Category Archives: Hard Drives and SSD

Questions and answers on storage, hard drive, SSD, flash, backups, network NAS and RAID

Q. What memory and drives fit my Mac Mini?

Posted on February 17, 2012 by quill

Apple Mac Mini models have gone through several design changes over the years. They have become slimmer, and recently Apple has dropped the Optical drive from the while Mini model line (which they had earlier done with the Server configurations). … Continue reading →

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Q. What Memory and Drives fit my MacBook Pro?

Posted on February 17, 2012 by quill

Apple MacBook Pro machines feature Intel processors and an Aluminum body Following is a chronological chart of all of the MacBook Pro models, the types of RAM and hard drives that can be installed. Newest machines are at the bottom. … Continue reading →

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Q. What Memory and Drives fit my MacBook?

Posted on February 13, 2012 by quill

There have been a number of different MacBooks, and three different types of RAM have been used in them. The MacBook started with the White and Black Lexan polycarbonate machines. Then in later 2008, Apple switched to an alumninum unibody … Continue reading →

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Q. What is the difference between SATA and PATA?

Posted on February 2, 2012 by quill

Serial ATA (SATA) and Parallel ATA (PATA) are two different (and incompatible) connection standards for hard drives, optical drives and other storage media. PATA is also called IDE, EIDE, ATA-5, ATA-6 and UltraATA. It uses a 40 pin (desktop) or … Continue reading →

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Q. How do I get the data off my hard drive so I can reformat or replace it?

Posted on January 16, 2012 by quill

The easiest way is to buy an external hard drive. Yes, it will cost some money but you really need to have a backup drive for your data. Don’t ever trust your data to one media device only.  Every hard … Continue reading →

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Q. My hard drive is running out of space – why?

Posted on January 13, 2012 by quill

The space used on your hard drive is data that you have put on it, plus the operating system, plus any programs you have installed and the data files they generate. Have you Emptied your Trash?  When you throw files … Continue reading →

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Q.Why am I missing 7% of my hard drive space?

Posted on June 30, 2011 by quill

You format your new 500 GB hard drive and it comes up 465 GB – 7% less – where did the extra space go?  Strange as it seems, you’re not missing any bytes on your drive, it’s a difference of … Continue reading →

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Add a SSD to a 2012 or older MacBook Pro or Unibody MacBook

Posted on May 18, 2011 by quill

One way to increase the performance of a MacBook Pro is to change the hard drive out for a fast Solid State Drive (SSD).  The problem is that large SSDs are still more expensive than hard drives, so getting faster … Continue reading →

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Q. My computer is broken and I need the data

Posted on May 14, 2011 by quill

If your computer has a broken screen, failed motherboard or bad power supply, the data on the hard drive is probably still OK – so you want to be able to get it copied to a new machine or another … Continue reading →

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iMac 2011 models, the end of upgrading?

Posted on May 13, 2011 by quill

Apple has thrown a curve ball at iMac owners with the latest 2011 “Thunderbolt” models.  The 2011 models use pins on the SATA power connector to transmit SMART temperature information from the drive to the iMac motherboard (previously, the temperature … Continue reading →

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Q. My external hard drive won’t mount

Posted on May 12, 2011 by quill

Try replugging the cables and connections first before concluding that it has failed – half of all ‘failures’ are problems with connections.  Or shut down the machine, turn off the hard drive. Now turn on the hard drive first, let … Continue reading →

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Q. How do I format an external hard drive on a Mac?

Posted on May 10, 2011 by quill

Before you can use a hard drive, it needs to be formatted, which organizes the data structure on the drive ready to accept data. In addition, a drive can be partitioned into two or more logical volumes, or it can … Continue reading →

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Q. What is the fastest disk setup for Photoshop

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Trevor

Photoshop (as well as other high-end graphic and video production software) is a heavy user of hard drive access.  The speed of the hard drive in a machine and the way that hard drive use is organized can have a … Continue reading →

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Q. How can I tell if my hard drive is failing?

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Trevor

If you suspect that your disk is having trouble, make sure you back up your data files to another drive or to DVD-R as soon as possible. One symptom of a failing drive is long pauses to do anything. Another … Continue reading →

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Q. Will my Intel d945gcl motherboard work with a Seagate 1 TB SATA hard drive?

Posted on May 4, 2011 by Trevor

Yes, as long as a motherboard has a SATA connector it will support any SATA drive up to 2 TB. Here are the support documents on this motherboard www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/highlights/dsktpboards/d945gcl Your board has ” Four SerialATA (SATA) channels (3.0Gb/s),via the ICH7, … Continue reading →

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