SSD Upgrade to Late 2008 MBP, Plus Windows 8 Install

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Level 1

4 points

SSD Upgrade to Late 2008 MBP, Plus Windows 8 Install

Hi guys,

I have a 15", late 2008 MBP that was a beast in it's time, but has started to show it's age, especially due to my aging hard drive. I've read great things about performance improvement through installing an SSD, and so I want to perform this upgrade. Also, while I do have my computer backed up through Time Machine, I'd rather just be proactive on replacing my hard drive before it fails on me (which will definitely happen at some point). Here's some more detailed specs for my computer:

CPU: 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

RAM: 4 GB of 1067 MHz DDR 3

GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT 512 MB

Note about the GPU: This comp has the dual graphics chips, but I've been always using the "high-performance" one, which is what is listed above (the other one is a GeForce 9400M).

OS: Most current version of Mavericks (OSX 10.9.2)

In looking up SSD's, I've found that people that have had laptops with similar specs to mine have had success with the Crucial M500 SSDs.

After I get my drive all figured out, I want to use Boot Camp to install Windows 8 on the SSD. Currently, I do not have any Windows installations on my computer. My computer is not supported for Windows 8 installation through Boot Camp, despite the fact that hardware-wise, it is compatable with Windows 8. However, I have found discussions that are pretty standard on how to get Windows 8 installed on my computer.

-So, my first question is: Was my research good for this given SSD for my computer? It seems like Samsung makes the best SSDs, but I haven't found any evidence that it would be really compatable with my computer.

-My second question: Given that I will have just installed an SSD, will Windows 8 installation be doable? This is probably the most important question for me, because if it's not possible, then I'd rather just buy Windows 7 right off the bat and install that in boot camp instead.

-My third question: If I can get Windows up and running, how does my computer's double graphics chip configuration work in Windows? I'd want to make sure that Windows is using the more powerful of the chips and not the less powerful one.

-My fourth question: My computer has gone from Leopard to Snow Leopard to Mavericks, and I never performed a "clean install" for any of these OS upgrades. If I clone my HD to the SSD, would it be beneficial for me to run a Mavericks clean install, and then pull all my necessary data off my backup drive?

Sorry for the long-winded post, and I know much of it is demonstrated elsewhere. I have found many discussions involving SSD upgrades, and getting Windows 8 on a late 2008 MBP, but I haven't found anything that has shown both being done. Both seem easy to do, but I just don't know if doing both in tandem is going to cause a bunch of problems. Has anyone out there done this, and can anyone offer me any advice on how to make this process any smoother? I really like doing this upgrade now, because if I run into Windows issues, or other issues on the SSD, I could still just boot from my old hard drive and use my computer. Thanks everyone!

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.2), Late 2008, 15"

Posted on Mar 11, 2014 5:37 PM

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Answer 1

Melophage

Level 5

7,213 points

Mar 11, 2014 11:50 PM in response to beestmode

beestmode,

I have a Mid 2010 MacBook Pro, and I put a Samsung 840 PRO SSD into mine. Where did you find evidence that this model SSD would not work in your MacBook Pro? (The SSD which you’ve installed has a good reputation, so you should have no reason to regret your choice.)
Windows 8 via Boot Camp will not be possible with your model MacBook Pro. In Boot Camp, you could install up to Windows 7, either 32-bit or 64-bit. A virtualizer such as Parallels Desktop or VirtualBox could allow you to install Windows 8, but virtualizers have their own sets of positives and negatives.
Since I have a 13-inch model with only one GPU, I don’t know how your dual GPUs would be handled on the Windows side.
When I’d installed my SSD, I did a clean installation of Mavericks onto it, keeping Snow Leopard on my old internal disk, and putting it into an external enclosure.

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Answer 2

Mar 12, 2014 12:00 AM in response to beestmode

I'll just chime in to express my pleasure with my 960GB M500 Crucial SSD. It will certainly speed things up for you.

I simply don't like Windows 8 - I run Win 7 Pro 64-bit under Parallels and it's just as speedy as can be. It would be faster under Boot Camp, of course, but I need to switch between the two, having access to both Windows and OS X at the same time.

I don't know that anyone will jump in here with your exact specs and tell you how you can install Win 8 under Boot Camp on a 2009 model. The SSD isnatlation should go just fine but you'll have to search for some sort of hack if you want to run Win 8.

Good luck,

Clinton

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Answer 3

beestmode Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 12, 2014 12:06 AM in response to Melophage

Thanks for your reply!

That's nice to see that the SSD has a good reputation. I'm on my phone right now so I can't pull up the link, but it had something to do with the type of SATA connections, and that older MacBook pros have older SATA cable connections (which made the Crucial drive more amenable). As for Windows 8, I have seen many demos that have shown that you can install Windows 8, and just might not have Boot Camp assisting you with the driver installations. But I've installed Windows many times on PCs so I'm familiar with how to dig up drivers and install them manually. I was asking more from a stability standpoint, if you know anything about that.

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Answer 4

beestmode Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 12, 2014 12:10 AM in response to clintonfrombirmingham

Clinton, thanks! I'm glad many people really like the crucials.

Yeah I am looking to max out performance in Windows, so that's why I'm interested in doing Windows 8. My understanding is that all boot camp does is assist you in partitioning your drive, and installing drivers, and allows you to easily pick which partition to boot from. It seems as though you could all but install Windows 8 manually but only with using boot camp as a selector of which os to boot.

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Answer 5

Melophage

Level 5

7,213 points

Mar 12, 2014 12:41 AM in response to beestmode

beestmode,

my SSD is SATA III, but my MacBook Pro only supports SATA II. Thus, it’s not being used to its full potential, but I don’t have any complaints with its performance. Does your MacBook Pro only support SATA I?

I don’t have Windows 8, so I can’t advise on how to hack a Boot Camp installation for it. (Mine is the last model that doesn’t support Windows 8 in Boot Camp.) If you’re interested in stability, then I’d recommend sticking with Windows 7; by definition, a hacked installation would have no assurance of stability.

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Answer 6

beestmode Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 12, 2014 11:19 AM in response to Melophage

So the post I was referencing was:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2442337?start=30&tstart=0

In it, someone mentions how my Macbook has a SATA2 interface, with a maximum transfer rate of 3 Gb/s. However, some people found that certain drives only were transferring at 1.5 Gb/s, instead of at the maximum supported rate of 3 Gb/s. The one drive that was found to uniformly support the 3 Gb/s transfer rate was the Crucial M500. If I'm going to be spending the money on a SSD upgrade, I figure that I might as well get one that is compatable with the highest transfer rate supported by my computer, even if it only results in a marginal improvement over one that does not.

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Answer 7

beestmode Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 12, 2014 11:54 AM in response to beestmode

Additional quesiton: I have a time machine backup. Would it be possible to install Mavericks to a flash drive, hook up my SSD, and do a clean install of Mavericks onto the SSD without cloning my HD onto the SSD first? Then, with my cleanly installed copy of Mavericks, I bring back only the stuff I needed from my old HD using Migration Assistant. Is that going to work, or will this only work if I clone an OS onto the SSD before installing Mavericks?

I've never done something like this before with Mac OS X, so I don't really know the limitations. I know something like this would definitely work for Windows, but I don't know if it will here. Thanks again for your responses everyone!

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Answer 8

Melophage

Level 5

7,213 points

Mar 12, 2014 4:43 PM in response to beestmode

beestmode,

after I’d downloaded Mavericks, I’d moved its installer out of the Applications directory without running it, so that it wouldn’t get deleted after being run. I then put my freshly formatted SSD into an external enclosure and ran Mavericks from my internal hard drive to put a clean installation of Mavericks onto the SSD. After it installed, I’d used Startup Manager to make sure that the SSD was bootable, then shut down, and switched the drives. I didn’t use Migration Assistant, since I wasn’t sure if Mavericks would be completely upward-compatible from Snow Leopard; I just copied my personal files that I wanted to have on the SSD, and set the System Preferences in Mavericks to my liking manually. That being said, you should be able to use Migration Assistant if you wish.

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Answer 9

dietern

Level 1

0 points

Mar 25, 2014 6:45 AM in response to beestmode

Hi beestmode,

Regarding your concern with the SATA3 SSD running at SATA1 speeds on your SATA2 interface: I was also worried about this, and after several hours of research, I concluded that this is almost exclusively a problem with SSDs using Sandforce controllers. Since the Crucial M500 does not use Sandforce, I think you should be fine.

I also have a Late 2008 15" MBP, and recently installed a 256GB Samsung 840 EVO (which is an excellent and well-priced drive, you should look into it!). Its "Negotiated link speed" is 3Gb/s, which is SATA II 🙂

I'm in the process of trying to install Windows 7/8 on a bootcamp partition on the SSD, but I'm having trouble with the black screen/blinking cursor that occurs right before the installation process (during the initial boot into the installation DVD/USB. I've tried both USB and USB-DVD methods, but neither seem to work. I can't figure out what's happening, especially since I had successfully installed Windows 7 x64 on my previous HDD. Let me know if installing Windows on Bootcamp works for you!

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Answer 10

beestmode Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 25, 2014 1:01 PM in response to dietern

Thanks for all the help everyone. I've just put an order in for a 480 GB Crucial M500. I went with the larger size, since I found a no longer used Windows 7 install disk lying around my house, allowing me to put the additional cost of Windows into my SSD. I'll let everyone know how the Windows install goes once I get everything up and running.

Dietern, thanks for your response as well. It seems as though we have the same computer, so hopefully this drive that I'm getting has better compatability with Windows 7. I'll be sure to let you know once I give it a shot later.

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Answer 11

dietern

Level 1

0 points

Mar 25, 2014 2:09 PM in response to beestmode

After a full day and a half of frustration, I finally found a method that worked for me! Windows 7 is up and running!

In case you're also having trouble with the Windows installation and are truly at your wit's end, this approach works: http://blog.laaz.org/tech/2012/04/24/installing-windows-7-on-macbook-pro-without -superdrive/

If you have any questions, I'd be happy to help out! Good luck.

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Answer 12

Apr 5, 2014 3:12 PM in response to beestmode

I see you already went with the Crucial m500 480GB SSD.

I've been running a MBP 15" Late 2008 model (2.66ghz) with a Crucial M4 256Gb SSD since July 2012 and it was plug and play. I installed a clean copy of Lion (at the time - I've did the upgrade to Mountain Lion and now Mavericks 10.9.2) and it's a champ. 3gb SATA negotiated speeds (there was a firmware update to the Late 2008 MBP line that bumped it from SATA 1.5gb to SATA 3gb). I have nothing but positive to say about the Crucial brand of SSDs for upgrading older MBP models.

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