my start up disc is almost full, can i migrate from disc 1 to disc 4 in the same mac pro desktop machine

Question

Level 1

0 points

my start up disc is almost full, can i migrate from disc 1 to disc 4 in the same mac pro desktop machine

I have a mac pro quad 8, my start up disc is 500 gig, my time mach disc is 500 gig, i have these in position 1 and 2 in my comp, i have 2terra byt disc in possy 3 and possy 4 in the mac pro, can i migrate in the same mach. from start up disc to disc 4 and once completed can i then change disc 4 to strt up disc bay one position. as such then have a start up disc wich is two terra bytes? and if so how do i go about that. your help is much apreciated , thanks.

Mac Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.1), eye tv elegato diversity

Posted on Dec 21, 2012 1:48 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Best reply

Kappy

Level 10

361,709 points

Dec 21, 2012 1:53 PM in response to rwbi

Yes, you can. Use Disk Utility to clone one disk to the other:

Clone Lion/Mountain 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 Disk 4. Source means the current startup drive - Disk 1.

Note that a Time Machine backup drive needs to be a minimum of twice the capacity of the drive it backs up. If you have a 1 TB startup drive, then you need a 2 TB backup drive if you use Time Machine.

Reply

Answer 2

rwbi Author

Level 1

0 points

Dec 21, 2012 2:34 PM in response to Kappy

Thank you Kappy so verry much, I have had the fortune of being in your neck of the woods some 7 years ago, great spot you life in, your reply was tremendously fast, it's great to realise that we have such dedicated people looking out for us novices such as myself. i will try this instantly, so if i read you clear ,once i have cloned the set up do i than remove disc 4 and slot it in disc one possition in my mac pro? and also hpw do i reward you with 10 points? because i would like to gove you those very much regards peter schade from Australia victoria.

Reply

Answer 3

Dec 21, 2012 2:50 PM in response to Kappy

The Mac Pro will boot from any drive in any position, internal, external, or in the Optical Drive bay. There is no need to swap drives unless it makes YOU feel better. Just use System preferences > Startup Disk...

... to specify where to start up from next.

When bays are getting scarce, many folks add their backup drive as an external, since backup has a little less requirement for top speed (and externals can be a little slower).

Some users have transitioned to a Boot Drive, freeing 20-ish GB and a quarter million files or more from their data drive, by moving the Users off to a different drive. This leaves mostly System, Library, Applications, and the hidden unix files including Paging/Swap on the boot Drive. It also dramatically reduces competition for the drive mechanism and speeds everything up a bit.

How to Move the Home Folder in OS X - and Why - Chris Pirillo

http://www.jcsenterprises.com/Japamacs_Page/Blog/00E03B83-1ADA-406E-A940-396D39F 598EA.html

.

Reply

Answer 4

Kappy

Level 10

361,709 points

Dec 21, 2012 2:43 PM in response to rwbi

You need not move the drive position. Just open Startup Disk preferences, select the disk you want to use, the click on the Restart button. From then on the computer will always boot from that disk.

Thank you, Peter. I've been to Sydney a few years back doing a guest presentation at the University of NSW. It was a year before the Olympics.

On any of my responses or the one that solved your question you should see two buttons. One marked Solved and the other Marked Helped. Click the one you think is appropriate.

Happy Holidays to you and your family.

Reply