13" Macbook Pro mid 2009 issues

[KKStoklund]

I do a lot of heavy Photoshop, Illustrator and Flash editing and been doing it without any issues on my now 4 year old 13" Macbook Pro mid 2009 (the 2.53 GHz version).

Lately though, my laptop has started freezing a lot (a least 5 times every hour) even if I'm just running Safari or iCal. It usually stays in this frozen state for about 2-3 minutes before I can continue. Within the past two months I've been formatting the hard drive 5 or 6 times because it seems to fix the issue for about a week or so before it starts freezing again.

My question is: is this a hard drive related issue? I've considered changes the hard drive to and SSD and upgrading the RAM memory from 4gb to 8gb.
Do you think this would fix the problem?

I know most of you would probably say that it's time for me to buy a new laptop, but my Macbook still runs perfectly when it's not frozen.
If I could fix this problem I would prefer to use my Macbook for another year or two before replacing it.

Cheers

 

[pertusis1]

Go with your gut

I expect you are right. This sounds to me like a hard drive issue. One piece of advice - back up any data you want right away, because eventually it will stop and not re-start. One nice thing about replacing the HD with a SSD is that if you're wrong, you'll still have a SSD you can use with anything.

As for the RAM, apples love ram

 

[Dalton63841]

If it still has the original hard drive, then it is probably due for a new one. It does sound like it's on its way out.

 

[KKStoklund]

Thanks

Thanks guys. It's still the original hard drive. I've got all my important files backed up on an external hard drive. I've only got the most essential Adobe software and Microsoft Office installed on my MacBook and yet freezes more than ever.

Is there a major difference upgrading from 4 to 8 Gb ram?

Cheers

 

[Dalton63841]

Is there a major difference upgrading from 4 to 8 Gb ram?

If you use heavy apps like Photoshop, YES!

 

[KUguardgrl13]

I have the same year model with the 2.26 ghz processor and just put 8 gb of RAM in to replace the original 2 gb. It still runs well for being 4 years old. Unfortunately I only got three years out of the original HDD and another year out of its replacement. I just got a 500 gb replacement from Apple. Unfortunately SSD is more than I can afford while in college. I'm hoping this MBP will last me through this last year of college and my senior thesis.

 

[KKStoklund]

Cool.

Can anyone tell the difference between these two SSD models?

http://www.samsung.com/us/support/owners/product/MZ-7TD250BW
http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/memory-storage/MZ-7PD256BW

Are they both compatible with my Macbook?

Thanks

 

[niteflyr]

Either one should be fine. Save your money.