Partitioning Strategy for a New Hard Drive?

I just got a FirmTek SATA controller card and 250GB hard drive for my MDD. Now it's time to format and partition it, so I was wondering what considerations should be made in deciding on a partitioning strategy.
I'm running Tiger OS and associated apps, but I also want Leopard on the drive for future use. I have a database application (DEVONthink Pro) and data for my research that will be expanding in the future (maybe to 50GB). I also do some photo-editing with PhotoShop Elements and image files that may grow to 80GB.
No music or video files. My OEM ATA drive will be my emergency boot drive and I have an external firewire drive for backups. Thanks for any advice on this.

OK, now that I think of it, my question is a lot like asking what color car should I buy.
So, with my minimal experience in what works best in the work-a-day world relative to hard drive partitioning, I have come up with this:
Go with 3 partitions;
Partition 1 -- 100GB, Tiger OS and everyday applications
Partition 2 -- 66GB, Future home for Leopard OS and Leopard specific apps.
Partition 3 -- 66GB, Database app. & data, PhotoShop Elements & image files
Would the Tiger OS run faster in a partition by itself? Then put apps in another? Thanks.

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HT201372 used this to make a bootable copy for a new hard drive installation. copied the install find but gave error code 110 when making the disk bootable.. Any help in what this code is

Used createinstallmedis to make a copy of the Mavericks app for use in a new hard drive install.. Copied find but gave error code 110 and failed to make the flash drive bootable.. Any help in what errror code means?

Did you partition and format the flash drive first? See the following:
Make Your Own Mavericks, Mountain/Lion Installer
After downloading the installer you must first save the Install Mac OS X application. After the installer downloads DO NOT click on the Install button. Go to your Applications folder and make a copy of the installer. Move the copy into your Downloads folder. Now you can click on the Install button. You must do this because the installer deletes itself automatically when it finishes installing.
2. Get a USB flash drive that is at least 8 GBs. Prep this flash drive as follows:
Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
After DU loads select your flash drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the leftside list. 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.
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.
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.
Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to an hour depending upon the flash drive size.
Make your own Mavericks flash drive installer using the Mavericks tool:
Mavericks has its own built-in installer maker you use via the Terminal:
You will need a freshly partitioned and formatted USB flash drive with at least 8GBs. Leave the name of the flash drive at the system default, "Untitled." Do not change this name. Open the Terminal in the Utilities folder. Copy this command line after the prompt in the Terminal's window:
sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Mavericks.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Mavericks.app --nointeraction
Press RETURN. Enter your admin password when prompted. It will not be echoed to the screen so be careful to enter it correctly. Press RETURN, again.
Wait for the process to complete which will take quite some time.

Do I need to uninstall apps when getting service for a new hard drive?

My second (home) computer is part of Apple's defective hard drive recall. Do I need to uninstall my creative cloud apps before I take it in to get the new hard drive, or will they just get wiped and then can I install again when it comes back with the totally new hard drive?

Launch one of the installed applications, for example Photoshop and from the Help menu choose Deactivate. This will deactivate all of the applications installed via Creative Cloud.

Problem with system recovery for a new hard drive in my Pavilion p6210y Windows 7 Premium 64bit

   I decided to swap out my hard drive when my computer would fail to start up or crash right after starting. Diagnostic tool at startup said the hard drive was faulty and other times I would get BIOHD-1 and BIOHD-2 errors. I replaced the old WD Caviar Blue 640GB with a new Caviar Green 1TB. I ordered and received from HP a system recovery disc set which included five discs labeled:
Use This First! System Recovery,
System Recovery 1:1,
SYstem Recovery 1:3,
System Recovery 2:3, and
System Recovery 3:3.
   After putting in the new hard drive I used the "Use This First!" disc and everything seemed to be going fine. The scene showed "Loading Windows" or something like that. After about 10 minutes the CD drive opened and the Monitor showed three images: a big green check mark which I assume meant everything was good up to that point; a graphic showing the removal of the first disc; and a graphic showing three discs to be put in. Wondering whether to put in the System Recovery 1:1 disc or the System Recovery 1:3 disc, I noticed that the drive bay closed with the "Use This First" disc still in. I managed to get the Drive to open after pressing the open button quite a few times. I closed it with the 1:3 disc and nothing happened (no light showing activity in the DVD drive). After a minute or so I managed to get the drive open again after quite a few times pressing the open button. I put in the 1:1 disc and still nothing. At this point I could only open the drive bay with a paper clip in the release hole. With the computer unresponsive and the monitor still showing the same as when the first disc came out, I decided to turn it off with the "Use this First!" disc in the drive hoping to start from the beginning again. Now the directions that came with the HP System Recovery discs state:
   CAUTION: Do not turn off the computer, or use the keyboard or mouse during this time. Doing so will interrupt or damage the software installation.
   Now when I turn the power on I get either:
the HP blue screen with the green hand, (F11=system recovery), (F9=Diagnostics), (F10=Setup) and (ESC=Boot Menu). pressing esc, F9, F10 or F11 does nothing.
Or the HP blue screen appears and then almost immediately goes to the black screen with " Reboot and select proper boot device or insert Boot media in select Boot device and press a key". I've gotten this scene while trying almost every System Recovery disc in the drive. Hitting a key does nothing other than repeating the same message.
Once I got a "The file is corrupt. The file header checksum does not match the computer checksum" error. That appeared only once in about 30 try's.
   The open DVD drive button works sometimes and not other times. I can't seem to figure out a pattern for when it will work.
   I don't know whether I might have accidentally moved the mouse or hit the keyboard during the first attempt. Can I do something to the new hard drive to get it back to a state where it can start from the beginning again? Might it be a problem other than the old hard drive. Anyone have any suggestions?

Satellite L505D-S5983
Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit
Yes, of course! See the link to your model's spec above.
My apologies. The previous link went to a spec for the Satellite A505-S6960 (which came with Windows Vista installed). I had too many spec pages open at the same time and got them mixed.
So, are you telling me that I won't get this one to work?(the BPKT)
No. But you may face the problems that I outlined in this message.
-Jerry

Is it time for a new hard drive?

My iMac early 2008 has been running extremely slow even after i reduced 320 gb hard drive so it only has about 150 gigs occupied now. 2 GB memory. I just ran Disk Utility and it said it "stopped verifiying MacIntosh HD. This disk needs to be repaired. Start your computer with another disk." I haven't done that yet. I have everything backed up on Time Machine to an external hard drive. A friend says the HD is going bad and needs to be replaced. Is that right? All advice greatly appreciated.

From the given information I'd find a more knowledgable friend. The first thing you need to do is repair your drive:
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard 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 Utilities menu. 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.
If the above indicates the drive is OK after repairs are completed, then you can focus on some maintenance to help improve performance:
Kappy's Personal Suggestions for OS X Maintenance
For disk repairs use Disk Utility. For situations DU cannot handle the best third-party utilities are: Disk Warrior; DW only fixes problems with the disk directory, but most disk problems are caused by directory corruption; Disk Warrior 4.x is now Intel Mac compatible. TechTool Pro provides additional repair options including file repair and recovery, system diagnostics, and disk defragmentation. TechTool Pro 4.5.1 or higher are Intel Mac compatible; Drive Genius is similar to TechTool Pro in terms of the various repair services provided. Versions 1.5.1 or later are Intel Mac compatible.
OS X performs certain maintenance functions that are scheduled to occur on a daily, weekly, or monthly period. The maintenance scripts run in the early AM only if the computer is turned on 24/7 (no sleep.) If this isn't the case, then an excellent solution is to download and install a shareware utility such as Macaroni, JAW PseudoAnacron, or Anacron that will automate the maintenance activity regardless of whether the computer is turned off or asleep. Dependence upon third-party utilities to run the periodic maintenance scripts had been significantly reduced in Tiger and Leopard. These utilities have limited or no functionality with Snow Leopard or Lion and should not be installed.
OS X automatically defragments files less than 20 MBs in size, so unless you have a disk full of very large files there's little need for defragmenting the hard drive. As for virus protection there are few if any such animals affecting OS X. You can protect the computer easily using the freeware Open Source virus protection software ClamXAV. Personally I would avoid most commercial anti-virus software because of their potential for causing problems.
I would also recommend downloading the shareware utility TinkerTool System that you can use for periodic maintenance such as removing old log files and archives, clearing caches, etc. Other utilities are also available such as Onyx, Lion Cache Cleaner, CockTail, for example.
For emergency repairs install the freeware utility Applejack. If you cannot start up in OS X, you may be able to start in single-user mode from which you can run Applejack to do a whole set of repair and maintenance routines from the commandline. Note that AppleJack 1.5 is required for Leopard. AppleJack 1.6 is compatible with Snow Leopard. There is no confirmation that this version also works with Lion.
When you install any new system software or updates be sure to repair the hard drive and permissions beforehand. I also recommend booting into safe mode before doing system software updates.
Get an external Firewire drive at least equal in size to the internal hard drive and make (and maintain) a bootable clone/backup. You can make a bootable clone using the Restore option of Disk Utility. You can also make and maintain clones with good backup software. My personal recommendations are (order is not significant):
Backuplist
Carbon Copy Cloner
Data Backup
Deja Vu
iBackup
JaBack
Silver Keeper
MimMac
Retrospect
Super Flexible File Synchronizer
SuperDuper!
Synchronize Pro! X
SyncTwoFolders
Synk Pro
Synk Standard
Tri-Backup
Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQs on maintenance, optimization, virus protection, and backup and restore.
Additional suggestions will be found in Mac Maintenance Quick Assist.
Referenced software can be found at CNet Downloads or MacUpdate.
If none of the above help then try reformatting the drive and installing a fresh copy of Snow Leopard.

Can you copy the Windows Bootcamp partition over to a new hard drive?

I'm out of space on my hard drive so I'm adding a larger one. I originally just wanted to use my time capsule for a backup, but then I remembered about my Windows partition.
What would be the most efficient way to copy both partitions from my original drive to the new drive for install?
I have a Macbook Pro 13in Late 2011 model and running OSX 10.9.5. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Respectfully,
-Cory

Backup your Windows software using Windows backup software to a Windows formatted disk. Create a new Boot Camp partition on the new drive. Install Windows on it, then restore your backup. You can also buy disk cloning software that can clone the system to another drive and restore the entire clone. I believe Acronis has such software.

Drive Partition causing issues after new hard drive and recovery disks installed

I have an HP Pavilion Media Center PC m7640n running Windows XP Media Center Edition.
My hard drive failed and I had a computer guy install a 1 TB Hard drive as well as additional memory. I purchased the recovery disks and he installed everything for me. I have two issues:
1. After updating to XP Service Pack 3 and all other Windows recommended upgrades the computer deleted all my drivers and would not "plug and play" install anything. I had the computer guy back to fix this--he did get all my drivers to work, but when I plug in anything new for the first time (such as my iPad), I have to go into the device manager and manually update the drivers. The computer doesn't recognize it and automatically prompt me to install it.
2. The hard drive partition defaulted to my C drive being very small and my D drive being large. Since software usually defaults to the C drive for installation, I quickly ran out of space. I had the computer guy back and he programmed something so that everything now defaults to the D drive. Unfortunately all my program files (including Microsoft Office) are still on my C drive including everything I put on my desktop. My C drive is now full.
Here is an example: iTunes shows that it is defaulting to the D drive for anything I load into it. Yet I tried to download the new operating system for my iPad and it said my hard drive was full. When I did a file search to see what files had changed in the last week, it shows iTunes on my C drive (and my D drive). Yet all the files that were "changed" due to my upgrade were defaulting to the C drive, even though in the setting in iTunes it shows it should be saving to the D drive.
D:\Documents and Settings\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Media
Is there an easy way to fix these issues? I've already spent more than I anticipated when I chose to rebuild this computer vs buying a new one. Now I'm regretting the decision and I'd like to try and fix this myself and not pay my computer guy to come back at $90/hour.
Thanks!

Here are the original specs of your computer. The specs state that the original hard drive was 320GB. You have since replaced the factory drive with a 1TB (1000GB) hard drive. The HP recovery routine seems to have issues with hard drives that deviate from the original size. The partition issues you are experiencing may be a result of this. As for the rest of your issues, it sounds like the SP3 install went bad.
If I were you, I would consider reinstalling the OS using your recovery discs by doing a complete "destructive" reinstall/recovery. Afterward, I would post the size of both the c: and d: partitions... and go from there.
Frank
Frank
{------------ Please click the "White Kudos" Thumbs Up to say THANKS for helping.
Please click the "Accept As Solution" on my post, if my assistance has solved your issue. ------------V
This is a user supported forum. I am a volunteer and I don't work for HP.
HP 15t-j100 (on loan from HP)
HP 13 Split x2 (on loan from HP)
HP Slate8 Pro (on loan from HP)
HP a1632x - Windows 7, 4GB RAM, AMD Radeon HD 6450
HP p6130y - Windows 7, 8GB RAM, AMD Radeon HD 6450
HP p6320y - Windows 7, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GT 240
HP p7-1026 - Windows 7, 6GB RAM, AMD Radeon HD 6450
HP p6787c - Windows 7, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GT 240

How to install a recovery partition after installing a new Hard drive? and FileVault help.

Hi,
I recently swapped out hard drives and when I did a Time Machine backup to the new drive, I noticed there was no Recovery HD partition for my drive. Is there a way to install it back on my MacBook Pro (Late 2011, running 10.7.4)?
On a slighlty different topic FileVault won't let me encrypt my new HD it says "Some disk formats don’t support the recovery partition required by encryption. To use encryption, reinstall this version of Mac OS X on a reformatted disk."
What formatting does my disk require for FV to be turned on? Currently it is Mac OS Extended (journaled)
If there is a solution to solve both these issues, or any one issue it would be appreciated.

The formatting being referred to is actually the presence of the Recovery Disk.
You can't enable FV2 without a recovery partition being present. The reason is strictly logical: if your entire disk was encrypted, how could you run the unencryption procedure you need to start up? That would itself be hidden behind the encryption. Hence, for FV2 to be able to work, you must have a Recovery disk present.
When you boot up with FV2 enabled, the login screen you see to enter your password is actually running from the recovery disk (invisible to the user). After you enter your password, recovery boots your encrypted partition and logs you in to your account.

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.

How much does it cost for a new hard drive in a macbook

my hard drive is making a buzzing sound that comes and goes. Is this the drive, and if it is what is the cost to fix??

It cou be sign of your HDD failing. for less than $100 you can replace with a new one. all depends on the gb size. be sure to copy your drive first with carbon copier first or back up with time machine and do a clean install of OSX with the dvd then transfer your time machine data to the new HDD. look at OWC for more info...

Looking for a new Hard Drive for my MacBook

I have less than 1 GB left on my Hard Drive and I'm looking for a bigger drive. I'm looking for a 250 GB as that will match my desktop. I know they were some talk about issues with the Western Digital Drives.
Any suggestions? Also, I was thinking of going for one that was 7200 RPM. Is that going to be a lot louder and kill my battery a lot quicker? Thanks!

I've got a 200GB Hitachi Travelstar 7K200 drive in my MacBook right now. About the only issue is that the bearings are a bit louder than the Apple OEM Seagate Momentus 5300.3 drive that was installed at the factory. Right now iStat Pro says that the hard drive temp is 72°F, which is about the same as my factory drive. Most specs say that you might expect maybe a half watt more power draw, which is unimportant if it's plugged in most of the time, and fairly small if you're on battery power.
Initially I thought my MacBook was going to destroy itself, with the fan hitting maximum and CPU cycles being used up. Turns out it was just Spotlight indexing the hard drive, and the same would have been true for any new drive installation. I didn't think it would be an issue with a cloned drive, but it was.

Looking for a new Hard Drive

I am having trouble keeping up with my editing. With grand kids and RVing I am getting footage faster than I can edit. To that end I am looking into a Macbook pro so that I can edit when we travel.
For the new laptop I will need a scratch disk.
I would like a 1TB firewire drive that would be pretty durable. It would be getting moved around much more than the LaCie I am currently using.
Any recommendations?

The Lacie d2 Quadra and Little Big Disk Quadra (7200rpm model) drives are pretty robust.
I also like the G-Drive and G-RAID mini from G-Tech.
If you are going to travel with a hard drive, get a padded case for it, or a laptop case big enough to store it and your MacBookPro.

Time for a new hard drive?

Hi,
I am lookin to put in a larger and faster hard drive in my MBP, unibody enclosure, laptop. I am hoping for some advice. I remember there were some links to some Do-IT-yourself videos but i cant find them.
Will this cancel out my warranty?

Having the hard drive changed is easy on the new MacBook Pros. I have noted links to some helpful resources for you to check out.
Just remember to use the install disks that have been included with your computer for having the operating system installed. Do not use the retail version or disks from another computer.
Apple’s Manuals
See page 38.
http://manuals.info.apple.com/enUS/MacBook_Pro_15inchLate2008.pdf
See page 37 for 17-inch MacBook Pros.
http://manuals.info.apple.com/enUS/MacBook_Pro_17inchEarly2009.pdf
Videos
http://eshop.macsales.com/tech_center/installation.cfm
Picture Guides
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/First-Look/MacBook-Pro-15-Inch-Unibody/590/1
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/First-Look/MacBook-Pro-17-Inch-Unibody/618/1
This will not void your warranty.

Shopping for a new hard drive

My ancient white Macbook's hard drive failed. The Genius Bar said to buy a new drive online and they'd install it for me. But they didn't say what to buy. Are their limitations i should be aware of? Brands to look for or avoid? Size? RPM? GB? RAM?

Check out Other World Computing (OWC) at macsales.com. That's where I buy all of my Apple hardware and they give great deals and give you search results based on your specific Mac.
As a matter of fact, here's a more direct link:
http://eshop.macsales.com/MyOWC/Models.cfm
Go there, select your MacBook from the list, then select "Internal Drive Options (Hard Drives, SSD, CD & DVD Drives, etc.)." This should take you to the hard drives that are compatible for your MacBook. Let me know if you need anything else!

Advice for a new hard drive

My PowerBook has an 80 GB hard drive and I only have 14 GB free. Time for more space! So, two questions:
What's a great hard drive in the 160 to 250 GB range?
Should a guy with PC tech experience but very little Mac tech experience attempt this operation on his own?
Jeremy

You have several choices. You could get an external hard drive and backup some of the data if you want more space. If you do this, recommend either a firewire device or a powered USB device, as our Powerbooks don't put out enough juice on the USB ports to run many external hard drives. One portable external firewire hard drive, for example, is http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/on-the-go . If you do upgrade your internal drive, you can get one of these cases and put your existing hard drive in it for selective backup (not the best approach, as you should have a complete backup of your data).
Regarding hard drives in the 160GB to 250GB range, there are several vendors that make drives: Seagate, Western Digital, Hitachi, and Samsung come to mind, there may be others. Seagate, Western Digital, and Hitachi are all brands that people seem to like. If you want to go larger, Western Digital has a 320GB drive, too. You can look at user comments at http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010150380%201035907 889%201035507777&name=5400%20RPM . Seagate used to have a 5 year warranty but recently seems to have recently changed their laptop drives to 3 years, which is more standard.
To see if you want to do the installation yourself, look at this guide: http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Browse/PowerBook#SectionPowerBook_G4_Aluminum_Num12 Choose your system and hard drive replacement. Suggest buying a new small phillips head, and use cups to keep the screws together by each step of the instructions.

Partitioning Strategy for a New Hard Drive?

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