Early 2009 iMac SSD upgrade question

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Level 1

4 points

Early 2009 iMac SSD upgrade question

So I have an early 2009 iMac 24". I would like to upgrade to a SSD and 16 ram. My computer is running OS X El Capitan and I performed a Time Machine back up on that OS. I still have my Snow Leopard discs and was wondering if after HD upgrade I can re-install Snow Leolard then update to El Capitan to sync with Time Capsule? It's my understanding you need to be running the same OS as the Time Machine back up?? BTW. This is more of a preemptive upgrade. My computer is still fully functional but getting very slow so if there is an better way to do this that would great info.

Thanks

iMac, Mac OS X (10.5.6)

Posted on Mar 5, 2018 2:48 PM

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Answer 1

den.thed

Level 9

77,098 points

Mar 6, 2018 8:27 AM in response to Beau08

woodmeister50 is spot on.

Make sure that you use a SATA II 3G SSD or a SATA III 6G SSD that is backwards compatible to SATA II 3G.

see > Hard Disk will not boot internally.

In that case the OP was upgrading a 2009 Mac Mini, but the same holds true for your Early 2009 iMac that has a SATA II 3G drive interface.

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Answer 2

macjack

Level 10

111,168 points

Mar 5, 2018 2:52 PM in response to Beau08

Before you go to the trouble of a clean install please download and run EtreCheck, created by one of own colleagues here in ASC. It is a diagnostic tool that's very useful to us in finding problems. Also it will give us further specs on your Mac. After it runs post the log file here. It will contain no personal information.

Just being an older Mac does not in itself mean it should be slowing down.

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Answer 3

macjack

Level 10

111,168 points

Mar 5, 2018 3:06 PM in response to Beau08

Your plan is good. After you've finished, connect your TM drive and choose to "inherit Time Machine backup". But be careful, because you may migrate back any of the problems that are making it slow.

If it were me, I'd rather make a clone and then be able to selectively drag & drop the files I was sure were not problematic. You can use a cloning software like SuperDuper! or CarbonCopy Cloner.

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Answer 4

Mar 6, 2018 5:14 AM in response to Beau08

One major issue to note, that iMac uses a 2G SATA interface. Although

3G SSDs are supposed to be backward compatible, not all are in practice.

Be very sure that the desired SSD will be compatible otherwise it could mean

a whole lot of work and frustration.

OWC will have drives that will definitely be compatible (they test them).

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Answer 5

Beau08 Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 5, 2018 2:59 PM in response to macjack

Thank you for your response however a clean install is what I am after. This going to become a spare computer after we purchase a new one shortly and just want a clean fast computer.

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Early 2009 iMac SSD upgrade question

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