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Shadow Reaper

Shadow Reaper

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Does anyone here know if there is a single format/size that SSDs fit? Is it for instance possible to put a large, encrypted SSD into a MacBook Air? If you did, is there a way to image the old SSD onto the new one so you don't lose your operating system, etc?
 
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Mich Angel

Mich Angel

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I have this little handy tool for doing stuff like that so you can fix a new disk moving old system disk to new as is..
Make a perfect clone and it don't care what operating system it is when cloning it just move the one and the zero as they are from one to the other... Can be used to clone with out being connected to a computer
It's called "Icy Box"
They make a lot of different docking/cloning station for various HDD to SSD drives...
This one that I have take any HDD from old to SSD and copy/clone format and then some..

Works connected to computer or not, can be used as HDD/SSD docking station if you have back up HDD/SSD that is not in external box. Just plug in a HDD/SSD and remove it when your done, easy changing between hard drives when you have more of those than slots in computer.

https://www.amazon.com/IB-120CL-U3-2-Bay-Docking-Station-Function/dp/B006CS1VN4/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1533166528&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=ICY+BOX+Docking+and+cloning+Station

EDIT:: Make sure you get the latest version before order, why well basic rule of any hardware, new generation of hardware mostly have some new function or improvement

There are other variations as for 2 drives or 4 and more, there are of cause other brands to, but IcyBox have not failed me once ever and it is in a fair price range too :smile:


CHEERS :beers: :beer: :beer: :beers:
 
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maynard

maynard

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I endorse these questions and answers

seeing as how knocking my laptop off the armrest of my recliner one too many times has made the SSD unreadable and I'm getting frustrated with accessing the Interwebs with an 8-inch tablet
 
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Sraika

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I'm hesitant to replace parts on apple products (ew :p ), but it should work fine. It is possible to copy/clone it, though you may want to look for a tutorial/tool instead of just trying it manually.
 
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Radegast74

Radegast74

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Shadow Reaper said:
Does anyone here know if there is a single format/size that SSDs fit? Is it for instance possible to put a large, encrypted SSD into a MacBook Air? If you did, is there a way to image the old SSD onto the new one so you don't lose your operating system, etc?
Click to expand...
I can answer the "image old SSD" question. On the Mac, making a clone of your drive is fairly trivial. There is a great, *free* cloning tool called "SuperDuper" that will copy your drive. The new drive will then boot up just like the old one, no problems copying the operating system (since Apple gives away the OS for free).

See:
https://shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html

The program is free for making "whole drive" copies, he makes his money ($28) by selling you the full version, which will make incremental updates (which is a lot faster than copying the whole drive).
 
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Mich Angel

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Radegast74 said:
I can answer the "image old SSD" question. On the Mac, making a clone of your drive is fairly trivial. There is a great, *free* cloning tool called "SuperDuper" that will copy your drive. The new drive will then boot up just like the old one, no problems copying the operating system (since Apple gives away the OS for free).

See:
https://shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html

The program is free for making "whole drive" copies, he makes his money ($28) by selling you the full version, which will make incremental updates (which is a lot faster than copying the whole drive).
Click to expand...
That's sound like a a good idea since as you say it's a Mac.. No pun intended at all :P
But so you know a 250GBSSD cloning on IcyBox took me just about 15 min so I say that is fairly fast too ;)

Cheers! :beers: :beer:
 
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Radegast74

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Mich Angel said:
That's sound like a a good idea since as you say it's a Mac.. No pun intended at all :P
But so you know a 250GBSSD cloning on IcyBox took me just about 15 min so I say that is fairly fast too ;)

Cheers! :beers: :beer:
Click to expand...
lol, if I had unlimited funds, I would definitely go with that IcyBox! But, free vs. $90 means I have $90 more to buy ships with! :D
 
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Radegast74

Radegast74

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Shadow Reaper said:
Does anyone here know if there is a single format/size that SSDs fit? Is it for instance possible to put a large, encrypted SSD into a MacBook Air? If you did, is there a way to image the old SSD onto the new one so you don't lose your operating system, etc?
Click to expand...
Ok now, I read the post and saw the part about it being a "MacBook Air." These use NVM SSD's, or whatever they are called. Definitely not the 2.5 inch variety SSD.

In general, you do have to be careful about getting a drive that is compatible with the specific type of MacBook Air.

Here is a guide:
http://osxdaily.com/2016/08/18/replace-ssd-macbook-air/

Here is a reseller that specializes in Mac parts & stuff. They usually have good prices, and their website makes it easy to find the parts you need for the specific model you are looking for. This is their MacBook Air SSD page:
https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ssd/owc/macbook-air
 
Mich Angel

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Radegast74 said:
lol, if I had unlimited funds, I would definitely go with that IcyBox! But, free vs. $90 means I have $90 more to buy ships with! :smile:
Click to expand...
Yeah I would too if it only was for a simple cloning,

I use it for more than cloning as I have a shitload of different hard drives for my photo backups and other backups make it very easy to take a HDD/SSD from storage put it in update then store it again less power consumption and less strain on disk.
 
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Radegast74

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Shadow Reaper said:
Okay so there are three form factors of SSD?

https://www.kingston.com/us/ssd/business/suv500?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=UV500
Click to expand...
It looks to me that it should be of the NVMe general variety, which it appears that Kingston refers to as A1000. See --
https://www.kingston.com/us/ssd/consumer/SA1000M8

Edit: I'm finding links on Amazon for Transcend drives, but, every model year is different...make sure you know what model yours is. Example

MBA 2012:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JKCHNPE/ref=psdc_1292116011_rv_t2_B00K6ZF7GG

different from MBA 2010-11:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JKCHMLE/ref=twister_B00JX06RX2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Edit 2: Link showing a dude replacing the drive:
https://blog.hqcodeshop.fi/archives/386-Replacing-MacBook-Air-SSD.html
 
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Radegast74

Radegast74

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Shadow Reaper said:
Does anyone here know if there is a single format/size that SSDs fit? Is it for instance possible to put a large, encrypted SSD into a MacBook Air? If you did, is there a way to image the old SSD onto the new one so you don't lose your operating system, etc?
Click to expand...
So, going back to the original question...you *never* told us what the problem is. What initiated this?

I was going to say, if your drive has died then, yes, get a new one. But, if you are running out of space on your drive, why not just get an NAS or cloud storage, and move older (& non-essential) files over to the cloud drive?
 
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Shadow Reaper

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I need to add a computer before this 10 year-old iMac dies. I expect to be moving soon, and would like to be able to carry my computer back and forth from work, so dropping an 11" Macbook Air into a docking station with large monitors, wireless keyboard and mouse at both home and work makes good sense. The 11" I can drop into the center console of a car if I pop into a pub on the way home, so I think that form factor is better than larger, but I do love a big screen and don't want to sacrifice this.

Used Macbooks span a wide range of price, often based upon the SSD included. What I'm considering is buying something with a tiny SSD and replacing it with one that is encrypted, since my work is mostly confidential and that added layer of security would be welcome. Given this, I am not certain whether I'd actually leave the thing in the center console, but hey. . .I'll leave that decision for later.
 
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Radegast74

Radegast74

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Shadow Reaper said:
I need to add a computer before this 10 year-old iMac dies. I expect to be moving soon, and would like to be able to carry my computer back and forth from work, so dropping an 11" Macbook Air into a docking station with large monitors, wireless keyboard and mouse at both home and work makes good sense. The 11" I can drop into the center console of a car if I pop into a pub on the way home, so I think that form factor is better than larger, but I do love a big screen and don't want to sacrifice this.

Used Macbooks span a wide range of price, often based upon the SSD included. What I'm considering is buying something with a tiny SSD and replacing it with one that is encrypted, since my work is mostly confidential and that added layer of security would be welcome. Given this, I am not certain whether I'd actually leave the thing in the center console, but hey. . .I'll leave that decision for later.
Click to expand...
The other thing you could do is, get a MacBook Air, and then get an *external* 2.5" SSD for your main word drive. If you connect it with a Thunderbolt cable, it will be just about as fast as an internal connection, although USB 3 is cheaper and ain't all that bad.

You can definitely encrypt the external SSD. And you can store the SSD separately (and more securely) so that if the MBA is stolen, you would still have your drive.

Mac's will definitely boot up off an external drive and behave nicely, that is not an issue.
 
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Jasum

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I'm not sure I've seen any SSD's with hardware encryption, but OSX comes by default with FileVault which can be used for full disk encryption. I've not personally used it, but it seems to have positive reviews. With that you can pick any SSD you like and encrypt it.
 
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