If you are going to use an SSD as a boot drive together with your existing HDD as the "data" drive, here's what you can do.Īfter installing the SSD you will need to partition and format the SSD using Disk Utility. This should restore the version of OS X originally pre-installed on the computer. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless. Note : You will need an active Internet connection. Be sure to select the correct drive to use if you have more than one.
Reinstall OS X: Select Reinstall OS X and click on the Install button.
Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button.
Wait patiently - 15-20 minutes - until the Recovery main menu appears. Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND-OPTION- R keys until a globe appears on the screen. Any step-by-step help for a relative novice in this area (me) would be much appreciated.īe sure you backup your files to an external drive or second internal drive because the following procedure will remove everything from the hard drive. Other than the memory and the SSD install, we're not planning any other modifications, and his use of the mini is pretty vanilla (games, videos, etc.). You can see my level of expertise from my questions. Having watched the install videos several times I feel fairly competent to do that, but my question is what to do then to access and make the most use of the SSD so everything (1) works and (2) runs as fast as possible? For example, first, do I need to copy the OS to the SSD and delete from the Mac hard drive, and then somehow set up the SSD as the main drive? And do I do this before I install the SSD or can I do it after? Finally, what do I need to do to ensure that the computer uses the two drives optimally thereafter for maximum speed/performance. I've also purchased the OWC data doubler and am planning to install the Samsung with the original Mac hard drive. So my 12 year old is frustrated by the slower speed of his mac mini, and with some of his birthday money and my expertise (which I hope to borrow from you and pass off as my own), I've purchased a Samsung 850 Pro SSD (256 GB) and am going to install it for him.