Resolved Two issues: missing installation disks, and external HDD questions

[Patrick946]

Hello all,

Currently I own a Black Core Duo Macbook that I bought used off of Craigslist about two years ago. I'm planning to sell it and buy a base 11" macbook air. I have two questions that I haven't been able to find answers to:

1) The person who sold me the macbook had lost the installation CDs. In order to get it in salable condition, I want to wipe the hard drive and install a fresh version of OS X Leopard. Is there a way to do this without the installations CDs and without having to buy Snow Leopard? I will have at my disposal: the black macbook w/ CD burner, the MBA, a 2GB flash drive, and a 500 GB external hard drive.

2) Since the macbook air only has a 64 GB hard drive, I'm planning to keep most of my media on the external 500GB hard drive. I've never used the external drive for anything aside from backing up time machine (in a 200GB partition), and I want to know how an external drive functions on a day to day basis. I'll be keeping pictures, music and movies on the external drive. What happens when I unplug the drive? Can I keep a small selection of songs/movies/pictures on the air for when I'm away from my desk?

Thanks!

 

[GGJstudios]

1) The person who sold me the macbook had lost the installation CDs. In order to get it in salable condition, I want to wipe the hard drive and install a fresh version of OS X Leopard. Is there a way to do this without the installations CDs and without having to buy Snow Leopard? I will have at my disposal: the black macbook w/ CD burner, the MBA, a 2GB flash drive, and a 500 GB external hard drive.

You can call Apple to order replacement install disks. You can't use install disks from another Mac because they're model-specific. Either order the install disks or buy a retail copy of SL.

2) Since the macbook air only has a 64 GB hard drive, I'm planning to keep most of my media on the external 500GB hard drive. I've never used the external drive for anything aside from backing up time machine (in a 200GB partition), and I want to know how an external drive functions on a day to day basis. I'll be keeping pictures, music and movies on the external drive. What happens when I unplug the drive? Can I keep a small selection of songs/movies/pictures on the air for when I'm away from my desk?

Yes, you can store anything you like on your Mac or on the external drive. Naturally, when the external isn't connected, you won't have access to anything stored on it.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

You can call Apple to order replacement install disks. You can't use install disks from another Mac because they're model-specific. Either order the install disks or buy a retail copy of SL.

Also, replacement install discs from Apple aren't free - but the fee they charge is small.

 

[GGJstudios]

Also, replacement install discs from Apple aren't free - but the fee they charge is small.

Yes, I think they're something like $20, give or take.

 

[Patrick946]

Thanks for the quick responses! I'll order the replacement disks ASAP.

Aside from having to be attached to the drive to access data, are there any downsides to using an external drive? Also, will iTunes/iPhoto allow me to split my media between two drives so that some of it is accessible on the go?

 

[GGJstudios]

Aside from having to be attached to the drive to access data, are there any downsides to using an external drive?

No.

Also, will iTunes/iPhoto allow me to split my media between two drives so that some of it is accessible on the go?

Yes: Pulling media from two sources?

 

[Patrick946]

Wonderful, that's exactly what I wanted to know. Thanks for the help!