How do i upgrade macbook air harddrive while keeping the same system?

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How do i upgrade macbook air harddrive while keeping the same system?

I have been tasked with "fixing" a macbook that would not boot. It was having issues as the HDD was completely full.

I moved Downloads and Pictures to a USB stick for about 117MB, rebooted and had errors. Booted into single user mode, the disk was full again, so i deleted the user's ./Library/Cache and cleared virtual memory to save 2 GB. Rebooted without error, cleared Chrome's cache, and now there is about 573 MB free. Trash is empty. Nor are there iTunes backups.

The disk itself is 56GB. There is a 25GB image (single file) for VirtualBox. "du -hc | grep ^...G" produces (sans permission errors):

6.1G /Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents/Versions

6.1G /Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents

6.1G /Applications/Google Chrome.app

1.0G /Applications/iMovie.app/Contents/Frameworks

2.2G /Applications/iMovie.app/Contents

2.2G /Applications/iMovie.app

1.1G /Applications/iPhoto.app/Contents/Resources

1.4G /Applications/iPhoto.app/Contents

1.4G /Applications/iPhoto.app

1.0G /Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/Office

1.2G /Applications/Microsoft Office 2011

14G /Applications

1.4G /Library/Application Support/GarageBand

2.3G /Library/Application Support

6.1G /Library

2.1G /private/var/vm

3.4G /private/var

3.4G /private

3.3G /System/Library

3.3G /System

25G /Users/User/VirtualBox VMs/BMS Remote

25G /Users/User/VirtualBox VMs

25G /Users/User

25G /Users

2.2G /Volumes/NO NAME

2.2G /Volumes

55G /

55G total

/Volumes/No Name is the usb stick.

I do not think the free space will last very long, so i either need to remove files, either to the usb stick or permanently, or upgrade the hard drive.

The current laptop runs a system in their building and must continue as-is for the next 8 or 9 months. No upgrades are allowed. Is it possible to upgrade the hard drive and keep the same system, like by copying and expanding the image? Or perhaps an external hard drive would be better for the VirtualBox image, but i wonder how that would affect performance. Any help would be appreciated.

According to Apple, based on the serial number, it is: MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2012) .It has 4GB of memory and is running OSX 10.9.5.

Mac mini, OS X Mavericks (10.9)

Posted on Nov 15, 2018 3:19 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

chacham Author

Level 1

6 points

Nov 19, 2018 11:35 AM in response to babowa

That page does say it supports the 5,2, i guess i missed it in the list. :-/ It's the 250GB with the kit then. That does seem like a nice option for a nice price.

Thank you for all the help and all the replies. I really do appreciate it.

---

Ugh, i hit solved on my reply instead of yours. How to i fix that?

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Answer 2

chacham Author

Level 1

6 points

Nov 25, 2018 6:08 AM in response to babowa

Customer Service does not open until Monday, so i figured i would at least try it their way (and you said it should probably work anyway).

Would you believe the 1.2 screwdriver does not fit the screw?

User uploaded file

That last one was a bit harder to take, holding the light (camera led on phone), the screwdriver (held in place by the rest of the phone), and the camera itself. I was not quite sure how to show it "not fit".

In any case, it just does not seem to slide in, and when i turn it nothing happens, except the screwdriver slides further away. If the burs were off the niches, i would thinking turning it would make it fall into place.

Does it make sense that something is wrong here, or am i just not using the screwdriver properly?

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Answer 3

babowa

Level 9

78,103 points

Nov 17, 2018 7:15 PM in response to chacham

Macs cannot boot with Master Boot Record - that is for Windows. Macs need the GUID partition scheme to make them bootable.

https://www.macobserver.com/tips/quick-tip/how-to-format-drive-guid/

https://support.apple.com/kb/ph22240?locale=en_US

A CCC clone will clone everything on the "source", but the destination disk itself still needs to be formatted first. A clone has nothing to do with formatting or partitioning - it just copies the contents. So, if the source is 100 GB, the clone will copy 100 GB and then "re-create" that 100 GB on another disk, but that should be formatted first as well.

Exactly what year/model is that device? And, if you highlight the Macintosh HD and hit Command + i, what does the get info window show (totla space/available/used)? I just found a 2008 MBA with a 64 GB drive - first time that I realized there are some that small.

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Answer 4

babowa

Level 9

78,103 points

Nov 17, 2018 7:50 PM in response to chacham

I'm not sure what exactly it is you do not understand, but it may help if you will google "apple disk utility" on that machine. I did that, but I am running the latest OS version and cannot pull up anything that would be appropriate for the old OS.

Here is some info - ignore the top part of APFS, that is only applicable with the latest OS version.

https://support.apple.com/guide/disk-utility/file-system-formats-available-in-di sk-utility-dsku19ed921c/mac

And this is the best thing I could find for old Disk Utility versions:

https://computers.tutsplus.com/tutorials/what-is-disk-utility-the-complete-begin ners-guide--mac-27965

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Answer 5

DonH49

Level 6

16,704 points

Nov 15, 2018 8:03 PM in response to chacham

you could go to OWC.com and purchase one of their kits. Do the swap of the drives , I'm assuming an SSD to be swapped. Place it in their externals and when you do the macOS install have it connected and migrate all over to the new drive.

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Answer 6

chacham Author

Level 1

6 points

Nov 16, 2018 9:00 AM in response to DonH49

Is it possible to keep the same OS exactly as is? That is, get the new drive and move the image over to it. Then, either expand the image, or partition the disk to mount a second filesystem with the rest of the space.

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Answer 7

dwb

Level 7

32,920 points

Nov 16, 2018 7:56 AM in response to chacham

OWC sells an upgrade kit that includes an external enclosure for the original drive. My 2 favorite programs for cloning the contents of one drive to another are CarbonCopyCloner and SuperDuper! - for simply cloning SD! is free. So download your cloning software. Install the new drive (OWC also has excellent video instructions for doing the installation) put the original drive in the enclosure. After the restart (safe mode is okay) run the clone software.

Be prepared to enter the serial numbers for the software.

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Answer 8

chacham Author

Level 1

6 points

Nov 16, 2018 9:02 AM in response to dwb

So, that sounds like what i need. A couple questions though.

1) If i clone the drive, do i need to partition the extra space on the new drive?

2) If the software is free, why do i need a serial number?

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Answer 9

dwb

Level 7

32,920 points

Nov 16, 2018 9:24 AM in response to chacham

Doesn’t matter that the new drive is larger But that does remind me of something. if you use carbon copy clover be sure to use the option do install the recovery partition. If you use SD! Install the OS on the new drive first so the recovery partition is created. Unless SD! Has changed recently it lacks this option

when I referred to serial numbers I meant the installed programs. Many (most?) know they aren’t on the original drive and require reserializing.

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Answer 10

Nov 16, 2018 12:55 PM in response to chacham

I replaced the drive in that exact model (well 8GB) using the Transcend JetDrive 520 that I ordered off Amazon. It came with the tools and instructions necessary to replace the drive, plus an external housing to use to mirror the drive (I used Carbon Copy Cloner, sold separately, for that).

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Answer 11

Nov 16, 2018 1:49 PM in response to chacham

My only caution is this notebook (MacBook Air 2012) may not be supported in the next OS release. I also have a MacBook Air 2011 model that was dropped by Mojave. My guess is the 2012 model will be dropped around this time next year, but it is just a guess. If you are happy running an older OS, then I imagine you could easily get at least a couple more years of productivity out of it.

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Answer 12

chacham Author

Level 1

6 points

Nov 17, 2018 5:13 PM in response to gregorytucker

The client is only using the laptop for another 8 or 9 months, so, that is not an issue.

The drive you linked to is 240 GB. They do not need that much. 100GB should be more than fine (double the space currently had). Do you like that one specifically, or, is the brand special, or what? Can you explain please. I want to make a good decision, so a first hand report about this very model is very welcome. I seriously appreciate it.

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Answer 13

chacham Author

Level 1

6 points

Nov 17, 2018 5:15 PM in response to dwb

> if you use carbon copy clover be sure to use the option do install the recovery partition. If you use SD! Install the OS on the new drive first so the recovery partition is created.

Which of those do you prefer? Cost should not be an impediment if one does it better, or there is less room to mess up.

Please help me by explaining "Install the OS on the new drive first so the recovery partition is created" a little more. I've never done this before and am not familiar with all the terms in this particular context.

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Answer 14

chacham Author

Level 1

6 points

Nov 17, 2018 6:08 PM in response to dwb

Unless i hear otherwise, reinstall is not an option here. They simply want reanimation of what died .🙂

If a virtual machine (VirtualBox) would run fine via USB, i'd move the 25GB image there and all would be well. The hdd option is only because i assume that isn't an option. (Correct me if i'm wrong!)

How do i get CCC? Is it in the app store under another name?

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Answer 15

babowa

Level 9

78,103 points

Nov 17, 2018 6:13 PM in response to chacham

If you buy a new drive, install it in the temporary external enclosure, plug it into the Mac, and format it correctly, you can then clone the entire internal drive to it using CCC or SuperDuper. When done, unplug it and turn it off. Shut down Mac and uninstall hard drive, replacing it with the new drive. Since that already has the entire system on it, no need for anything except to boot up with it. And you are all done. You can install the old drive into the external enclosure and keep it as a backup disk.

As for size, I would not get anything less than 240 GB.

To get CCC, go here

Mac Backup Software | Carbon Copy Cloner | Bombich Software

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How do i upgrade macbook air harddrive while keeping the same system?

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