Correct. I want it like it was basically a brand new computer with nothing on it except of course what comes standard. Is that what you are meaning by files and configurations?
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Late 09 Mac Mini questions
- Thread starter Jessica08
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Correct. I want it like it was basically a brand new computer with nothing on it except of course what comes standard. Is that what you are meaning by files and configurations?
Yep, if you don't typically mess with your computer "customization" and such then you should be okay.
Basically this is the bottom line, except your data that you need to worry about (or if you have any special software), you can't really do too much damage to your machine. Worst case you just have to spend some time getting up the machine again (email account, web browser and such). Although I think a lot of those are saved into iCloud these days.
I got through deleting everything I didn't want on my computer so it's now at around 52GB of free space, but could you tell me why it says pictures are taking up around 45GB of space when I only have 1,200 pictures in iPhoto? That doesn't seem like that few pictures should take up that much space. I wonder what I'm missing? Maybe there are some hiding somewhere that I can't find.
BTW I had a lot of crap on there that I didn't know was on there haha. Glad it's gone.
BTW I had a lot of crap on there that I didn't know was on there haha. Glad it's gone.
I keep coming up with questions sorry.
I have the OS X software disc that came with my Mini. Is it just not as simple as putting that disk in and downloading the software once I get the new hard drive put in? Would this eliminate having to do the external enclosure or is it not as simple as that?
I have the OS X software disc that came with my Mini. Is it just not as simple as putting that disk in and downloading the software once I get the new hard drive put in? Would this eliminate having to do the external enclosure or is it not as simple as that?
Yes! That is another way to set up your new hard drive as a bootable disk.
Well, you can use the OS X disc to install the operating system, but you still need to figure out a way to get your photos and music onto the new drive. An external enclosure allows you to use both drives at the same time, so you can copy files between them as you wish. But, if you don't want to deal with the old drive at all after you've installed the new one, you'll need to find some alternative way to store and retrieve those files; you could, for example, back them up onto CDs, thumb drives, a cloud server, etc.
I don't mean to hijack Jessica's thread, but I did recommend this SSD, so I just want to say that, per Crucial tech support, I tried a safe mode reboot overnight but there was no change from 1.5gbs. Upon reboot to normal mode, I clicked on the Mail icon and it launched so fast I could call it 'immediately'. I don't know that I could much tell, for light use such as mine, a twofold increase in read/write speed. Maybe the far better latency and seek of the SSD over the HDD is the most obvious improvement in my case. For heavier use with large files, it would be worth it to find one that would run at 3gbs, but unless someone can persuade me otherwise, I think I'll stay with the BX100 for now.
So, Jessica, if you want to do the SSD upgrade, I'd look for one that is proven to work at 3 gigabit on the '09 mini. Crucial no longer makes the M series, although they're still available on Amazon, but at a 50% price premium over the BX100. Don't think I want to spend that much on such an old computer. Oh, and that link from aajeevlin is very informative, thanks.
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It's no problem. I'm new to this so any info is appreciated. So you would still recommend the BX100 even though it doesn't run at 3 gbs? I don't use my Mini too often, but I want it to be faster than what it is right now when I do.
Well, this is the one and only SSD I've ever bought, but I have purchased Crucial RAM a few times over the years, so I leaned toward them when I considered the upgrade. Their price was good too, but I see it has gone up $10 since I purchased mine. The SanDisk Ultra II is a good price on Amazon right now. If I had gotten the magic 3gbs link speed, I'd recommend the BX100 wholeheartedly, but if I were to purchase again I would try for one that's proven to connect at the 3gbs speed, so long as the price was reasonable.
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Agreed, this is kind of the owes for using a rather old or a very new setup. Both are not main stream market, so they are going to be expensive because they know they can get you for it.
So, Jessica08, it's really up to how much longer you want to keep this machine. I first upgraded my 2009 roughly 3 years ago, I upgraded the RAM, then a year ago I upgraded to SSD. For me it's worth it because I like the machine, and it runs smooth (not fast, but smooth). But the upgrade was also done a couple of years ago when the machine was still not as old as it is now. It was worth it at the time because it was somewhat on par with the other Mini's out there. So that's just a few things to consider, how how longer you'd like to keep the machine and what you still hope to do with it.
From Amazon it looks like you can still get a M500 240GB for about $120, about $0.5/GB I suppose that's not terribly bad. But I think you can do better these days. Your trade off is really how much you want to spend and what you want out of the 1.5 or 3GB/s. That's just the thing with old tech. Take me for example, I bought a used G5 couple years ago thinking I'll build into a server or run some software on it. But it was so loud and none of the software will run on it anymore. I eventually sold it, simply because I no longer want to deal with it.