Internal hard drive help?

Discussion in 'Macintosh Computers' started by Ty!, Apr 18, 2004.

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  1. Ty!, Apr 18, 2004

    Ty! macrumors newbie

    Joined:
    Apr 18, 2004
    #1
    Hi everyone,
    I have a MDDM G4 with 80 gigs of hard drive. I have about 12 gigs left and would like to add another internal hard drive--probably 250 gigs or so, but I'm new to all of this so I would really appreciate any help anyone can offer. I have several questions listed below.

    1) Is it possible to just add another internal hard drive instead of replacing the 80 gig that I have now?

    2) What is all this talk about ATA?

    3) Is there a specific brand/type I should buy? (I'm really unsure about this one because I don't want to wind up buying something that doesn't work for Macs, but does for Windows)

    4) Will there be any compatibility issues?

    5) Any recommendations on where I can get a good deal on one?

    Thanks! :)
     
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  2. Horrortaxi, Apr 18, 2004

    Horrortaxi macrumors 68020

    Horrortaxi

    Joined:
    Jul 6, 2003
    Location:
    Los Angeles
    #2
    You can add 3 more drives to that computer. The problem is that none of them can be 250GB. I'm almost certain you'll need to add an IDE card to use anything over 137GB.

    Any IDE hard drive will work on Mac or PC--this is not serial ATA though. The only Macs that support that are the G5s.

    Have you thought about an external drive?

    As for how to find a "deal"--check pricewatch.com and buyer beware.
     
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  3. caveman_uk, Apr 19, 2004

    caveman_uk Guest

    caveman_uk

    Joined:
    Feb 17, 2003
    Location:
    Hitchin, Herts, UK
    #3
    MMD powermacs can accept Hard drives bigger than 128GB as per this Apple tech document. You must be using Mac OS X.2 or later. Some other machines may also allow this but I guess it would be unsupported.

    As long as the drive is ATA as opposed to serial ATA (SATA) it will almost certainly work.

    The original drive in my powermac is an IBM/Hitachi. The Seagate Barracuda .7 series is nice and quiet.

    Fitting a drive is pretty easy if you follow the instructions on the Apple support website. All you need is a screwdriver and to be careful about static. You'll also need to format the drive using the disk utility after it's installed.
     
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