Can I still add memory? Or is 4GB as good as it gets?

Question

I have a 2009 MacBook Pro with Memory  4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3.  I have oodles and oodles of photos on this computer and I think I've about used up my memory space.  However, I also believe that this MacBook Pro is maxed out. I read somewhere that there are only 2 memory slots in this computer and it only takes up to 4 GB.  I guess, by today's standards, this MacBook Pro would be considered "old."  So what are my options?  Or are there any?  Is it time to buyt a new computer with lots of memory?

Answer 1

Once you have the MBP open to change the RAM,  you only have to remove a couple more screws to remove the hard drive and put a new one in.   I'd do the RAM first and make sure the MBP is running with the new RAM before moving on to replace the hard drive.  That way if something goes awry with the RAM installation you know it right away.
The real work is re-installing OS X and your applications on the new hard drive.
Although you could ease this process by preparing in advance to clone your old drive to your new drive instead of installing everything from scratch on your new hard drive.
Install a copy of CarbonCopyCloner on your (original) hard drive before taking it out of your MBP
When you remove the original hard drive, put it in an external FW enclosure like this one (and if it doesn't come with a power adapter, be sure to get one)
After you physically install the new hard drive in your MBP, put the bottom cover back on.
Connect the external hard drive via FW and boot your MBP off the external drive  (hold down the Option key while booting; when prompted, select your external drive)
Use Disk Utility to format the new hard drive as Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Use CarbonCopyCloner to copy your entire old drive (the one that is now in the external case) to your new internal hard drive
Shut down your MBP
Restart your MBP while holding down the Option key.
When you are prompted to select which drive to boot from, select your new hard drive
Done
Now you can keep the old drive in the external case as a backup of your original system, or wipe it and use it for storage
Alternatively, you could try this by putting the new drive in the enclosure and cloning your old drive to the new drive first, before swapping them in your MBP.  But that approach involves extra steps and hasn't always worked for me.
I prefer installing everything from scratch on a new hard drive.  But many people just clone their old drive and it usually works fine.