MacOS – Can Time Machine restore from one large hard drive to two smaller ones

macosrestoressdtime-machine

I'm about to put a SSD (60GB) into my MacBook Pro, the disc drive is coming out and the current drive (320GB) will sit in a bracket in its place. I'd like to use the SSD as the main drive for the OS, Apps, and frequently accessed files and the old drive for everything else.

My question is can I back up the old drive with Time Machine, install the new SSD as the boot drive and then restore from Time Machine? Is Time Machine smart enough to spread the data over two drives?

thanks!

Best Answer

No. But you may clean HDD to make users and system&library info take no more than 40-45GB (System/Library/Apps) and then use migration assistant ticking only things you need. Or Time Machine if you exclude or move some folders beforehand.

P.S. I wonder if your MBP is pre-unibody one because it is the only type that will benefit from HDD in the bracket in the place of optical disk. For newer MBPs it's better to put SSD in bracket.