Hard Drive Upgrade Issue

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Hello,
First post here, although I have gleaned much from this site over time.
I had a 2006 macbook that finally bit the dust. Found a nice, used 2008 15" MBP. Body is in great condition, screen is sharp, and it came with a ton of software.
Problem is that there is only 1.5g of RAM (ddr2 is what is installed now) and only an 80g hard drive.

I would like to upgrade both, and RAM seems pretty foolproof. However, if were to replace the hard drive, I would lose all the software, correct? I don't have the disks from the previos owner. And my 06 macbook was running Leopard.

Is there a way to upgrade the drive, still keep current OS and all the software that is currently on the drive?

Thanks
 

chscag

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Welcome to the Mac Forums.

I would like to upgrade both, and RAM seems pretty foolproof. However, if were to replace the hard drive, I would lose all the software, correct? I don't have the disks from the previos owner. And my 06 macbook was running Leopard.

If you own a 2008 MBP, it should have more than 1.5 GB of memory installed. It should have at least 2 GB, maybe more. Can you verify which MBP you have? Click on the Apple icon and select "About this Mac".

As for the software that's on the hard drive... you don't own it anyway unless it's software that's free.
 
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It's definitely 1.5g. 667 MHz with DDR2. Not sure if the previous owner took out the stock RAM, or if something else.
Either way, the RAM is being upgraded asap. I'm mostly concerned with the hard drive.
 

chscag

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OK, that's fine. He probably removed the original modules. Memory for your MBP model is expensive since it's not used much except in older model Macs and PCs. You can give Crucial or Mac Sales a try to see how much they're charging. Your model can take up to 6 GB of system memory.

Also, the hard drive is not all that easy to remove and replace in that model so you may wish to take a look at the instructions at iFixit: The free repair manual.
 

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