[kokkao]

SMART is warning me that my HD is soon to fail (17"FP iMac). Is replacement a DIY job or must I entrust my white friend to a professional?
Presumably the OSX disk utility will do the formatting?

[Lateralus]

If your 17" is under warranty, Apple should cover the replacement and the work under AppleCare.

And if it isn't under warranty, and you're not too comfortable dismantling the thing, take it into a CompUSA and buy the biggest HD (one that will last you a good while but is still a good price) and pay the $30 fee to have CompUSA install it.

On normal desktops, the $30 fee is too much since all that is really involed is taking the case cover off, unhooking the old HD and hooking up the new one. There is a good deal more work than that involed with the iMac.

[Lateralus]

{Double Post}

[discotronic]

Are you sure it's only $30?

I agree with PowerMacMan. If $30 is all CompUSA charges I wouldn't hesitate to let them do a job like that on my iMac. I could do it myself but letting them take the responsibility if anything goes wrong is a great deal in itself. Especially if the iMac is out of warranty.

[Lateralus]

Back when I worked there, in 2002, there was a $30 install fee on parts purchased from CompUSA. If you bought the HD elsewhere, they might charge more to install it, I don't know for sure.

Good price, especially compared to what Best Buy charges.

[discotronic]

Originally posted by PowerMacMan:
Back when I worked there, in 2002, there was a $30 install fee on parts purchased from CompUSA. If you bought the HD elsewhere, they might charge more to install it, I don't know for sure.

Good price, especially compared to what Best Buy charges.

Thanks for the info.

I wouldn't take my Mac to Best Buy for anything. I have some major trust issues with those people. It could be just me though

[Lateralus]

Originally posted by discotronic:
It could be just me though

It's not.

[pillojunior]

when i tried to install my system on emac It could not find a destination or hardrive. Help please

[kokkao]

I should have said that I am UK based and it is out of warranty.

Any one done this replacement thenselves? Any hints as to easiest method?

[osuilleabhain]

Taking apart the flat panel imacs usually isn't too bad. Putting them back together is (keeping cables clear of being pinched by the case) and most imporantly applying the thermal paste and applying equal torque for proper processor cooling in your imac

[l008com]

I've put a 120 GB in a fp imac before. There's no trick to it, its pretty straight forward, you just have to be very careful of all the many many wires that you don't snap any or pinch any during the job.

[phlops]

I work at an Apple repair center and taking an iMac apart isn't terribly difficult (beats an iBook for sure) but it isn't the easiest of things for a few reasons.

Taking the bottom off is a snap. 8 screws total, just turn the base on its side and it all flops down. You then need to take off the drive chassis (optical drive and hard drive are attached via a simple chassis) and from there replacing the hard drive is just an easter egg hunt for the right screws.

Putting the machine back together is another story. The drive chassis is, again, no real issue. It's the logic board you need to worry about. You need to clean off the old thermal paste on the heat piping, and then you need to apply fresh paste. I'm not sure where you can get this unfortunately. Then you need to reattach the cables and put the base back together, the cables should route themselves with minimal work on your part.

However, you need paste. You don't want your machine cooking. I'd recommend you take your computer to your local repair center. They can order you anything you need and do it for you, shouldn't be too terribly expensive. Look for around $75 above the price of the hard drive (for labor, shipping and handling).

[nkusuma]

I replaced my 60GB original drive in my iMac 15/800 TWICE. First with 80GB 7200rmp western Digital which running cooler than the original. Second, I replaced it again with 120GB 7200rpm Seagate which also runs cool.

I agree with others that it was not too hard but it's not easy either. It helps if you can get hold of Apple takeapart manual (search the web). I cleaned the chasis contact but did not applied the paste since I did not know where to get it. My iMac still runs fine after almost 2 years and i bought it refurbished.

If you decide to buy your own drive, please make sure you get drive that runs cool. And to make it better, you can buy 7200rpm/8MB buffer cheap now days. Check the HD review on storagereview.com and has very informative review.

If you are not handy with computer, I suggest paying some authorized computer repair will worth the risk

[l008com]

Yes if you're in the greater boston area, try (www.macfixer.net)

:-)

[Link]

you can get thermal compound (or thermal goop) just about anywhere online.. directron, pcmods, newegg are just a few places..

radio shack (US electrical store) carries this stuff too.. go in and ask for a tube of it.. costs about $2.

There's also higher quality stuff like artic silver but it's not really worth it. One of these days I'll pry apart my bro's imac to clean it out, stick a nice quiet (green LED) fan inside, and put a new HD in.

That should about do it The one pain about taking apart imacs is that you need a special screwdriver. OH and that the screen is constantly bobbing around (you can do it on a bed but it's still tricky to be careful about the arm)

[kokkao]

Thanks guys - xlr8yourmac had a complete set of photos of the pricess with an article - but have all been most helpful. The jury's still out on whether I DIY or get my local pcshop to do it for me. They can do a Western 7200 for £59 +vat and fit in about 1 hour for £35+vat which is not too bad - except for humping the dead weight to and from!

[Link]

"humping the dead weight"......

I know you didn't mean that... but... XD

[Lateralus]

Originally posted by Link:
"humping the dead weight"......

I know you didn't mean that... but... XD

[kokkao]

oops!

[kokkao]

The disc failure turned out to be a false alarm. I had decided to use the services of a local IT place which deals with Mac as well the other OS. They said that is was quite possible that I would get some money back as the HD was only some 15 months old. So, as I did not want others poking around in my files I first re-ran DW prior to re-formatting and taking the iMac in for its new HD. Lo and behold after the 2nd run SMART reported no problem the drive was fine. So that saved me £95 + vat.

Thanks to all who offered advice and support.

[tooki]

I'd still be leery of a drive that EVER gave a SMART error, frankly.

Please buy and install DiskWarrior 3, and make sure you have it set to check your drive health hourly and throw up a message if anything's wrong.

tooki