Macbook Pro HDD upgrade question

[silenahilena]

Hi there,

I plan on buying the 2.26 Macbook Pro and upgrading to 4 GB RAM and a 500GB hard drive myself. I will buy the new hard drive when I buy the MBP. What I plan to do is swap out the 160GB hard drive and put the 500GB hard drive in. This is so I don't have to deal with backing up the 160GB hard drive. Then, I'll use the Apple restore/install CD's to install a fresh version of Snow Leopard.

Will this plan work? Or, will I need to get a transfer kit and stuff?

 

[mikeherdes]

That will work fine. Your macbook will come with an install disk.

 

[silenahilena]

How hard is to install Snow Leopard? I hear you have to partition the hard drive or something before you install it.

Also, if something goes wrong with the MBP -- I can always switch back to the 160GB hard drive and send it to Apple, since upgrading HDD's yourself voids the warranty. Will this work too?

 

[mikeherdes]

The install CD will take you through all the steps. Installing a new hard drive does not void the warranty, its considered a user-serviceable part. But switching back to the 160GB hard drive wont be a problem either.

 

[spinnerlys]

There is no partitioning needed, you only need to format the new HDD with the file system called Mac OS Extended.

When you boot from the install DVD, select the language, go to the Menu Bar, select Utilities > Disk Utility, select the HDD, click on the Erase tab, select the Format: Mac OS Extended and hit the erase button.

After that quit Disk Utility and continue installing.

There are many guides out there on how to do a fresh install or format an HDD if you need more information.

 

[silenahilena]

Sounds easy. Thanks, guys.

About the HDD and AppleCare -- I talked to an Apple rep and she said upgrading the HDD yourself does void the warranty, but upgrading the RAM does not.

 

[spinnerlys]

Sounds easy. Thanks, guys.

About the HDD and AppleCare -- I talked to an Apple rep and she said upgrading the HDD yourself does void the warranty, but upgrading the RAM does not.

Maybe the Apple Care rep did not know which MBP you were talking about, as the manual even has a little guide about replacing RAM and the HDD.
And seriously, why would changing the RAM not void the warranty, but the HDD would?

 

[silenahilena]

Oh, okay...well...good to know. At least if something does go wrong, I'll have an extra 160 GB HDD to swap in. I plan on keeping the HDD.

 

[rmcusc]

remember to hold down c during reboot to boot to cd. Then select drive utility at the top.