Is there a 'how-to' anywhere about upgrading the hard drive?

Hi Guys,
I'd quite like to upgrade the hard drive in my 24 inch 3.06GHz iMac to 2TB. Is there a step-by-step 'how to' available anywhere or has anyone done it successfully?
I've done laptops on many occasions but the iMac has a difficult looking case to crack!
Thanks
Rich

Hi mate,
Haha, no I have no preconceptions about firewire! My iMac has a 400 and an 800. The 800 is connected to a Sony DV video deck and the 400 is connected to a RAID drive that is then daisy-chained to another external firewire and a Wiebetech bare hard drive device that I just swap out various hard drives to for clients.
I suppose I should really be looking at a tower, but I sold a G5 Quad to downsize to the smaller footprint iMac and have been happy with it's performance - but the new ones have more space and more RAM capability - it's just a shame they don't have the connectivity options of even this iMac.
Cheers
Rich

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I have a rather old iMac 20" (mid 2007) and I want to upgrade the Hard drive. How do I change it? How do I transfer all my applications? May I just copy the old hd into the new one? Thanks.

I have a rather old iMac 20" (mid 2007) and I want to upgrade the Hard drive. How do I change it? How do I transfer all my applications? May I just copy the old hd into the new one? Thanks.

There are many online tutorials on how to change out the HD on a mid 2007 iMac. One of the originals is from 2007 and is Upgrade your iMac 20" or iMac 24" aluminum (mid 2007) to 1TB Hard Drive and 4 GB RAM - DIY Guide. As far as migrating your system Apple helps out with that in Setup Assistant which automatically starts when you turn on a new Mac for the first time. After you have installed the new HD you will have to format the new HD to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and then you will have to install OS X. The first time you turn it on Setup Assistant will start. Follow the directions and you will be fine. In order to restore your information you will need to backup what is on the current internal HD first. I'd recommend using Time Machine (Assuming you are using Leopard or later) AND also creating a bootable clone using either SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner.
Please complete your profile so at the very least we know what version of OS X your machine has installed.

Hi, I bought the macbook pro 15 3 months ago. I wanna upgrade the hard drive to 128G ssd drive. How much I should paid?

Hi, I bought the macbook pro 15 3 months ago. I wanna upgrade the hard drive to 128G ssd drive. How much I should paid?

Qingfeng wrote:
Hi, I bought the macbook pro 15 3 months ago. I wanna upgrade the hard drive to 128G ssd drive. How much I should paid?
Well you won't have very much storage capacity with a SSD that small, also SSD has limited writes, so it wouldn't be good for on-loading and off-loading a lot of files.
SSD isn't being securely erased due to steps to prevent their premature wear, so despite what you do in Disk Utility Secure Erase, your confidential data can still be recovered if you pass the machine on to someone else for instance.
Other than those reasons, small SSD's can be extremely fast, loading your programs and OS much faster. But the real benefit in high speed storage is transfering large amounts of files on/off the computer to ANOTHER fast device. This comes in handy for video and large music collections and so forth.
Since the SSD because of it's limited writes doesn't fit the bill as a large file transfer medium.
If you want to get a SSD drive, you can upgrade it yourself simply by ordering one online at locations like Other World Computing or NewEgg and have a 00 micro phillips head screwdriver handy.
There are instructions over at iFixit for opening your MacBook and replacing the hard drive with the SSD.
Preferably you will want to clone your present boot drive to a external drive using Carbon Copy Cloner, then making the switch and hold option to boot from the clone and then clone from the external to the new internal SSD drive.
Prices of SSD are varied, Apple won't replace it for you
This is currently the fastest SSD availalbe
http://www.harddrivebenchmark.net/hdd.php?hdd=OCZ-VERTEX3+MI

Do I need an OS Disc to restore my macbook after I upgrade the hard drive?

I need to upgrade the hard drive in my 2009 macbook. I have a Time Capsule. I'm not clear on whether I need to install OS on the new drive using a disc, or whether I can do that from the Time Capsule? The issue is that my disc drive is broken, and I don't really want to replace it as I never use discs in it anyway. But i don't want to get stuck with a new hard drive and be unable to get an operating system on it.

I prefer this process:
How to replace or upgrade a drive in a laptop
Step One: Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger, Leopard or Snow Leopard.) After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
Step Two: Remove the old drive and install the new drive. Place the old drive in an external USB enclosure. You can buy one at OWC who is also a good vendor for drives.
Step Three: Boot from the external drive. Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager appears. Select the icon for the external drive then click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Step Four: New Hard Drive Preparation
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select your new hard drive (this is the entry with the
      mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of
      the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive
      is failing or has failed and will need replacing. Otherwise, click on the
      Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from
      the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended
      (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to
      GUID then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and
      wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the
      drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main
      window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the
      Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to
      return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several
      hours depending upon the drive size.
Step Five: Clone the old drive to the new drive
1. Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.
3. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
4. Check the box labeled Erase destination.
5. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the
      Destination entry field.
6. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to the
      Source entry field.
7. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Destination means the new internal drive. Source means the old external drive.
Step Six: Open the Startup Disk preferences and select the new internal volume. Click on the Restart button. You should boot from the new drive. Eject the external drive and disconnect it from the computer.
However, you could simply reinstall OS X on the new drive after prepping it, the restore all your files from your Time Machine backup.
Hard to say what if any other options there may be since you haven't told us what version of OS X is in use and backed up to your Time Capsule (and if it is a full system backup.)

How can my daughter use the hard drive in the Time Capsule ...

So, I am in Oklahoma and my daughter is in Tennessee...
She has a Time Capsule where the Wi-fi base station quit working, but the hard drive may be OK.
She bought an Airport Express to use as a wi-fi router.
The question, then, is:
How can my daughter use the hard drive in the Time Capsule to do Time Machine backups?
Thank you very much for your insights.
Roberto

It can be done but is very messy. That is assuming the TC is still functional which I kind of doubt.. the wifi is seldom the only thing that will die .. so whatever problems it has the wifi would be the least of it.
Anyway.. do a factory reset to get started.
The Factory Reset Gen1-4.
Unplug your TC. Hold in reset. and power the TC back on.. without releasing reset for about 10sec. When the status light flashes rapidly; release it.
Be Gentle! Feel the switch click on. It has a positive feel.. add no more pressure after that.
TC will reboot after a couple of minutes with default factory settings and will wipe out previous configurations.
No files are deleted on the hard disk.. No reset of the TC deletes files.. to do that you use erase from the airport utility.
If the LED is not lit then the TC is dead, not just the wireless.
The setup for using the TC is explained in the bottom of this thread.
TC in a second local network.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4817218?tstart=30
The idea is to set the TC to provide router function.. and the computer plugged in by ethernet to as a second network.. but there are rules on how this is done which I have explained in that thread.
I notice that Mountain Lion deals better with order of network priority than Snow Leopard used to .. so it might not need to have manually set gateway and dns.. although I would still recommend it. It simply stops the second network causing issues.
It is much easier to simply purchase an external drive and plug that in.
It is cheaper, faster and more reliable than using the TC for TM anyway.
Plus a lot of the later machines no longer have ethernet ports.. and using dongles is far from neat.. although thunderbolt to ethernet is IMHO necessary accessory for anyone without ethernet.

Upgraded the Hard drive, now sleep light and infared is not working

I upgraded the hard drive on MacBookPro3,1
with Hitachi 320GB, 5400 RPM hard drive.
I quadruple checked the connections to see if I missed
anything but the sleep light is not coming on when the machine is at sleep
and infrared is not showing up on the SystemProfiler -> USB
Any advice on what to do.

Oh I forgot to mention that the new hard drive is also
have clicking noise of parking the head that
everyone is complaining about. I thought only 7200 rpm
drives were effected.

HI, I HAVE A MacBook Pro 2.3GHz dual-core Intel i5 AND I WAN'T TO UPGRADE THE HARD DRIVE UP TO 750GB AND ALSO THE RAM MEMORY TO 8GB. WHAT SPECIFIC MODEL OF HARD DRIVE AND RAM MEMORY SHOULD I BUY??? THANKS

HI, I HAVE A MacBook Pro 2.3GHz dual-core Intel i5 AND I WAN'T TO UPGRADE THE HARD DRIVE UP TO 750GB AND ALSO THE RAM MEMORY TO 8GB. WHAT SPECIFIC MODEL OF HARD DRIVE AND RAM MEMORY SHOULD I BUY??? THANKS

No need to type in all caps - we HEAR you!
I would take a look at the internal drives offered by both Crucial (click the link "Internal Hard Drives Now Available") and OWC. I would stay away from Western Digital drives as they seem to have problems on a number of Mac models.
You can also shop for RAM at Crucial and OWC - just select the System Scanner tab at the Crucial website to find out which memory is right for your machine.
Good luck,
Clinton

How can I completely wipe the hard drive with out the Mac OS X disc? I don't need any of the info on the computer.

How can I completely wipe the hard drive with out the Mac OS X disc? I don't need any of the info on the computer.

You can't unless you have a bootable system on an external drive you can use. Otherwise, you need either the original disc that came with your computer or a retail copy of Snow Leopard DVD. The latter contains 10.6.3, so your model must be capable of booting from that or an earlier version of OS X.
You can purchase replacement discs from Apple:
Apple Store Customer Service at 1-800-676-2775 or visit online Help for more information.
To contact product and tech support: Apple - Support - Contact Apple Support.
You can purchase Snow Leopard through the Apple Store: Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard - Apple Store (U.S.). The price is $19.99 plus tax. You will be sent physical media by mail after placing your order.
After you install Snow Leopard you will have to download and install the Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1 to update Snow Leopard to 10.6.8 and give you access to the App Store. Access to the App Store enables you to download Mountain Lion if your computer meets the requirements.

HT6030 I have 2011 iMac it came with os x 10.6.6 i just upgraded the hard drive and now i cannot install OS X 10.6.6 every time i start installing after selecting the language it come up with error " OS X can't be installed on this mac " please help

I have 2011 iMac it came with os x 10.6.6 i just upgraded the hard drive and now i cannot install OS X 10.6.6 every time i start installing after selecting the language it come up with error " OS X can't be installed on this mac " please help

Be sure to start your iMac using its original grey System Install DVD: Insert that disc and start your Mac while holding the d key. At the Mac OS X Utilities screen select Disk Utility and format the hard disk. Select "Mac OS X Extended (Journaled)".
Then, install OS X.

Has Apple ever fixed the fan issue that results from upgrading the hard drives on 2009-2010 iMacs?

Has Apple ever fixed the fan issue that results from upgrading the hard drives on 2009-2010 iMacs?
My CPU fan defaults to 3000RPM. I can rev the fan higher with 3rd party Fan controllers, but no lower than 3K.

OR you can short out the original temp sensor, to make the fans rev at quieter speeds.
You can also install an optical temp sensor in place of the old one, it will still read temps and adjust the fans accordingly, just not as good as an internal sensor.
Use something like this:http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-922-9229-Cable-Temp-Sensor-Optical-iMac-27-inch-Late -2009-2010-/111106349896
Another fan speed control app you may be interested in: http://exirion.net/ssdfanctrl/
Good Luck!

I want to upgrade the hard drive in my MacBook Pro

I bought one of the first MacBook Pros that only came with a 100gb drive. I want to buy at least a 250gb drive for it. The problem is that I would like to maintain what I already have on the existing drive. I am getting Leopard on Monday so I'm not sure if using Time Machine will help. I guess what I am trying to say is that I like my computer just like it is as far as what I have installed and configured on it. Can anyone offer suggestions to how I can upgrade the drive and maintain all of my stuff. I have an externl drive much larger than 100gb to use should I need to back some stuff up. Any hel would be greatly appreciated.

The hard drive is not a user upgradeable part. This means that technically speaking if something goes wrong with your installation, you may void your warranty/AppleCare. Some authorized service centers may be able to maintain your warranty while doing such an installation, but that really varies by service center. I know when I install a new hard drive in my iMac, I had to put back in the original hard drive before before Apple would be willing to diagnose the logicboard of my iMac. So consider that before installing a new hard drive. You can put the SATA 2.5" drive inside a Firewire enclosure which supports it to maintain your hard drive contents while you put in the new drive. http://www.ifixit.com/ and http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/ are the most common places to find instructions to do such installations yourself. Mind you, because as an external drive, it is more liable to fall, and break, backing it up before you take it out is highly recommended as my FAQ* explains:
http://www.macmaps.com/backup.html
And that's highly recommended before you install Leopard in anycase. So do that first, and worry about whether Time Machine will give you the abilities you need later. There is a new Leopard forum on the board where you can see what people have found out about Time Machine.
http://discussions.apple.com/category.jspa?categoryID=235
- * Links to my pages may give me compensation.

Can I upgrade the Hard Drive on a macbook?

I am having all kinds of problems with my 2nd (in less than a year) WD external 1TB hard drive on my Macbook. I use it for my iTunes and iPhoto, as well as my Time Machine backup. So when my Macbook just stops seeing the hard drive that is a problem. The first WD 1TB My Passport HD did the same thing until I had to run the Mac HD repair program to see the hard drive. The problem persisted. I've ordered my third HD but this time it's a Seagate GoFlex USB 2.0. My Macbook has only a Firewire 400 and USB 2.0 ports. My iPhoto and iTunes files are too big to fit on my 160GB internal HD. Is there a Apple recommended internal HD upgrade to solve this problem? I have Mac OS X 10.7.3

You sure can, up to 1 terabyte. Check ifixit.com for comprehensive guides on how to do it. If you don't feel comfortable, have an authorized apple dealer do it.

How can I securely erase the hard drive for PowerBook G4 running 10.2.3?

I'm about to sell a PowerBook G4 12-inch running 10.2.3 after I erased the hard drive via the the original software install and restore disk. There was no secure erase option like there is in subsquent versions of OSX. Is there a way I can do a 7 (or 35) time erase on this machine? Thanks!

See this Apple note. Secure erase was added in 10.2.3, but in a different place than later releases.

What do I need to do after I upgrade the hard drive on my macbook pro?

I just bought a new 13" Macbook pro i5 on May/03/13 but I need more space and I want to upgrade my Hard Drive from the 500GB it come's with to a 750GB. So I just want to know the steps I need to take after I do the upgrade and start up my Macbook, Someone told me that the Macbook won't work right away because I have to do something to it, I just dont know what. Can anybody plz tell me what I have to do after I do the upgrade step by stpe? Thank You!
Oh and my Macbook pro is on OSX 10.8.3

Correct. After installing the new hard drive, your Mac won't have any operating system, so you will have to reinstall OS X using Internet Recovery > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718
To start in Internet Recovery, hold Command, Option (Alt) and R keys while your Mac is starting. Then, open Disk Utility and create a partition formatted with "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)", if it hasn't been already created. Finally, close Disk Utility and reinstall OS X.
If you want to copy all the data you had on the old hard drive into the new one, use Disk Utility's Restore feature > http://pondini.org/OSX/DU7.html Note that you will have to buy an enclosure to put the old hard drive

How to recover data from the hard drive?

I've always heard that data is never really gone from the hard drive even after you delete it. How do I recover that data? My problem is some photos (my honeymoon photos) have been deleted from my computer and they have also been deleted from the recycle bin. I sure would like to recover them.

First stop using your system, then get a copy of a program that will recover files like Data Rescue 3. If you have a time machine backup you may be able to restore them.

Is there a 'how-to' anywhere about upgrading the hard drive?

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