Upgrading my 250 gig hard drive to 500?

yeah i want to upgrade my new iMac from its stock 250 gig drive to 500 is it possible like easy to do?
thanks

Hello,
It's possible but not all that easy and may impact your warranty:
http://www.amfiteatar.org/content/view/155/78/lang,en/
<hr width="200">
BTW this forum is for the much newer Intel iMac models:
G3 (aka iMac (CRT)): Intel:
Click image to go to correct forum.
cheers
mrtotes

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I have a 500 gig time capsule. I have used with a Macbook. The Macbook has a 500 gig hard drive which is about 3/4 full. Now we just purchased a new MacBook pro with a 1 TB hard drive. Do I need to buy a larger Time Capsule?

I have a 500 gig time capsule. I have used with a Macbook. The Macbook has a 500 gig hard drive which is about 3/4 full. Now we just purchased a new MacBook pro with a 1 TB hard drive. Do I need to buy a larger Time Capsule?

Do I need to buy a larger Time Capsule?
Probably yes. You might be able to get the full backup of the new MacBook Pro on the Time Capsule, but it will not be long before the Time Capsule is out of space.
Better to add a new Time Capsule and backup the new MacBook Pro to the new Time Capsule, and keep the old MacBook backing up to the old Time Capsule.
If you do not want to add a new Time Capsule, another option would be to erase the Time Capsule disk and start over again with new backups of both Macs and move forward.

Recounting My Successful Experience Upgrading My Solid State Hard Drive

I just successfully upgraded my solid state hard drive from
60 gigabytes to 256 ; the machine is a Lenovo T400s - while the upgrade is
still fairly fresh, I thought I’d share my experience – maybe someone else will
benefit – most of what I’m about to relay was provided by Zoltanthegypsy and
GMAC-R60 – I thank them again for their advice - but I will try to add some
additional thoughts based on my experience – for the most part I was able to
use the tools provided by Lenovo – my original hard drive had 3 partitions, S
(system), C ( windows + my programs & data), & Q ( Lenovo stuff like
backup and restore, the factory copy, etc.) :
Create a “factory state” copy of the machine to
DVD or CD soon after purchase – I say soon after purchase because it appears that
a minimum amount of hard disk space is required – my 60 gig was almost full and
I got a message that there wasn’t enough space – I can still make the copy but
I’ll have to move some things off temporarily – this step isn’t really related
to the upgrade but it is a good idea – Start/Lenovo ThinkVantage Tools and you’ll see
the option – and as Zoltanthegypsy has pointed out you will most likely not be
able to do this from the new hard drive after the restore operation covered
below – I haven’t proven this out but I do know that my Q space on the new
drive is smaller than before – something was lost and it’s most likely the
factory state – and so keep the old hard drive long enough to make that factory
state copy to DVD or CD.
The next step was a full backup to a Lenovo
external hard drive – it came with one partition - the external that I got from
Lenovo has a small keypad and is password enabled – this fact will come into
play further on – as GMAC-R60 noted a pop-up will appear giving the option to
create rescue media – you want to select this option so that the external will be
bootable.
When the backup is complete you want to swap hard
drives making sure to first unplug & remove the battery .
There may be other ways to do this next step but
here’s what I did – I powered on the machine and let it go through what
appeared to be a BIOS routine – note that my external was attached to the
laptop but it wasn’t activated by keying in the password – after the BIOS
routine was finished I activated the external by typing in the password and then
did a Control/Alt/Delete – the machine restarted and booted from the external –
with hindsight I probably could have connected & activated the external
before powering on but the instructions that came with the external suggested
something different which didn’t work for me .
I was now able to go into rescue and recovery
and do a complete restore to the new drive – but to my surprise the extra space
that I bought with the new drive ended up all in the Q partition – and Windows
Disk Management didn’t enable me to reallocate the space to C.
And so I purchased Disk Director 11 Home by
Acronis – a $50.00 investment in a tool that I’ll probably never use again but
I’m now able to use an $800 solid state drive rather than trying to recoup some
money via Ebay -– within minutes I was able to reclaim the space and I now have
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pictures go on a stick & my demographic isn’t into video games .
One useful piece of information that I got from
a user on the Acronis forum was that all of the Lenovo tools like rescue and
recovery, etc. are available for download from the Lenovo website – and so if worse
came to worse I could have deleted that Q partition, stretched C using Windows
Disk Management , and then downloaded the Lenovo tools into C.
One thing I’d like to learn to do would be to
perform all the steps outlined above but without using the Lenovo tools – using
Windows 7 tools instead but not having a Windows CD , i.e. how do you boot

It went something like this:
(On the stock drive)
Plugged in a blank USB HDD, and a blank USB flash drive.
- HDD formatted in NTFS, flash drive in FAT16.
Ran the recovery media creator.
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Once done, shutdown, removed the battery, swapped the drive for a 500GB Scorpio Black (freshly NTFS quick-formatted). USB HDD and flash drive were still attached.
Booted, and used F12 to select the flash drive for booting.
It booted into the Windows Recovery Environment and I chose the Lenovo restore factory image option at the bottom of the list.
From there on out, I just clicked through the wizard, and it restored.
Upon finishing, I unplugged all of the external media, and had it restart. It then booted into OOBE as expected.
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How did you get everything onto the new hard drive?
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So you deleted it from the original hard drive?
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~aj

ajsonnick wrote:
I was told though that doing this voids my warranty with apple on my computer?
You were told wrong. Apple considers the hard drive and RAM to be user-replaceable parts. If they didn't, they wouldn't provide instructions for changing them yourself.
What type of HDD would you reccomend me purchasing? Looking to get something 750GB+
I favor Seagate. Others have different preferences. Avoid so-called "green" drives.

60 gig hard drive

I have an eMac with a 60 gig hard drive that has 14.49 gigs of free space.
So far I have deleted music, .mov's, .dvdproj's, old system folder, unused applications, unused photos, and little bits of stuff here and there. I have 3.9 gigs of applications.
What is using up all the space?
And how can I delete unnecessary files and all and still have a functioning machine?
Primarily I am wanting to use iMovie HD which requires a minimum of 20 gigs.
Thank you

Sounds like you're using the Finder to determine used space.
You can't do that because the Finder, by default, hides most of the system-level directories including /usr, /etc/ and /var
These directories can consume a large amount of space, especially /var which is where various logs go, and is most often the culprit when it comes to unexpected disk space usage.
To get the real picture you're going to have to use the terminal.
Open a terminal window and run the commands:
<pre class=command>cd /
sudo du -hs *</pre>
This will change you to the top level of your drive, then display the disk usage (du) of everything visible at that level along with the disk space it consumes (K = kilobytes, M = megabytes and G = gigabytes).
Look for any items that seem excessive. If that's a directory (e.g. /var), you can cd into that directory and repeat the du command:
<pre class=command>cd var
sudo du -hs *</pre>
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How old is that enclosure? Sounds like it has an ATA controller inside that doesn't have support for 48 bit addressing and can only address 128 gigabytes.
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Upgrading to a larger hard drive?

Hi everyone,
I'm considering upgrading my MBP hard drive to one that has more space and want to get more info to see how much of a hassle it would or would not be. I bought my MBP last February right at the end of the month when they had that slight upgrade in HD size and speed. It has the 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo and 2 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM and has a 200 GB hard drive.
I would like to upgrade to a 320 GB drive and was wondering if this is something Apple stores did? If not, does anything I do to the memory or hard drive automatically void the extended AppleCare plan that I have?
Also, are there official Apple-made internal hard drives or am I just looking at third party? And if so, are there certain companies that you recommend above others? I have always bought Western Digital externals.
And, if I upgrade to a larger hard drive, does that mean I should also upgrade to more RAM? Or is getting a hard drive with a higher number of rpm sufficient?
I did a search but wasn't getting many answers to these questions other than seeing that an Apple certified repair place can to do this. I actually found one near me that looks Apple certified, so I might give them a call. http://www.macprosolutions.com/
I was looking at this site: http://www.macservice.com/macbookpro.html but it's pretty pricy. Has anyone used this method to upgrade?
If you know of any FAQ/help sites or posts that you could direct me towards, that'd be awesome! This is my first ever Mac after years and years of WIndows PCs (and I'm never going back!), so I'm a but unsure how to go about doing this. Obviously, I'm just starting my research on what to get and how to go about doing this, but I'm trying to get an idea of price and how hard/easy it is. Thank you everyone!
Message was edited by: Rachel Whitfield
Message was edited by: Rachel Whitfield

You will find this link useful in regards to the question on warranty after upgrading the drive. Both answers over there are in my experience spot on.
So given that you will need to either use a third party service like TechRestore or do the upgrade yourself. (I recently did it myself and so have no experience with 3rd parties.)
To your other questions - Apple does not make their own hard drives, they use drives from other manufacturers. So you need to buy a reputable brand 2.5" SATA disk - Seagate, Western Digital, Fujitsu are the ones recommended most often.
You do not need to upgrade RAM in the computer to just upgrade the Hard Disk - those are totally different things.

Upgrading 12" Powerbook G4 hard drive & OS X 10.5--please help?

So, I’ve decided I want to venture into upgrading my Powerbook G4 hard drive, RAM, and OS. Currently I have:
512 RAM
1.5 Ghz
80 GB 5400 HD
Mac OS X 10.4.11
What I would like to upgrade to:
1.25GB RAM (max)
1.5 Ghz
160-320GB 5400 (7200 if possible) HD
Mac OS X 10.5
Now here comes my questions. The RAM upgrade is straightforward. The HD upgrade seems simple enough when using tutorials on ifixit.com. I am wondering though, does the HD need to be ATA-100 or could it be ATA-133? Are DMA, Ultra DMA, UDMA, DMA-100, ATA, ATA-100, IDE, and EIDE all the same thing and all compatible with the 12" powerbook G4?
Assuming the hard drive speed is 5400 and I have RAM maxed out, are there performance differences between say a 160GB 5400 HD and a 320GB 5400 HD? Would it be better just to get the biggest HD that is compatible with my PB?
Also, FRYS.COM has "retail hard drive kits" and "bare HDs" What’s the difference between the two?
Finally:
Once I figure out which HD I want, I will have new: Hard Drive, RAM, and a Mac OS X 10.5 DVD Purchased from an Apple Store. I will install the RAM. Now I will be left with a HD and OSX 10.5 DVD...how do I get the new OS on the new HD?

The hard drive needs to be a parallel ATA 2.5" notebook hard drive. ATA-100 or ATA-133 or the others you listed don't matter. You cannot use a serial ATA or SATA hard drive, that's important. Here are two online stores and their parallel ATA drives available: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010150380%201035907 889&name=ATA-6 and http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/hard-drives/2.5-Notebook/ (Click on 2.5" ATA laptop drives).
You'll note there aren't any 7200rpm drives listed, as they aren't made anymore for the parallel ATA interface. Choose whatever size works for you, and if increasing the size, make sure you have capacity to backup the new, larger hard drive, as you fill it up.
You only need the bare hard drive. There can be a difference between a retail boxed version versus OEM, as the warranty can be different, but that's about it.
After you install the hard drive, you insert the first OS X disk in the system, boot holding the C key down (so the system boots from the disk), choose Disk Utility from the menu bar, and partition the drive. Once done, you can do the OS X installation. If you don't hold the C key down and the system wants to install OS X, after you tell it what language you want, as soon as a menu bar appears, then you can run Disk Utility.

How difficult would it be to replace my 250 gb hard drive with a 500 gb hd?

Would it be something that I could do on my own or would I need to take my iMac to the Apple store or other authorized reseller to have upgraded? Any suggested posts, Apple or other, for instructions? What kind of drive would I need to get and what brand would you suggest?
Thanks much!

Hello,
Starting with the iSight version of the G5, Apple redesigned the entire machine in a way that it is now major surgery to replace the hard drive.
It is possible for the end-user to do it. But, the end-user needs to be comfortable with opening the case, and literally removing every part inside the computer to perform the task.
If you want to see what's ahead of you, take a look at these pictures for an idea of what disassembly will be like:
http://www.kodawarisan.com/imacintel/imacintel001.html
Of course, that doesn't show you the method to get everything taken apart. But, it shows you what is in your way.
You can find a large file containing a disassembly guide here:
http://www.baconeggs.co.uk/manuals/index.htm
Understand that you will clearly void your warranty by performing these tasks, and that is a risk you need to be prepared to take.
If you are not comfortable with that, you need to take the machine to an authorized service provider for servicing / upgrading.
As for drives, you need a Serial-ATA (SATA) hard drive. It should be a 7200 R.P.M. drive with at least 8 MB of Cache memory built-in. And, it should be labeled as SATA-150 or SATA-300. Either will work, but you will only get the performance of the SATA-150 drive either way (the 300 will slow to 150 to communicate with your system).
As for brand, I would recommend Western Digital or Seagate. Both are great companies with excellent warranties. Be sure to buy a retail boxed hard drive if you want a warranty. The OEM drives have a 1 year warranty, but that cannot be claimed by an end-user (it is only honored for legitimate OEM system builders).
Retail drives will be very obvious. They'll come in a colorful retail box, and be shrink-wrapped. They'll come with a 3 to 5 year warranty, and the consumer / end-user can claim that warranty directly if needed.
The majority of the hard drives sold in small shops and on the Internet are OEM drives. If one of those fails, the manufacturer will direct you to go to the OEM who sold it to you for replacement. So, basically they are as is if you buy them as a single component. They are only intended to be sold as part of a complete computer or external hard drive package. In that arrangement, the company who produced the finished package would provide their own warranty, and any claims would be between them and the manufacturer.
So, know what you are buying.
I hope this helps.
Let us know if you have other questions.
P.S., if you'd like, go ahead and click the "Helpful" or "Solved" buttons on any of the posts / replies above if you feel they were helpful or adequately answered your question.

Iomega 250 external hard drive - not all files show up

Hello,
I purchased a MacBook Pro last weekend. I have an Iomega 250 Gig external USB/Firewire hard drive. I have been able to connect it through USB and Firewire to my Mac. I have video clips in windows media player, quicktime and real player formats on the hard drive. All of my word files and music are showing up on my Mac but the video files do not. Does anyone have any suggesstions on what I can try to make them show up?
Thank you!

Hello,
I purchased a MacBook Pro last weekend. I have an
Iomega 250 Gig external USB/Firewire hard drive. I
have been able to connect it through USB and Firewire
to my Mac.
I hope you mean you have tried USB and FireWire separately. Don't use both at the same time on the drive. FireWire should be a bit better.
Did you generate this disk on a Widows machine? If so, it may be in NTFS format. The Mac can read, but not write or modify a NTFS disk.
I have video clips in windows media
player, quicktime and real player formats on the hard
drive. All of my word files and music are showing up
on my Mac but the video files do not. Does anyone
have any suggesstions on what I can try to make them
show up?
By not showing up, do you mean the video files won't play? Real files need the free player from <http://www.real.com>. Some Windows Media files can be played using software from <http://www.flip4mac.com>, but their Intel version is not out yet. Do any of the file or folder names begin with a period? That would make them invisible to the Mac.

I only have 8 gigs out of a 60 gig hard drive

Hmm. I made a right click on my User Folder, and it says that's only taking up 24 Gigs of Space. So shouldn't I have a lot more? I used to have 12 gigs before I upgraded to Leopard. I'd like to have more space, and maybe my mac will run a bit smoother. I understand that when you use applications, the amount of space can go down, but does anyone have any tips for cleaning up files I don't see that are causing all of this extra space to go to waste.
Message was edited by: Christopher1102

Did you make an "Archive and Install" when you installed Leopard? If so, you'll have a "Previous System Folder" at the root of your hard drive. This could very well take up several gigabytes of hard drive space.
With that said, a "60GB" hard drive is only 55GB formatted before installing anything. A standard install of Mac OS X (10.4) and the bundled software is about 17GB. So, that would leave you with about 38GB. If your user's folder is 24GB of space, that would leave you with about 14GB of space. So, it's not too unusual to find yourself with only 12GB available.
You can check out the utility WhatSize. It might help you find what is taking up space. We might have some recommendations for you from the results.
-Doug

Upgrading Macbook Pro 13in Hard Drive

I have looked up many forum posts about this topic but I am still confused as my specific problem is not solved. I have seen how to replace the HDD, but i don't know which to get, I watched a video that directed me to a link that says compatible 2.5" Hard Drives and SSD, but im not sure which to pick, and which will work.
This link is the SSD that caught my eye, it's a hybrid but honestly, I don't know which to get, SSD or Hard Drive, I don't really care about the speed, or noise, I just want the one that would work with no hassles.
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Toshiba/MQ01ABD100HM/
In Buying a new HDD/SSD for a macbook pro mid 2009 13in model, what are the specs of the drive that I should get. On some sites, I see toshiba and crucial, there are some that say desktop and notebook.
What should I be taking into consideration when upgrading? I don't want to end up buying a drive that isn't compatible and have to return it.

You can pretty much buy any 2.5" SATA-II or III HDD or SSD. You will find you get more capacity in an HDD versus higher speed with the SSD. From what you have written I'd say you should stick to an HDD. Good options include Hitachi, Seagate, and Toshiba. You haven't stipulated what capacity you want in your new drive, but the maximum for the notebook drive is now around 1.5 TB (a Hitachi model.) I would not get a hybrid as they tend to be iffy in older model computers. The Seagate 500 GB hybrid is no longer in production and is hard to find, but the best model for your computer, although you may have success with the 750 GB model.

Upgrading my 250 gig hard drive to 500?

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