iMac (circa 2009) Hard Drive to SSD Upgrade 

Thanks!

You can use pretty much any suction cup

I just managed to grab the edge ob the screen with my nails.

Thank you!

Thank you!

Thank you!

You're welcome!

You're welcome!

+shaktijim Great to hear! It is a nice way to breath new life into an older machine.

Good to hear!

Thank you!

I moved my OS before swapping drives. You just need to boot up from the restore partition (hold down Option key on startup and choose Recovery drive). Once it starts up, use disk utility to restore your current drive ONTO your new drive. Your new drive will be erased and then the source drive will be copied to it.

I haven't messed with any newer model iMacs. I just installed SSDs and RAM in my parent's 5yr old Mac Mini and Macbook Pro. It really gives the older hardware new life. It is seems like magic.

You are welcome!

I love hearing that! Thanks for the comment.

Thank you!

Thanks!

No problem!

Hmm... It is probably fine to set a static value so long as the noise doesn't bother you.

Only partially Tim Taylor. He would have used a modified gas blower. Mine is electric. I can't believe that show started 27 years ago.

LOL I thought exactly the same!

There is a noticable speed boost. It would be a bigger boost if this computer had SATAIII. This is my wife's computer. She doesn't use it daily. She mostly used for managing her photos. If I hadn't upgraded, I'm guessing we would have needed to get a new computer.

I would assume based on the benchmark tests and the visible video boot times that it did. I have bought a few 10 year old laptops and put in SSD and there is a better performance issue. Trust me!

RickMakes is a SATA 2?

+JR TECH COMPUTER Innovation & Quality I am not sure. You might be able to put one of the hard drives in place of the optical drive. I think there are companies that make mounting adapters to do that but I don't have any experience with it.

+Tommy Stormstereo I'm running a Samsung 840 EVO and I have upgraded to El Capitan. The fan control software is still working. I'm guessing it will work with the 850 but I can't say I have tried it. I have a video on enabling TRIM (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-J9RLqVgjfXA.html) on the Mac and this is the technique I used on my iMac. A commenter on that video pointed out that there could be a problem with enabling TRIM on the Samsung drives (www.macnn.com/articles/15/07/02/latest.os.x.version.offers.preliminary.support.for.third.party.drives.129345/). I do have TRIM enabled but I also have multiple backups and I absolutely recommend having multiple backups before messing with this stuff. I do have an 850 EVO in my Macbook Pro running El Capitan and TRIM turned on. I just can't say 100% that the fan control will work.

+RickMakes Thank you so much for your informative answer. Much appreciated! I feel confident to try this soon. I'll try and get back to this thread with an update afterwards.

Great idea! Seems like that would work well.

worked perfectly with the instructions in your video, alot easier than i expected, thank you

I haven't heard of any problems with my 2009. I'm not sure about the 2007. If you are skilled and want to take the risk, it might not be a bad idea to blow the dust out of it.

If you forward to around 12:50, I talk about some software you can use to regulate the fan speed. I put a link to it in the description. It seems to work very well. You may hear the fan ramp up when you reboot but once the system is loaded, the fan speed drops.

@@Rickmakes Thanks so much for such a swift reply. So, just to make sure I’ve understood; ignore the ‘spare’ cable and leave it unconnected, but install the software?

Trevor and Jo Taylor Correct.

I would check all of the connections. You can also shine a flashlight on the screen when you turn it on. If you see a dim image on the screen, then the backlight isn't working.

You should be able to install the system on it after you install the drive in the computer. If you hold down command-r while booting, it will take you into the recovery console. This can take a while as it has to load the recovery system from over the internet. From there you can using Disk Utility to format the drive and then install macOS. Alternatively, you can install the system on the drive while it is in an external USB enclosure. That way it is ready to do.

+RickMakes great idea to control the fan, do you have to set it to 'smart' every time you restart your computer? or it is one time setting and it will be permanent?

+Neethan kanesha The setting is persistent. If you boot into recovery mode, the fan will run at high speed because the fan control hasn't loaded. When booting normally, the fan control keeps the speed under control and the computer is nearly silent.

+RickMakes thank you

+RickMakes Hi Rick, is the fan control software for Mac or Windows? What happens to those who dual boot window?

+pokeutopia It is Mac only. When you boot into Windows, I'm guessing the fan will run at full speed. There are other (hardware based) techniques to slow down the fan. I would do some searching online.

If you are doing light computing (email, web browsing, etc...) you might be able to get by with a small, cheap SSD. That would give you a little bit of a speed increase to get a little more life out of the computer. If the computer dies or you get rid of it, you can remove the SSD and put it in a USB enclosure and use it as a portable drive.

yes, I was thinking the same thing

Thanks for the compliments! Only AE (Anderson Erickson) Old Fashioned Cottage Cheese. I used to eat a ton of it. I would eat fat free, 2% or 4%. I have since cut dairy out of my diet for a number of different reasons and have lost a lot of weight.

Mike Scholl I can't remember what I did. :( I may have used another Mac to create a USB installer. There are instructions online for doing that. You may also be able to boot into recovery mode (Command-R at boot) and install the system from there.

If I do another video like this, I'll try to be more aware of the lighting. My brother is a videographer so I'll try to enlist his help next time. Thanks for the feedback.

Yes. You can clone before or after.

Check out ifixit.com and/or Other World Computing (parts vendor). The have some upgrade kits for some of the newer Mac models.

+RickMakes okay thank!

+Yanick Norman I don't disagree. It is a little intimidating. I am big on backing up before taking a project like this on. This computer was 6 years old so I figured it was worth the risk to try and update it. If I were to break it, I would have had to get a new computer to replace it and I was okay with that.

Are you talking about just using an external DVD or booting from an external DVD? A USB DVD should work if you just plug it in.

My wife was using the computer up until a few months ago. The SSD and fan control software were both still working great. We switched computers because I had a newer computer available (2012 Mac Mini).

RickMakes thank you so much!

In that case, you can probably hold down command-R when rebooting and install a fresh operating system using the recovery console.

The original hard drive has a temperature sensor built in. If you remove it, the computer's fan runs at full speed (very loud) all the time as sort of a failure mode. Using the software slows the fan back down like when the sensor is installed.

You got it?

+Thien Kim Hoang Thank you for the compliment. I do get nervous working on computers but I always make sure to have multiple backups so if I break the machine, I can always just replace it. The data is much more important to me than the hardware.

This was the first time it had ever been opened and it was six years old at the time. I was expecting it to be dirtier.

That's what happens with all-in-one computers that you never open.

same question here. Does anyone know what to do?

Or have you figured out the answer? since its been 5 months already..

Hong Li, I just saw your question. Sorry! Yes I did figure it out how to go around my problem. Here's what I did, if it's at all helpful: 1. I connected my newly purchased Samsung 850 EVO ssd to my Mac as a secondary External Hard Drive via USB 3.0 cable (www.amazon.com/Seagate-FreeAgent-STAE-104-Compatible-Black-Boat/dp/B06Y55HBKQ/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1505249424&sr=8-10&keywords=Seagate+cable) 2. Before the upgrade to SSD drive my Mac was running older version of Mac OS X I believe it was (10.6.8). I can't remember now, since it was about a year ago. So, I downloaded a FREE version of newer version of Mac OS X (10.10) and installed it on a Samsung 850 EVO ssd. (That took a while, about 3 hours, due to USB speed limitation) 3. Then I went to Setting > Startup DIsk and made sure the newly SSD drive showed as an option to restart my Mac with. It was there. I selected it and restarted the Mac. Upon the restart everything worked great except evrythythg was super slow that was because the SSD drive was connected via USB cable. 4. So now knowing that everything boots from new SSD, I shut down my Mac and did all of the steps on removing old SATA drive and putting my new SSD drive by exactly following the video above. Thank you Rick! 5. I did install "Fan Control" app just as Rick mentioned in the video and everything worked beautifully. I also maxed my RAM which is 16 GB. THAT'S IT! I still use my old Mac 2009 running new Samsung 850 EVO (1TB of SSD) on it. So, for nearly $300 i've updated my 2009 Mac to a spec that isn't even available at Apple store. If you have old Mac try it, it's worth the effort.

SSD fan control. Link is in the description.

Ok thanks

*looks

+dasboot360 It is a GoPro Hero 3 Black Edition. It might seem weird to use a GoPro but they have a decent sized image sensor and pretty decent quality.

What trim support is? How to enable it? Thanks in advance!

guessing magnets...

You could try resetting the PRAM. Also double check that your cables are properly connect. You might also try replacing the battery on the motherboard.

Go to Disk Ultilities and format your SSD to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and it will reconize

I don't see a late 2010 iMac. I did find instructions for a mid 2010 27" iMac. You could probably watch my video to get a feel for what to expect but then follow the instructions on ifixit to do the actual procedure. I'm guess the procedure is slightly different from my video but things like connectors will probably be similar. Here is the ifixit procedure: www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+27-Inch+EMC+2390+Hard+Drive+Replacement/8919

@@Rickmakes thanks; my error it was mid 2010. I will watch the video......

You can hold down command-r while rebooting to access the recovery console. From there you can install the system.

RickMakes i need internet connection right?

You will need to install the system (macOS) on it. You can boot into the recovery console by pressing command-R while the machine is booting. This will have the option to install macOS. Otherwise, you can plug the SSD into a USB enclosure and install macOS on it using another Mac. You just need to run the macOS installer (downloaded from the App Store) and make sure to choose your external USB drive instead of the internal drive. Once you have it installed on the SSD, you can put it in your iMac and it should boot.

RickMakes comand R does not pull my recovery mode. instead it shows a grey folder with a question mark meaning it does not see the hard drive. I have no idea how to approach this issue. please help!!!

I got exactly the same problem. Does anyone know what to do? Thanks

actually i find out the problem. It has nothing todo with your hard drive. Its because the keyboard was not recognized. Try to open the capitalize function and see if the green light on the keyboard is on. If not, your keyboard is not connected to the computer thats why it won't start up properly. I recommend to use a wire keyboard and press windows sign+R when you start up.

Dave Trussell I was able to fix mine by installing the OS into the drive usinh a MACBOOK PRO. after the OS is installed, the drive gets recognized. Another thing that I realized is that when you install the OS into the drive, some other files needed for recognition get is taller as well. Another option would be to clone the SSD from any other OS system you have at home. that way you will get this files that you need and can upgrade to a new OS if you need. hope this works for you!!!!

That is odd. Almost sounds like a power supply issue.

If you hold down command+R while booting, it should get you into the recovery console. From there you can format the disk and reinstall macOS.

I would go back through the installation and double check every connection.

You can clone is before or install new. If you get the drive up and running using an external USB enclosure, it should just work when you install it in the computer.

@@Rickmakes I would like to put ssd as primary hard drive, and use regular as data . Domt want to use enclosure because I believe USB speed is 2.0. Now I am confuse if I should remove optical and put ssd. Bit what should I do about the sensor ? And how can I make ssd as primary so system can boot for ssd?

If you don't have any data you need on the current hard drive, you can just replace it with the SSD and reinstall the system on it from scratch. You can use the SSD Fan Control software in place of the sensor. I put a link to it in the description.

+alienrefugee51 great! Could you explain in more detail? please thanks .

Not really sure how else to explain it... Basically, put the double-sided tape underneath the SSD and stick it to the iMac, exactly where the HD caddy was. You're attaching it to the back part of the iMac. Maybe attach all the cables to the SSD first and then stick it, so the drive will be close enough to the cables. I put my SSD in place of the optical drive because I didn't want to have to deal with the HD fan sensor issue. Now everything is run off the SSD and the HD drive has now become a Time Machine back-up. You can also use heavy duty duct tape instead of double-sided sticky tape. That's what I used. You're not going to be moving the iMac around and the SSD has no moving parts, so it's not going anywhere

optical drive bay has a slower sata connection...

I used wire to suspend the ssd so it doesn't touch anything

Velcro

Wtf english....jeez!

Cyrillic?

The SSD is a lot faster. It gave this old computer a new life. My wife was using it but I recently switched her to a 2012 Mac Mini. I did a fresh install on the iMac and am keeping it on hand with some older software that doesn't run on the newer systems.

RickMakes I should have asked “why did you change the format”? I kind of knew you wanted a bigger/faster HD.

@@MRrwmac Probably the biggest advantage of APFS is that if you copy a file, it only stores it once on the hard drive. If you change the copy, it only stores the change. It also has better data integrity features.

RickMakes Thank you for explaining.

Yes. You can use a 3.5" drive. You will likely still need to use the fan control software unless you can find a hard drive with the temp sensor that is built-in and compatible with the iMac.

ok. thank you :)

If you use another drive of the same make ie. seagate etc then I believe the sensor cable will still fit.

It's a Samsung 840 EVO 500GB. This machine only supports SATA II and the SSD is SATA III so the drive is quite a bit more capable than the machine can handle.

Were you using a specialized suction up or a suction cup soap tray? The soap tray made easy work of breaking the magnet's hold on the glass.

I haven't tried yet. Is it just magnets or are there clips as well?

It just used magnets. I do have a link in the description to some small suction cups. You could also use something like a suction cup phone/GoPro mount like you would use on a car windshield.

I have about 500 suction cups. I get one Everytime I order an iPhone screen