Few questions about upgrading HD

[flashgear]

Hi just got a few quick questions.
Last night I was in disk utility erasing free space, all of a sudden the computer just froze up, left it for half an hour, came back and it was still the same. Eventually had to switch it off, when I turned it back on I got a message saying I needed to restart, did that and got the same message.
To cut a long story short i've been speaking to apple support and i've been told the HDD probably needs replaced.
Which brings me to the questions, obviously since the internal components must be very small, not all HD's will be compatible, does anyone know of a list or certain cheap but reliable one's I could get a hold of that are compatible?
Also if the HD is installed correctly, is it just a matter of putting the OSX Tiger discs in the optical drive and installing the operating system?
Don't know if i'm coming across as naive, but i've never attempted this on a mac before, i've changed components in PC's and games consoles, but thats about it.
My mac mini is an intel 1.66 core duo, 100 gb HDD
Any help or advice would be appreciated.
I'm in the UK btw.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

You can use any 2.5" HD. However, the mini can be tricky to open up. You have to take a putty knife and gently pry it open. Once inside there are four screws, a couple antenna to unseat and a fan connector to remove. If you are not comfortable with this you may want to either have a computer shop do it or buy an external drive.

Other World Computers has a how-to video. There might also be something on YouTube. I suggest taking a look to see if it's something you feel comfortable doing yourself. I've don't it many times. It's not hard, you just have to be careful and unafraid of tools or the guts of a computer.

 

[Hellhammer]

If you want to make you Mini super fast, buy SSD. They cost more but brings you the best performance that is available in hard drives

 

[flashgear]

You can use any 2.5" HD. However, the mini can be tricky to open up. You have to take a putty knife and gently pry it open. Once inside there are four screws, a couple antenna to unseat and a fan connector to remove. If you are not comfortable with this you may want to either have a computer shop do it or buy an external drive.

Other World Computers has a how-to video. There might also be something on YouTube. I suggest taking a look to see if it's something you feel comfortable doing yourself. I've don't it many times. It's not hard, you just have to be careful and unafraid of tools or the guts of a computer.

Yea I took one look at it and knew it would be tricky, since all those parts are in a pretty small space.
I've changed cards and optical drives on PC's before, and done some things to an xbox and PS2, so hopefully everything should go well. Before I touch anything though i'll make sure I find a decent guide.

 

[panzer06]

Yea I took one look at it and knew it would be tricky, since all those parts are in a pretty small space.
I've changed cards and optical drives on PC's before, and done some things to an xbox and PS2, so hopefully everything should go well. Before I touch anything though i'll make sure I find a decent guide.

I just paid an authorized Apple service center $80. They have proven to be a valuable resource over the years (handling warranty work that Apple might otherwise reject and performing non-standard mods while keeping my warranty intact).

While I am capable of tearing apart a system, sometimes I have better thing to do with my time. After all its only money, I can make more. I can never get that lost time back.

Cheers,

 

[acron1]

Yea I took one look at it and knew it would be tricky, since all those parts are in a pretty small space.
I've changed cards and optical drives on PC's before, and done some things to an xbox and PS2, so hopefully everything should go well. Before I touch anything though i'll make sure I find a decent guide.

I just replaced the 120Gb HDD with a larger one on my new mini and it wasn't all that hard. If you have done upgrades on computers before all you need is a little patience and this will give you a good idea of what's involved. You can get a 2.5" laptop drive really cheap these days at Newegg.
Good luck,
Steve