Replacing HDD in Macbook

[Cams]

I just got the 320 GB Western Digital Passport after running out of space on my 80 gig Macbook. I also got Leopard and am wondering what I should do.

Should I

a) clone the existing drive (which includes Parallels and XP) to the new drive, swap them over and then upgrade to Leopard

b) Put the new drive in, do a fresh install of Leopard and then start from scratch with Parallels and XP

c) As B but somehow copy the VM across (not sure if that can be done).

d) Something else entirely

At the moment I'm using XP so that I can run my accounting software (MS Accounting 2008) and am saving the datafile in the Mac side using shared folders. Would it be a better bet to have a FAT32 partition for this kind of thing, i.e. would it give me better performance?

thanks
Cams

 

[GfulDedFan]

Hey Cams -

Here are some pretty good instructions for the operation: How to Upgrade Your MacBook's Hard Drive

The cloning will also take care of your Parallels virtual drive. But, if you have Bootcamp, I'm not sure at all because I've never used it.

When it mentions using SuperDuper!, you can use the free/trial version for this operation without making the purchase.

As you can see, this method includes the use of using an external HD. If you don't have one, I suggest strongly thinking about getting one to use for backups. Backups are handled nicely with Leopard's Time Machine but you may want to NOT include the Parallel's virtual drive in the Time Machine backup because it will eat up your backup drive space quickly.

I would get all of the hard drive switching and then do the Leopard upgrade.

Hope this helps, post back if you're confused. -GDF

 

[krye]

Check out my website. I have a full run down on how to do it. I went from 80G to 160G and it went flawlessly...

http://web.mac.com/ryemac3/RyeMAC3/Welcome/Entries/2007/11/1_MacBook_Updates.html

 

[Cams]

Thanks folks. I got the drive installed last night after copying it over with Carbon Copy Cloner and it seems to be working just fine. Now I can start filling it up!

 

[GfulDedFan]

Good to here Cams....enjoy

 

[orpheus1120]

Hmm... I have an alternative, not sure if this will work?

1) Fire up the macbook, and insert the OS dvd.
2) Shut down the macbook, but don't remove the OS dvd.
3) Swap out the old hard drive with the new one.
4) Fire up the macbook again, and press "C" to boot from OS dvd.
5) Run Disk Utility from OS dvd to format the new hard drive.
6) Install Leopard.

Will this work?