Upgrading HDD/possibly RAM in 3 year old macbook; Pro Tools

[alexdude777]

Hi, I purchased a plain black macbook sometime in Summer 2008(3 years ago). The notebook still performs well but it has had some slowdown in time, and I took it into the apple store last week and they said my hard drive was beginning to fail(go figure) and that even though it could be fine for awhile eventually I was gonna need to replace it.

Well, I'm out of school so I have a little time. I could get this from NewEgg which I feel like is a pretty great price and should work well for my notebook right? Plus it will give me more space and this hard drive would be under warranty for 3 years, by that time I would just get a new macbook anyway.

My question is, everyone always talks about backing up their files before a new hard drive. I would like to do this and just do a system restore type thing, but if I do that could I risk 'junking up' my new hard drive? My computer has seen heavy use from god knows what websites and applications over the past 3 years(insert jokes here) and that could probably cause it to slowdown...if I save my current settings/programs and import them to my new hard drive would that be a bad idea? It would be nice to keep my files and programs(for instance I have Word but don't have the CDs anymore) but if it's going to make my new hard drive perform similarly than it might not be worth it. Thoughts?

My other question: I am going to be running ProTools 9 on my computer when I get it up and running. I am a beginning user so it's not like I'm going to be running complicated sessions or anything, but I am a musician and I would like to learn to use this program and eventually create music with it. I don't have a state-of-the-art machine obviously but I think I will be good. Is it worth it to upgrade my RAM from 2GB to 4GB? My thought is is that if I would see a legitimate increase in performance than it would be worth it but if it's not going to be a whole lot than I mise will just save myself the $60 and put it somewhere else. After all I am already gonna drop ~$50 on a new hard drive(although I must admit I'm impressed a new 250GB hard drive only costs that much)

Thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[CrimsonRequiem]

The one you linked will work, however there are HDD that have more storage space for around the same price. >_>" I would run a search again.

 

[Haalcyon]

This is a better performing drive for nearly the same money.

One way to perform your upgrade is to use something like SuperDuper to clone your drive. You could use a USB enclosure to connect the new drive so you could clone it, and then later down the road you could put another drive in the enclosure for backups.

You don't have to use SuperDuper, you can use OS X's built in Disk Utility, but I like SuperDuper's flexibility.

 

[alexdude777]

A few questions:

I bought the HDD that was linked in this thread by Hallcyon

1) What I would like to do, is completely copy the drive I have right now onto my new hard drive once I have the new drive installed and the OS running. My roommate has like a 1TB external drive that we bought, so am I correct in thinking I could just copy the entire drive I have now to it? And then install the new HDD, install the new OS...and then "copy and paste" it onto the new HDD?

Am I correct in thinking that that way, I would have a "fresh install" and get rid of all the slowness/problems with my HDD, but still be able to access all these files? (for instance I have Word, Excel loaded on here but no longer have access to the keys and whatnot)

Is this feasible? And if so can anyone guide me on how I would do this?

If not, what other options do I have?

THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH!!!

 

[alexdude777]

Man...I just downloaded the SuperDuper trial... I haven't realized how far out of the game I am at this point. A lot of this stuff doesn't even make sense to me anymore. Am I overthinking all of this?

to think, when I was in 8th grade I built a PC computer from scratch and new that stuff inside and out.... 10 years later and I don't know a **** thing about computers anymore

 

[Haalcyon]

Man...I just downloaded the SuperDuper trial... I haven't realized how far out of the game I am at this point. A lot of this stuff doesn't even make sense to me anymore. Am I overthinking all of this?

to think, when I was in 8th grade I built a PC computer from scratch and new that stuff inside and out.... 10 years later and I don't know a **** thing about computers anymore

Its not like riding a bike so don't feel bad.

The nice thing about Super Duper is that it can clone an OS X partition that's in use. I've done this several times to verify. So, you can connect your new Western Digital Black via external USB enclosure and then clone directly to it.

So, how to use Super Duper to do this (once you have your new drive connected externally, that is):

1. On the left where it says "Copy" select your the drive that has your OS X installation on it. On the right next to "to" select your new USB connected Western Digital drive

2. Select "Backup - all files" next to where it says "using"

3. ...and finally select "Copy Now"...the your OS X drive should begin copying.

4. When its done, shut down your computer and restart. Hold down the option key and select your USB-connected WD drive. Boot it up and ensure all is well. If it is shut it down again put your new drive in your Mac and voila!

Its so easy even I could do it.