How do I re-image a hard drive?

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Level 1

7 points

How do I re-image a hard drive?

I've got a MacBook Pro 13" here that I'd like to slip a SSD into.

Last time I tried to monkey with a MacBook Pro, I discovered that there's a recovery partition that does stuff (like recovery tools if Internet Recovery isn't available). Installing a new hard drive will mean this needs to be re-installed, and it wasn't obvious to me how to set that up.

How do I go about doing a bare metal restore / image of a MacBook Pro drive? I don't want to do a block-level copy from one drive to another (other drive is busted), I just want to re-image a new drive with a factory set of tools and partitions.

Help? Microsoft have a recovery image page (https://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/support/warranty-service-and-recovery/do wnloadablerecoveryimage) for their Surface line, but I can't find something similar for Apple's MacBook Pro range.

Posted on Apr 28, 2016 4:00 PM

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Answer 1

ManSinha

Level 6

12,171 points

Apr 28, 2016 4:58 PM in response to Morbific

Create a bootable installer for OS X - Apple Support

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Answer 2

Apr 28, 2016 5:05 PM in response to Morbific

The model / year would be helpful.

i.e. mine is 13" MacBook Pro Early 2011.

You can find this under about this mac from the top menu.

Kim

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Answer 3

Apr 28, 2016 5:38 PM in response to Morbific

Hi Morbific:

I upgraded my Early 2011 13 inch Macbook Pro using a Samsung 850 EVO 500 GB SSD and I have seen a dramatic speed increase.

OWC is a good place to go for upgrading your Macbook Pro.

OWC SSD's: OWC SSD's

Once you decide on an SSD, I suggest that you install it in an enclosure OWC external case or using a USB to SATA adapter USB to SATA adapter and connect it to your MBP via USB.

Open Disk Utility>Erase and format the SSD to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and a GUID partition.

Then use a third party application such as Carbon Copy Cloner Carbon Copy Cloner (Not free, but worth the price) or Super Duper to copy all data from the internal HDD as well as the recovery partition.

The clone will be a exact copy of your hard drive and it will be bootable.

Boot the MBP with the OPTION key (Startup Manager) and select the new SSD. How to choose a startup disk on your Mac

If it boots the MBP, perform the physical swap of drives.

Hope this helps,

Kim

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Answer 4

Morbific Author

Level 1

7 points

Apr 29, 2016 2:01 PM in response to KimUserName

The model / year would be helpful.

It's a June 2012 MacBook Pro 13".

Then use a third party application such as Carbon Copy Cloner Carbon Copy Cloner (Not free, but worth the price) or Super Duper to copy all data from the internal HDD as well as the recovery partition.

I don't want to do this route - the existing drive is a toaster. Need a method that doesn't assume a working good drive already.

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Answer 5

Morbific Author

Level 1

7 points

Apr 29, 2016 1:59 PM in response to ManSinha

ManSinha wrote:

Create a bootable installer for OS X - Apple Support

Thanks. So ... I use this to create an installer on a USB drive, and then that will allow me to boot and set up a new drive?

I'm not clear from the article how post using this the thing would set up the e.g. Recovery partitions on the new drive etc. Is that automatic when it sees a fresh drive?

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