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Need more HD space!

Stang68

Stang68

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 29, 2007
793
0
USA
Hey everyone,

I have a MBP with a 160GB drive in it. Right now there is only 20GB left. Is it possible to add more HDD space into my Mac? Can an Apple store do that? And I already have an external drive for Time Machine and another one for all of my videos and projects. I need one for inside the machine.

Thanks for answering my stupid question!
 
Have you tried freeing up hard drive space on your Mac? Here are some of my favorite tips:

- use OmniDiskSweeper (not free) or my personal favorite WhatSize (free) to determine what all is taking up room on your HDD and where it is
- I also recommend Disk Inventory X to view HDD usage - it graphically shows you what is taking up space with a decent presentation and UI
- remove GarageBand and iDVD if you do not need them - that should free up around 6 GB right there
- check out /Library/Printers/ - 2 GB of printer drivers that you may or may not need
- use Monolingual to remove the unnecessary language resources from your Mac*. Another option is to use Delocalizer
- lastly, you could always use AppZapper (not free) to ensure that when you uninstall any programs that all those pesky sub-folders, etc. are deleted

That should just about do it. :cool:

* a note about Monolingual. If you are not careful this can seriously screw up your Mac if it is Intel-based. Basically, leave the Architectures settings alone. If you delete G3, G4, G5 then anything which is PPC-based which will try to run under Rosetta, won't. Otherwise, Monolingual is great. ;)
 
Thanks for those tips. I'll try Whatsize. I have used Onyx and it was ehh.
 
Stang68 said:
Thanks for those tips. I'll try Whatsize. I have used Onyx and it was ehh.
Click to expand...

No problem at all. I find WhatSize to be quite useful. If you legitimately have a lot of files on your machine which you need (movies, iTunes library, iPhoto library etc.) then it basically will tell you what you already know ;) but if you have a lot of old files, installation package files, dmgs, etc. which you've forgot about/don't need anymore, old software, other archives, duplicates, etc. it can be quite handy in identifying potential deletion candidates to free up space.

Otherwise, to directly answer your initial question, yes, I do not see why you could not upgrade your MBP drive to a 200GB model for instance.
 
I'm in the same boat with a 120GB. I know 300GB drives are available at 5400rpm for under $200 (actually just saw a WD 320GB drive for $180). That's probably your best option. I might have to do that myself soon since I keep hovering at 10GB. I just hope Time Machine can make the upgrade process fairly easy.
 
Michael CM1 said:
I'm in the same boat with a 120GB. I know 300GB drives are available at 5400rpm for under $200 (actually just saw a WD 320GB drive for $180). That's probably your best option. I might have to do that myself soon since I keep hovering at 10GB. I just hope Time Machine can make the upgrade process fairly easy.
Click to expand...

Keep in mind Time Machine is better suited for tracking multiple versions of files via daily, weekly and monthly back-ups. Time Machine does not create an exact duplicate or clone of your hard drive, nor is a Time Machine backup bootable. If you were wanting to transfer your data from your current hard drive to a new one, you would need to install OS X from scratch on it first before then restoring from your Time Machine back up. It would work, but not the most elegant method available.
 
Uh huh. I would probably just have the guys at the Apple store transfer my HD for me if I get a bigger one. Unless of course I can just use Time Machine like you said. That should work, at least I think so.
 
Stang68 said:
Uh huh. I would probably just have the guys at the Apple store transfer my HD for me if I get a bigger one. Unless of course I can just use Time Machine like you said. That should work, at least I think so.
Click to expand...

As I stated in my above post, Time Machine will work, however TM does not make an exact duplicate of your system and you would need to install OS X on the new drive prior to using TM's restore function to transfer your data onto it. Utilizing other backup solutions would bypass this requirement.
 
~Shard~ said:
Keep in mind Time Machine is better suited for tracking multiple versions of files via daily, weekly and monthly back-ups. Time Machine does not create an exact duplicate or clone of your hard drive, nor is a Time Machine backup bootable. If you were wanting to transfer your data from your current hard drive to a new one, you would need to install OS X from scratch on it first before then restoring from your Time Machine back up. It would work, but not the most elegant method available.
Click to expand...

Considering you can't hook up 2 drives at once like you can with a desktop, what's the best way to transfer all your data? I think it sounds smarter to just buy a drive and pay a Genius to do it. I drink too many Vanilla Lattes to have a steady hand in a laptop. :)
 
Michael CM1 said:
Considering you can't hook up 2 drives at once like you can with a desktop, what's the best way to transfer all your data? I think it sounds smarter to just buy a drive and pay a Genius to do it. I drink too many Vanilla Lattes to have a steady hand in a laptop. :)
Click to expand...

Well, you can hook up 2 drives if one is an external, and back-up your data to that drive...

But regardless, yes, unlike the MacBook, replacing the hard drive on a MacBook Pro requires some minor surgery and will void your warranty. If you don't know what you're doing, best to let an expert handle it. :)
 
~Shard~ said:
Have you tried freeing up hard drive space on your Mac? Here are some of my favorite tips:

- use OmniDiskSweeper (not free) or my personal favorite WhatSize (free) to determine what all is taking up room on your HDD and where it is
- I also recommend Disk Inventory X to view HDD usage - it graphically shows you what is taking up space with a decent presentation and UI
- remove GarageBand and iDVD if you do not need them - that should free up around 6 GB right there
- check out /Library/Printers/ - 2 GB of printer drivers that you may or may not need
- use Monolingual to remove the unnecessary language resources from your Mac*. Another option is to use Delocalizer
- lastly, you could always use AppZapper (not free) to ensure that when you uninstall any programs that all those pesky sub-folders, etc. are deleted

That should just about do it. :cool:

* a note about Monolingual. If you are not careful this can seriously screw up your Mac if it is Intel-based. Basically, leave the Architectures settings alone. If you delete G3, G4, G5 then anything which is PPC-based which will try to run under Rosetta, won't. Otherwise, Monolingual is great. ;)
Click to expand...

The latest version of WhatSize isn't free anymore.. The trial only lets shows you up to 20GB... Try and find an older version if you can!
 
Buy one of the Western Digital 320G Passport USB external drives. Swap the drive from the Passport to your MBP, and the old drive into the Passport case. Web sites like www.ifixit.com have very good tutorials on how to do it - it's an easy swap.

Do a clean install on the new drive in your MBP, then use Migration Assistant to move all your data and apps over to the new drive. Wipe the old drive.

Now you have a 320G drive in your MBP and a 160G external.

The Passports were going for as little as $150.00 last week at BestBuy. There have been a number of threads on doing the swap and the performance gains in the last week - poke around in the forum and you'll find them.

MacDann
 
Hls811 said:
The latest version of WhatSize isn't free anymore.. The trial only lets shows you up to 20GB... Try and find an older version if you can!
Click to expand...

Really? Hmm, I've just always used a previous version so I'll make sure not to update. Thanks for the head's up!

bsheridan said:
A free alternative is App Delete which is excellent and extemely easy to use- just drag and drop.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip, I'll add it to my list of recommendations. I used to have uApp on there, but that utility has since been discontinued.
 
MacDann said:
Buy one of the Western Digital 320G Passport USB external drives. Swap the drive from the Passport to your MBP, and the old drive into the Passport case. Web sites like www.ifixit.com have very good tutorials on how to do it - it's an easy swap.

Do a clean install on the new drive in your MBP, then use Migration Assistant to move all your data and apps over to the new drive. Wipe the old drive.

Now you have a 320G drive in your MBP and a 160G external.

The Passports were going for as little as $150.00 last week at BestBuy. There have been a number of threads on doing the swap and the performance gains in the last week - poke around in the forum and you'll find them.

MacDann
Click to expand...

Thanks for that, I'll definitely look into it. But I am not too computer savvy so I might have the Apple geniuses swap it for me. But a 320GB drive in my MBP would be sweet.
 
It is sweet! It's so nice having all that space and not having to worry about it filling up...

See if you can find someone that will do the swap for you - it's not that difficult as long as you have the proper tools and take your time. The worst part is removing the top cover, and once that's done, it's all downhill from there.

MacDann
 
MacDann said:
The worst part is removing the top cover, and once that's done, it's all downhill from there.
Click to expand...

I realize you mean "downhill" in terms of easier than "uphill", but I think you meant to use a phrase like "clear sailing from there" as opposed to "all downhill from there" since that has negative connotations. ;)
 
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