Replacing a 2008 Macbook Hard drive

[jworms]

Hi THere

I've got a Macbook which I bought in June 2008. About 5 months ago I put some more RAM on it because it was getting slow, but now it is getting slow again, particularly when streaming things and generally using the internet. I've reformatted the hard drive and that sped it up for a few days but it's clearly getting sluggish again.

My question is: can I buy a hard drive and replace it or is to old for that now? I know I should get a new one but I can't afford one right now, so if I could replace the internal hard drive for £50 or so it would be very useful.

Any thoughts or advice?

THanks very much

Jack

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Yes, you can, but a new HDD will probably not solve any speed issues.
Maybe think about getting an SSD instead, 120 GB can be had for less than 100 USD nowadays.

MacBook, MacBook Pro: Replacing the Hard Disk Drive, transferring data to the new HDD

the guide includes:

• 0. Identify your MacBook or MacBook Pro
• 1. Getting a new HDD
• 2. Guides to replace the internal HDD with a newer one
• 3. Transferring data from the old HDD to the new HDD
• 4. Using the optical disk drive (ODD) slot for placing an SSD or HDD inside the MB/P (OPTIBAY)

​

Performance Tips For Mac OS X

SSD Buying Guide by Hellhammer​

 

[jworms]

Thanks for the reply. So what would you say is the reason my Macbook slowing down then if it isn't the hard drive or RAM?

Thanks

Jack

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Thanks for the reply. So what would you say is the reason my Macbook slowing down then if it isn't the hard drive or RAM?

Thanks

Jack

Flash and too many tabs.

Open Activity Monitor and go to the System Memory* tab and look for Page Outs and Swap used and report back.

Using Activity Monitor to show you CPU and RAM usage​

* Mac OS X: Reading system memory usage in Activity Monitor​

Also select All Processes and then sort by CPU to show you the process(es) slowing down your Mac or speeding up your fan(s) or causing more heat.

And have a look at those Perfomance Tips I linked to earlier.