Upgrading the HD in my 2006 mini

csawscsaws
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
I am beyond fed up with only having 60 gb as most of it is full, actually we get the start up disk is full message so I sprung for the 320 Travelstar in 7200 rpm from macsales.com



I am going to do a fresh Snow leopard load and the only data on the mac currently that I car about is iTunes music downloads.... not the stuff we put in but the stuff we bought from apple. How can I ensure we get it back? I have a 500GB external drive if we need to move it.



Also I want to be sure that I can just put in the new drive and turn the mini on and load SNow Leopard, am I correct? The drive should be here today or tomorrow at the latest.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 12
    kingofsomewherehotkingofsomewherehot Posts: 4,180member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by csaws View Post


    Also I want to be sure that I can just put in the new drive and turn the mini on and load SNow Leopard, am I correct? The drive should be here today or tomorrow at the latest.



    Yes... boot from the Optical Drive (using the SL install DVD.)



    I'm pretty sure the installer automatically formats the drive if needed... but if it does NOT see a valid drive to install on: (in other words, if the HDD was pre-formatted for Windows.)

    You can run "Disk Utility" from the install DVD and reformat the new HDD to "Mac OS Extended" with a GUID Partition Table.

    Then re-run the installer and it should work fine.
  • Reply 2 of 12
    csawscsaws Posts: 11member
    Anyone have advice on the iTunes question?
  • Reply 3 of 12
    kingofsomewherehotkingofsomewherehot Posts: 4,180member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by csaws View Post


    Anyone have advice on the iTunes question?



    You should be able to sort the iTunes library by "purchased" ... then copy that stuff to the external ... When you get i tup and running with the new drive, just import it back.



    Alternatively... you could use the external drive to make a clone of your CURRENT drive... then after you put the new drive in ... clone it back onto the Mini. Then just do an UPGRADE to Snow Leopard and everything will be intact, just the way it was before, but with the new OS.
  • Reply 4 of 12
    csawscsaws Posts: 11member
    How do I clone the hard drive? I never thought of this, I know they just did it at work but I am not an IT guy.
  • Reply 5 of 12
    kingofsomewherehotkingofsomewherehot Posts: 4,180member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by csaws View Post


    How do I clone the hard drive? I never thought of this, I know they just did it at work but I am not an IT guy.



    Search for and download "Carbon Copy Cloner" ... I believe their website has some help files that will explain the (easy) process of cloning...



    <soapbox>

    It works for free (honor system payment)... but those of us who find this to be a valuable tool would appreciate it if you'd join us in supporting the developer that helped you (and us) out by paying at least a LITTLE for the product!

    </soapbox>
  • Reply 6 of 12
    csawscsaws Posts: 11member
    Thanks for posting it when you did I was about to give up on it. I was printing the disassembly directions from above, is there a better disassembly guide somewhere than above.
  • Reply 7 of 12
    kingofsomewherehotkingofsomewherehot Posts: 4,180member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by csaws View Post


    ... is there a better disassembly guide somewhere than above.



    I don't know what you're looking at ... but http://www.ifixit.com has great video and pictorial disassembly guides for stuff.
  • Reply 8 of 12
    csawscsaws Posts: 11member
    Thanks a million King for all of your help.
  • Reply 9 of 12
    csawscsaws Posts: 11member
    I got the drive installed in 20 mins. The problem is when I put the drive in it spins for a bit then spits it out. I have tried holding option and c both any other ideas? How do I run the disk utility? Urgent cry for help here.
  • Reply 10 of 12
    csawscsaws Posts: 11member
    By the way the new drive if you need to know is a Hitachi travelstar 7200 rpm 320 GB
  • Reply 11 of 12
    csawscsaws Posts: 11member
    Also the old mini HD currently has Snow Leopard
  • Reply 12 of 12
    csawscsaws Posts: 11member
    Currently back on the 60GBHD and cloning it so I can boot from the My Book and then going to move it all to the new HD. I think my Optical drive is bad or something. I could not get the new HD to Boot at all from the Snow Leopard disk, but it will read cd's and it has read the snow leopard disk in the past because we upgraded to it on the 60GB HD already
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