Mac, Cubase 7.5 SSD and Ram upgrade

Hi, I’m planning to upgrade my MBP to a 1TB SSD and 16 GB of Ram. What’s the most efficient way to do this? I was thinking, go to the computer store have them install everything and enclose my current Harddrive. Use OSX Recovery and clone my current Harddrive to the newly installed SSD. My question is can I expect Cubase, all plugins and application to work exactly as before? Has anyone ever done this? Will I have to renter serial numbers?

That’s one way of doing things. However, I usually “clean up” the computer at the same time. That means that I reformat the drive and reinstall everything from scratch. Just make sure that you de install any licenses (check the manufactures website how to do this) otherwise they will be lost. This usually gives a niftier computer, since a lot of junk (that will be reinstalled with clone backup) gets thrown out, but can take a considerable time and effort. But I think it’s worth it.

This is a bit trickier issue though. With regard to Cubase (and any dongle protected software), there is no issue as the license is contained in the dongle. Just install it on the new drive. The same could be said for software that is protected by a “simple” serial number and, of cause, unprotected software.

When it comes to software that is protected by C/R (challenge/response) protection systems, things get a bit trickier. Not all licenses will transfer correctly. Not even with a cloned drive. Some C/R systems even look at your hardware. These may decide that your computer is unauthorized if you changed any hardware, say the graphics card or added memory. Since you are changing you HD to an SSD, they would probably affect you.

It always a good idea to check any C/R protected software vendor’s site for any information about moving the software from one installation (in this case drive) to another. And de-authorize the software, and authorize it on the new drive later.

Millions have, and many have run into trouble by taking the fast and easy lane. I understand if all this sound a bit complicated. But a bit of preparation can save you a lot of grief later.

@Svenne

Great advice on all points. I could not agree more.

Using the old SampleTank 2 stuff got me into mucho
probs with the challenge/response stuff.

Any change in the hard drive or logic board would put me in a bag of hurt.

Made me appreciated the dongle system.

With projects in the cloud and a dongle in pocket a user can go anywhere
in the world and after obtaining a 'puter, get to work in no time.

@AP Good question and Good Luck!
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