Maintenance advice to keep my 3+ year old MBP running well

After over 3 years my MBP still meets my relatively low requirements and I'm hoping to not have to buy a new computer for some time. However, I've noticed that the fan does seems to be running a lot more than it used to and it gets really hot when doing things like streaming online videos, which eventually makes the video run bad and I have to cool it off.

Then it hit me that if I had a desktop I would have cracked it open and cleaned out the fans more than a couple of times by now. I'm guessing that the innards of my MBP may be getting pretty dusty and starved for air. Does this happen with laptops like it does with desktops? I want to check on this before cracking it open.

Is there anything else I can do hardware-wise to make sure my MBP keeps going? I'm thinking of dropping in a new HDD just because 120GB is pretty small by today's standards and it never hurts to replace a part like that before it suddenly fails.

Thanks.

I hadn't really thought about a clean out till i read this :
http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/apple-notebooks/189830-tasty-macbook-fan.html

Clay

cleaning or replacing the fan is quite a task.... but here is a good guide (it's to get to the airport card but gives you the access to the fan) Cleaning Fan
As for the HD, this is easy and you don't need to open it up to do it Replace HD

As for keeping up with Jones... If your hard drive is fine and you still have at least 15% free if not a lot more, as long as you are keeping current backups there is no need.
Bootable backup solutions like CCC or SuperDuper are your best options, and to have one of these is highly recommended. If your HD were to die, then you are able to boot from the external and still use you Mac

I'm about to do the same thing with mine, e.g. give it a good internal cleaning.

This would be the link for your MBP, should be the same as mine, except I have the 2.33 chip.

6string: Well mine is a MBP, so it's going to be a little different than those directions.

bobtomay: thanks. I've heard the ifixit walkthroughs are pretty good. I'll probably use their directions for sure when I do dive in. I'll probably just open it up and clean out whatever looks dirty, using my work computer for the ifixit guides in case I get lost.

Anyone know the HDD specs I need to know for ordering a new one?

fleurya said:

6string: Well mine is a MBP, so it's going to be a little different than those directions.

bobtomay: thanks. I've heard the ifixit walkthroughs are pretty good. I'll probably use their directions for sure when I do dive in. I'll probably just open it up and clean out whatever looks dirty, using my work computer for the ifixit guides in case I get lost.

Anyone know the HDD specs I need to know for ordering a new one?

Click to expand...

Sorry, after reading your OP, and the following response with MacBook, it took me to the Macbook solutions
... but yes, iFixit have good guides.

As for the HD specs, go HERE and put in your machine and it will give you the available options.
It's a quality reputable site, and good on the pocket.

Only thing you're looking for is a 2.5" SATA drive 9.5mm height. As far as I know there is only one 2.5." drive out that is taller than that - and I forget which one right now.

Another couple of tips not mentioned here:

I like OnyX for general OS maintenance (I like AppleJack better, but the lazy dev hasn't updated for Snow). I like Disk Warrior for directory maintenance and use it twice a year.

I use both Time Machine and Carbon Copy Cloner to maintain regular backups of my stuff.

Every year or so, I will make an up-to-the-minute clone and TM backup, then boot from the clone, erase the original boot drive (zero it out), then restore from the TM backup. This defragments the HD and really makes the machine purr like a kitten again.

6string said:

Sorry, after reading your OP, and the following response with MacBook, it took me to the Macbook solutions
... but yes, iFixit have good guides.

As for the HD specs, go HERE and put in your machine and it will give you the available options.
It's a quality reputable site, and good on the pocket.

Click to expand...

Of this, I can attest too. I just upgraded my MBP, for a faster spinning hard drive. I kept the same size. Follow the sites directions and guidance, and you can certainly do a decent upgrade. I found CCC to be very easy to use and understand, but again, research and patience will pay off in the end. Good luck!