I have a late 2013 iMac 21.5" (model 14,1) that used to be the main family computer, but now the wife, kids, and I mostly use our own laptops, but we still would like a desktop to share now for occasional use. This computer also has about 18 years of family photos and videos in iPhoto (now in Photos), and new photos from our iPhones get backed up here and sent to the cloud from this computer. The internal 1TB disk has about 700GB of data on it.
Earlier this year, the computer became painfully slow, so I got an external 256GB Thunderbolt SSD from Transcend and installed the OS and some applications on that, but left the photos and documents on the 1TB internal platter HD. I had done this on my office computer, and it was a great solution. This worked great to speed this computer up, and I thought all was well.
Now, however, the HD is acting strange and DiskWarrior says there are serious faults with the disk that can't be repaired.
(I have made multiple backups/clones both on external HDs, via, Time Capsule, and in the cloud, so all of the photos and videos are safe.)
So this are the options I am considering. I would appreciate advice on which one I should go with.
A). Crack open the Mac and add a bigger SSD and stop using the external SSD. Cost about $500 for 2TB or $250 for 1TB plus hassle and risk of opening (I think this model uses adhesive not magnets to hold screen). I have opened earlier models before, so I have some experience but I don't love this idea.
B). Open the Mac and add a platter HD. Less cost than A. but slower and still the risks of opening, and the high chance of the drive slowing down again. I would probably still use the external SSD for the OS and applications.
D) use an external HD (USB 3 or Thunderbolt 2) for the photos and documents. Cheap solution, but could be slow. Also, is there a way to tell he OS to ignore the internal HD if it is still physically there?
D). Get a Thunderbolt caddy like the OWC Drive Dock ($179 for the dock only) plus a big drive either SSD ($299 for 2TB) or platter, or one of each. Presumably this gives me options for the future as well.
My goal is to have a stable system, and while I don't need super fast speed, but I want to avoid the system bogging down again like it has.
Thoughts?
Earlier this year, the computer became painfully slow, so I got an external 256GB Thunderbolt SSD from Transcend and installed the OS and some applications on that, but left the photos and documents on the 1TB internal platter HD. I had done this on my office computer, and it was a great solution. This worked great to speed this computer up, and I thought all was well.
Now, however, the HD is acting strange and DiskWarrior says there are serious faults with the disk that can't be repaired.
(I have made multiple backups/clones both on external HDs, via, Time Capsule, and in the cloud, so all of the photos and videos are safe.)
So this are the options I am considering. I would appreciate advice on which one I should go with.
A). Crack open the Mac and add a bigger SSD and stop using the external SSD. Cost about $500 for 2TB or $250 for 1TB plus hassle and risk of opening (I think this model uses adhesive not magnets to hold screen). I have opened earlier models before, so I have some experience but I don't love this idea.
B). Open the Mac and add a platter HD. Less cost than A. but slower and still the risks of opening, and the high chance of the drive slowing down again. I would probably still use the external SSD for the OS and applications.
D) use an external HD (USB 3 or Thunderbolt 2) for the photos and documents. Cheap solution, but could be slow. Also, is there a way to tell he OS to ignore the internal HD if it is still physically there?
D). Get a Thunderbolt caddy like the OWC Drive Dock ($179 for the dock only) plus a big drive either SSD ($299 for 2TB) or platter, or one of each. Presumably this gives me options for the future as well.
My goal is to have a stable system, and while I don't need super fast speed, but I want to avoid the system bogging down again like it has.
Thoughts?