installing new SSD with no OS disks

[tenders]

Get a $20 external USB case or SATA-to-USB connecting cable. It'll come in handy someday for something else, maybe like using the old HD for backup. The internal SATA connection is MUCH faster than USB, by the way.

[Black]

Agree you're stuck without an external USB solution (USB will work surprisingly well for this.)

I much prefer the dock style connectors:
http://www.microcenter.com/search/search...4294963036&ekw=hard_drive_dock
There's one for $16 although I've been happy with my BlackX's.

Where is the SSD coming from?

[DCrunch]

Have you tried hooking the mini to a monitor? Does Powermax always send refurbed computers with blank hard drives?

[Black]

Contact me if there's some way I can help. Around for most of the day today and tomorrow.

[Black]

DCrunch wrote:
Have you tried hooking the mini to a monitor? Does Powermax always send refurbed computers with blank hard drives?

I read that Snow is pre-installed, but it wasn't clear.

[Panopticon]

Or did you mean hook up the SSD somehow before installing it in the Mini?

Yes. Every home should have a USB to SATA/IDE Adapter mile:
Like this $15 Kingwin from MicroCenter {seen them as low as $9}
http://www.microcenter.com/single_produc...id=0285941


OWC has a NewerTech USB 3.0 version for $22.50 in the Garage Sale!

[Mr Downtown]

Thanks for the help, all. The new Mini is supposed to have SL on it (I haven't actually checked yet), but the HD is relatively small and I was just thinking it might be good to start off with a good-size SSD rather than load the Mini up and then switch it out later on. I haven't actually ordered an SDD yet, but the prospect began me thinking about how I'd actually switch it out when it arrived.

I have a bunch of old external hard drives around, but I always assumed the 2.5-inch drives (including the new SSD) wouldn't work in a box that originally held a 3.5-inch HD. Correct? Or is SATA the same for 2.5- and 3.5-inch drives?

Edit: That Newer gizmo looked darned handy to have around, so I ordered one. Presumably between that and CCC I can do this, right? You can boot from an external drive via USB?

[DCrunch]

Get an SSD - I just saw a Crucial 256GB SSD for about $180 from Newegg - and an enclosure to put it in. Hook it up to the mini via a USB cable and run Carbon Copy Clonner to clone the mini's hard drive to the SSD. You will have chosen to make the SSD bootable. Part of that process is formatting (erase) the SSD. After cloning and shutting down the computer, restart the computer holding down the Option key. If the SSD is bootable it will show up on your screen. Remove the mini's hard drive and put the SSD drive from the enclosure in the mini. You can boot from an external drive, that is bootable, using a USB port. By the way, the hard drive in the mini is a 2.5" drive.