Well, its done...
My computer upgrade is complete, but it didn't go all that smoothly. Due to several technical reasons, I couldn't "clone" or backup all of my computer's settings/configuration, so I had to reinstall the operating system from the discs and am now in the process of transferring over my files and reinstalling other software, like Photoshop Elements.
And, there were casualties. I broke off the airport antenna early on in the process and 2 of my 4 USB ports don't work anymore. I must have done something during my unsuccessful attempts to reattach the antenna that also screwed up those ports....I think. But I can live with that. There is always ethernet and USB splitters.
One thing that does annoy me is that I bought the 2 GB RAM upgrade, but I just looked in system profiler and the computer says it only has 1 GB of RAM. :-( Which means that either I didn't install one of the RAM cards correctly or OWC sent the wrong ones a bad one. I looked that memory part of system profiler and it is only recognizing one of the cards. And I didn't discover this until AFTER I put the case back on, so I guess I'm just gonna have to live with it, cause I'm not taking this thing apart again any time soon. What a pain in the ass.....opening this thing was quite an ordeal, but at least I'll know what to do if I do get around to fiddling with the RAM.
But even without the extra RAM, the computer seems to be running more smoothly than it was with the old hard drive. I'll have a better idea of how big an improvement there is when I start playing around on the computer a bit more.
So, anyone want to see what the inside of a Mac Mini looks like?
Behold, the Mac Mini without its case. Poor baby is naked, but its gonna get worse before it gets better.
And if that wasn't bad enough, I pulled it open too.
After all the work to open the case and get to the hard drive, taking it out of the black frame it was mounted on was anti-climatic.
And, if anyone wants an airport antenna, your more than welcome to have this one. Good luck figuring out how to install it. I couldn't figure out where or how to put it back on.
And if anyone reading this is interested in opening up an Intel Mac Mini to replace the RAM or hard drive, you should definitely go check out these places:
http://soledadpenades.com/2007/11/01/diy-replace-your-intel-mac-minis-hard-disk-drive/
http://media.macsales.com/videos/mini/intel/medres.html
And if you try this yourself, I hope it goes more smoothly for you than it did for me. But, at least my computer still works. :o)
And, there were casualties. I broke off the airport antenna early on in the process and 2 of my 4 USB ports don't work anymore. I must have done something during my unsuccessful attempts to reattach the antenna that also screwed up those ports....I think. But I can live with that. There is always ethernet and USB splitters.
One thing that does annoy me is that I bought the 2 GB RAM upgrade, but I just looked in system profiler and the computer says it only has 1 GB of RAM. :-( Which means that either I didn't install one of the RAM cards correctly or OWC sent the wrong ones a bad one. I looked that memory part of system profiler and it is only recognizing one of the cards. And I didn't discover this until AFTER I put the case back on, so I guess I'm just gonna have to live with it, cause I'm not taking this thing apart again any time soon. What a pain in the ass.....opening this thing was quite an ordeal, but at least I'll know what to do if I do get around to fiddling with the RAM.
But even without the extra RAM, the computer seems to be running more smoothly than it was with the old hard drive. I'll have a better idea of how big an improvement there is when I start playing around on the computer a bit more.
So, anyone want to see what the inside of a Mac Mini looks like?
Behold, the Mac Mini without its case. Poor baby is naked, but its gonna get worse before it gets better.
And if that wasn't bad enough, I pulled it open too.
After all the work to open the case and get to the hard drive, taking it out of the black frame it was mounted on was anti-climatic.
And, if anyone wants an airport antenna, your more than welcome to have this one. Good luck figuring out how to install it. I couldn't figure out where or how to put it back on.
And if anyone reading this is interested in opening up an Intel Mac Mini to replace the RAM or hard drive, you should definitely go check out these places:
http://soledadpenades.com/2007/11/01/diy-replace-your-intel-mac-minis-hard-disk-drive/
http://media.macsales.com/videos/mini/intel/medres.html
And if you try this yourself, I hope it goes more smoothly for you than it did for me. But, at least my computer still works. :o)