Q: Clone HD on SSD (Imac mid 2011)
Hi, I have an iMac mid 2011 with 1 TB hard disk and I'm going to install a 1 TB SSD as a second drive. I think I will clone the HD on the SSD with Carbon Copy Cloner. My question is: Can I make the clone-operation after installing the SSD inside the iMac to speed up the process or I have to clone the HD before opening the iMac, with the SSD connected via USB? I have only 2.0 USB, I think is going to be very slow in this way... Thank you, Francesco
iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6)
Posted on Sep 21, 2016 4:53 PM
Install the SSD internally if that is your plan. Boot the computer from the HDD, then use Disk Utility to partition and format the SSD as follows:
Clone El Capitan to a New Disk
- Restart the computer. Immediately after the chime hold down the Command--R keys until the Apple logo and progress bar appear.
- When the Utility Menu appears select Disk Utility and click on the Continue button.
- When Disk Utility loads select the SSD (usually, the out-dented entry) from the side list.
- Click on the Partition tab in Disk Utility's main window. A panel will drop down.
- Set the partition scheme to GUID.
- Set the Format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.)
- Click on the Apply button, then click on the Done button when it activates.
- Select the new SSD, then select Restore from the Disk Utility's Edit menu.
- From the dropdown menu select the volume you want to clone - your HDD.
- Click on the Apply button to start the process.
This may take a long time depending on how much data are being transferred. Disk Utility will also automatically clone the Recovery HD from the HDD to the SSD.
Posted on Sep 22, 2016 9:52 PM