Poor performance, new hard drive

I'm at a loss. I've had this computer for ages and it cut out on me and I just installed a new hard drive and I'm adding back my programs. In case it helps, here's the info on my hardware:
Machine Name: PowerBook G4 15"
Machine Model: PowerBook5,2
CPU Type: PowerPC G4 (1.1)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 1.25 GHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 1 GB
Bus Speed: 167 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 4.7.1f1
So, it's just slow. And my printer isn't working properly. I can't find the rotten disc, downloads from Epson aren't doing anything. Printer Utility just isn't there.
I have satellite internet and an Airport. I've started watching some of ABC's TV shows and last night it got pretty upset over that and said I didn't have enough memory on my Start Up disk and to quit some applications. It did ok after I quit out of the new one program I had on with OS9.
I've used Disk Utility to repair permissions, did it just the other day and I just did it today and the icons for my hard drive were just a plain piece of paper and the hard drive just a folder! Now I'm pretty sure they used to be miniature hard drive images.
Got any ideas for me? Is Firefox saving too much info on my computer? Or what? Hard drive says I have 46.45 GB available. sigh

Doubt you'll be able to tell me anything about this then, but it won't start up properly now. Sat on the blue screen a couple times, started, and now I get a Darwin/BSD line and then
login: disk0s3: I/O error
I knew it was going to blow. The apple store is an hour away and I have a small child. Not the easiest thing to do. sigh again.

Similar Messages

Best way to install a new hard drive into a laptop?

what's the proper way to install a new hard drive into a laptop? i've heard that cloning can result in very slow boot up and shut down times, and that the proper method is install the new hard drive, install OSX, and restore data from time machine. comments? thanks very much

Cloning doesn't cause the resulting system to slow down in and of itself, but it does retain any previous problems, which can build up over time and result in poor performance. (The same can be said of installing new system versions on top of old versions.)
A clean OS X installation will give you a clean base to start from. Mass-restoring data and applications will undo some of that benefit, but by no means all.

Help restore new hard drive via time machine back up in time capsule

I have followed Pondini's How Do I Restore My Entire System from a backup on Time Capsule. I get all the way to section G with No Problem. I get to section H and my new Hard Drive does not appear in the Select a Destination box. The icon indicating the system is calculating the size of the volume keeps moving. Finally it stops searching/calculating and just offers the button "go back". For some reason it doesnt recognize my new HD. I open Disk Utility and perform a check and the hard drive appears to be working fine. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Are you sure you formatted the new drive properly, per section (c) there?
If that's not right, you can't install OSX on it.

Recovery discs do not work with new hard drive

Hi I have come here desperately seeking help as I am not too knowledgeable with the workings of computers and I have spent an incredible amount of time just trying to get my laptop to some level of functionality. I purchased a HP Envy and it had a corrupt hard drive which would not work from day one, laptop was new. After a year of constant pressure on HP they finally decided to replace it and let me choose any laptop so I went with the Beats Envy 14 as it was the best one offered from the selection. Low and behold the thing would not work properly from day one, again my brother who is much more of an expert said that there was definitely a hard drive issue so for the past 3 years I have put up with a computer that constantly crashes with BSOD, where I have lost data on numerous occasions (only so often I can back up), that I have had to constantly reset the thing using HP recovery discs, and that generally cannot cope when performing multiple tasks. HP are most certainly shocking builds from my experience. Then just last week the hard drive just craps itself and the laptop no longer will boot up. I took it to a guy to get it at leYst working again so he has installed a new hard drive but with an old version of Windows 7. I want to go back to the Windows version I was akin to on the HP recovery disk , and essentially have it all set up as before except for now having a workable hard drive however I get the message: "This computer is not supported by the System Recovery Discs.You will not be able to continue to recover this system with these discs.Error: 0100 - 3385 - 3078" I also tried out of interest to load my old Windows 7 disc I had and XP but had no success. Tried booting from startup etc and various things suggested on help forums. Please tell me I am not stuck with this version of windows. Whilst the discs included Windows 7 it was a totally different version, this home premium one is terrible. Any help/advice would be gratefully received. Thanks

no they were both 500gb. I read about that already, I heard about creating a partition for recovery etc but this is all a bit above me , as I said I am not very technical when it comes to the working of a computer. These discs worked perfectly before but now with the new hard drive will not load at all. I essentially hate the Windows Home Premium verions the guy who fixed it put on, whilst the discs had Windows 7 on them the icons were way smaller, the desktop neater, the buttons different, everything was a lot more modern and I was used to it. This version looks like something from the 90s, have to constantly adjust size of Mozilla when browsing as it is huge. I have my own version of Windows 7 on another disc but the hard drive will not let it load either........considering waiting for Windows 10 but again unsure if this new hard drive will even let that update Thanks

In search of a new hard drive, any suggestions?

Hello All,
It seems I didn't end up with good success from my new Seagate Momentus 7200.4 500GB Model ST9500420AS. As it began clicking this evening. So I reinstalled my original 320GB Hitachi drive and did a clean install of the osx as well.
I would like some suggestions as to another brand I might wanna try.
I'm looking for the best 5400RPM and the best 7200RPM for a 500GB to choose from.
I would like to stay with a 7200RPM drive only because since installing the 5400RPM stock drive, I have been able notice the difference in speed between the two rpm's. Also since installing the stock drive, I've also gotten one beach ball spinning effect I didn't get while using the 7200RPM drive. Unless someone can suggest a really good 5400RPM drive.
I have a brand new i5 15.4" Macbook pro that the new hard drive will be going into...
Thanks in advance for any suggestions...
Greg
Message was edited by: gorylewis

You're not alone regarding the Seagate Momentus failures. I bought the same model 5 months ago and began noticing random freezes and Finder restarts. After reformatting the drive and doing a full zero-erase (stress testing), Disk Utility reported that the SMART status was showing early failure. There are numerous posts regarding failures of this particular drive.
I've seen quite a few recommendations for the HITACHI Travelstar 7K500 HD20500 which is equivalent to the Seagate drive in all performance specs. I found one post on NewEgg's site about an early failure within 4 months but otherwise the feedback has been excellent. Until May 13, you can get this drive from NewEgg for $78 with the special promo code and no tax or shipping charge. I went for it.
The Hitachi drive uses less power so battery life is extended a bit and heat generation is lower. Heat and shock are the primary causes of laptop drive failures.
Message was edited by: Tony Scaminaci
Message was edited by: Tony Scaminaci

Hp 6310y can't get new hard drive to load windows 7

model 6310y -- Windows 7 home premium 64 bit
My desktop PC stopped working. I took it to local computer store and they said it was HD. I bought new hard drive and tried to install retail Windows 7 home premium 64 bit OS. I got an error message Code 0x80070002.
I called HP support....they told me I needed their brand of recovery discs because the motherboard or BIOS wouldn't allow me to install Windows 7 on the new replacement HD w/o it being their (HP) discs. So I ordered them...$17
I bought another new HD and tried to install Windows 7 OS with the HP recovery discs. This time got Error Code 0xe0ef000e.
I should mention both times trying to install OS on new replacement HD...it got approx 8 to 12 minutes into installation before getting error messages.
I called HP support....this time was told that the retail version of Windows 7 OS should have worked and that I didn't need the HP brand recovery discs when installing new replacement HD. They offered me to pay $199 and send them my desktop to fix it....all inclusive fix.
Very confused. I have never encountered anything like this before...I've had mulitple hard drives die over the years and have replaced them myself and installed all the software including OS myself w/o any problems like this.
Memory checked out ok when utilizing the diagnostics f9 key .... it did show problems with HD during one of my many diagnostic attempts
Not sure if its a bad motherboard or built in video card ..... not sure how to find out either....since I can't get the PC up and running
It will boot to blue HP screen & most of time won't allow me to get into f10, f9 or esc screens.
Not sure if its worth paying $200 to fix this or go and buy a new one for around the same price.
any suggestions or help is appreciated
thanks
This question was solved.
View Solution.

1) A retail OS should have worked. That particular motherboard's NVidia Sata controller chip had a bad batch. You need to make sure the hard drive is recognized in the BIOS. If not, nothing can be done.
2) Their brand of recovery disks was wrong, and was acknowledged. What about your $17 ??
If you had either a retail OS, or the recovery Disks that you made, these are acceptable.
The HP version when used with a new hard drive require conditioning "CyberLink Recovery Discs utility resolves an issue where Recovery Discs sent from HP do not work on a new hard drive".
Here's the list:
FAILED series computer with M2N78LA boards
That series motherboard was installed in many different models of HP computers. It is fraught with problems.
http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Hardware/m8530f-desktop-PC-with-a-m2n78-la-mother-board-doesn-....
Here are the reported models with M2N78LA boards that have failed. This is not the complete list.
a4316f
e9140f
p5210y
p6130y
p6142p
p6157c
p6210f (Voilet)
p6210y
p6214c
p6310y
p6320y
a6720y
m8530f
m9120y
m9350f
m9517c
m9530f
m9840sc
I am a volunteer. I am not an HP employee.
To say THANK YOU, press the "thumbs up symbol" to render a KUDO. Please click Accept as Solution, if your problem is solved. You can render both Solution and KUDO.
The Law of Effect states that positive reinforcement increases the probability of a behavior being repeated. (B.F.Skinner). You toss me KUDO and/or Solution, and I perform better.
(2) HP DV7t i7 3160QM 2.3Ghz 8GB
HP m9200t E8400,Win7 Pro 32 bit. 4GB RAM, ASUS 550Ti 2GB, Rosewill 630W. 1T HD SATA 3Gb/s
Custom Asus P8P67, I7-2600k, 16GB RAM, WIN7 Pro 64bit, EVGA GTX660 2GB, 750W OCZ, 1T HD SATA 6Gb/s
Custom Asus P8Z77, I7-3770k, 16GB RAM, WIN7 Pro 64bit, EVGA GTX670 2GB, 750W OCZ, 1T HD SATA 6Gb/s
Both Customs use Rosewill Blackhawk case.
Printer -- HP OfficeJet Pro 8600 Plus

I need help re-installing my OS on a new hard drive. Having MAJOR issues with this simple task.

I have a MacBook Pro 15" (mid 2009) I recently needed to get a new hard drive for it, the old one stopped working. It came with OS X Snow Leopard already installed from Apple, and it also came with the install disks. I have booted up using the install disks and put OS X Snow Leopard back on the computer.
I tried booting with a USB install disk of OS X Lion (10.7) but had no luck on multiple occasions. It would only get through the initial step of the install and then say it couldn't download additional components needed for OS X
So finally, I decided to try a full erase and reformat of my brand new hard drive (less than a week old) and stated with the basic software that came with the computer. Installing that worked fine, until I tried to do a software update through the built in program. My computer refused to download 10.6.8 from the apple servers, so I had to find it on a 3rd party website. Once I found it and downloaded it, I finally got it installed. There were 12 more updates after I did 10.6.8 and none of them worked when I tried downloading and installing as a group. I had to do each one individually, the last one being a security update.
Up to this point, the Mac App Store didn't work (even after the 10.6.8 update), I couldn't download any of my previous purchases. I needed to download lion, to see if having it on the Mac hard drive itself would help with the install, but I couldn't do that until after the security update.
Other than that, the Mac worked normally except for during each start up, the apple logo would flash along with the forbidden sign and the folder with a question mark on it. It flashed for a few seconds randomly, then would boot up normally or say that my computer would need to be restarted.i figured this issue would be fixed after I successfully installed lion.
FINALLY I got the App Store to download lion, and began the install process. Halfway through the install, it failed and when I tried to restart the computer, it continuously flashes through those three symbols at startup. I can't get it to do anything else. I'm so ****** off I'm ready to just sell it for parts.
My questions are:
      1. Can I install OS X Lion OR OS X Mountain Lion clean from the start after a full format of the hard drive?
      2. How do I go about installing clean and get my computer to stop flashing those symbols during start up?
*I have performed the Apple Hardware extended test and all systems are reporting normal function*

Okay, so, fast forward from July to now -
- I've visited my closest Apple store's genius bar twice now. (Over an hour and a half away.)
- My computer spent at least 8 hours behind their closed doors in the workshop
- Several complete erases of the harddrive have taken place
- Most of the Apple geniuses I dealt with were nice and very knowledgeable, but they were and still aren't 100% sure exactly what is wrong with my computer.
The good news is:
- They were able to at least get it running again, with a clean install from their servers of OS X Lion 10.7.5
- They believe that my problems stem from either 1 of 2 things:
        - Faulty Hard Drive (even though it is brand new)
         - The wrong build of software being installed.
Now, while the wrong build does seem like it could be the problem, it doesn't make sense in the aspect that all of the initial problems began when the first hard drive failed. The same problems continued when I changed out the failed hard drive with the brand spanking new one, and only slightly improved when I was able to successfully install the OS that came with the original disks for my computer. I'm not convinced this thing is back to normal, but hopefully I can make it last through getting a shiny new retina Macbook Pro in the coming future. Thank you so much to everyone who read and replied to this post!
- Andrew =)

Is it difficult installing new hard drive in a 15mth old iMac (24" intel)?

Hi all,
A little bit of background:
My iMac became progressively slower and slower - especially when writing to the hard disc. I re-installed the OS which did not fix things. Disc repair couldn't repair after booting from CD. (Can't remember the message sorry). Finally the computer wouldn't even boot up - it would go to the no permission sign. Ran Disk Warrior - and it said that the hard drive was broken (or to that effect). So - *first question* is, am I correct in assuming that it is time for a new hard drive?
Unfortunately I don't have apple care, and it is 3 months out of warranty. So silly eh - but i've had macs for as long as i have had computers (a good 10 years). Have never needed it .... until now. GRRR!
*Second question, and most important one*: How hard is it to install a new hard drive? I am a poor student so would like to escape the rather steep service costs involved in having it installed in a shop.
Thanks in advance for your advice!

hello lenn5,
So sorry it took so long to answer back! I didn't get onto my hard drive replacement until weeks after I asked this question .. and then exams hit. Been pre-occupied. I did re-install a new hard drive, and yeah - it was as suspected, fiddly but not difficult. Mind you - I have a friend who knows his way around PC guts extremely well do it. I was too nervous. I figured a Mac would definately be easier than a PC. He was able to complete the job in a couple of hours. He said that despite being nervous about stuffing up the computer, it was all pretty straight forward, and yes - easier than a PC.
I don't know the policy of posting urls here (and I can't be bothered looking atm hehe.. so 2nd best policy - don't know, don't do), but if you want the URL that he and I followed, just pm me and I will send it to you. You probably already have it, but just in case.. [edit: can't pm on this forum. mmm... well, if needed I'll read the P&P pages to see if we are allowed to post urls)
aaanyway - so far, so good. Fingers crossed that it stays taht way!
Message was edited by: slbm

How do I reinstall Lion if I get a new hard drive? My mac came with Leopard and I cannot find my upgrade disk for Snow Leopard

My MacBook Pro originally came with Leopard. I have the OS and Applications disks for Leopard but I cannot find my upgrade disk for Snow Leopard. I would like to perform a clean install of Lion on the new hard drive and restore some data from my Time Machine backup. I am not looking to restore the current image to my new hard drive. I have not yet removed the exisiting hard drive nor have I wiped my data.

The only way to do that is to buy a New SL Retail DVD. Or you could buy the Lion Install USB thumb drive from Apple for $69.
You must have SL installed to then install Lion or have a thumb drive with the Lion installer.
You could also create a Lion USB Recovery thumb drive using Lion Disk Assistant. But you need to have Lion already installed and the Lion RecoveryHD Partition on your drive to make the Recovery thumb drive.
Lion Recovery Disk Assistant

MacBook Pro 2009 new hard drive install results in very slow function and freezing

I just wanted to post my resolution to a problem that I had trouble finding an answer to on these forums.
Short version:
I replaced the hard drive in my 2009 MacBook Pro because the computer froze and upon reboot the Disk Utility said it was corrupted, but with the new hard drive the computer ran very slowly and often showed the spinning rainbow wheel. I replaced the SATA cable that connects the hard drive to the motherboard and it works perfectly once again.
Long version:
Recently my MacBook Pro (2009 running Snow Leopard) froze up and I performed a hard reset by holding down the power button. When I turned the computer back on it would not boot OS so I ran disk utility from the Snow Leopard install DVD. The test said the hard drive was corrupted, and since the computer is way past warranty I decided to change the drive out myself. I bought a 500GB Seagate Momentus 5400 Drive from Amazon, opened the computer and replaced the existing hard drive with the new one. When I first booted from the OS install DVD, my computer was not recognizing that any hard drive was present. I read somewhere on these forums that sometimes the formatting on new Seagate drives can't be read by MacBooks and they need to be reformatted using another computer, but I tried simply taking the hard drive out and putting it back in a couple of times thinking maybe I had just not plugged it in correctly. After the 4th attempt the hard drive magically showed up, and I was able to reformat the drive and install OS and even Windows XP on bootcamp.
Everything seemed to be okay but applications were running slowly considering this was a fresh drive and OS install. Over time, the computer started to hang more and more. In OS I would get the spinning rainbow wheel even when doing something as simple as opening a browser window in Chrome or trying to type into a text field. When I tried to use Windows it would simply freeze after only a short time and I'd have to do a hard reset.
I went to the Genius Bar at the Apple store which was unhelpful, so I continued searching through these forums to try to figure out the problem. I noticed a lot of people had trouble with the SATA cable that came with the computer because it's quite thin and delicate, and would get damaged when changing out the hard drive. However most of these people seemed to experience a question mark when starting up the computer, whereas mine would fully boot and be functional for a time. I thought it unlikely that a damaged cable could possibly leave the computer partially functional. Finally though I gave in a dropped the $26 for a new SATA cable on Amazon. As soon as I installed it the problem was fixed, and the computer runs as fast as when I first bought it. I don't know if I damaged the cable changing the hard drive (I was extremely careful) or if my original hard drive was not actually corrupted and the cable was already damaged. I mentioned the possibility of the cable being damaged at the Apple store and the representative said that often times they fail because people carry the laptop with one hand, and because of the way this model was designed this puts a lot of pressure right on that thin cable. Regardless, if you do plan on changing out your hard drive in your MacBook keep in mind that the SATA cable is sensitive, and that if you experience problems with a fresh hard drive and OS install the SATA cable is a likely culprit.

If you think you have either a hard drive or a cable problem, to the best of my knowledge the only product that can help isolate both of them is Scannerz. You can check it out at:
http://scsc-online.com/Scannerz.html
I think that's the correct link. If it isn't and you're interested and that's wrong, just google it. I'd also check out their downloads section, especially the sort of short document on using path isolation to detect and isolate problems.
Scannerz can detect both errors and irregularities. It uses the surface scan progress as a reference. Cable problems never show up at the same location because they're typically intermittent. Surface problems always show up at the exact same place. That's the only product (at least commercially available) that can do that.
I don't know if this information is of any value to you because it sort of sounds like you've already solved the problem, but it might be of use if you have problems in the future.
In any case, I've seen several posts on several different sites where people were reporting insulation break down on some of the SATA cables. Apparently the insulation breaks down and the cable starts shorting to the case.

I need to get a new hard drive for the g56..

the one thats in it has a error code 301 and i cant boot it. This is only 16 months old and its only been used about 10 times.

Hi:
Below are my recommendations...
You can get up to a 500 GB 2.5" SATA II notebook hard drive.
5,400 RPM if you want longer battery time between charges
7,200 RPM if you want more performance.
Below is the link to the service manual for your PC.
http://bizsupport1.austin.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c02657369/c02657369.pdf
Hard drive removal and replacement procedures can be found in chapter 4. You can do it yourself.
Just save the old hard drive because you need to take some things off of it (caddy and screws), and transfer them to the new hard drive.
If you live in the USA or Canada, you can order notebook hard drives at reasonable prices from this vendor.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007605%20600003459&IsNodeId=1&bop=And...
The 7,200 RPM drive I recommend is this performance one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136280
The 5,400 RPM one I recommend is this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136953
Paul

Hi everyone I have a macbook pro mid 2010 17'' 2.66 i7 looking to put a new hard drive in it something like a 250 gb , orig drive 500 gb 5400 toshiba but i don;t really need that much space so i would like some input, type,speed,brand,compatibly,noise

I have a macbook pro mid 2010 17'' 2.66 i7 looking to put a new hard drive in it something like a 250 gb , orig drive 500 gb 5400 toshiba but i don;t really need that much space so i would like some input, type,speed,brand,compatibly,noise Thank You!!

There's no reason to install a smaller hard drive. In some cases, it may decrease performance.
Your MacBook Pro comes with a 5400 rpm hard drive, so what you can do is to install a smaller, 7200 rpm hard drive, so you will get a better performance. Any 2'5" SATA hard drive will work, but you can have a look at OWC for hard drives > http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/hard-drives/2.5-Notebook/
HGST and Seagate hard drives have a good reputation, so you can purchase one of them

New hard drive. Will not boot from install dvd.

Earlier this week, I dropped my computer.
It was probably a 3 foot fall.
Computer froze, so I restarted and got the flashing folder with question mark.
Started in internet recovery, and disk utility confirmed that I had killed my hard drive.
Got a new hard drive and installed. Started in internet recovery, formatted hard drive. Disk utility says it's good to go.
Was given the option to install Mavericks, but keep getting an error message.
Attempted to restart from install dvd that came with the MBP. Tried every startup shortcut there is.
Optical drive recognizes the disk, but I always get stuck on the gray screen with the wheel.
Reset PRAM. Reset SMC. Same problems. I do not have access to another mac or a PC with admin rights.
I'd rather not brave the Apple Store this weekend in the snow in a town that never gets snow (people drive poorly on a good day!).
Any tips?
Got the MBP in 2010, new. Was running mountain lion when I dropped it.
Thanks!

Yiou can't use Internet recovery on a 2010 Mac notebook to install any version of OS X on it. That is why you are getting that error. You have to use the original System reinstall discs that came with it to install OS X on a new drive or use the OS X reinstall disk to restore from a time machine backup.
Since your system doesn't seem to want to completely boot from that disc you should try an external DVD drive that connects by USB port as the built in superdrives are known to fail or partially fail at any time. Don't buy an Apple external Superdrive as they only work on Mac computer that did not originally come with a built in DVD drive. Any Brand external DVD drive will work on your Mac except Apples own external DVD drive.

Please help!!! Cannot run Windows Update in Win 7 Pro after changing new hard-drive. (X201s)

Hi everyone,
I have been using my thinkpad x201s for more than one year by now. And recently I change a new and larger hard drive for my laptop. When I tried the thinkpad rescue and recovery disc on the new hard drive, everything works fine except that I cannot run Windows Updates after the installation was finished. The recovery DVDs were burned directly from the original image stored in the computer when the first I received my laptop last year.
Every time when I try to run the Windows Update, it shows the following: "Windows Update cannot currently check for updates, because the service is not running, you may need to restart your computer."
I restarted my computer later but nothing changed. Can't run Windows Updates and can't even install IE9.
I then moved back to my old hard drive and everything is normal, no problem with Windows Updates. I also tried to create a back-up image by running win 7 Backups and Restore. Later when I changed back to the new drive and followed the instructions to restore my system from the image I created earlier in a USB drive, it worked except that still the system can't run Windows Updates program.
I'm now getting very confused and upset, is it something to do with the software copyright? It's been a week now and I tried to Google the similar problem but no solutions work here. All I want to do is moving my current system to the new hard drive so that I can continue to use my laptop but it just failed updating every time.
Could anyone kindly tell me what to do when changing hard drive in order to avoid the problem I'm dealing with? Sorry I'm not a pro type user and just want my laptop to work appropriately.
My warranty has already expired so I guess the Lenovo Technical Hotline wouldn't answer my questions anymore. Please help!! Much appreciated.
Thanks so much in advance!!

I'm not sure this is the issue, but from your description, it seems as though all you have to do is activate the windows update service. If I were you, I'd search for "Services" in the start menu, open it and look for "Windows Update". Check in its properties that it is set to "Automatic (Delayed)", if it isn't, set it, and start the service, you should then be able to check for updates, be careful though that none of your other programs aren't stopping the service, usually these programs are there to "optimize your performance" or "boost your system",...
Hope this helps.

Easiest way to start fresh with a new hard drive?

RIP my MacBook Pro's hard drive. I got the dreaded 'this drive can't be repaired' error yesterday, so I wiped and restored with Time Machine and it seemed fine at first. This morning, the computer kept seizing up and I had to do a hard reboot, which failed. I have no reason to believe there's anything wrong with other components such as the motherboard. The hard drive gave me plenty of indications that it was dying.
I'll be ordering a new drive shortly. Any suggestions for good drive for an early 2009 17" MBP? I currently have a 320GB drive and that's plenty, no need to go bigger unless I can get a 500GB drive for the same price. I can do the switch myself.
I'm also trying to figure out the least painful way to get the new hard drive up and running. All the info I find has me transferring data from the old one to the new, but that's not possible obviously and why would I even want to since I have backups.
Can I just do a restore from the last Time Machine backup? Or do I have to install ML on the new drive and then use Migration Assistant? Would my bootable full backup be of any value?
I want as fresh of an install as possible with minimum fuss -- all my apps, all my data, none of the file permission errors, etc. Is that even possible?
Thanks!
Rae

You can boot up from the Mac OS X Install Disc that came with your machine or using the Recovery system if you have Lion/Mountain Lion installed. In the Utilities menu that will be on the top of your screen after you boot to the disc, you'll have an option to Restore From Time Machine Backup.
Once you choose that option, it will perform a full carbon copy restore from your Time Machine backup.
"Restoring your entire system from a backup
If you are restoring a backup made by a Mac to the same Mac
With your backup drive connected, start up your Mac from the Recovery system (Command-R at startup) or Mac OS X v10.6 installation disc (With the disc in the optical drive, 'C' at startup). Then use the "Restore From Time Machine Backup" utility."
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1427
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11192?viewlocale=en_US
Tada.
Done.

Poor performance, new hard drive

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