Tag Archives: apple mac

MacBook Hard Drive Replacement…

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I have a spare 500GB SATA hard drive that I’m not using, so I decided to replace the 250GB internal hard drive. I bought the 500GB hard drive a while back to try to fix my old Mac mini, but I never got it to work again, so I gave up.

For reference, I’m using the article “Simple Hard Drive Cloning/Backup with Carbon Copy Cloner” for step by step directions:

First step was to get a 2.5″ Hard Drive Enclosure so I can clone my existing MacBook internal hard drive to the new one. I got a cheap Vantec NexStar TX 2.5-Inch SATA to USB 2.0 External Hard Drive Enclosure from Amazon for under $10. Once I got this in the mail. I installed the new 500GB drive into it, plugged it into my MacBook and formatted it.

Cloning Todipoli Hard Drive

Next, I download the Carbon Copy Cloner app to clone my existing drive onto the new one.

After more than 3 hours of copying files over, I shut down the MacBook, opened the back panel and unscrewed the internal hard drive. I then swtiched it with the new drive… powered it on… and it booted up with everything pretty much the same. The only big difference was that I have way more hard drive space.

Available Space

Now, I’ll keep the original hard drive (in the USB hard drive enclosure) for a couple months, just in case something goes wrong with the new drive.

Umm… A New iMac…

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So I just purchased a new 20″ Apple iMac (Intel Core Duo) on Amazon, and I feel like I made an impulse purchase.

I’ve been thinking of buying a new Mac and have been eyeing a Apple Power Mac Dual-Core G5, but realized that I may not need all that power and expandability. The reason I stuck with Mac towers was because I use two monitors and the towers allowed for a extra video card. My boss who just got the new iMac and told me that it had a video port in addition to it’s built in monitor, so I read about it and the iMacs now support an external display to extend the desktop. So, I can still use two monitors.

So, I should get a new iMac shipped next week. I’m justifying this purchase with my federal income tax return, a $150 rebate, free shipping and no sales tax on Amazon. Plus, I should get a new computer before buying my house, ‘cuz once that happens, I don’t think I’ll be able to make any big purchases for a while.