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Has anyone encountered any problems since swapping HDD?

P

patrickng89

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 19, 2010
34
0
Hi there,

has anyone experience any problems since swapping HDDs?

My first mac is coming next week and i've been doing research and about changing the hdd but have seen some people having problems with it.

Also is it very tough to change the hdd?

PS: i have no experiences in opening up any laptop/desktop before
 
My first Mac and first the time I have changed an HDD in a laptop. Found the process very easy and the various youtube clips and this forum helped build the confidence.

I used the free version of superduper to clone the original drive and it went without a hitch. I now have a 1TB WD drive in my 13" MBP and enjoying the space.

Just do it!
 
None here. If you've not done something like this before, don't let it intimidate you - its very easy and fun too. Just meticulously follow Apple's user guide, don't stray away from it.

Two tips from my own experience :

1. If you're being very careful, it will take longer to replace it than you think. Once you've taken the default disk out (btw, careful, don't yank it off after you take off the bracket because there's a connected SATA cable hiding underneath it that you can't see), place the back cover back on the opened machine to avoid dust or debris from falling on the internal parts.

2. If your replacement drive didn't come with mounting screws, you'll need to take 4 out from the default drive. For these you need a small hex-head screwdriver, like the extreme left one in the picture I've attached for you below.

I didn't know about this, I thought the mounting screws were standard Philips head, so I had to scurry about trying to find the right one, all the while leaving the internals wide exposed for my cat to come and investigate !

Also, discharge static electricity by touching the superdrive's metal frame in order to prevent damage. Hope this helps. Good luck ! :)

74989px500.jpg
 
Thanks guys!

Im just afraid there might be problems with the software and hardware. Since hardware isnt much of a problem what kinda hdd do u guys recommend?

I've heard alot about WD scorpio blue 500gb. was wondering if there will be any problem with the 640gb one
 
Also, is superdrive the CD drive? do you mean touching the superdrive with the screwdriver or just by hand to release static?

Whats the size of the screws?

Thanks guys
Mac N00bie:D
 
Hello,

I was in your position about a week and a half ago.
I bought this toshiba 500gb drive (which is a pretty good deal at £50 if you're in the UK) and havent had any problems.
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/194726

Software is non-existant for hard drives, purely because it isn't required. OS X handles everything. Just swap the drive, install OS X (or migrate from your old hard drive) and your macbook is back to exactly how it was when you had the old drive in, just with a butt-load more space.

I recommend a set of small electronics size phillips head and flathead screwdrivers, as they will come in handy for other electrical jobs you might find yourself with.

Also, the screws on the hard drive are torx-headed (or hex, im not so sure, but either will work), but if you don;t want to buy a torx head set, ive heard that they are not hard to loosen with a pair of pliers. Just for gods sake dont try a phillips head or flathead as you will thread the screws and then it'll be very hard to get them off.

Other than this, i dont think theres much else to tell you.
Look for the guide apple provides on this procedure and follow it to the note.

Good luck!!

EDIT: i think the exact size screws are on the ifixit site
 
patrickng89 said:
Also, is superdrive the CD drive? do you mean touching the superdrive with the screwdriver or just by hand to release static?

Whats the size of the screws?

Thanks guys
Mac N00bie:D
Click to expand...
Yes, the SuperDrive is the disc drive. If you touch the disc drive with your hand, you will release the static. You can touch a metal radiator as well for example to release the static. Better would be though to use a special anti-static wristband which you connect to the laptop. As for the size of the screws, I have a anti-static screwdriver set which did the job. I do not know the size of the screws though, sorry.
 
patrickng89 said:
Thanks guys!

Im just afraid there might be problems with the software and hardware. Since hardware isnt much of a problem what kinda hdd do u guys recommend?

I've heard alot about WD scorpio blue 500gb. was wondering if there will be any problem with the 640gb one
Click to expand...
The Western Digital Blue hard drives which you mention are fine, but only 5400RPM. I personally prefer the specific Seagate Momentus hard drive as specified in my signature. It is a 500GB 7200RPM hard drive and performs better than those 500GB 7200RPM Hitachi hard drives. The Western Digital Black performs round and about the same as the Seagate Momentus mentioned above, sometimes a bit better, sometimes a bit worse, but the problem with the Western Digital Black is that it is not available larger than 320GB, also at 7200RPM. If you are satisfied with a 500GB hard drive, go for the before mentioned Seagate Momentus. If you need more storage space, the Western Digital Blue hard drives which you mention are a good choice.
 
Patrick, if you can afford it, go for an SSD. Take my word for it, it'll change your life forever. Have your default HDD in a portable Firewire 800 / USB enclosure and store your media in it.

I'm not sure about the size of the mounting screw head but for me it was the smallest one in my standard tool kit.

Don't worry about software conflicts, this is Mac OS we're talking about, it'll be very friendly to you. Have your DVD ready, pop it in after you're done replacing the hard drive and press and hold C during startup. The computer will then load from the OSX DVD. It might take a while for the install screen to come.

Assuming you're installing a new HD, once you select your language, click on Utilities on the menu bar and go to Disk Utilities. From there, select your new drive from the left hand side menu and go to Partitions. Partition the drive as Mac OS Journaled Extended, and then continue with installing OSX. If you don't do this, the OS won't recognize the disk. I panicked when this happened thinking I got a dead drive, then I figured this out.
 
Thanks everyone.

Suppose i want to swap the drives after using the machine. What are the ways to keep your data?

I've seen ppl use time machine to backup their data to their new hdd and just swap it. is this method the best?
 
patrickng89 said:
Thanks everyone.

Suppose i want to swap the drives after using the machine. What are the ways to keep your data?
Click to expand...

There are many different ways, but I said previously I used superduper.

I connected the new drive via a USB adapter / caddy, downloaded the free version of superduper, cloned the drive to the new hdd, switched off, removed old drive and installed the new one and then switched back on.

It could not be any easier - go for it!
 
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