

1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu then press the Continue button.
2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.
3. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
4. Check the box labeled Erase destination.
5. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
6. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
7. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.

Destination means the external backup drive. Source means the internal startup drive.

When finished quit DU and return to the main menu. Now select Startup Disk from the File menu. Set the SSD as your startup disk, then Restart.

Yes, just erase and format as "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" and make sure that you select a single GUID partition. If you use Carbon Copy Cloner, the Recovery partition will be created intact.

Clinton