Upgraded MacBook HD to 250gb...

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In case anyone else is considering this....

I upgraded my MacBook's Hard Drive to a 250gb drive....
It was soooo easy, and work perfectly. I no longer have to give any thought to how large a file is, how much room I have available, etc.

One bit of advice though if you are going to do this... you'll need a Torx #8 screwdriver to remove the HD Sled from your current HD and attach it to your new HD.

My MacBook started out about 2 months ago with 1gb of RAM and 80gb HD... It is now perfect for me at 2gb RAM and 250gb HD... The entire cost for the RAM upgrade AND the HD upgrade was just $200.

Entire project took about 5 to 7 minutes. (not counting the cloning of the current drive.... THAT did take some time... though no effort) :D

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Did you put a faster drive in there? If yes, then hows the performance improvement?
 
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RiDE
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Did you put a faster drive in there? If yes, then hows the performance improvement?

The HD was the same speed (5400), but the system seems to boot much faster, and seems altogether snappier. I am really enjoy it.
 
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A larger drive will, in theory, have faster throughput because of the higher density of the bits.
 
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How did you clone your old disk. Even I am looking at upgrading my disk.

secondly does it void the warrenty if we change the disk by ourselves
 
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RiDE
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How did you clone your old disk. Even I am looking at upgrading my disk.

secondly does it void the warrenty if we change the disk by ourselves

It does NOT void your warranty on a MacBook.

As far as cloning... .here is exactly what I did (from another post of mine)...

I used SuperDuper....

You'll need an External HD Enclosure (SATA) for a 2.5" Drive...

Place your NEW drive in the the Enclosure...
Connect the Enclosure with your NEW HD to your MacBook using USB2 or Firewire...

Format the NEW HD using Disk Utility. Use the "MAC OS Extended (Journaled)" file system.


Open SuperDuper, CarbonCopyCloner, etc...
In the "Save To" or Back-up To" field, direct it to your External Enclosure.
Make a FULL/Complete "BOOTABLE" back-up of your Entire system (this took SuperDuper 55 min. through USB2)

Now... what I did to be sure...
Turn-off the MacBook..
Be sure External Enclosure with NEW HD (and "backed-up" copy of your exsisting HD) is connected to the MacBook.
Turn-On the MacBook while holding the OPTION key... You Should see TWO drives.. your existing Internal Drive, and the External Drive... Choose the External.... It should boot-up (might be a little slow).

If all went well... continue...


Shutdown the MacBook...
Apple recommends waiting 30 minutes for the system to cool...
Remove the MacBook Battery.
Completely unscrew the 3 "Captive" (they won't fall out loose) screws in the "L" shaped bracket that protect the RAM Slots and the HD Slot.
Remove the "L" shaped bracket.
Get the White HD "tab" unrolled... And Pull it out, thus removing the entire HD.

Now... You'll need a Torx #8 screw driver to remove the 4 torx screws from the HD "sled" that is attached to the stock/existing HD.

Remove your NEW HD form the External Enclosure... Put your old HD back in the External Enclosure... It's now a back-up or extra storage.

Attach the HD Sled to the NEW HD... Place the New HD in the MacBook's HD slot... press it in firmly to ensure a good connection.

Re-attach the "L" Bracket with the 3 screws..

Install the MacBook Battery...

Turn on.... Viola!!! Congrats to you!
 
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PS- don't forget to save the original Apple installed HDD.
1) You can periodically back up your new HDD's OS files to it for an emergency backup
2) If you have to send your Mac back to Apple for work, they won't touch it with a 3rd party HDD, RAM, etc in it unless it was installed by an Apple tech. You may need to reinsert it and restore to stock spec's to have service performed.
Dave
 
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Thanks RIDE & XJ-linux..... Any suggestions on the disk brand?
 
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I'm sure you will get as many suggestions as to the best brand as there are members. That being said I have used the Seagate 160GB 7200rpm drives very successfully in both my MB and Mini. My suggestion: buy the "best" you can afford at the time and always back up everything all the time. All HDD's fail eventually. LOL
 
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Hey RIDE, how do you do the screen grab of your "About This Mac" pane?
 
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Thanks Del! It worked.
 

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