Need suggestions for upgrading my hard drive...(700 gigs, completely full.)

I like having a large internal drive. I want to buy one of those Western Digita 2 Terabyte SATA drives and put it in.
Problem is, I'd need a way to time-machine the 700 gig drive first. And for that I'd need an external 700gig drive. And a lot of free time.
Any suggestions?

All you need to do is connect an external drive to your iMac and run Time Machine, if you are going to put a 2 TB drive inside your iMac you are not going to get any much larger than 2 TB right now. My recommendation is to rethink the way you store things. I would recommend instead of one large internal drive to get 2 external drives, all being FW 800 for speed. You could do something like this.
External HD #1 used as a bootable clone to the internal drive. This drive does not need to be large, less than 100 GB would be fine. You can create a bootable clone using SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner.
External HD #2, move most of your data from the internal drive to this drive. If you get a FW 800 drive as recommended you will still have plenty of speed and most likely not perceive any loss in performance.
External HD #3, use this as your Time Machine Drive. This doesn't have to be FW 800 but it does make it easier if it is because you can daisy chain all the external drives together.
It's not cheap but it is a more efficient way to work in my opinion.
Regards,
Roger

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Instructions for upgrading MacBook hard drive?

Wanted to ask if anyone knew of a set of set-by-step instructions for upgrading a MacBook internal hard drive and migrating the data from the old drive to the new drive. Apologies if this has been covered elsewhere.....
I have a 15-inch late 2008 MacBook Pro (currently running OS X 10.9.5 [13F34]), and would like to replace the 250gb drive with a 1tb Seagate Momentus XT drive. I have been unable to find a single set of instructions for doing the replacement myself, particularly with respect to data migration.
From what I have read, the process should look like this:
1. Install the new hard drive in an external enclosure case, connect to MacBook and do a 'clean' OSX Yosemite install on the new hard drive [then boot MacBook from external drive to test installation]
2. Use Setup or Migration Assistant to transfer applications, preferences and user files from the old hard drive to the new hard drive
3. Shut down MacBook, disconnect new hard drive and remove new hard drive from enclosure
4. Open up MacBook, remove old hard drive and replace it with the new hard drive
Am I missing anything? Are there any other issues about which I should be aware?
Many thanks (in advance) for your assistance....
Bill

WJD2015 wrote:
I had read somewhere that Apple recommended doing a clean install. when upgrading to a new drive. A couple of years back, someone on the forums had all kinds of problems upgrading to (I think) a 750gb Seagate XT drive, and the closest thing they got to an answer was the suggestion that the problem stemmed from cloning their old drive and that they should have done a clean install.
Almost all of my macs (many) are clones, some more than one generation. They all run as fast as the few 'clean' installs (mainly new machines)
If you update a good installation, and check that you are not cloning (or migrating, either way has the same issue) incompatible software to the new drive/OS there is no difference. The key is getting rid of or updating the old stuff before upgrading the OS, often forgotten but it can bite when you don't.
If you use my method, you get to test the installation before committing it to an internal role.

Suggestion for a new Hard Drive?

I'm thinking about replacing the 250GB hard drive that came with my G5 with a larger one. I'll relegate the old one to backup duties and the new one will end up being my new media drive. (Currently, I'm running my OS off a 150GB Raptor via a SATA card.)
I'd like to know what you'd suggest as a good 500MB-750MB drive to replace the existing one? I'm plan on using as a media / backup drive (for when the new OS comes out). I'd like one that's not too noisy, however. At one point I got a 320MB Western Digital that I ended up relegating to offline backup due to the whining noise it made when operating. It was noisy enough I could easily hear it above my computer's fans. I'd like something that isn't particularly noisy since it will be operating at all times.

WD would be my choice. Either 500GB or 750GB. And by the looks of it, the 750 is an excellent drive for replacing the (loud) 10K Raptor. I've noticed that Raptor bought couple months ago is much quieter than one from a year ago.
I have 3 x Caviar SE16 500GB, 2 x 320GB RE series, and 2 x 160GB RE as well. Along with a couple 10K Raptors and 3 x MaxLine Pro. The ML Pro run warm-ish and make more noise than Caviar.
Samsung 500GB would be quiet too.

Procedure for Upgrading My Hard Drive

Hello,
I have a Mac Pro full of 1.5 TB+ hard drives to store video and other files. My primary drive, however, is only 320 GB and since it is used to hold temporary files while editing and converting video, I have completely filled it up several times and had to move stuff around to get some free space back.
Ever since the drive was maxed out, my Mac has been running really slow. I checked Drive Genius 3 for fragmentation, and it says my drive is 60% fragmented, so I'm guessing this is where my performance problems are coming from. I bought a new 2 TB drive that I plan to swap out. My only question is how to go about restoring the data.
I have been backing up with Time Machine for quite a while, so once I swap the drive, should I do a Restore System from Backup, or should I reinstall, then use the Migration Assistant?
Thanks

There are a few ways to do this..
1. Buy Carbon Copy Cloner and use it to create an image of your current disk.. install the new disk, then create new system disk using Carbon Copy Cloner.
2. Drag and drop all your user files to a backup drive including iTunes and iPhoto libraries.. install your new disk and then drag and drop these files back in. This approach requires you to reinstall MacOS from the system disks 1&2 that came with the original computer, install subsequent upgrades with 10.6.6 Combi upgrade software, and application install disks(images) including iLife '11.
3. If you used TC to backup your entire disk then "restore" would work as long as you can boot from another disk before you attempt to restore using TC. I am not sure how this in done though so you should get help before you attempt this approach. Some people have had problems associating the old TC backup image with the new user account on the new disk. Maybe macjack (from above) can offer advice on the correct procedure to follow. I just don't know what it is..
I did a hard disk upgrade on my MBP with approach #2 and a 750GB disk from macsales.com. It worked out fine.

Suggestions for an external hard drive?

I'm in the process of shopping for a good external hard drive to work with FCPHD 4.5. I have a g5 dual 2.0 and I was checking out the "LaCie d2 Extreme Triple Interface, 160GB, 7200 RPM, External USB 2.0 / Firewire 400 / Firewire 800 Hard Drive" hard drive. I've been scouting the discussion board and saw alot of kernel issues. Has anyone had problems with this one, or know of any problems with Lacie? Or can you suggest a good hard drive that is compatable with FCP4.5.

I have never heard anything bad about OWC or Weibtech. They all have great stuff. I own a Weibtech enclosure I put my own drive into. Right now I also work with (3) 500GB Lacie BigDisk drives. I work them very hard. One is a back up and constantly has stuff moving on it. One holds all my project files and footage, which I work on for at least 7 hours a day. So far everything is seemless.
It is true that Lacie tends to change their hard drives they use quite often, however, I've never had a problem with their stuff.... except for that one time I bought a referbished model. In other words, if it's really important to you, don't get a referb. But they do have great prices on them.

Suggestions for new iMac, hard drive and Thunderbolt vs FW800 vs USB3?

Ordering a new iMac 27" and leaning toward fusion drive, and wondering if anyone has any suggestion or experiance with this drive? Any suggestions for drives would be welcome.
I am going to have to decide what to do as far as storage and I assume USB3 will be the best choice - been using FW800 and lots of new things coming.
Thanks for any input and suggestions.
Don

anybody have any comments on the use of Thunderbolt vs USB3? I am using FW800 not and will be changing my 2 external drives. I have to keep FW800 on them so I am able to daisey-chain them. My use is normal and wondering if I should stay with USB3 & FW800 for external or make the TM drive a Thunderbolt. Those seem to be priced higher just wanted some suggestions, recommendations.
Thanks,
Don

Need suggestions for upgrading discontinued site templates.

I'm currently working on migrating our MOSS 07 site to SharePoint 2013 (using 3rd party software). I have a site template that i'm not sure what i should convert/upgrade it too.
I have a Budgeting and Tracking Multiple Projects (PROJMULTI#0) site template. What would be an equivalent or similar template that I could convert this too?
Thanks
James T.F

Hi James,
Quote from
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc263203(v=office.15).aspx "Fabulous 40" application templates:
Microsoft is not creating new versions of these templates. Environments that contain sites based on these templates can be upgraded as long as the templates are installed. But there might be issues when you try to upgrade the site collections. Make sure
that you test each site before you upgrade the production environment.
There are some links for upgrade these templates to SharePoint 2010 environments:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/tothesharepoint/archive/2010/08/18/sharepoint-2010-products-upgrade-and-the-fabulous-40-application-templates.aspx
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sharepointdev/archive/2012/06/01/migrating-the-sharepoint-2007-fab-40-templates-to-sharepoint-2010.aspx
Also a link for deploy 2010 solution in 2013:
http://www.learningsharepoint.com/2013/03/24/deploy-sharepoint-2010-solutions-in-sharepoint-2013/
You could refer to the link below to upgrade your SharePoint 2007 to SharePoint 2010, then upgrade it to SharePoint 2013:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee947141.aspx
Regards,
Rebecca Tu
TechNet Community Support

Suggestion for configuring the Hard Drive

I just replaced my windows 7 laptop with a macbook pro. (So I'm new) i like the versatility of being able to use parallels and use windows in "coherence mode" - and can keep apple apps available. I think i understand the basic concept and would assume i would parition the drive with boot camp so i can take full advantage of the system resources - memory, etc directly from windows or linux as compared to a virtual machine where i would pre-allocate space and ram and resources are mapped. I am correct? The reason I ask this is becuase I don't think i need to take the full advantage of the 4gb when i'm running Win 7 - i just use office products mostly. so would i just configure the macbook pro drive as 1 partition? and then configure parallels with the appropriate sizing? where should i store audio and itunes - in the mac of win image?

Welcome to Apple Discussions!
My question is if all you use MS Windows for is MS Office then why install Windows at all? Why don't you just get MS Office 2008 for Mac and live happily ever after?
Regards,
Roger

I want to upgrade my hard drive. Need suggestions.

I have a MacBook (white-early 2009). I am looking into upgrading my hard drive. I want at least 500GB. My budget is $120. I will be doing photo and video editing (not sure if that matters). I saw this one on Amazon and am wondering if it would be compatible: http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Scorpio-Black-Mobile/dp/B004LR1RPK/ref=wl_ it_dp_o_pC?ie=UTF8&coliid=I1JJHTKGSKBWXY&colid=2DDV99QO43MAY
Any suggestions/advice would be appreciated. Thanks

Check newegg.com at http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007605%2060000345 9&IsNodeId=1&name=SATA%203.0Gb%2fs . Their prices are good, fast shipping, and perhaps most importantly, many user comments on the drives. And you can search the comments for 'mac' or 'apple' of 'macbook' comments.
I also lean towards drives that offer a 5 year warranty. Ignore those that only have 2 years or less. 3 years is ok, but 5 is of course better. I like, and use a, Western Digital Scorpio Black drive which comes in various sizes witha 5 year warranty.

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.)

Do I need to keep my external hard drive connected at all times for time capsule?

Do I need to keep my external hard drive connected at all times for time capsule?

Hi,
I have a similar question. I have backed up my external hard drive through my computer, onto my TC. When I go into TM, it doesn't show the external hard drive unless it is connected to the computer. Can I access the info from the external hard drive that is on the TC if I don't have the hard drive plugged in? If so, how can I do that?
Thanks,
Bernadette

Do I need to use all the hard drive for time machine or can I partition it

Do I need to use all the hard drive for time machine or can I partition it

You cannot partition a TC disk.
See pondini about mixing data and backups.. but remember this.. the TC has no way to back itself up and TM cannot backup files on the TC. Anything not backed up on the TC will be lost at some future point.
http://pondini.org/TM/TCQ3.html

I'm installing windows 7 64-bit on my imac which I've done before but I get a message that the partition is GPT even after I format the bootcamp partition. I just upgraded my hard drive to a 3tb and I'm allocating 1tb for windows. How can I fix this?

I'm installing windows 7 64-bit on my imac which I've done before but I get a message that the partition is GPT even after I format the bootcamp partition. I just upgraded my hard drive to a 3tb and I'm allocating 1tb for windows. How can I fix this?

No easy fix for a few reasons:
1) Bootcamp requires a hybrid MBR for the partition table. That is: both an MBR and a GPT partition table at the same time with the GPT one having all partitions and the MBR one having only the ones that are relevant, but at most 4 of them (including the protective partition and the Macintosh HD one). Which leads us to:
2) The MBR part of the hybrid partition table cannot work with 3TB hard drives. MBR is limited to 2TB.
I am working on a small EFI app that can boot Windows in EFI mode on a Mac and that would mean that you can go GPT only on your system. The progress of the app is slow due to the nature of EFI and for now requires that you do an unattended Windows install with slipstreamed graphics drivers, but we are adding VGA loading on top of EFI quite soon after the rest of the app stabilises. The status of the app is documented at:
Win7 x64 booting natively via EFI (no bios emulation)
Windows does actually successfully boot in EFI mode on most Macs (anything with a 64bit EFI should work), but does not have graphics support even if you load the driver due to the VGA pci registers not being set by the firmware. Furthermore, in Setup and Safe Mode, Windows uses VGA instead of GOP which is a failure by design since VGA is a BIOS standard and not really compatible without hacks with EFI. Other EFI implementations also add VGA compatibility at a high cost to the firmware complexity for the VGA cards available on the market that don't actually contain anything in their ROM except the VGA BIOS.
My recomendations:
1) Install on a second smaller hard-drive; or
2) Wait for the EFI app to come out officially and use that to boot Windows Vista SP1 x64 and Windows 7 x64 (RTM and SP1) in the native EFI mode.
3) Wait for Windows 8 which supports VGA-less booting acording to the AMD presentation at UEFI Plugfest.

Moving Garageband Music Files to MyBook for Mac External Hard Drive on OSX 10.5.8 I'm a musician and need to make space on my mac hd. Is it safe to move music files there and delete them on the mac? Thanks!

use a MyBook for Mac external hard drive.
I need space on garageband or the entire hard drive, since I am getting the "need space on the hard drive" messages.
It's scary to move my precious music files!
How should I move them to the external and feel safe about doing so?
Or are there other methods besides the obvious, clearing caches, deleting the trash and downloads, etc., that are recommended?
I am doing music now and producers are waiting for the new vocals!
Help!
Thanks!

The process is as simple as just copying your Garageband project to the external drive and deleting from the macs hard drive. But before you delete anything you really need to back them up to someplace else also. Having just one copy is not safe. Get another external drive, DVDs or even flash drives, you absolutely need anything important in more then one place.

I want to upgrade my Hard Drive to 1TB and more. What is the maximun Hard Drive I can install for a MacBook Pro 2009 Yesterday, I tried a SEAGATE SSHD but my screen was always a showing a QUESTION MARK (?). It's not the cable because when I put back

I want to upgrade my Hard Drive to 1TB and more.
What is the maximun Hard Drive I can install for a MacBook Pro 2009
Yesterday, I tried a SEAGATE SSHD but my screen was always a showing a QUESTION MARK (?). It's not the cable because when I put back the old original version, everything works...Any sugestion of brabnding or procédure to upgrade my hard drive?

The largest 2.5" dia SATA drives available are 2 TB in capacity.
Have you tried the Seagate SSHD connected externally to the MBP via USB? The drive itself may be faulty.
Ciao.
Here is a good place to start looking for a replacement drive:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/hard-drives/2.5-Notebook/

Need suggestions for upgrading my hard drive...(700 gigs, completely full.)

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