KOB74

Q: How to change revert back to SSD from HDD?

My mcbook pro comes with the original 500GB HDD. When it ran with a problem I went to an apple repair shop. Problem was in the graphics and he suggested the HDD to be replaced by a 120GB SDD. So it was replaced but the guy left the HDD as an storage. Time comes when the SDD is left with small space and when I upgrade from OS X El Capitan to OS Sierra, it had to be installed in HDD drive. Could someone please give directions on to install the new OS to the SDD with out losing all my data and current configuration and is it also possible to install windows 10 and XP in the HDD.  By the way I had Windows 10 and XP shared with the SDD via parallels. Thank you

MacBook Pro, macOS Sierra (10.12), null

Posted on Oct 6, 2016 7:41 PM

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Q: How to change revert back to SSD from HDD?

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  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Oct 6, 2016 7:53 PM in response to KOB74
    Level 10 (271,691 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 6, 2016 7:53 PM in response to KOB74

    I think this may be helpful to you:

     

    How to use an SSD with your HDD

     

     

     

    If you are going to use an SSD as a boot drive together with your existing HDD as the "data" drive, here's what you can do.

     

     

     

    After installing the SSD you will need to partition and format the SSD using Disk Utility. Then, install OS X on the SSD. After OS X has been installed boot from the SSD. Use Startup Disk preferences to set the SSD as the startup volume.

     

     

     

    Open Users & Groups preferences. Click on the lock icon and authenticate. CTRL- or RIGHT-click on your user account listing in the sidebar and select Advanced Options from the context menu. You will see a field labeled "Home dir:" At the right end you will see a Change button. Click on it. In the file dialog locate the Home folder now located on the HDD (HDD/Users/account_name/.) Select the folder, click on Open button. Restart the computer as directed. When the computer boots up it will now be using the Home folder located on the HDD.

     

     

     

    Another more technical method involving the Terminal and aliases is discussed in depth here: Using OS X with an SSD plus HDD setup - Matt Gemmell. This is my preferred approach because I can select which of the Home's folders I want on the HDD and which I don't want. For example, I like to keep the Documents and Library folders on the SSD because I access their content frequently.

     

     

     

    Be sure you retain the fully bootable system on your HDD in case you ever need it.

  • by KOB74,

    KOB74 KOB74 Oct 6, 2016 10:03 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 6, 2016 10:03 PM in response to Kappy

    Hi Kappy.. Thank you for the prompt reply. Is it possible to install windows 10 and xp from the sad to hdd "data". I want os Sierra in the sdd and windows to be in hdd.

  • by Kappy,Helpful

    Kappy Kappy Oct 7, 2016 6:12 PM in response to KOB74
    Level 10 (271,691 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 7, 2016 6:12 PM in response to KOB74

    You can install only one version of Windows - Win 10. XP is not supported via Boot Camp. Windows needs to be installed on an internal disk, so I think you can install it on the internal HDD. If you need to use both Win 10 and XP, then you would be better off using Parallels to create two VMs. A VM's pseudo disk can exist anywhere including on the HDD or even an external disk.