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Hard drive replacement questions

O

ohmygahitscoby

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 14, 2009
24
0
Hey everyone,

I have a few questions about replacing my hard drive. My current one is getting full so I'm thinking of getting a new one.

1.) What is the best 500gb 5200rpm hard drive around $100?

2.) I have Windows installed through Boot Camp. Will Time Machine back that up as well?

3.) is there any way to enlargen the partition for Windows?

4.) I know this isn't hard drive related, but what would be a good RAM brand? Also, will increasing the RAM also increase the usable RAM when in Windows?

Let me know, thanks!

-Coby
 
ohmygahitscoby said:
Hey everyone,

I have a few questions about replacing my hard drive. My current one is getting full so I'm thinking of getting a new one.

1.) What is the best 500gb 5200rpm hard drive around $100?

2.) I have Windows installed through Boot Camp. Will Time Machine back that up as well?

3.) is there any way to enlargen the partition for Windows?

4.) I know this isn't hard drive related, but what would be a good RAM brand? Also, will increasing the RAM also increase the usable RAM when in Windows?

Let me know, thanks!

-Coby
Click to expand...

1. Not sure, but look at 7200rpm instead (I assume you meant 5400rpm)

2. Time Machine is technologically incapable of backing up windows partitions, so no, it won't. My advice is to make a DMG of the drive, transfer that to the new HDD, create a bootcamp partition on the new HDD, then restore it from the DMG.

3. Enlarging the windows partition is very complicated unfortunately. I'm not certain myself how it would be done, but I know the process isn't as straightforward as resizing mac partitions.

4. Increasing RAM will increase RAM in any OS on your computer, Mac OS, windows, Linux, whatever. Crucial RAM is generally recommended.
 
1. I'm not sure if you mean 5400 RPM or 7200 RPM. Those are the standard speeds for hard drives. If you want the faster 7200 RPM, go with the western digital scorpio black. I have one and it performs quite well. It is available on newegg.com for $70, or the 5400 RPM scorpio blue is about $57, both for 500GB

2. Time machine will not back that up. You will need to do that manually

3. Since you'll have to repartition the new drive, just make the windows partition bigger.

4. RAM is basically all the same, just be sure to buy the right spec and look for a good warranty. You don't need to buy anything labeled as "Mac compatible" or anything like that, it's the same product, just more expensive. Same goes for hard drives.
 
  1. You will find an almost equal opinion on which drive to buy (given WD or Seagate being the most popular).
  2. Time Machine won't back up the Bootcamp partition. You will need to use Winclone to make an image of the Bootcamp partition. Note Winclone doesn't run under Lion, so you would need to use an earlier OS version (SL).
  3. After restoring your OS partition, use Bootcamp Assistant to create the new, larger, BC partition. After restoring your backup Bootcamp partition image using Winclone (again, you will need to be running SL), use the NTFS tool to expand the NTFS partition size within the BC partition.
  4. I don't really have a favorite brand - I've used Crucial, Kingston, OWC, and one or two others. As for Windows using the additional RAM, it depends on the version.
 
gr8tfly said:
  1. You will find an almost equal opinion on which drive to buy (given WD or Seagate being the most popular).
  2. Time Machine won't back up the Bootcamp partition. You will need to use Winclone to make an image of the Bootcamp partition. Note Winclone doesn't run under Lion, so you would need to use an earlier OS version (SL).
  3. After restoring your OS partition, use Bootcamp Assistant to create the new, larger, BC partition. After restoring your backup Bootcamp partition image using Winclone (again, you will need to be running SL), use the NTFS tool to expand the NTFS partition size within the BC partition.
  4. I don't really have a favorite brand - I've used Crucial, Kingston, OWC, and one or two others. As for Windows using the additional RAM, it depends on the version.
Click to expand...

Ignore #2. You can make an image of your windows partition with Disk Utility, and it works just fine for restoration purposes. Best part: You don't need snow leopard.
 
Thanks for the replies!

I was looking at 5400rpm because I heard that they last longer than 7200rpm and I'm not too interested in speed. Though if there is one around the same price range it is something I'll look at.

I think I'll just eliminate 2 and 3 by putting the my on an external drive and reinstalling Windows by making a new bigger.

Edit: I'll look at using Disk Utility to restore the Windows partition instead. Didn't see your post when I was making this reply haha
 
ohmygahitscoby said:
Thanks for the replies!

I was looking at 5400rpm because I heard that they last longer than 7200rpm and I'm not too interested in speed. Though if there is one around the same price range it is something I'll look at.

I think I'll just eliminate 2 and 3 by putting the my on an external drive and reinstalling Windows by making a new bigger.
Click to expand...

I don't think you'll really see much of a difference in longevity with the different speeds, as sometimes you'll get a drive that will last for several years, or sometimes they'll only last one or two. If you're not particularly interested in speed though, 5400RPM is a bit cheaper and quieter.
 
DESNOS said:
Ignore #2. You can make an image of your windows partition with Disk Utility, and it works just fine for restoration purposes. Best part: You don't need snow leopard.
Click to expand...

Unless something has changed in the Lion version of DU, the Windows partition won't be bootable. Also, DU wouldn't be able to expand the "internal" NTFS partition to fit a larger BC partition.

If DU can handle it, that would be great, as Winclone might never become Lion compatible. But, on the other hand, it would never be able to expand the NTFS partition (as mentioned above).
 
The weird thing about the Windows RAM is that I have 4 gb RAM right now but it'll say only 2gb usable. Is this only temporary?
 
If you have $100 to spend on drive, get a 1Tb. I just got WD Scorpio Blue 1Tb for $120 from Amazon, but just a week before I bought mine - it was on sale for $98 or something. I was stupid to wait longer. lol It is 5400 though, which is fine by me for now.
 
sorry for the late reply, but i checked windows 7 and i was running the 32 bit version, so i'm guessing that's why i had the 2gb usable ram.

anyways, i went to best buy and i bought the 500gb 7200 momentus, but i'm having second thoughts on it. everyone says that theirs are failing within 3 weeks of installing, so i'm not sure if i should return this one and order a scorpio black online.

i held out on the ram for now since i don't think i'm gonna be using more than the 4gb i already have, but we'll see in the long run.
 
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