Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Macbook Pro Hard Drive Upgrade

W

weblogik

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 7, 2007
125
0
Hello,
i have a late 2007 MBP that i want to replace the hd to a larger size one... Im currently looking into it, debating on whether replacing it myself (looks like between tools needed and the universal drive adapter, id be looking at about $50 in tools plus the hard drive) i saw a couple of videos , it doesnt look too difficult however it looks like it might be a slight pain in the butt...

Or at apple store they told me i can get a service authorized center to do it for me... Not sure what the cost of that would be ill call and find out in the next few days...

Any thoughts or experience with this? I honestly do NOT feel like reinstalling all my software if i do this, so i might have them (or myself) just clone my hd... Or is that not really taking advantage of an opportunity to run a "clean" system? If i do a new OSX install, can i then restore all software from Time Machine?

If anyone has any words of advice on this it would be appreciated, Thanks!!!
 
thabends said:
I don't think best and cheap work well together. More specific: HDD, SSD, budget, size, speed?
Click to expand...

yaya i didnt mean cheap :) i meant not expensive like apple store rip off !
i was on tigerdirect.com wasnt really sure what to look for.
500 gb 7200 is what id be looking for, i'd want to put best hard drive i can in there since i work on my mbp 10-15 hours a day!
i dotn know what hdd / ssd means
 
weblogik said:
Hello,
i have a late 2007 MBP that i want to replace the hd to a larger size one... Im currently looking into it, debating on whether replacing it myself (looks like between tools needed and the universal drive adapter, id be looking at about $50 in tools plus the hard drive) i saw a couple of videos , it doesnt look too difficult however it looks like it might be a slight pain in the butt...

Or at apple store they told me i can get a service authorized center to do it for me... Not sure what the cost of that would be ill call and find out in the next few days...

Any thoughts or experience with this? I honestly do NOT feel like reinstalling all my software if i do this, so i might have them (or myself) just clone my hd... Or is that not really taking advantage of an opportunity to run a "clean" system? If i do a new OSX i
install, can i then restore all software from Time Machine?

If anyone has any words of advice on this it would be appreciated, Thanks!!!
Click to expand...


Upgrading the hdd shouldn't be too difficult. However, you have to be careful not to damage the ribbon cable. I wouldn't look into the authorized service center route; they'll charge you way too much and you can perform this task.

Good luck,

Habitus
 
weblogik said:
Hello,
... id be looking at about $50 in tools plus the hard drive) i saw a couple of videos , it doesnt look too difficult however it looks like it might be a slight pain in the butt...
Click to expand...

What 50$ for tool... B u l l s h i t!!! All you need is a T6 screwdriver for about 2-3$ (buy the cheap chinese ones) and a phillips screwdriver... Total: not more than 10$!!! You can you a plastic knife or a credit card instead of a spludger...

And you can use the ifixit guide to install your new HDD...

A 500GB 7200 RPM HDD is about 100$... 5200 RPM is about 15-20$ cheaper...
 
weblogik said:
yaya i didnt mean cheap :) i meant not expensive like apple store rip off !
i was on tigerdirect.com wasnt really sure what to look for.
500 gb 7200 is what id be looking for, i'd want to put best hard drive i can in there since i work on my mbp 10-15 hours a day!
i dotn know what hdd / ssd means
Click to expand...

HDD is a typical mechanical hard drive with a spinning platter and heads that move to read/write data.

SSD is a solid state drive that store information on non volatile chips. Comparing to a HDD, SSDs are much faster to access data and read/write it, also unlike HDDs they can be moved around without risk of damaging them. Con is they are much more expensive.
 
DivineEvil said:
What 50$ for tool... B u l l s h i t!!! All you need is a T6 screwdriver for about 2-3$ (buy the cheap chinese ones) and a phillips screwdriver... Total: not more than 10$!!! You can you a plastic knife or a credit card instead of a spludger...

And you can use the ifixit guide to install your new HDD...

A 500GB 7200 RPM HDD is about 100$... 5200 RPM is about 15-20$ cheaper...
Click to expand...

:p the toolkit i saw was $25 and the drive adapter was $25 thats where i cam up with that
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer Technology/TOOLKIT11/
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer Technology/U2NV2SPATA/

Thanks for all the replies gonna keep looking into this :)
 
I did it myself but I have a unibody 17. Im not sure about the older models but it wasnt hard at all on mine. I did the seagate 7200 500gb. I think I paid 125 for it and I notice a difference. Slight but noticeable. No problems yet. Good Luck.
 
weblogik said:
:p the toolkit i saw was $25 and the drive adapter was $25 thats where i cam up with that
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer Technology/TOOLKIT11/
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer Technology/U2NV2SPATA/

Thanks for all the replies gonna keep looking into this :)
Click to expand...

That toolkit is useful, though expensive... Search ebay and you might find similar kid for 10$...
Edit: Look at what I found for 1 minute on ebay... http://cgi.ebay.com/32-in-1-Precise...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item414c01e11e

Also that adapter is useful for PC builders/assemblers, repair centers that need a fast HDD exchange... For you it's better to get a USB or Firewire enclosure to make your HDD external. That way you can have a big portable storage...
 
HD with tool kits

weblogik said:
Hello,
i have a late 2007 MBP that i want to replace the hd to a larger size one... Im currently looking into it, debating on whether replacing it myself (looks like between tools needed and the universal drive adapter, id be looking at about $50 in tools plus the hard drive) i saw a couple of videos , it doesnt look too difficult however it looks like it might be a slight pain in the butt...

Or at apple store they told me i can get a service authorized center to do it for me... Not sure what the cost of that would be ill call and find out in the next few days...

Any thoughts or experience with this? I honestly do NOT feel like reinstalling all my software if i do this, so i might have them (or myself) just clone my hd... Or is that not really taking advantage of an opportunity to run a "clean" system? If i do a new OSX install, can i then restore all software from Time Machine?

If anyone has any words of advice on this it would be appreciated, Thanks!!!
Click to expand...

Other World Computing comes with tool kits and a case for a great price
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Samsung/HM500JIMU2/
 
any brands over others? seagate seems to be the 7200 rpm i read some mixed reviews...
 
Just did this on my late 2006 MBP. Picked up a 320 GB Seagate 7200 RPM (7400? whatever...) drive and FW800/400/USB2 enclosure from MacSales for $180. The tools were included.

The only hairy parts of the job are getting the top case off (it sounds like you're breaking things), and pulling the ribbons off the old drive (always seems like you're gonna break or tear them).

I used my Time Machine backup to restore Leopard to the new disk, then upgraded to Snow Leopard on the new one.

I also backed up my 12GB Boot Camp partition with WinClone, changed the BC partition to NTFS, then backed it up again with WinClone. Then, once the 320 was in, I used Boot Camp Assistant to give me a 25 GB partition on the new 320. Then I used WinClone to restore the NTFS clone I made to the BC partition. Works a treat!

Reminds me - it's about time to wipe the old 120 & put it to some use!

Oh - but DON'T wipe your old drive until you've successfully migrated your user to Snow Leopard, if you're upgrading at the same time. Even though I did a Snow Leopard Upgrade, I still needed to run Migration assistant to get my user settings over. If you're not upgrading at the same time, this probably doesn't concern you.

:apple::apple:
 
weblogik said:
any brands over others? seagate seems to be the 7200 rpm i read some mixed reviews...
Click to expand...

to be honest i have tried
Seagate
Western Dig
Hitachi

They are all good HD Brands in my opinion just because i have no problems with any drives. you might want to do a search on topics relating to any drive in question but OWC only deals quality equipment for mac and they ship faster than anyone i have bought from!
here is another one thats 7200
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Seagate/YST9500420AS/
 
weblogik said:
Hello,
i have a late 2007 MBP that i want to replace the hd to a larger size one... Im currently looking into it, debating on whether replacing it myself (looks like between tools needed and the universal drive adapter, id be looking at about $50 in tools plus the hard drive) i saw a couple of videos , it doesnt look too difficult however it looks like it might be a slight pain in the butt...

Or at apple store they told me i can get a service authorized center to do it for me... Not sure what the cost of that would be ill call and find out in the next few days...

Any thoughts or experience with this? I honestly do NOT feel like reinstalling all my software if i do this, so i might have them (or myself) just clone my hd... Or is that not really taking advantage of an opportunity to run a "clean" system? If i do a new OSX install, can i then restore all software from Time Machine?

If anyone has any words of advice on this it would be appreciated, Thanks!!!
Click to expand...

I know you arent really asking to do this but have you seen any SSd videos? What an SSd drive can do is sick!
http://www.runcore.com/

Just get an external drive to store files and backup to and you won;t really need everything with you. Even if you did the OWC drives with enclosures are small and self powered
 
I've done the upgrade on my 2007 MBP. Lots of little screws, and a moment or two of "Egad, what's that noise, did I just break something?" This computer is not Apple's most service-able packaging. You do not need to buy a fancy tool kit, though you will need some small Torx drivers. (And do I dimly recall a few Phillips-head screws?)

But all in all it took me maybe a half hour, then Time Machine got the new disk running with no trouble at all.

Have a well-lit, anti-static workplace. Take the battery out.

All this was done well after I'd migrated to Snow Leopard.

As to brand, I've had good luck with Seagate, and their 7200 RPM laptop drives are well regarded. Just remember, as you upsize, you'll also want to upsize your Time Machine disk proportionally. It should be at least 2X the size of your internal drive, though it'll work with less.
 
DivineEvil said:
What 50$ for tool... B u l l s h i t!!! All you need is a T6 screwdriver for about 2-3$ (buy the cheap chinese ones) and a phillips screwdriver... Total: not more than 10$!!! You can you a plastic knife or a credit card instead of a spludger...

And you can use the ifixit guide to install your new HDD...

A 500GB 7200 RPM HDD is about 100$... 5200 RPM is about 15-20$ cheaper...
Click to expand...

^This! I just did this upgrade earlier this week. Only took about 30 min, taking my time with all the tiny screws and with the ribbon cable mentioned previously. I just used Disk Utility and then restored from Time Machine. Only took about 5 min to set up and then just leave it alone til restored. This is a fairly easy hardware upgrade for anyone that can use a screwdriver.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back