I'm interested in getting an SSD for my MacBook Pro (2.2Ghz Early 2011) and I can't find out if it's possible to, when I first get the SSD, put it inside my MBP and then boot up with my OS X Lion USB stick which I created back when I did a clean install of Lion.
Can I do a completely clean fresh install on the blank SSD? And then transfer over a few of my files from an external hard drive that I want on it?
I'd rather do this as most of my files are easily transferrable and the amount of clone software and mirroring software etc. I'm reading about just has me confused to be honest. I'm thinking this would be way preferable and suitable to me.
I'm kind of puzzled as I don't know if the bare Mac interface that allows me to hold ⌥ at boot and then install Lion is on the HDD that's currently in or is part of the Macbook's internal hardware…
Best Answer
Yes. Hold the ⌥ key while booting up to select your install USB.
Also note that if you upgrade to the most recent version of Lion you should get the recovery partition to boot up without having to use the USB (internet connection required).