Cloning my Mac Mini to a smaller SSD drive

I have a Mac Mini end-2011. Inside is a 'spinning' hard drive 500 GB. I also have a Samsung SSD 128 GB 850 vacuum EVO. I would use disk utility on these video instructions to transfer all the data from the original HD of the SSD.

All instructions have been followed and that the whole system works very well, except the error at the end until the copying/cloning actually starts. During its installation phase, once launched, the disk utility application tells me that there is an error related to the size of the source drive that can not be copied in the targeted SSD.

While I realize that the size IS an issue, the content of my original HD is limited to 29 GB. So copy everything should be easy, and I thought it would be handled by the app.

SO: can I shrink the partition size of the original HD in the same size as the target SSD? It would work properly? If Yes, where can I find instructions to do this?

Alternatively, did I miss an option somewhere in my set up the restore function? There is an option somewhere that I may have missed?

(More in detail: when you select the source for restore partition, I chose the WHOLE - not the partition drive included.) This is maybe what is causing the problem? If I had chosen the included score only, this would work immediately and disk utility would have taken into account the size of the empty space, would have narrowed it down as a result of automatic way?)

If you use the restoredisk utility, your Destination drive (128 GB SSD) must be the same size as your Source (500 GB) drive or equal size. I don't have not divide a disk HARD grand in separate partitions, then try to do the restore. You can try this if you want.

So, you're the best alternative in my view is to initiate your HD Recovery from the HARD disk and reinstall OS X El Capitan on your SSD. During the installation, and then migrate your user accounts, applications, data, the parameters of your 500 GB drive.

You can also use Carbon Copy clone or SuperDuper! to clone your disk to your SSD assuming that your HARD drive will not fill to the top of your SSD during cloning. Then, you always have to reinstall OS X El Capitan to write your Recovery HD on the SSD.

Tags: Mac

Similar Questions

  • install on mac mini end of 2014 SSDS

    I want to install an ssd on my new ram of 4 GB of mac mini end of 2014 500 GB hd

    is not possible to upgrade the ram 8 GB is ssd and solution to speed up

    but I would like to know if this is possible without losing the garancy

    I bought it in November 2015.

    Thank you

    If you don't damage anything and if the problem and you want to apply for coverage yo I put back the original HD.

    However, if they find evidence that yo took aside your warranty would be cancelled.

  • Mac mini as a media server connected to the hi-fi amplifier

    Hello

    I am considering a Mac Mini to replace my old Lacie Cinema player as my media center. It will be connected to television and, ideally, analog hi-fi amplifier for sound.

    Here are my questions and special needs:

    -want to browse my music library and control the Mac through my iPad or iPhone. Don't want to use the keyboard or the physical remote. Do something like plex installed on ipad control files that reside on the Mac mini (or external hard drive connected to the Mac Mini)?

    -as my amp is analog (with RCA plugs) I guess I have to convert the RCA plugs to the digital amplifier. A Mini Mac USB RCA DAC exist?

    I think that's it! Thanks for any help.

    marcospt wrote:

    Hello

    I am considering a Mac Mini to replace my old Lacie Cinema player as my media center. It will be connected to television and, ideally, analog hi-fi amplifier for sound.

    The Mac Mini are very small computers.

    (for me, it almost seems like a waste to use as only a media center. I use my media center and an office at the same time)

    -want to browse my music library and control the Mac through my iPad or iPhone. Don't want to use the keyboard or the physical remote. Do something like plex installed on ipad control files that reside on the Mac mini (or external hard drive connected to the Mac Mini)?

    Not sure about this one. I am a user of office and control my media from there.

    -as my amp is analog (with RCA plugs) I guess I have to convert the RCA plugs to the digital amplifier.

    Everything you need for an analog RCA connection is a stereo 3.5 mm to RCA cable.

    example > http://www.amazon.com/Dynex-Mini-Stereo-Audio-Cable

  • How can I access my mac mini to my iMac 2008 or earlier

    I have an iMac 2008 and I want to use my older mac mini as an external hard drive. How do I access my files, what kind of cable should I?

    You need a FireWire cable. Start the Mac mini with the T key.

    (142608)

  • External Drive Icon does not display desktop Mac Mini

    I have a Mac Mini with two connected external drives (2 Tera) and (3 Tera). Yesterday, Tera 2 icon disappeared and when I restarted the icon for Tera 3 missing but the 2 tear icon showed. Now when I restart now that one or the other icon. I tried different ports of switching them but get the same thing.

    They both show as attached and working in my disk utility and "about this Mac" and storage devices.

    I have the "external Drives" checked in the Finder preferences also.

    How can I fix?

    An important question, "what event immediately prior to the onset of problems with PCMCIA? Nothing - update/update software, new/modify any peripheral (s), anything in the environment (move anything?) = NOTHING?

  • not enough options for the SSD drives?

    I intend to buy a desktop XPS 8700 special edition. I am disappointed that it doesn't give options for this model - for hard drives, only "2 TB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive 6.0 Gb/s + 256 GB SSD"-which is obviously a good combination, but for me, I think that a smaller SSD drive would be nice. "" Otherwise, I like the rest of the system. A friend who built his own PC says it has installed an SSD of 128 G and it is sufficiently large with Win8, MS Office, Photoshop and other large programs installed.

    So it of just a comment, is not a problem, but I hope that Dell would offer more options, including a drive to 3 or 4. A Dell technician suggested going to road work stations - but when I looked there, I was a little confused on the readers - workstations all seem to have several readers, probably for Raid configurations, which is something over my head and on my needs.

    Or is it a good idea to have a lot of free space on the SSD drive?

    Hi Hellogoodby,

    Thanks for your comments. It isn't that much of a difference in cost between the 128 GB and 256 GB SSD. Dell is probably buying in bulk from the right and customer demand now, most people want 256 GB or more. You are absolutely right that 128 GB is plenty for the OS and applications. I have a 250 GB Samsung Evo and have used less than 50 GB for the operating system, office and all my other apps.

  • Issue of Mac Mini 2014 SSD

    I'm not too familiar with the configuration of current storage of the Mac Mini. If the reader of the merger is not a true merger but combines a PCIe m2 with a HARD drive. However, I would like to know if buy you one that comes with a PCIe SSD out of the factory, will there still be a SATA port to add a spare hard drive?

    Yes, the logic board of 2014 has two connections. One for the PCIe and the other for a 2.5 "HDD or SSD.

    See > https://www.ifixit.com/Device/Mac_Mini_Late_2014

    If I had to shine up to a 2014, I'd go with the Fusion model.

    Why, because

    1. the only model of HARD drive won't have a PCIe cable and support.

    2. the single PCIe model won't have a SATA cable, and maybe not a disc tray.

  • Apple made a smaller Mac mini?

    Apple made a smaller Mac mini?

    We won't know until it is announced. Even if someone here did not know, they could not discuss it because of the NDA

  • Cloning of a Mac mini with application Server

    We bought a condo in Florida and I want to my server it doubles. I use Mac mini (2 different models) with 2 drives external (one for Time Machine backups) and one for data.

    What is the best way to install the Apple Server on Florida related to the Mac mini so I don't have to install it from scratch?

    Yesterday I tried (in vain) to use the Migration Wizard to move all of my Mac mini to the Florida-bound one. Can I use 3rd party app "Carbon Copy Cloner" instead?

    Any recommendations on how to configure the 2nd server would be appreciated.

    The replication server is a relatively trivial process and can be accomplished by using disk utility.  However, the source drive and the destination drive should not be active at the time of cloning.  For example, you have Master Mini and you want to be replicated on Mini replica.  The best way to do it with the included tools must start Master Mini from another disk that contains an operating system to start.  Then start the Mini replica in target disk mode and connect it to the Mini Master (already started from another drive).  Disk utility to clone the Master disk on the drive of replica.

    Ah, but cloning is the easy part.  The question I have for you is that you really want an exact replica?  The reason why I ask, is that your current server should have a name and a fully qualified domain name.  It's server.pauljohnson.com and it has a 10.0.0.10 IP address.  If you clone the device to another Mac, there will also be a name of server.pauljohnson.com and it has a 10.0.0.10 IP.  If two of your networks are configured on the 10.0.0.0/24 subnet then you won't be able to connect to each other.  Similarly, if you depend on external access to devices and must comply with DNS, then you can only point to one of the servers, unless you have a form of installation program to distribute the load between the two locations of load balancing.

    What services run you on the servers other than the Server Time Machine?  Do you intend to have a VPN tunnel between the two institutions?  If you use Open Directory, and DNS, you can configure master and replicas of the two services.  Of course, this should only be done with a tunnel VPN in place I would not recommend exposing these services to the internet.

    Then await you replicate data also?

    Start with a list of services and a list of expectations about how you want client machines work when moving from one place to another.

    Reid

    Apple Consultants Network

    Author - "El Capitan Server - Foundation Services.

    Author - "El Capitan Server - Collaboration & control»

    Author - "El Capitan Server - Advanced Services '.

    : IBooks exclusively available in Apple store

  • I want to add that an SSD for my mac mini end of 2012... do that one to get... any ideas

    I have a mac mini end of 2012... I want to add an SSD drive to... but do not know which one to get... all ideas

    A well regarded source: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/SSD/OWC/Mercury_6G/

    Make sure you check the correct model with them via the coordinates in the upper part of the binding.

  • Mac Mini end of 2014 vs SSD Ram

    Hey guys, I just bought the Mac Mini end of 2014. Maybe I should blame myself for not doing some research that I have a model end of 2012 before that. I used to increase the ram myself whenever I need it, it was easy-peasy. So I bought the 2014 version, thinking that it will be the same. But no, the ram is welded on and there is no way that I can upgrade. The mac was bought to an APR, his return is not possible according to the policy of the store.

    I understand that if the RAM is not enough, the operating system will use hard disk space instead. So what I intend is to upgrade the HDD to the SSD, I have made the my previous Mac Mini. Just so that it allows to speed up the process and minimize the crash.

    Question, this will help solve the problem of ram? Nor can do anything and that's it?

    Yes a SSD will improve performance, and partially make up for not enough RAM. However, how well that depends on what applications run you. Some applications are memory intensive and may not show as much improvement

  • Issue of Mac Mini Late 2012 SSD

    I have a Mac Mini with SSD and have updated to El Capitan, and now can't find or use the SSD. I can see it in the system, but it does not appear in public services or storage device... I fear that this could mean that the drive has failed.

    See below settings-any tips on how to get this SSD in action thanks Ian

    You have a Fusion drive. Which combines the SSD with a HD spin frequently used files are placed on the SSD for quick access.

    If you want to split

    http://www.Macworld.com/article/2015664/how-to-split-up-a-fusion-drive.html

  • Can I change HD SSD in my end of 2014 Mac Mini?

    I just bought a Mac Mini (2.6/8/1TB) 2014 end and love it so far. I have a spare Samsung 500 GB SSD (Samsung SSD 840 EVO) that I don't use and I was curious if readers could be exchanged, or better still if the Mac Mini I would be compatible 2 discs? I'd do the boot drive SSD and drive the data reader to say existing 1 TB.

    I would need to bring it in a place (MicroCenter, Best Buy, etc.) to make it happen as I'm not comfortable to perform this type of upgrade on an Apple product.  I realize that the guarantee may be honored after that and I'm fine with that.

    All the words of wisdom? Can it be done? If this is not the case with my SSD existing so what are my options?

    Thanks to a bouquet.

    -Val

    Yes, you can swap disks. No, there is room for a second disc of 2 1/2 in. in the Mini 2014

    https://www.iFixit.com/Guide/Mac+mini+late+2014+hard+drive+replacement/32815

  • move a hard drive from MBP 2012 in a mac mini 2009

    Hello

    I bought a 500 GB ssd and I am cloning my macbookpro HD 500 gb on it at the moment.

    I plan to use my macbookpro HD to replace my 120 GB mac mini HD.

    I wonder if it could be possible to put the macbookpro HD in the mini without deleting its content, which would allow me to win time install OSX and the transfer of data from my macbookpro? Would it cause problems?

    I upgraded from the mac mini 8 GB RAM.

    The macbookpro turning El Capitan.

    I just bought used the mac mini and is currently under Leopard, but would like to have of El Capitan on it.

    Thanks for your advice.

    m @.

    The Mini can run 10.11.x, the only thing I'm not sure of is if the supplied Apple MBP 6/Gbs Player supports the Mimi 3/Gbs speed... most do, but...

    http://www.EveryMac.com/systems/Apple/Mac_mini/specs/Mac-mini-core-2-Duo-2.0-ear ly-2009-nvidia - specs.html

    http://www.EveryMac.com/systems/Apple/Macbook_pro/specs/MacBook-Pro-core-i5-2.5-13-mid-2012-unibody-usb3-specs.html

  • Mac Mini vs MacBook Pro 13 "with retina display

    Recently, I decided to buy a Mac computer having never used several Windows computers.  I already have an iPad (I love by the way) that I use for taking notes and work on documents, while I'm not at my desk.  I have a Windows laptop at home which I use primarily as a desktop computer.  About five weeks of the year, I need to use the laptop as a real laptop (i.e., I need to move office where I keep it by the way).  However, I believe that, following an update of the iOS OneDrive app, that I should be able to work only from my iPad (i.e. the computer should not necessarily be used for these five weeks).  Nevertheless, I would still know that the Mac was portable so that I could at least carry somewhere or put it in a bag and connect it to a TV, use it as a monitor.

    I also want the Mac to last me five or sixyears, so a very important criterion for the Mac's longevity !  After looking through the different available Macs, I've narrowed my selection to the following:

    • MacBook Pro with the retina 13 "2.7 GHz 8 GB RAM 256 GB SSD (see here)
    • Mac Mini 2.8 GHz, 8 GB RAM 1 TB Fusion drive (see here)

    Most of my work is to use productivity applications (e.g. Microsoft Office); emails and browsing the web, as well as a small photo editing (I currently use Paint.Net under Windows to give you an idea of the kind of program I want to use).

    So, to summarize:

    • The Mac I must last for 5-6 years; I don't want to have to replace here there if that can be avoided
    • I wish it were portable enough to carry rarely, even if I have to plug it into a monitor somewhere
    • It must have an SSD
    • I would like to have a machine that will run the productivity (like MS Office) applications fairly quickly; I won't use image programs much (or at all)
    • I am a student at the University, your costs would be appreciated as well!

    So I'm looking for a recommendation as to whether the Mini or MacBook Pro with the retina (or another Mac altogether) would be better for my needs.

    Thank you very much!!

    Either one will meet your needs very well. The laptop has a little better graphics, but the Mini has a lot more on-board storage.

    The laptop has its own screen KB and mouse/trackpad is more portable.

    Two Macs need to be supported for the same amount of time in the future.  However, the laptop is more prone to damage jut because he's moved a lot.

Maybe you are looking for