Unibody Laptop Dual Drive

My Problem

I had an SSD I was using as an external via USB adapter. I knew I was not maximizing the speed of the drive. I also had a 2011 MacBook Pro that could barely handle simple processes. I used the iFixit kit to install the SSD on the laptop and reinstalled the operating system onto that harddrive. Now the computer os lighting fast (even with just 4gb of ram) and has 1tb of internal! Glad I did it.

My Fix

The repair was challenging, putting back some of the micro screws was like an advanced game of operation. I also slightly unplugged the wifi/bluetooth cable so I had to open the computer back up after finishing the install.

My Advice

Before screwing the computer lid back on, power up the computer, make sure the drive is showing, AND make sure your wifi and bluetooth still work.

My Problem

I use a MacBook Pro mid-2009 as a second machine. The CD drive failed long ago, so I decided to use the slot for a second drive.

My Fix

The repair isn't terribly tricky, but it can be time consuming. The mounting screws need to be inserted into tight spaces.

My Advice

(1) If you are careful, there is no need to unplug the camera cable from its socket. That's a good strategy because the plastic stick-on strip that hold it into place would be hard to reinstall. (2) Once you pull the camera cable off the drive to be removed, it will not stick back on by itself. I bought some Tesa 41395 4mm tape, and that stuck it back onto the new drive perfectly. Be careful to position the camera cable so that it can't be cut by the edge of the new drive. (3) I used a tiny bit of scotch tape to hold the drive mounting screws onto the screwdriver, so that I could start them the first couple of turns.

My Problem

Wanted a way to boot into a Windows drive without having to lug around an external drive and without sacrificing space on the main drive.

My Fix

The repair went well. After doing the teardown a few times, it becomes fairly familiar.

My Advice

This model of dual drive wasn't advertised to work with the 2GHz Early 2009 MacBook model, but it worked well because the Early-Mid MacBook models have SATA optical drive (not PATA, like their predecessors). There were two small, plastic tabs on the rear of the optical bay enclosure that you can just snip off with some pliers or a box cutter (if you're careful) so that the enclosure fits snugly.

My Problem

Wanted more storage and a faster drive

My Fix

The installation was easy-breezy. The directions in the tutorial made everything very straightforward.

My Advice

Don't order the parts only dual hard drive kit if you're planning to format your new drive ahead of time or you want to use your old drive as an external at some point. I somehow managed to order the parts only kit by accident :S

My Problem

I wanted to upgrade my inspiron laptop to run faster. I purchased the dual hard drive bay to replace in order to replace the OS main drive with a solid state drive. I intended to move the original drive to the optical drive's location. I also purchased a larger stick of memory

My Fix

It went very well. I performed the data migration from my old drive then replaced the original. At this point I also replaced the RAM with the 8gb stick I had purchased. The laptop's boot speed and general performance is now much faster.

My Advice

Make sure to properly format the original drive if you intend to use it in the manner of a secondary drive. Otherwise conflicts with windows during boot can be a real pain.

My Problem

Was entertaining the idea of taking out the disc drive. Tried it out the other day and it was not reading DVDs. So I went ahead and swapped it out for a 500gb ssd as my

Back up bringing me to a total of 980gb of solid state on my laptop.

My Fix

Fairly simple. Would recommend doing it with plenty of space. And a good memory of where the screws go.

My Advice

Would recommend doing it with plenty of space. And a good memory of where the screws go.

My Problem

I want more storage in my Mac. So i decided to swap the optical drive with SSD.

My Fix

The entire process is a really exhausting for the first timers. Certain things like unplugging wires should be done very much care. Ifixit explained it all in detail. There are many small parts that probably can chip away. So, be really careful! I am happy and thankful to ifixit to be able to complete the repair without any hiccups. Happy repairing!

My Advice

Repairing is better than replacing! It saves money, teaches engineering. :)

My Problem

I upgraded my Mac HDD to an SSD but was missing the storage capacity I wanted.

My Fix

Simple! Easy to do while tired and with some rum in the tank. Pull out the screws, rip out the CD and plonk in the HDD Mount. Definitely not rocket surgery.

My Advice

I would have preferred if the HDD was accessible from the top; then, once the mount is in, you could swap the drive out much easier!