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Michael CM1

macrumors 603
Original poster
Feb 4, 2008
5,682
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I thought replacing that darn hard drive would be quite easy since I've done it on a bazillion desktop PCs before. Well, it was from an annoying software and jumper point of view. SuperDuper! worked swimmingly, and I didn't have to do that bass-ackwards "clone-master" thing that Windows hasn't figured out how to kill.

But taking a MBP apart is not easy. It's made harder when you don't have a T6 Torx screwdriver (I usually have one in my wallet) and don't see the instruction to take out four very long screws holding the top of the keyboard/cover in place.

Luckily, I don't think I killed anything. I booted the MBP up with the 200GB-larger new drive in there and after taking a bit longer than normal to boot (which I kind of expected), everything looked normal. I gave the case a few more scratches than it needed on the bottom (effin' tiny screws!) but nothing major.

Anybody else switched their drive out recently? It seems that 120GB is a pitiful capacity nowadays, especially if you load Adobe CS3 and two versions of Quark Xpress. I only have 15GB of iTunes-related stuff, so it seems weird that I have 100GB of mostly applications.
 
Yes I put a 320GB in; I think it was pretty easy; of course I do have the proper tools so it only took me 15 minutes.
 
Ditto. proper manuals and tools makes the job a breeze. Be glad you don't have a 12" powerbook.
 
By the way, does changing the hard-disk on the MBP void the warranty?

no

as far as replacing the harddrive, the mbp is easy, not near as easy as the MB of course, but a whole heck of a lot easier than the Powerbook or iBook holy crap

i find the hardest part is the first time you take it apart pulling the tabs off of the front, and then pushing them back together, its not really hard just nerve racking
 
Yeah, I've done a few now at work and my own.

Having the right tools makes all the difference. It is a bit fiddly though with all the tape inside the case - keeps getting stuck on stuff.

Cheers.
 
I put a 320G in mine 3-4 months ago. It's almost criminal all the free space I have now....

MacDann

I have about 10GB left now. Can't wait for the darn 500GBs to come out! I don't want the 5 platter designed even though it will fit in my 17".

By the way, does changing the hard-disk on the MBP void the warranty?


The official answer is yes it voids your warranty when you replace it! The unofficial answer is if Apple doesn't know you did the upgrade it doesn't matter--just don't expect Apple to replace the HDD if it fails or something happens.
 
I just finished installing my new 320GB in my new MBP. I only booted up the MBP once with the 120GB drive on it. . .

It took me about 25 mins, but I was going slow to make sure I put all the screws into their own containers so I wouldn't screw it up (no pun intended).

Right now I am waiting for OSX to install. Since it is a new laptop and I had nothing installed on it, I decided to just install fresh and not worry about backing anything up.

I am keeping the original drive and the original memory (I upgraded to 4GB at the same time) in case I have to send it back for service.

I used the plastic toothpick from my Swiss Army knife to remove the tape & the adhesive on the ribbon cable. . .

BTW: I followed the guide at:

ifixit
 
no

as far as replacing the harddrive, the mbp is easy, not near as easy as the MB of course, but a whole heck of a lot easier than the Powerbook or iBook holy crap

i find the hardest part is the first time you take it apart pulling the tabs off of the front, and then pushing them back together, its not really hard just nerve racking

holy crap is the exact word when i have to do it on my friends g3 ibook. my god, even with the proper tools it took about an hr or so the first time i did it. i think i broke a couple of tabs doing it too. i cant wait for the 7k320 hdd to come out so i can put that sucker in and replace my 7k100.
 
I just put a 320 in mine. I chose some cheap tools and stripped my T6 trying to get one of the rubber grommets off of the stock HD (ended up using pliers lol)
Overall it was kinda easy, just really tedious.
 
Haven't yet, waiting for the 500s to go retail (hopefully next month). I got mine with the 250gb anyway so it has been sufficient for my needs for far (about 85-90gb left after 9 months of ownership). But I'm not really looking forward to it as the drive isn't the most accessible in the world.
 
Ive got it down to a science, 10 minutes flat :)

its not too hard, you just gotta have a clean workspace, all the two tools you need, and a place to lay the screws in pattern.

no prob bob
 
I just finished installing my new 320GB in my new MBP. I only booted up the MBP once with the 120GB drive on it. . .

It took me about 25 mins, but I was going slow to make sure I put all the screws into their own containers so I wouldn't screw it up (no pun intended).

Right now I am waiting for OSX to install. Since it is a new laptop and I had nothing installed on it, I decided to just install fresh and not worry about backing anything up.

I am keeping the original drive and the original memory (I upgraded to 4GB at the same time) in case I have to send it back for service.

I used the plastic toothpick from my Swiss Army knife to remove the tape & the adhesive on the ribbon cable. . .

BTW: I followed the guide at:

ifixit

That's the same guide I used. I didn't check to see if they left off the part about taking the 4 screws out of the bottom, but I almost forgot that.

Go spend $15 on a hard drive enclosure and make yourself a 120GB external hard drive that needs no power cable. That's what I'm doing. I'm not formatting it for a few days just in case (stuff) happens. The case I bought isn't as purty as the WD external drives, but it'll do for an extra $15.
 
I put a 320G in mine 3-4 months ago. It's almost criminal all the free space I have now....

MacDann

Seeing 190GB free on your internal hard drive is fan-bloody-tastic! I had been under 20 or 30GB since installing Creative Suite 3 about a year ago. Recently, it was down to about 4GB max. If I rent a movie from iTunes, it was taking up about 1GB of space on that drive.

I can't wait for them to release a Blu-ray Disc drive that fits in the MBP. Why? Cuz that thing looked even MORE fun to remove. :mad:
 
Seeing 190GB free on your internal hard drive is fan-bloody-tastic!

:(

bootcamp is use the other 32gb but still, i cant wait for the 500gb ers
 

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I have the 150gb hd in my MBP, and it is only about half full. I do have 3 500gb external drives that I keep most my crap on tho. :)
 
Awesome information

I just upgraded my 2008 17" Macbook Pro with the 5K500 Hard drive. It fits perfect, and I now have almost 400 Gigs free. Woo Hoo. I found an awesome site for step by step instructions on how to do it, and it only took 20 minutes. http:///www.ifixit.com.


Regards,
Kalel the Jedi:D
 
I just upgraded my 2008 17" Macbook Pro with the 5K500 Hard drive. It fits perfect, and I now have almost 400 Gigs free. Woo Hoo. I found an awesome site for step by step instructions on how to do it, and it only took 20 minutes. http:///www.ifixit.com.


Regards,
Kalel the Jedi:D

we cant all have 17"ers can we? ERrrrrr wait..... :)

Freak :) haha

im waiting for the 500gb 5400s or the 320gb 7200s. whichever is first. If the same time, comes down to price, like always.
 
Go spend $15 on a hard drive enclosure and make yourself a 120GB external hard drive that needs no power cable.

I have just changed my hard drive too. Where about's can I get a 80GB enclosure so I can take advantage of this extra capacity? Im in the UK, so preferably a website which ships here. All the ones I have found need an external power source.

Thanks
:cool:
 
Ah come on now... It isn't that bad!

Ditto. proper manuals and tools makes the job a breeze. Be glad you don't have a 12" powerbook.

I did that upgrade but I sold the 12 inch G4 last year on E-bay.

I used an ice cube tray and a label machine to sort out the various kinds of screws. I think I counted 20 different kinds of screws to dissassemble the 12" PB G4 !

Have not done it to the MBP but I agree that 120 gig is not enough when you consider the use of vmware fusion.
 
true. at work we also use ice cube trays..makes things 99x easier and I think the apple manual suggests using one. :) HDs aren't too bad...from what I saw on the manual, an LCD replacement is hell.
 
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