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Mid 2009 Model A1278 / 2.26 or 2.53 GHz Core 2 Duo processor EMC 2326

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Can you review my SSD Install Game Plan before I dive in?

I’m installing an SSD in my mid 2009 MBP running El Cap. I purchased the WD Blue 3D NAND (2.5”/7mm).

Here’s my gameplan—-would you mind taking a look before I dive in? I’d rather ask now before I junk something up. Thanks!

  1. Back up old drive via Time Machine / ext drive.
  2. Download clean copy of El Cap, save to ext HD in a separate folder (as back up in case internet restore does not work).
  3. Power down machine, replace old HD w/SSD.
  4. Power up, attempt internet restore of El Cap; boot OS from ext drive if needed.
  5. Restore data via time machine.
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To start off with, you have a drive that is not backward compatible to SATA II. See my question on this here:

Is a 2.5" WD Blue 3D NAND SSD backward Compatible

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Thanks for the quick reply. Was able to find the right one at a nearby BestBuy before they close, you just saved my weekend project.

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See if you can download El Capitain before you start so you can load it from your external boot up drive.

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Done, it's on the ext drive. So the idea is I start the machine, boot OS from the ext drive, then do the time machine restore...or do I need to re-install El Cap to the new drive first?

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There best way is to create a bootable USB thumb drive OS installer following this guide: How to make a bootable OS X 10.11 El Capitan installer drive and use this image file How to upgrade to OS X El Capitan as Apple messed up the certificates in the older versions of the installer If you've got an old macOS install image, it will probably stop working today

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Use Disk Utility to format the new internal drive before trying to install your system.

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