Swapping data between computers

Anonymous
Anonymous Posts: 79,666
edited December 2014 in The cake stop
I have 2 macbook laptops. One is 250GB and the other is 150GB (I think, maybe 250GB) and I want to swap the contents between them.

So all the data from one to the other and simultaneously swap all the data from the other to the one.

Do i need 2x 250GB hard drives for this or can I get away with 1x 500?

Thanks

Comments

  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,495
    Probably a stupid question -

    Why not simply switch hard drives?
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,666
    I think the smaller one is SSD which may explain its smaller size, so could there be compatibility issues?

    Also, having dismanted a macbook once before, I don't want to do it again.
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,495
    coriordan wrote:
    I think the smaller one is SSD which may explain its smaller size, so could there be compatibility issues?

    Also, having dismanted a macbook once before, I don't want to do it again.
    Which will be why I got one of the last 17". Easy to change out the hard drives, better with a new SSD, and that screen.
    Anyway, it will depend on how full your existing hard drives are but I think using Time Machine on the 500Gb HD for both machines, a clean up & a restore from Time Machine would work.
    You could simply copy & drop but I find letting Time Machine do it means I can get on with other stuff while it is running instead.
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,666
    These are both 13" 2008-2009 era pros. One is the 2008 Black one (before they went pro) and the other is a silver 2008/09 Pro.

    Think I will do the time machine restore as I don't want to miss something using drag and drop. Will it happily hold 2 backups on 1 HD?
  • RideOnTime
    RideOnTime Posts: 4,712
    Don't you need to spin round three times and hold your nose first.

    Switch them off switch them on... done...
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,495
    coriordan wrote:
    Think I will do the time machine restore as I don't want to miss something using drag and drop. Will it happily hold 2 backups on 1 HD?
    They should both fit on a 500Gb drive if it is a max of 250Gb + 150Gb = 400Gb.
    But I would do the larger copy first to leave you the last 250Gb space to transfer the 150Gb to.
    If you do it that way, you can always check the available space before anything is lost.
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,666
    I know one has c. 40GB and the other about 100GB free so 500GB will be plenty. I just didnt realise you could hold 2 distinct backups from different machines on 1 HD.
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,495
    coriordan wrote:
    I know one has c. 40GB and the other about 100GB free so 500GB will be plenty. I just didnt realise you could hold 2 distinct backups from different machines on 1 HD.
    Just ensure that they have different file names, and ones you can identify which is which when it comes to restoring.
    I am assuming that you have administrator rights

    Lots of accurate information here - http://support.apple.com/en-us/ht5872

    Beware that FileVault needs double the space to operate if you were thinking of using that. If so, do the swap without FileVault, then use it when finished if you have the space.
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • VTech
    VTech Posts: 4,736
    On a mac, use airdrop.
    Swapping to SSD why not buy a time capsule ? 2tb for around a £100 and job done.
    Living MY dream.
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,495
    VTech wrote:
    On a mac, use airdrop.
    Swapping to SSD why not buy a time capsule ? 2tb for around a £100 and job done.
    Transfer @ 260Gb over Airdrop?
    I acknowledge the possibility.
    I admire your trust and confidence.
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • VTech
    VTech Posts: 4,736
    PBlakeney wrote:
    VTech wrote:
    On a mac, use airdrop.
    Swapping to SSD why not buy a time capsule ? 2tb for around a £100 and job done.
    Transfer @ 260Gb over Airdrop?
    I acknowledge the possibility.
    I admire your trust and confidence.

    Mac has an awesome connection so that size could be done overnight but as I said, get a time machine and do it in an hour. Gives the highest level of backup security and is relatively cheap.
    Living MY dream.
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,495
    VTech wrote:
    Mac has an awesome connection so that size could be done overnight but as I said, get a time machine and do it in an hour. Gives the highest level of backup security and is relatively cheap.
    Taking us back to post #4. :wink:
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • VTech
    VTech Posts: 4,736
    PBlakeney wrote:
    VTech wrote:
    Mac has an awesome connection so that size could be done overnight but as I said, get a time machine and do it in an hour. Gives the highest level of backup security and is relatively cheap.
    Taking us back to post #4. :wink:


    I was just driving the point home to him my good man ;)
    Living MY dream.
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,495
    I just had a thought.
    Your hard drives are probably 256Gb with 100Gb free & 160Gb with 40Gb free.

    Do you really want to try fitting 156Gb on to a 160Gb hard drive?

    Possible in theory but not recommended if you want to use the Macbook for anything.

    It would be impossible if the 256Gb disc only has 40Gb free meaning you have 216Gb on there.
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,666
    Good point. Is it possible to just switch them over? I am guessing that the smaller one is SSD as it's on the newer machine, is there a compatibility issue?
  • team47b
    team47b Posts: 6,425
    Use time machine and buy a 1 terabyte hard drive to back everything up (regularly) then restore the files you need to the correct machine, free up a lotta space by putting your porn collection on a USB pen :D
    my isetta is a 300cc bike
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,666
    Noone has a porn collection these days....
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,495
    coriordan wrote:
    Good point. Is it possible to just switch them over? I am guessing that the smaller one is SSD as it's on the newer machine, is there a compatibility issue?
    I had a shop install a new SSD into my Macbook Pro.
    The old drive was then wiped and put back in place of the DVD drive to give extra storage.
    That worked very well for me, but I didn't do it. There are videos on Youtube though and I doubt it is difficult for someone with a basic proficiency.
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.

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