From: Jason Bourne on
I'm about to install a new internal HD on a 2.4Ghz iMac and I have
questions. Lots of questions!

1). I do have a full Time Machine backup on an external albeit
non-bootable hard drive,but I'm not clear if/how I will be able to
import that onto a fresh HD with nothing but a Snow Leopard install.

2). The existing HD is failing -- so says S.M.A.R.T. and the
performance of said HD is bad to awful . However, I think I could
rescue the data off that by using installing that into an external HD
enclosure. Although this would be my least favorite option.

3). How can I use Migration Assistant to get all my data and software
to the new HD in this scenario? I've never used it before and I'm not
clear on its use.

Any and all suggestions are most welcome!

Thanks!
From: Jason Bourne on
In article <i2c6h9$j31$2(a)news.albasani.net>, Vincent Parry
<vince(a)sq.net> wrote:

> What kind of suction cups did you use to get the glass cover off-- and
> how did you use them?


This is what I bought:
http://www.powerbookmedic.com/Heav-Duty-Suction-Cup-for-Mac-Screen-Repai
r-p-17397.html

And for those with a more adventurous streak:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDcmG73xPzs
From: Vincent Parry on
On 7/23/10 3:48 PM, Jason Bourne wrote:
> In article<i2c6h9$j31$2(a)news.albasani.net>, Vincent Parry
> <vince(a)sq.net> wrote:
>
>> What kind of suction cups did you use to get the glass cover off-- and
>> how did you use them?
>
>
> This is what I bought:
> http://www.powerbookmedic.com/Heav-Duty-Suction-Cup-for-Mac-Screen-Repai
> r-p-17397.html
>
> And for those with a more adventurous streak:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDcmG73xPzs

Cool, thanks-- but the I think the YouTube guy is ex Treadstone...
From: Jason Bourne on
In article <i2d1s5$quh$1(a)news.albasani.net>, Vincent Parry
<vince(a)sq.net> wrote:

> Cool, thanks-- but the I think the YouTube guy is ex Treadstone...

I don't know what that means, but as a lark I just picked up a toilet
plunger at a dollar store and tried it on a 27" iMac screen.

Worked like a charm!

Comes off VERY easily.
From: Jason Bourne on
In article <null-20A02E.08083523072010(a)free.teranews.net>, Greg Buchner
<null(a)none.invalid> wrote:

> Apple definitely put some well thought out work into Time Machine and
> how Migration Assistant will use it.
>
> Do let us know how things worked out.


The deed is done! Swapped out the existing HD for a 1TB drive. That
turned out to be both easier and more difficult than imagined.

One of the problems was the three different take-apart guides I had
were either incomplete, inaccurate or referred to different aluminum
iMacs.

It actually would have gone easier if I just followed my instincts
instead of the rabbit holes I ended up down.

First, removal of the glass was a lot easier with the toilet plunger
than the dual suction cup option. With the plunger located just a few
inches down from the top, a gentle tug was all it took to release the
magnetic hold.

From there, about 8 torx screws to remove the aluminum frame -- don't
forget to unscrew the RAM cover as well, and then another 8 more torx
screws to remove the screen itself.

From there, removed the thermal sensors from the OP and the HD, a few
more cables to unplug, including the iSight, and then the trickiest
part turned out to be removing the HD itself. One side has pins the
other has screws, and there's a plastic "quick release" carrier that's
attached to the HD, but removal was a little tricky.

Once it was removed, it was easy as pie to install the new drive,
button up the whole thing and begin the OS install and migration.

Here I encountered a number of hurdles, and made at least one error
that I don't know yet how to address. For some reason even though I
made sure the Time Machine backups were current, I still lost almost
exactly a weeks worth of files once the migration was complete.

Most apps appear to have come over without a problem, but Entourage
lost some settings, Rules, Filters and what not. The biggest problem
of all was on the OS itself in that I ended up changing the primary
account as it had the same name as the new account I had created under
the new SL install, so now I have to boot into that virgin account and
then switch over to the old/new master user account. Probably not all
that clearly explained here and I suspect I could have avoided this if
I RTFM.

I would like to kill the new master account, but I don't know how and I
don't know UNIX. I can't set the old/new master account as the default
boot user, but I'll need to do some further reading on that.

The physical part of the swap out probably took about an hour, but I
was going very slowly and most of that time was spent on figuring out
how to remove the old HD.

The OS install and migration took many, many hours, but overall it was
easy enough for someone not terribly skilled at this sort of thing, and
once I get the remaining issues sorted, I'll be very pleased.
'
And the new HD, purchased from OWC, is a Hitachi.