in which i replace the disk in the iMac

I had to open up the iMac to fix the disk problem.

Fortunately everything was backed up, although I've decided its about time to reset it to a clean image instead of just restoring all the programs that have accumulated on it.

Opening an iMac is relatively straightforward (don't try this at home etc.)

The screws are behind the screen glass, which is held on with magnets. I just prized a corner with a guitar plectrum and then gently lifted the glass out.

Then it's the aluminium body screen, which is held in with torq screws. There's also a screw underneath where the memory goes. Its a phillips.

The metal body can then be lifted off, exposing the LCD screen screws, also torq. Undoing them gets down to the innards, but the screen is also held by three ribbon cables, including a very tricky one.

I decided to unscrew just the one to the left of the centre and then kind of 'open' the screen like a page from a book. That meant I only needed to undo one of the three cables.

Then it's easy to get to the disk, which has a small thermistor stuck to it with tape and sponge. The actual disk is only clipped in and easy to remove.

Undo the screw mount, transfer to another drive and put it all back together again. I blasted it with canned air before re-assembly. It took me about 45 minutes and I decided to upgrade the old 1Tb disk to 2Tb whilst I was inside the case.

And now its back in business, albeit with a rather streamlined software selection.

84.71

Yup, the plan worked. My three year old Powerbook now has a new drive. It was 80GB, its now 160Gb, with more than half free. I copied everything to the new drive using Carbon Copy Clone (2-3 hours, overnight). I then re-booted from the external clone (hold down option key during boot). It still looked like my computer. I tried safari, mail and then Final Cut Studio. All of them worked and still found my files.

So power down, remove battery, unscrew case, flap up the keyboard and track pad, unscrew and wiggle out the disk. Swap them over. Re-assemble, cross fingers. And after 30 minutes, normal service resumed but with more space.

A three year old PC could be limping at this point, but this Mac still runs like new and is ready to edit HD video.

little box holds Powerbook's old drive

tags technorati : rashbre dismantle powerbook apple mac disk replace