Internal HDD is slooooow

I suspect there is a problem with my 27" C2D iMac's factory HDD. Certain tasks seem to take way too long. For example, when I'm in Aperture in the Metadata tab and I click the Keyword button at the bottom, it takes about 5 seconds for the drawer to slowly studder open.
When I run xBench I get uncached writes of 30 MB/s in 256k blocks which is the highest number in all of the HDD related benchmarks. Is there another hard drive benchmarking took I can use, I don't what my numbers are supposed to be but it doesn't feel right.
Sometimes I get beachballs during regular Finder file moves. Also the drive is noticeably loud, humming while it works
These 27" are so big and heavy, I dread needing to take it to the Apple Store. I also don't want to be without my computer for a long period of time.
I was thinking of putting one of those 2TB WD Black drives with 64 mb of cache in there.
Thoughts on the WD Black drive, the DIY HDD swap (I've seen the ifixit guide and am not worried), or HDD benchmarks???

You will void your warranty. I think that as the first iteration of a new model that much could go wrong and that a warranty, even an extended 3 year warranty would be a good idea to have.
Dah•veed

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My disconnected external HDD is somehow writing itself to my internal HDD!

Ok, so the other night I got a notification from OS X that I was almost out of disk space, which I found very odd, because the last time this happened was when I had my external hard drive connected, and it was somehow writing itself onto my internal hard drive (it is formatted so that I can use it for both my MBP and the Windows machine at home). You can understand my puzzlement when I got the message, as I did not have my external connected at the time, and had not had it connected since the day before. I had, however, noticed some significant lagging in Safari and Adium, which I found very odd as being the only things affected. As of writing this, I will have cleaned off what has been written to my hard drive twice now (each time 50+ GB!), and I am starting to get very frustrated, with finals and projects coming due very fast now. It appears that the writing starts after I leave Safari/Adium idle for a while, which is very odd, as I can't imagine why either of these programs being idle would initiate this unexplained writing.
I have, however, noticed that there seems to be something invisible in the trash folder that will simply not delete, and has been there since I had the initial problem of my external writing to the internal drive. The Trash constantly tells me there is "1 item" in the trash, but nothing shows up. When I go to Secure Empty I get the little window that tells you the completion status on the emptying, and it always says "4 Items to delete." Even after showing all hidden files and folders, nothing shows up in the trash, despite there always being "1 Item" in there. My guess is that this could be what is causing the writes. What I don't understand is how in the world it managed to store my 100+ GB of stuff on my external in an invisible file that is taking up next to no space on my system, because when I do a scan using Grand Perspective, it doesn't show anything out of the ordinary files and folders that I know should be there. Certainly not 100+ GB of what I have on my external, as I know what I have where, and what are duplicates, and duplicates only show up after the external files have written themselves.
Some additional details for consideration:
Bootcamped hard drive, 15GB for my Windows partition, have only used it to play Roller Coaster Tycoon, and have only connected to the internet on Windows a total of 3 times, each time to download Firefox, iTunes, and Safari, no additional browsing.
External HDD is a LaCie Firewire 400 drive, 320GB formatted for both Windows and Mac (HFS+, right?), haven't connected it in at least two days. Last time this happened it was actually connected, but this time has not been connected when the files have magically appeared on my internal HDD.
There is an invisible file (or multiple files) somehow not showing up AT ALL that is hanging around in the trash. I believe this invisible file(s) to be the culprit, though I'm puzzled as to how. Each time the mysterious writes have happened, Safari/Adium have been idle and open.
If you're wondering how in the world this is happening, don't worry. The first time this happened when my drive was actually connected, I took my MBP to the Apple Store in Indianapolis and totally stumped three employees, including the store manager. If he thought that was odd, wait until I tell him its now writing to my HDD without being connected!

Each time the problem is in the /Volumes/LaCie folder, which is hidden. This leads me to believe its a ghost from my external HDD, rather than from my Bootcamp partition. The 50+ GB that it has written so far has not been duplicates of less than 10GB of information on my Windows partition, it is all files and folders from my approx. 130+GB of information on my external.
In talking with a friend on my floor last night, he thinks it might be a ghost image, as some people have evidently gotten this problem in their email accounts here at the school lately. This ghost image is on my OS X partition, and I'm almost 100% certain it isn't a problem with my Bootcamp partition, as nothing appears in my trash on the Windows side. I have also never used my external with my Windows partition. Like I said, everything being written is from my external hard drive.
Thanks for the link, checking it out now.

Should I upgrade the internal hdd on my 2008 8.1 iMac or use an external drive?

I have an external hdd right now it is a 500gb go seagate goflex with a number of iTunes folders that I put on from my windows pc. I just received this 2008 2.4ghz core 2 duo 8.1 iMac and tried to import the files. The internal hdd is only 250gb so they would not fit, when I tried to get iTunes to run from the external drive it would but I would have to manually open each artist then album then song I wanted in the Finder for it to play. The songs do not show up automatically in iTunes, even though I think I followed all of the instructions for external hdd support. I was going to buy a new iMac and have the genius set it up, but now I think I am going to upgrade the RAM myself and am deciding wether or not I should also replace the internal hdd to 2TB or just get an external hdd so when I get a new iMac, maybe next year, I could still use it. However, I don't want to get another, larger external hdd if I'm going to have a hard time transferring all of my media to iTunes. Can I pay to have an apple genius do this at the store? I just upgraded the operating system to Snow Leopard and am waiting to upgrade RAM before moving to Mountain Lion. I just want my iTunes to sync up, at this point I will do just about anything, short of buying a new Mac. Thanks for any help.

You can keep your iTunes collection on an external drive. You can also keep just bulky items that you may not want to see often such as movies and just keep smaller items on the internal drive. This split option is more tricky but there are several ways to do it.
If all you have is a modest music collection, you can manage with an internal drive. Most modern media collections with huge movies files fast outpace even larger internal hard drives and you will have to resort to an external drive. Your computer dating from 2008 is (according to Apple's coproration standards) on its way to becoming a museum piece (hey, I still use a 10 year old computer, but Apple gave up hope for me years ago). I would not upgrade the internal drive. That will cost you a lot and be tricky to take with you to your next computer. An external drive you can just plug into a new computer.
Some of the issues you are encountering are because you do not yet know how to properly manage and transfer iTunes files. We can help you, or you can pay somebody a lot of money to do this for you on a regular basis.
Your GoFlex drive was used with Windows. Macs and Windows use different drive formats. If you are now using Mac-only then you will need to reformat the drive (you will need to store all those files elsewhere while you are doing this).
Do not buy just one external drive. When that drive fails (oh, and believe me, it will) your whole collection will be lost. Some of it you may be able to download again from Apple, but Apple does not "store" your iTunes collection, it is up to you to ensure its safety.

HP Pavilion Slimline S5: Internal HDD Failure, PC Won't Boot

My HP Pavilion Slimline S5's internal HDD failed and died recently (bought in 2011). My HP warranty was long gone.
The startup screen showed this message:
1720-SMART Hard Drive detects imminent failure
Failing Drive: SATA0
Failing Attributes: # 05
I have several questions regarding this issue:
Is it caused solely by HDD failure? I want to replace it myself, but I'm not really sure if there are any other parts to be replaced. Or will it be better to bring it to computer shop to have it checked thoroughly?
Can I replace it with Seagate Barracuda 3.5" (7200rpm, 1 TB, SATA 3 or 6)? I think current HDD is Hitachi.
Do I still need to transfer Windows OEM after the HDD is replaced?
Thanks in advance.
This question was solved.
View Solution.

While not entirely sure what that error code means but I think it just means that the OS is not installed and the booting sequence has failed. In my posting about the cloning process, nowhere did we discuss being able to boot the PC to the new drive before attempting the clone, so that process is next or just use the Recovery set on the new drive.
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How can i Move pic from internal hdd to an external hdd

hi everyone, i had a new Mac Book Air for a couple months ago, notice my internal hdd is getting full of pic, i would like to move them to an external HDD, how can i do that, i looked at the Iphoto library folder, nothing there, or i can not see them, any help will be appreciate it, and thank you in advance for your help...

If you have a large iPhoto library, you can save space by moving it to an external drive, yes. You will not be able to see the individual pictures in the library file - just move the entire IPhoto Library file to the other drive, then double-click it to open iPhoto and tell the application where your new library is.
If your image collection is not in iPhoto, where is it?
Matt

How to Make my Macbook Pro's internal HDD external, when I get a SSD?

Hey, I know there are other posts on what enclosure you can use and if it's a possibility, but I haven't seen any that tell me how I get OS X on the SSD without a disc? Can I download the installer on a flash drive somehow? Also, I am wondering if this really is a good idea, using my Macbook Pro's HDD for a backup HDD, instead of buying one? I have no use for it anyway, if and when I get a new SSD. BTW, the HDD is the upgraded factory 500gb 7200rpm. Also, do you think it's smarter to have a bigger backup drive than internal drive? In other words, I would like to get a 1TB Samsung 850 Pro SSD, and my current HDD is only 500GB.... I am a musician and need a lot of storage for musical purposes. I use Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro X, Ableton Live 9, Office, and Photoshop.... My Macbook Pro is a Late 2011 Macbook Pro 15.4' 2.2ghz quad core i7 8gb RAM. Oh yeah and a mother thing is, I think I should get an enclosure that has a thunderbolt port with usb, what are your thoughts?

How to Make my Macbook Pro's internal HDD external, when I get a SSD?
Get an externel enclosure at the same time.
You can order from OWC
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/hard-drives/2.5-Notebook/
Put the SSD in the externel enclosure and use something like Carbon Copy Cloner, to clone the internal drive and all it content to the SSD. Then swap them out.
Always good to have more than one backup.

Upgrading internal HDD on Macbook Pro 13(Unibody)-Mid 2009

Hi All,
I have a 160GB internal hdd on my MBP 13 which i am finding to be pretty low on space. So I am planning to upgrade the internal HDD. I did a lot of reading on the web and looks like there are 3 contenders:
1. WD scorpio blue 500/640/750 GB, 5400rpm
2. Seagate Momentus 500/640 GB, 5400rpm
3. WD scorpio black -- 500GB, 7200rpm
My space requirements are not too high. Even 500 would suffice, but since the 640 and 750 give a better bang for the buck(GB/$), i am still contemplating.
Would 640/750 be an overkill resulting in slow performance, reduced battery life and noise ? If so which one would be the best choice considering performance is more important for me once we cross the 500GB limit.
My parameters for performance are:
- Speed should not reduce compared to my currently installed HDD(Hitachi 160GB).
- Noise should be negligible, as it is now on my MBP.
- Battery life should not reduce.
Can any one suggest which one I should go for? My budget is $100.

Hi,
Not really a suggestion as such, but I have just installed a WD Scorpio Blue 500gb HDD myself. Unfortunately I've been having some issues with it and started a topic on this site to find an answer:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2518783&tstart=0
I thought you might be interested as it could affect your decision.
Rh

How to Install Windows OS on a two partitioned internal HDD?

Hi
I have a late 2011 macbook pro 8,2 (MD318HN/A). A month ago, I installed Windows 7 using Bootcamp. For that I made a partition of 50 GB on my internal 500 GB HDD. After sometime in need of space, i formatted that 50 GB partition using Disk Utility in Mac OS Ext. (J).
Till this everything was fine.
Now I want to install Windows 8 Release Preview :
And now to install Windows 8 Release Preview, when i go to Bootcamp, it shows me an error that windows can be installed on a single partition HDD.
Trying format the internal HDD in one partition:
So i tried format the HDD of my MBP. In Lion Disk Recovery Mode (Cmd+R) using the Disk utility I tried to format the HDD but it gives me an error "Couldn't unmount the disk". I tried many a time but failed then re-installed the Mac OS X Lion from internet. Now that 50GB partition is showing in finder but still the error from Bootcamp exists when tried to install WIN 8.
So tell me what to do?
I have nothing in MBP to backup etc. So tell me any solution. I have arount 4-5Mbps download speed too.
Thank you.

Download MiniTool Partition Wizard. The boot disk is free, and it contains all you need to delete all partitions on your drive. This same problem happened to me when I was tinkering with installing Windows 8 using EFI boot (incidentally, DON'T - Apple's EFI implementation is, to date, not compatible since it's partially proprietary).
The download link is: http://www.partitionwizard.com/partition-wizard-bootable-cd.html
You'll need a USB mouse, since the trackpad mouse wont work with this partiticular image, but it's the easiest tool to use from a user experience point of view, which is why I'm recommending it.
After you delete all partitions using this tool (and press apply) you can go ahead and restore OSX by any means you wish (internet recovery, dvd install etc.)

Cannot install Windows to internal HDD on dm4t laptop (HDD is working, but not recognized in BIOS)

Hi All,
I have an issue with the internal SATA HDD in my Pavilion dm4t laptop (PR #: XQ1313AAR). The drive is working, when connecting via external USB enclosure is recognized by the PC, can read/write data, format partitions etc… When plugged in as internal HDD of the laptop, BIOS does not recognize it. When booting from Windows Installation Disk, the drive (and its partitions) are recognized, but I get the following message when trying to select a partition to proceed with Windows install:
Windows cannot be installed to this disk. This computer’s hardware may not support booting to this disk. Ensure that the disk’s controller is enabled in the computer’s BIOS menu.
Used external USB enclosure again, connected to a working PC and using TestDisk, I deleted the partition table (by zero writing it several times), then created a new MBR. When connecting back as internal drive, it is now recognized by BIOS and in the Windows installation screen, I can actually select a partition on the drive to install Windows on; the installation actually runs, but as soon as I get to the point of having to restart the PC during the installation process, upon restart the drive is not recognized anymore…
When I remove it, and repeat the same steps with TestDisk, it once again works, can start Windows installation, but it fails upon restart.
I have already read numerous forums on the topic, have tried various drive utilities. I also saw in one of the forums a suggestion to enable AHCI for the SATA controller, but the laptop BIOS is extremely limited and does not have that option.
Please help!!! Have been without a working laptop for several weeks and is driving me crazy. Saving any data on the drive is not needed – I have recovered all data from it that I need. So my only objective is to restore the harddrive to fully working state and be able to install OS on it (Windows 7, 64-bit)! Thanks in advance for any help!

@minxinglee
even i am getting same errors I hope you found out solution by now ! plz... can u share it ! i need it urgently
Thanks in advance

My v3753au (32bit win7) bios cannot detect internal dvdrom & hard to detect internal hdd?

hi...
my v3753au is wonderfully running on 32 bit win7. lately the bios cannot detect the internal dvdrom & kinda hard to detect (longer than usual) the internal hdd during startup. i've tried with the other dvdrom & it's still the same. however, the one that i used is still ok on other laptop. fyi, i've tried with the original f.15 version as well as the latest f.28 version but both let me down. when win7 runs, dvdrom doesn't appear either in win explorer or device manager. i've also checked the registry for that filter thing but it isn't there. any suggestions of what should i try next?
tq for the help...

> I couldn't reinstall/recover new system from CD cos Win7 couldn't detect any drive while installing.
Its no matter if the SATA mode is set to AHCI or compatible mode. The HDD should be recognized by BIOS even if the AHCI mode has been selected.
At the first BIOS page the HDD should be listed with the name and size.
If it isnt the case, it could be possible that your HDD controller is faulty.
What HDD did you purchase exactly? Is it a 2.5 SATA HDD?

External HDD via eSATA or internal HDD - which is fastest?

I am thinking of putting a fifth HDD in the optical bay of my mac pro. It looks a little bit fiddly to install (brackets, routing cables etc). I also have a Sonnet Tempo E4P SATA card. Is aan external HDD connected vis eSATA as fast as an internal drive?
Also, if I have two external drives set up as RAID 0 and use these as a scratch disk for photoshop will they be faster than a single internal HDD?

I also have a Sonnet Tempo E4P SATA card. Is aan external HDD connected via eSATA as fast as an internal drive?
Yes - an external HD configured with the E4P is just as fast as an internally mounted hard disk. The advantage provided by the eSATA host adapter is that the HD attached to it is now hot swappable. The internal hard disk is not.
Hot swap is great for backup sets and adding storage as needed.

MacBook Pro doesn't recognise new Internal HDD

Hi there, I was hoping to get some help on this ...
I purchased a WD Scorpio Blue 750GB internal HDD and Apricorn kit and used SuperDuper to clone my current internal HDD. The clone copy worked fine and I can boot the OS via the new WD HDD if it’s connected via USB, but when I install it inside, the Macbook doesn’t recognise it and a folder with a blinking ‘?’ appears.
I’ve tried booting up from the disk utility on start up to hopefully select it and that doesn’t work either as it cannot find the HDD.
I’ve tried booting up from disk utility and using my Time Machine back-ups to copy over the new WD HDD but it doesn’t recognise the new internal HDD either.
I did format it before I cloned the new drive to be OS Extended (Journaled) but I didn’t make multiple partitions and not sure if this is a step I'm missing.
When I put the old HDD back in it boots fine.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated
Cheers, Sam

Didn't matter how many times I reformatted, partitioned mapped the HDD when it was connected externally, the issue was was the Super Duper clone. (even though it would start up as an external start up disk.)
Had to install the new HDD internally and reformat it from boot up through Disk Utility then do a restore from a previous Time Machine back up.
Works fine now, no issues.

After SL upgrade - internal HDD now writes very slowly

After upgrading from Leopard to Snow Leopard, a strange problem has appeared on my Mid-2007 iMac, and I still haven't found a solution...
I backed up my system, erased and did a clean install of SL on my internal HDD, and proceeded to restore my data. This is when I noticed the problem: *Copying data from my external drives to the internal iMac HDD, the maximum transfer rate I can achieve is approx 2MB/sec.* It may or may not have had anything to do with SL, perhaps just a coincidence of timing, although the problem definitely wasn't there before the "upgrade".
Normally, write speeds used to be ~50MB/sec from my FW800 drives. I've tried from all my drives (I have 6 external drives - 4-USB 2.0 and 2-FW800) and the results are consistently the same for each. Copying data from an external drive to another external drive is at normal speeds, so this rules out any bus issues. Copying data FROM the iMac HDD to any external drive is normal - ~30MB/sec to USB 2.0 drives and ~65MB/sec to FW800 drives.
Needless to say, using the internal HDD leaves my iMac in a pretty much unusable state. At 2MB/sec it will take days to restore my data...
+Reading through other posts I've found here:+ I read a report from one user suggesting that the external cache on the WD 500GB internal SATA HDD is shot, although S.M.A.R.T. - or any other tests I've done, including TechTool 5 and DriveGenius 2 - reports no known errors.
At first I thought it may have been a glitch with SL, but I've since reverted back to stock Leopard 10.5.8 and, since the problem still exists, I'm now convinced that it's not a software issue any more.
*My question is:* Could the external cache on a HDD fail and the drive still operate normally, albeit slowly? And just to make it clear, only writes to the internal HDD have slowed, not reads.
If anyone has any suggestions, I'm completely open to them. I've tried just about everything I can think of up to now. If I had an extra drive around I would consider swapping out the internal HDD to rule out a hardware issue - yes I'm comfortable with the procedure and have the tools and service manual. I am without AppleCare on this system, which I've had for approx 2 years now.
FYI - I've reset the PRAM and NVRAM (4 chimes) and left my iMac unplugged for over an hour to reset the SMC...
Thanks for your time. I've tried to be as clear and thorough as possible. This is definitely a strange one, and so far I'm stumped...

Thanks, I checked and everything is properly set - GUID, 1 partition - simple (like I've done many times before).. I've tried just about everything I can think of now (except for the zero erase - it's going to take hours so I'll do it overnight tonight) yet nothing makes sense, and I'm still only getting 2MB/sec write speed..
I'm thinking the drive is pooched and I'm going to pick up a replacement this weekend unless I can figure something out sooner.. Would be a good excuse to upgrade to a 1TB model anyways, perhaps a 1.5TB if the iMac can handle it?
Please keep the suggestions coming, though.. I do appreciate it..

How do I move my data from internal HDD to ext. HDD to upgrade internal?

Hello,
I just got a 500GB internal HDD to upgrade my 120GB internal one right now. I also purchased a TB external HD to use for back ups.
My question is this: What is the easiest way to back up/move my entire 120GB internal HDD data to the TB external, install the new 500GB internal, then move everything back to my new 500GB internal?
I already know how to do the hardware stuff. I just need to know how to use the software. (Time Machine?? Migration Assistant? ) I would rather NOT have to purchase additional software.
Thanks for your help.

The first time that I upgraded my hard drive I used [These Instructions|http://www.macinstruct.com/node/130] and it worked very well. I used the free/trial version of SuperDuper! but you can use Carbon Copy Cloner as posted above also.

How can I partition internal HDD after installing Windows 7 Professional via Boot Camp 4.0?

I recently purchased MacBook Pro 13" (Late 2011) model with OS X v10.7.2 Lion installed. I've upgraded to OS X v10.7.3 Lion and updated all other software.
I require Windows 7 for some Windows based softwares that do not support Mac OS X. Therefore, used Boot Camp 4.0 to install Windows 7 and then tried partitioning single internal HDD to have 3 partitions (4 total including BOOTCAMP partition). Disk Utility created a 648.5MB partition and then I was able to create 3 other partitions of custom sizes. After applying these changes, I got an error message that said selected volume size is too small. I resized this 648.5MB partion to a custom size and had total 4 partitions, including BOOTCAMP.
After reapplying these changes, BOOTCAMP partition was removed and I was left with only 3 partitions and empty space.
I've tried several different ways to partition the disk, all in vein. Is there a way I can partition my single internal HDD after installing Windows 7 Professional via Boot Camp 4.0?

You can't do what you want with GUI utilities, which will only allow a total of 4 partitions due to the limitation of MBR needed to support Windows. Those four partitions: EFI System (hidden), Mac OS, Recovery HD (hidden), Windows. So with Lion, you only get two visible partitions if you're going to use Windows with BootCamp. You can't make anymore with the included graphical tools.
If you need more partitions you'll need to use something like GPT fdisk (gdisk) to create the partitions in the GPT first. Then add the Windows partition only to the MBR and flag it as bootable. gdisk can be googled and downloaded for Mac OS X off sourceforge. It is not a GUI tool.
You should read this:
http://www.rodsbooks.com/gdisk/
And this:
http://www.rodsbooks.com/gdisk/hybrid.html

Internal HDD is slooooow

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