Late 2012 Mac mini upgrade ssd - also install parallels 8 and windows 7

I have ordered the data doubler kit from Owc and am wondering exactly how to setup properly. Can I simply install new drive in the upper bay (and move stock drive to lower bay)? Then migrate the data from the stock drive then after that's complete run the setup for parallels? I am also confused as far as using trim enabler or not? I was also wondering how much space/memory is recommended for windows 7 partition?

If you currently have one drive installed (500GB HDD), it would be in the lower bay. With the data doubler kit, you can put the Samsung in the upper bay if you want or move the HDD to the upper bay. It's up to you. You have to take everything out of the Mini anyway to get to the upper bay bracket to use the kit.

As far as migration, after you have installed the drives in the bays you want and assuming you do not have an external SATA enclosure, I would boot into the Recovery HD of the HDD, initialize (format) the SSD via Disk Utility; then use the Restore tab in Disk Utility to clone you HDD to your SSD with your HDD as the Source and your SSD as the Destination. This will block-copy your HDD to the SSD which basically clones the Macintosh HD and the Recovery HD over.

In Disk Utility while in the Recovery HD, you may see both drives in RED text. When you click on the SSD, you will get a prompt to IGNORE or FIX. Choose IGNORE which will turn the text back to BLACK and allow you to initialize the SSD. The IGNORE works correctly in OS X Mavericks which is the OS you appear to be running.

I can't assist with your Windows 7 and Parallels questions.

NOTE: A small number of 2012 units were shipped with the drive mounted in the upper drive bay rather than the more typical lower bay shown in this video. If you have a 2012 or later model, you will want to determine the configuration of your Mac mini's drives prior to ordering. To do this, open Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility.app and click on the grey drive icon at the left-edge of the window. If you see "Lower" after the "Connection ID" at the bottom-left corner of the window, you may proceed using the standard installation instructions. If you see "Upper" then you have a special configuration which will need additional components, and you will need to also refer to the Addendum video.

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/DIYIMM11D2/

Some users have reported problems with an SSD being the boot drive in the upper bay. They have not reported problems with a HD boot from either bay To avoid the problem I would move the HD (if it is in the lower bay) to the upper bay and install the SSD in the lower bay.

I allocated 64 GB for Win 7 in Parallels abd 4 GB Of 16 installed). You can change them later after you install so it is not that importent what you specify initially.

For TRIM see:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5518372?answerId=23819753022#23819753022

http://www.mactrast.com/2013/11/enable-trim-ssds-os-x-mavericks/

Let's clarify upper and lower bays.

The upper bay is the one where you put the drive in a bracket. You have to disassemble the MM to get to that bracket. The lower bay is the one under the antenna grate. So when you turn the Mini upside down, and remove the round bottom plate, you should see the HDD underneat the antenna grate (lower bay).

I know that the Samsung 840 Pro series SSDs need to be in the lower bay (under the antenna grate). I know this because I had issues using my dual drive kit from iFixit.com. When I used their SATA cable used in the upper bay with the drive bracket, the Samsung had issues. When I swapped bays with the drives and used the Apple SATA cable in the lower bay, the Samsung worked and still works perfectly. So, put the Samsung in the lower bay.

Take your choice since what I have read is not clear that the problem is due to the SATA port used or maybe due to the new SATA cable with the one SATA port,

troy523 wrote:

So are you saying put the SSD in the lower bay (underneath antenna grate) -use the current apple sata connector with the SSD and put the new sata connector (from OWC kit) -on the stock HDD drive?

-also (just to clarify) from what I've read I should enable Trim with samsung pro?

Thanks

Yes to both. I use TRIM Enabler to enable TRIM on my Samsung 840 Pro SSD. I also resized it from 128GB to 119GB and left the free space alone for over-provisioning.

troy523 wrote:

Perfect thank you very much for the help.

To resize the drive was that basically partitioning it?

Sort of but you're not actually going to create a partition out of the free space. You just go into Disk Utility, select your Macintosh HD, and resize by sliding up the bottom right corner until your Macintosh HD reads at least 7% less space. So, for my 128GB drive, I resized it to 119GB. Then you just leave that free space there and do not create a partition out of it.

So are you saying put the SSD in the lower bay (underneath antenna grate) -use the current apple sata connector with the SSD and put the new sata connector (from OWC kit) -on the stock HDD drive?

That would seem to be the right thing to do but I do not know if there are different cables for the different bays and/or SATA connectors on the logic board

Regarding TRIM there does not seem to be a definite answer.

http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/120428/should-i-enable-trim-in-crucial- m500-ssd-over-mavericks