iMac Intel internal Hard Drive changeable?

emul8tor · Sep 27th, 2006, 11:54 PM

Thinking of replacing the 160G sata to a bigger one, say 750G Seagate, wiould it work? I don't like Apple's 500G, just not big enough.

John Clay · Sep 28th, 2006, 12:03 AM

It's not easy, and it's not exactly hard. Would take about 15-20 minutes to do. When removing the back, be careful of the tabs, as if they are broken then it won't sit properly. The new drive MUST be a 3.5" SATA drive.

emul8tor · Sep 28th, 2006, 02:52 AM

Would there be any issues on formatting the drives? and How would I transfer from the old drive to new installed bigger drive. Sata to USB2/Firewire?

MacDoc · Sep 28th, 2006, 03:43 AM

JC - I think you are confusing the G5 iMacs ( pre iSight ) with the current models. The back is not removable on the current models - will void your warranty is not for the faint of heart - even the techs don't like them.
They access from the front.

http://www.kodawarisan.com/imac_intel/imac_intel01.html

Buy an external drive - be happy.

The pre iSight were very easy tho the drive mounting set up was annoying for the number of different screw types/hex etc involved.

This is entry from the back on the G5 pre iSight models and indeed the tabs needed to be settled properly

Digital_Gary · Sep 28th, 2006, 07:17 AM

Macdoc is right. These are no fun. We had someone crack their LCD when trying to open it on their own.

You also have to remove the heat sensor from the old drive and attach it to the new one. Some stick right on, some don't.

For these systems, external is safest way to go

John Clay · Sep 28th, 2006, 08:18 AM

	Quote:			Originally Posted by MacDoc
	JC - I think you are confusing the G5 iMacs ( pre iSight ) with the current models. The back is not removable on the current models - will void your warranty is not for the faint of heart - even the techs don't like them. They access from the front.

Whoops.... It was late when I posted that

moonsocket · Sep 28th, 2006, 08:30 AM

I would also say go external. Better to have that for back-up as well.

You DO back-up, don't you?

emul8tor · Sep 28th, 2006, 08:39 AM

Yeah, I go agree that external is the only logical choice, but what if it happened.... would there be any heat issues, or would it mount properly? I have read elsewhere that OSX 10.4 needs some special boot sector/header/apple firmware to prevent non Apple authroized hardware to be used, anyone know about this?

mflynnster · Sep 28th, 2006, 09:15 AM

Well it looks like the 24" iMac internals may actually be accessible by mere mortals after all (see here for an inside peek of the iMac24), so perhaps an internal hard drive upgrade is possible. I wonder how this would affect one's warranty?

moonsocket · Sep 28th, 2006, 10:04 AM

Wow. As the posters on that forum have said, brave soul to do that!!!