Is it feasible to install a 6 GB hard drive in my iBook?

I'll 'fess up to not being the the sharpest pencil in the box, and I probably made a fatal financial mistake.
I'm poor, and just spent my tax refund on an iBook with an AirPort card & 160 MB of memory. I do some freelance writing, & planned to use the public library's wireless internet network to email manuscripts to magazine editors. I need word processing software that can be read by PCs (I have AppleWorks 6) but I don't have enough memory to install modern software packages.
I called up the Apple Store, and then an authorized Apple repair shop. I was told that at one time Apple had 6 GB hard drives for iBooks. If I obtained this hard drive from a 3rd party I could have it installed for $60 or $70.
My gut instinct is that if I can find someone willing to part with an iBook 6 GB hard drive it will be expensive and/or at the end of it's life span. But maybe I'm wrong. I don't know about computers, I only know I can't spend hundreds of dollars unless I'm sure I'll end up with a laptop that will allow me to email manuscripts.
Should I cut my losses now, or try and find a 6 GB hard drive for my iBook?

Karen:
The average life of a laptop HDD is 3 to 5 years. Because of the architecture of the drive it begins failing with age, and performance degrades. 6 GB is too small, 10 GB is too small. The minimum HDD I would install is 20 GB, but I think you should aim for something closer to 100 GB. You seem to have the earliest iBook introduced in July 1999 and has the 300 MHz processor. It will support a drive up to 120 GB. Here is a 120 GB HDD that will serve you well for a long time.
I realize that you are anxious to get going with your project. However, I suggest that you take time to research well or you may find yourself making costly mistakes.
Good luck.
cornelius

Similar Messages

I installed a new bigger hard drive and now spotlight does not work with outlook to search for emails

My old hard drive was full so I went to an apple authorized provider to install a new bigger hard drive. They also moved the data and applications from my old drive to the new one. They did not use time capsule because their way was faster. After the installation I did have to reenter the product code key for Office 2011 for the Mac. However, now I find that I cannot do email spotlight searches in Outlook. When I put in the search - it comes up with no results. This is true no matter what the search. Any ideas of how to point spotlight to look in the email folders so I can do searches again. This is a feature I use daily - so I am concerned that I have lost this feature. Also, I am noticing that alot of the settings did not carry over to the new hard drive. Any help is greatly appreciated!

I would recommend starting over and migrate using your Time Capsule backup however DO NOT do it wirelessly, connect using an Ethernet Connection. If you upgraded to Lion from Snow Leopard then follow the instructions in this video, the kid is annoying but he knows what he's doing. Clean Install Of Snow Leopard video. Once you have installed and updated Snow Leopard then update using the 10.6.8 Update Combo, then log into the Mac App Store and re-install Lion and all it's updates. My guess this is an afternoons work.

Install data from external hard drive?

Hi, we have our old macbook data saved on external hard drive (old laptop had water damage but able to retrieve data). I now have new macbook, how do I install data from external hard drive to new macbook? Is it super easy? I didn't want to set up new laptop until I could understand how to install all our old data. Thanks

Do you have the appropriate cable to connect the external drive to to new Macbook?
If you do, the rest is easy. Connect the drive and start up the new Mac. The first steps in the setup will be to enter information about yourself, etc. etc. As you proceed you will be asked if you want to bring in data from another place. Just follow the directions, and the Mac Setup Assistant will do everything for you.
The critical part is making sure the external is corectly connected to the new computer.

Can programs be installed on an external hard drive with my mac pro?

Can programs be installed on an external hard drive. I am running low on space. Final Cut Pro X spins off the rendering files which takes a large chunk of space. Like to at least have those rendered files on an external drive, but can find that option to make it happen.
Hardware Overview:
   Model Name:   MacBook Pro
   Model Identifier:           MacBookPro10,2
   Processor Name:        Intel Core i5
   Processor Speed:       2.6 GHz
   Number of Processors:           1
   Total Number of Cores:           2
   L2 Cache (per Core):   256 KB
   L3 Cache:        3 MB
   Memory:          8 GB
   Boot ROM Version:     MBP102.0106.B07
   SMC Version (system):           2.6f59
   Serial Number (system):         C02L250VFFRP
   Hardware UUID:          B26BB020-5346-5A3E-BE36-8D63AAF041C4
   Sudden Motion Sensor:
   State: Enabled
   Hard Drive APPLE SSD SD256E:
Kent Mechem

Hello Ian. I am currently using Lion installed on a WD My Passport 500Gig drive connected to my MBPro via USB, which is still running 10.6.8. Like you I am not prepared to lose all my currently functioning Mac, but also like to see how the new OS runs before making the total switch, maybe when it gets to 10.7.2
So after you download Lion and select to run the installer it will show you which disk to install on, being the default SL drive you downloaded Lion with. But here you can click Other Disk and select the external HD. The installer will run and then boot into the external drive to complete the installation. From then on you can use Startup Disk or the Option key to select the preferred OS.

I want to install Yosemite onto an external hard drive, and keep Snow Leopard installed on the internal hard drive. I want to be able to boot from either system, depending upon circumstance (at least until Yosemite is stable). Is this possible?

iMac, Model Identifier iMac12,1 with 121.5" screen, 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7 processor, 8 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 memory, 1 TB internal hard drive, running Snow Leopard 10.6.8 from internal drive.
I want to install Yosemite onto a 1 TB external hard drive (OWC) , and keep Snow Leopard installed on the internal hard drive. I want to be able to boot from either system, depending upon circumstance (at least until Yosemite is stable). Is this possible?

It is possible. I'll let you read some articles that cover the setup:
Starting from an external USB storage device (Intel-based Macs) - Apple Support
or
http://osxdaily.com/2013/06/22/boot-mac-external-drive/

Hello, My computer crashed, I removed the hard drive and installed it into a hard drive enclosure and now I am trying to get my Thunderbird data off of it

Hello,
Thank you for taking a look at my problem. My Windows computer crashed so I removed the hard drive and installed it into a hard drive enclosure and connected it to my new Windows computer with a USB cord. I installed Mozilla Thunderbird on my new computer and read the different tutorials on this website for extracting data from the external hard drive and installing it on my new computer however I cannot seem to be able to find the files that I need and quite frankly I do not know how to move them once I do find them. I even tried MozBackup but it could not find the files either. I searched for profiles.ini in the hard drive and the only hit I got was a profiles.ini file that was 111 bytes in size. I assumed that this was not what I was looking for but I did save a copy on my desktop. If someone has experience with moving files from a hard drive to a new computer I would be grateful for the help.
Thanks,
AN

lets get with the program. Mozbackup is useless in this situation because it looks for your profile in the location Thunderbird says it is.
You biggest hurdle is probably setting windows to show system and hidden files. The %appdata% folders are hidden by windows.

Can't install Mavericks to my hard drive: what should I do?

I am using a mid-2010 Macbook with Snow Leopard. I have been trying to install OS X Mavericks, with no real success. When I downloaded and ran the installer, it would not let me select my internal hard drive as start-up disk. I used a flash drive, assuming that, for whatever reason, I would be expected to install in onto my hard drive from the stick; what actually happened (sensibly enough, I suppose) was that, if I left the stick in the USB port when I started up the laptop, I got Mavericks running rather slowly; whereas if I started up without the stick, I got Snow Leopard running normally - and in no instance did I see a way to get Mavericks from the stick to the hard drive. I have found no mention anywhere else of those who install Mavericks having to run it from an external hard drive. What is going on? How do I get Mavericks on my computer? Do I really need, or even want, to?

Hello 123catsank,
It sounds like you are unable to install Mavericks due to this error message that you cannot use the disk to start the computer but it is the only partition you have on the hard drive. I recommend the troubleshooting from the following article. While the title of it mentions Mac OS X Lion, the steps are relevant for Mac OS X Mavericks as well:
OS X Lion: Installer reports "This disk cannot be used to start up your computer"
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts3926
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
Cheers,
Sterling

Getting S.M.A.R.T. when trying to install Mountain lion. Hard drive works pretty well. I understand that many users have been facing the same issue. Has apple patched it yet?

I'm getting S.M.A.R.T. error when trying to install Mountain lion. Hard drive works pretty well despite the Failing status. I understand that many users have been facing the same issue. My hard drive was/is working perfectly. Has Apple patched it yet?
Has someone found a solution which is not replacing the hard drive which works just fine? Or Is anyone aware of a procedure that can force the installation despite the S.M.A.R.T error? Below details of my hard drive
Thanks
ST31******ASQ:
Capacity:          1 TB (1,000,204,886,016 bytes)
Model:          ST31000528ASQ
Revision:          AP24
Serial Number:                      6V***5JR
Native Command Queuing:          Yes
Queue Depth:          32
Removable Media:          No
Detachable Drive:          No
BSD Name:          disk0
Rotational Rate:          7200
Medium Type:          Rotational
Partition Map Type:          GPT (GUID Partition Table)
S.M.A.R.T. status:          Failing
<Edited By Host>

If you haven't done so, run Disk Utility /Applications/Utilities
to run a live verification.
The drive may be ok at the moment, but that's not to say the drive may fail at anytime.
Hopefully you have all your important data backed up just in case.

Can Flash Player be installed on an external hard drive?

I have this game I am trying to install on an external hard drive that requires Flash Player and even though it is installed on my computer the game keeps popping up with Flash Player is required for this install. Would you like to install it now? Is there any way to install Flash Player on my external or get the game's installer to recognize it being on the hard drive. I don't want to install the game to my computer. Thanks for any help.

Flash Player is installed on the Windows system32 and syswo64 folders; it cannot be installed anywhere else.
What does that game require: the ActiveX control, or the plugin? If in doubt, install both.

Can I install onto an external hard drive + run off it?

Can I install onto an external hard drive + run off it?
If possible, will the system run at the *same* speed as the built in hard drive?
ALSO: Am I correct in saying that if I replace my current hard drive with an SSD one?
If so: that *****
Thanks
Omar

OS X doesn't matter what disk you boot from, as long as it can be formatted properly in Disk Utility. You can boot from a USB stick drive if it's big enough.
Thunderbolt would be the fastest, the drive would be the limiting factor there. You can find Thunderbolt drives like these at stores like macsales.com. But USB 3 might also feel fast enough.
If you have boot systems installed on many drives connected to your Mac, the way you tell the Mac which one to use is to hold down the Option key at startup. This will present icons of all the connected drives you can boot from, then you just pick one and go.

Installing Windows to external hard drive or using parallels?

Will installing Windows on external hard drive protect mac from viruses better than parallels? Which option is more sound, installing windows on external hard drive or using parallels? My main concern is mac protection. Thanks

Hi,
Thank's for your reply.
Using Parallels and creating a virtual machine, I think it should be possible installing Windows to an external hard drive, shouldn't it?
Message was edited by: Oleguer Vilella

How to install apps to another hard drive

I have a late 2012 iMac 21.5 inch. I boot from an external solid state drive. However there are apps I would like to install to the internal hard drive. Whenever I install an app from the app store it by default installs to the boot drive. I am slowing running out of room on the SSD. When I move the app to the internal drive, I can't seem to be able put it back on the launchpad or dock, I can only launch from Finder.
Any ideas how to get things to install the internal drive by default, or

Well, an USB HD is useless with a PPC computer because you can't boot with it. So, installing OS X onto it is an exercise in futility. Return it for one that has FW or get another one. Amazon is offering an ext enclosure + 1 TB Seagate for $130 USD at http://www.amazon.com/Macally-G-S350SUA-Hi-Speed-FireWire-Enclosure/dp/B000P1NAM O/ref=pdbbs_sr1?ie=UTF8&s=automotive&qid=1240278380&sr=8-1

What packages to install, and how to install in an USB hard drive

Hello.
Well, as I said in another thread, I want to install in an USB hard drive. But I don't know how, because it hasn't graphical installer, but text installer. I tried in a virtual machine, and it was fine, but when I want to start it, an error appears, "Was not found a bootable system" or something. Maybe a VM is not as a computer, but... well. I didn't change anything while I was installing GRUB, and I know that I've to install it in /dev/sdb.
And I want to know too, what packages to install and what packages don't (the ones which are neither "base" nor "base-devel"). But I'll install sudo, links and ndiswrapper (for wifi).
Thanks, and excuse me if my English is bad.

Gotta use the wiki my friend and this one is even translated into Spanish:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/In … C3%B1ol%29
As to your question about which packages you'll need beyond those in base and base-devel - that depends on what you want on your system... no one can answer that but you!
Welcome to Arch.
Last edited by graysky (2011-01-01 19:50:46)

I need to deactivate this copy of Acrobat X to install on a new hard drive.

I need to deactivate this copy of Acrobat X to install on a new hard drive. When I click on help, there os no Deactivate or Activate. Wjat do I do?

I do not know. I have a serial/key number for the software. Can I
install it again and use the same number?
Denis

Installing a 32gb mssd hard drive accelearation on HP Pavilion dv6-3127dx

Re: HP Pavillion dv6 Notebook, #XG756UA#ABA, Windows 7
Hello, I have the above laptop, purchased on 12-2010. Because I dropped it by mistake, it cracked the the left bottom shell and the screen hingue is lose so I have a white screen view now, but other than that the laptop works. It does not warrant the expense to repair this issue, so I have decided to buy a new laptop and keep this one as a desktop use. I have it connected to an old CRT monitor right now and it working great and doing the job (I will eventually look into getting an HP monitor to have a more modern montior). I am actually very happy that there is still life in this notebook, the view is much better on this old CRT monitor and other than the stupid mistake of actually throwing my book bag without realizing that the laptop was in it (a lape of memory), this laptop has been well cared for - only issue is that it gets very hot at times, not sure why since I do not really play games on it, but I understand this model has had this issue anyway.
To improve boosting I am wondering if I can install a 32gb mssd hard drive acceleration cache. I want to know if this process is simple enough for me to do on my own. Is this a card that I just buy and plug in a peripheral slot or is this something that has to go inside the laptop; where a technician has to do it? Also, how about installing a better graphics card while I am at it? It currently has an integrated.
Any help is appreciated, so thanks in advance.
This question was solved.
View Solution.

Graphics on notebooks are typically soldered to the motherboard. Notebooks, when it comes to critical components, are typically locked into that configuration. Some components, like the processor, may be possible but it is not an easy task.
This guide by erico, one of the community experts, answers a lot of questions about upgrading the hardware in a notebook. This may be worth reading if upgrading the hardware is something you are interested in.
Unlike desktops, notebooks aren't really designed to be upgraded. This is largely due to how the notebook is designed with cooling in mind. More powerful components will generate more heat and the initial cooling design (fans, heatsinks, and airflow) may not be adequate to handle the additional heat being generated.
It really sounds like this notebook doesn't quite meet what you are looking for. The graphics card is something that is generally not upgradeable/addable and it does not appear this unit has the necessary architecture to support the cache drive option. Just to add some clarity, the cache drive architecture typically relies on a RAID configuration to accomplish that task. Since the RAID driver (Intel RST) is missing from the download page, it appears this unit does not have RAID capabilities.
If boot speed is something you are looking for, upgrading the HDD as a whole to a standard SSD may be the best option for your needs. However, looking at a new notebook may be the best option if you also want improved hardware such as the graphics card.
This notebook comes stock with a 32GB mSSD cache drive. It looks like the ultrabooks include a cache drive as I looked at four different ones and each had a cache drive included. They didn't list it in the specs of the notebook, but it was listed when I selected the customize option. However, the ultrabooks more than likely won't have the video card you are looking for due to the compact size the ultrabooks are designed for. The Envy line typically has the most options for video cards.
↙-----------How do I give Kudos?| How do I mark a post as Solved? ----------------↓

Is it feasible to install a 6 GB hard drive in my iBook?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for