TECH411.ORG

By Jon M. Cohen – Technology Consultant

The first thing you need to know is that you need to have confidence in yourself. Although this customization is really easy you need to still have the confidence to do it.  The Top 5 things that I will list are in my opinion the most important things to know when changing your hard drive.

1. Picking the correct replacement hard drive is key. When you look online or go to your local retailer you may see a lot of different choices. Some options are type of drive, speed, and connector type. When it comes to the type of drive, you need a 2.5” footprint, and you can choose between a solid-state drive or a more classic platter drive. The SSD (solid-state drive) is going to be a lot quicker and give you improved battery life, but remember that with the SSD you are limited to the size (capacity) of the drive and you are going to pay a premium because it is a newer technology. If you choose to go with a more traditional platter drive, then speed and connection type become factors. The speeds in RPM’s can be between 4,200RPM up to 10,000RPM. With the 5,400RPM being the most common. If you need a quicker response for the read/write then the 7,200RPM might be your best fit. Just remember the faster the drive the more toll on your computer. And this equates to a shorter battery charge. When you look at connection type, this question is cut-n-dry, the Macbook / Macbook Pro can only you Serial ATA drives (SATA), thus when you are looking to buy that new drive make sure you select the SATA option.

Apple Macbook/Macbook Pro (Late 2008) Hard Drive

2. Have your boot disk and make sure they work. All new Macs come with the boot/recovery disks. Once you have installed the new drive you will need to use the disks to format the drive and to load an OS on the drive. FYI: this process can take a few hours.

3. After you have removed the battery and have the correct tools at arms length, it is important to make sure you have the computer unplugged and you ground yourself. What I mean by that is that you discharge any static electricity in your body. This can be done by wearing a grounding wire, or even easier is to touch the grounding plate on the inside of the Macbook /Macbook Pro case. This plate is directly below the battery.

4. Remove the small screw that is holding down the hard drive. Now that the screw is out the hard drive can be lifted out of the case. Before you lift it up, remember that you need to undo the SATA connector cable. If you forget, you might give a slight pull to the drive and end up dislodging the SATA connector cable to. Thus DON’T forget to undo the cable and then lift up the drive.

5. 5 screws are all you need! It is key that you don’t lose the screws that are with the hard drive already. You will need to unscrew them and attach them to the new drive that you have bought. Once you have done that you can put the new drive in to your computer.

Another point to note; the 17″ Macbook Pro does require different steps to change the hard drive. So hopefully you have learned something from the above and I wish you good luck with the upgrade and enjoy your Macbook or Macbook Pro.