Ok, I know this is what I want to do so (no disprespect at all, seriously) please dont say I should just purchase it with a bigger HDD. Well, in a few days I am purchasing a macbook and when i get it i want to put a 320 gb Hdd in and then i was thinking, how in the world is this possible when there would be no information on the HDD to boot or have an OS or anything. What am i supposed to do? is there a way to make an exact copy of my hdd image or what. Thanks for the help. I love macrumors forums, people are so helpful.
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BIG question on Replacing MacBook HDD.
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Alternatively, without buying an additional enclosure (although it wouldn't be a bad idea since you're going to have a spare HD laying around, you could simply install the HD and use the restore discs that come with it to put the OS back on. Since you're buying one new, I wouldn't worry about transferring any data. You're going to start fresh either way.
your mac will come with installer disks in the package. just insert the disk to your drive and reinstall osx. That way it would be exactly the same as the one that came with your computer, since you dont have any files on it anyways 
SuperDuper
Buy an inexpensive USB case for your new drive and get a copy of SuperDuper. Copy your existing HDD to the replacement in the USB case using SuperDuper, then swap the drives. You'll end up with a nice Time Machine external drive for backups. You could also just re-install from the install disks.
Bill
Buy an inexpensive USB case for your new drive and get a copy of SuperDuper. Copy your existing HDD to the replacement in the USB case using SuperDuper, then swap the drives. You'll end up with a nice Time Machine external drive for backups. You could also just re-install from the install disks.
Bill
While that may be a cheap and easy way to get a hard drive and an enclosure, I can't recommend getting one of these specifically. Several people have come into my shop with those kinds of drives and while they're nice and compact, they're limited by the single USB port, which means that you have to plug it into something that's powerful enough to handle it. Intels and desktops work ok, but other Mac notebooks aren't able to power the thing on its own. There's no power plug on it either so you're SOL unless you have a powered hub or a newer Mac (which you will have but its use is still limited).
If you're going to spring for an enclosure, do yourself a favour and pony up for one with Firewire. Your transfer speeds will thank you. The WD enclosure is slow as a dog compared to the FW ones that are in my shop.
Can't recommend SuperDuper! either. That app has left me with more than its share of unuseable clones. Pretty interface but the software's not quite up to par. Carbon Copy Cloner has worked consistently well and I would have to recommend that. Both are donationware so you're not losing any money either way.
iMJustAGuy, looks like you have a pretty comprehensive answer
I would of gone with making a Time Machine copy, install the new hard drive and restore from the TM disk, but since you have no files then a simple reinstall on the new drive should suffice
Good luck
I would of gone with making a Time Machine copy, install the new hard drive and restore from the TM disk, but since you have no files then a simple reinstall on the new drive should suffice
Good luck
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Install the HD in your MacBook. When your done, boot up the machine and insert the Leopard or Tiger DVD and power down again. Power up the machine again while holding down the C key. When the Apple menu comes up, go to menu bar and look for utilities or something similar then go to Disk Utility. Click on the hard disk and then look around for the formatting option. You can then put the old drive in an external case and move all your information over using some of the suggested utility.
Not sure if that's exactly it, but that's the gist of it. Hope that helps.
Not sure if that's exactly it, but that's the gist of it. Hope that helps.
I've got three of these drives and use them on various laptops (both mac & PC, older and newer) and have yet to run into any power problems, these drives come with very short USB cables for a reason, if you try to attach it with a standard 3-6 foot cable you won't get enough power, the 6-12 inch cables that come with them don't have the power problems.
I'd beg to differ since I've had at least three of those little things come into my shop and all have the same power issue, even with the original short cable. The last one that came in wouldn't work on a Aluminium Powerbook G4 15" but would work on a Macbook. Stupidness. I do like the design, but the quality IMO is poor. Its slow and has power issues. vniow no likey.