Best Path To Format Macbook Pro with 2 Partitions (Mountain Lion)?

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

I have a 2011 Macbook Pro that is supplied to me through work. However I get to take it home every night as well.

Recently my department picked up a new Macbook Pro Retina in order to serve as the main host computer for running Adobe Connect meetings.

Long story short, it turns out my current older Macbook Pro is much better as the host computer for running the Adobe Connect meetings. For starters, it has both audio input and output which the retina does not, which the audio ports alone is an absolute necessity (need the in for the presenters mic, need the out so the presenter can hear participants), a firewire without needing Thunderbolt for the Digital Camera, an Ethernet port without again needing the Thunderbolt adapter, and the list goes on).

So I was asked if I would consider trading my Macbook Pro for the Retina.

As you could imagine, they did not really need to twist my arm.

The older Macbook Pro is setup with 2 separate partitions.

I need to completely wipe it out with a fresh install of Mountain Lion.

So basically, I am wondering the best way to do it.

My plan of attack is...

• Wipe Out Second Partition Completely (after backing it up of course).
  
• Merging the two partitions together into one original large partition.
  
• Installing Mountain Lion on the merged large partition fresh (this will be a department used Mac, so want all traces of my personal info erased completely)
  

Does anyone have a better way to do it?

TIA,

DL

[+virtorio MVC]

Get the Mountain Lion Installer, right click it and hit Show Package Contents. In there someone (I forget where exactly, possibly in the Resources folder) is the Install DMG file (it's about 4 GB). Burn that to a DVD or Flash Drive, boot from it to start the Installer and while in there use Disk Utility to setup the drive however you like and install Mountain Lion.

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

Get the Mountain Lion Installer, right click it and hit Show Package Contents. In there someone (I forget where exactly, possibly in the Resources folder) is the Install DMG file (it's about 4 GB). Burn that to a DVD or Flash Drive, boot from it to start the Installer and while in there use Disk Utility to setup the drive however you like and install Mountain Lion.

I actually have the Mountain Lion install DVD thanks to the Retina, was just purchased a couple of days ago, so that is not the issue, just trying to figure out the easiest way, but this may be it. Just curious if it made more sense to partition before the install, but probably would not really matter much either way.

[SMELTN]

Great news DL!! Very happy for you.. I just got my first Macbook Pro ( 2012 ) model just this past Friday night and can't be happier... ALTHOUGH. I noticed the same problem. I want to be able to plug my guitar into it to record using GarageBand but the first thing I noticed is it has no audio input..

[.Neo]

Select the drive (not individual partition) in Disk Utility > Partition tab > Select "1 Partition" > hit "Apply". You'll then have to go to the Erase tab, select one of the security options to permanently destroy any personal data and hit Erase. Depending on the security level this will take quite some time. I'd recommend one or three times depending on how much time you have. Afterwards you can install OS X.

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

Great news DL!! Very happy for you.. I just got my first Macbook Pro ( 2012 ) model just this past Friday night and can't be happier... ALTHOUGH. I noticed the same problem. I want to be able to plug my guitar into it to record using GarageBand but the first thing I noticed is it has no audio input..

Thanks Man, and damn, you just made me think about that. Sometimes I mess around with audio and would plug certain stuff in.

As far as your guitar issues, I STRONGLY recommend one of these. It is USB based.

Line 6 POD Studio UX1.

It was seriously the best money I ever spent on anything music related on the computer. I just thought the software it would come with would be crap, but absolutely not. The effects alone are stellar, and it literally acts as entire stack with all the bells and whistles you would want that can record right into Garage Band. Can pick whatever head you want, Then amps, pedals, it goes on and on. It is SICK. Really strongly consider it. I promise if you enjoy messing with guitar on your computer, it will be the best money you ever put towards it. All USB. That model also supports bass as well. It had turned me into a one man band. Here is the very first track I recorded on Garage Band using it, all guitar and bass coming through that pod recorded into garage band. Drums are right in Garage Band itself. Not the best track musically, but sounds pretty decent for first time ever using that pod and screwing around an hour or two.

Select the drive (not individual partition) in Disk Utility > Partition tab > Select "1 Partition" > hit "Apply". You'll then have to go to the Erase tab, select one of the security options to permanently destroy any personal data and hit Erase. Depending on the security level this will take quite some time. I'd recommend one or three times depending on how much time you have. Afterwards you can install OS X.

Awesome, this is exactly the type of suggestion I was looking for, will do this.

So I totally zoned out and forgot Retina's no longer have a DVD Drive, so it did not come with a Mountain Lion install dvd I could use on the older Macbook, so going to have to use the old installer, then upgrade to Mountain Lion digitally afterwards. Slight pain in the ass, but that is what Sundays are made for. :laugh:

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

Select the drive (not individual partition) in Disk Utility > Partition tab > Select "1 Partition" > hit "Apply". You'll then have to go to the Erase tab, select one of the security options to permanently destroy any personal data and hit Erase. Depending on the security level this will take quite some time. I'd recommend one or three times depending on how much time you have. Afterwards you can install OS X.

Thanks again, this was the path I took, did it from the Install disk of 10.6 (that was the only disk I had), and after installing a bunch of updates for it, when I logged onto the App Store, it detected that I had purchased both versions of Lion, and let me update straight to 10.8 from 10.6.8 (I believe) which was a nice surprise, I thought for sure it was going to force me to install 10.7 first.

So on the Retina trying to get everything back in order from a fresh install. This is actually the first comp I have used an SSD drive, and wow, this is what I am enjoying the most. So much so, pretty sure it is finally time I get one installed on my Windows Gaming PC. Startup on OS X with an SSD is literally insane. The first time I restarted, I actually thought something happened and it did not really restart, so I restarted it again. :laugh: It is BLAZING. Absolutely loving it.

As far as the Retina display, since I do have a graphic design background, I have mixed feelings about it overall. When stuff is designed to take advantage of it natively. Wow. Just wow. It truly is a thing of beauty. But even something as simple as being on Neowin, it is a bit bizarre as some aspects look truly the best I have ever seen them look (such as the text I am typing right now), but other aspects like the emoticons, look low res, even though they are not. It is a weird mixture of amazing and not so much. Overall though it really is a great looking screen.

[.Neo]

Glad I could be of assistance. (Y)

I totally get what you're saying about the Retina screen. If graphics are optimized it's an amazing experience, if not you're left with a blurry screen which is kinda an eyesore. I wonder how long it will take for the 27-inch iMac to go retina. I'm doubting this year.

The first time I restarted, I actually thought something happened and it did not really restart, so I restarted it again. :laugh:

That happened to me too yesterday when I installed Ubuntu. Even in VMware Fusion with a regular HDD it restarts like it's on crack. Kinda wish OS X was that fast using a conventional HDD. :/

[SMELTN]

Thanks Man, and damn, you just made me think about that. Sometimes I mess around with audio and would plug certain stuff in.

As far as your guitar issues, I STRONGLY recommend one of these. It is USB based.

Line 6 POD Studio UX1.

It was seriously the best money I ever spent on anything music related on the computer. I just thought the software it would come with would be crap, but absolutely not. The effects alone are stellar, and it literally acts as entire stack with all the bells and whistles you would want that can record right into Garage Band. Can pick whatever head you want, Then amps, pedals, it goes on and on. It is SICK. Really strongly consider it. I promise if you enjoy messing with guitar on your computer, it will be the best money you ever put towards it. All USB. That model also supports bass as well. It had turned me into a one man band. Here is the very first track I recorded on Garage Band using it, all guitar and bass coming through that pod recorded into garage band. Drums are right in Garage Band itself. Not the best track musically, but sounds pretty decent for first time ever using that pod and screwing around an hour or two.

So I think I may get that Line 6 POD, thanks for the suggestion, but just to update, I did find out that the jack on the new macbooks are actually both input and output in one. It auto swaps depending on what input it detects.

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3625

MacBook and MacBook Pro (13-inch): How to use the combination audio port for an audio input device