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DIY. What to do after replacing HDD in 2011 Macbook Pro?

I recently purchased a new HDD due to an error message in Disk utitlity. I havent installed it yet becuase I keep on finding confusing instructions online. Can I simply replace the HDD and restore from Time machine back up via USB? I keep on reading blogs about needing to create a USB Flash of OSX, then others are saying that thre is a restore/ rebuilt in time machine already. I am not computer savvy but I would like to try and do this myself.


Thanks,

Jonathan

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.2)

Posted on Apr 13, 2014 8:49 PM

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Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Apr 13, 2014 8:53 PM

Here's what you need to do after you install the new drive:


Install Mavericks, Lion/Mountain Lion Using Internet Recovery


Be sure you backup your files to an external drive or second internal drive because the following procedure will remove everything from the hard drive.


Boot to the Internet Recovery HD:


Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND-OPTION- R keys until a globe appears on the screen. Wait patiently - 15-20 minutes - until the Recovery main menu appears.


Partition and Format the hard drive:


1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.


2. After DU loads select your newly installed hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.


3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed. Quit DU and return to the main menu.


Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion. Mavericks: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion, Mavericks and click on the Install button. Be sure to select the correct drive to use if you have more than one.


Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet

if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.


This should restore the version of OS X originally pre-installed on the computer.


You can restore your data from your backup or by reinstalling from scratch.

2 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Apr 13, 2014 8:53 PM in response to Jonathan979

Here's what you need to do after you install the new drive:


Install Mavericks, Lion/Mountain Lion Using Internet Recovery


Be sure you backup your files to an external drive or second internal drive because the following procedure will remove everything from the hard drive.


Boot to the Internet Recovery HD:


Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND-OPTION- R keys until a globe appears on the screen. Wait patiently - 15-20 minutes - until the Recovery main menu appears.


Partition and Format the hard drive:


1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.


2. After DU loads select your newly installed hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.


3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed. Quit DU and return to the main menu.


Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion. Mavericks: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion, Mavericks and click on the Install button. Be sure to select the correct drive to use if you have more than one.


Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet

if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.


This should restore the version of OS X originally pre-installed on the computer.


You can restore your data from your backup or by reinstalling from scratch.

DIY. What to do after replacing HDD in 2011 Macbook Pro?

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