17" iMac Hard Drive Replace

[flxibl2008]

Great video, thanks. any info on removing a stuck cd? g5 is trying to eject but there is a mechanical interference.

[gemsroadwarrior]

@flxibl2008 Nothing that I have experienced. These Macs are easy to get in to, so you may just have to open it up and see if you can get to it. Probably going to need to replace the drive to avoid it happening again. Turning them on and off with the eject key sometimes works, but if it's is something mechanical, that most likely will not help. Maybe someone else will have a response for you.

[Tenorsax69er]

Thank you. I knew I had to do something with the 3 screws on the bottom but when they weren't coming out the way most screws would I started to wonder. Thanks for the video.

[gemsroadwarrior]

@Tenorsax69er Glad that it helped.

[danimalvideos918]

@gemsroadwarrior hi! can you put a link to the new hard drive you bought?

[reevvaa]

Thanks for posting this video, I changed the HD within 20 minutes, your video was most helpful and informative

[URAOGMEDIA]

@reevvaa I am glad it helped you get it done.

[Vulcanscienceacademy]

Very informative and comes in handy just as I find I need to replace my hard drive. One quick question: do you remember what brand of hard drive you used to replace the original?

If I go to my local computer store what do I ask for? Serial ATA drive?

Any help much appreciated.

[MrSGL21]

thanks for the video. i just extracted a hard drive from one of these in minutes . the main board had died and client needs here data

[harper690]

Or Just Get AllThingsTech Ebay Service to do it. Item Number: 270785988239 They use The Best Hard Drives

[gemsroadwarrior]

That is a long way off to send to have a hard drive replaced if you live in the states.

[jethronh]

hi,

do you have any tutorials for replacing the monitor in the same machine?

[gemsroadwarrior]

@jethronh Not at this time. You may be able to find one elsewhere on line. If you don't want to mess with it yourself, you might try this on eBay. I have not used the service, but they do have a 100% rating with over 450 posts. Their prices make it almost easier to let them do it for you or buy a refurbished unit.

[animekid200]

New iMacs (With Sandy Bridge and Thunderbolt ports) have proprietary Hard Drive power connectors.

I really can't think of anything to say other than: "Lol"

[Rocktecho]

Is it the same for the iSight model?

[URAOGMEDIA]

@Rocktecho I am afraid not. The iSight model is much more complicated. As Apple/Mac makes things harder and harder for the consumer, I am more and more inclined to look at moving back to PC's. There are other videos out there for the iSight. Search YouTube and best of luck.

[808pakaz]

Thank you for your video it was very helpful keep up the good work!

[HandHPictures]

@808pakaz You are welcome.

[gemsroadwarrior]

Without actually seeing what it is that you are referring to, I cannot say. If you computer doesn't work once you put it back together, you may want to try hooking it up. Sorry that I don't have a better answer.

[MrWant2Know]

On the hard drive, when I remove the three cables, there is the sata, power, and then another one on its own side. It plugs into some port on the motherboard underneath the ram slot. What is that cable? Mine was unplugged when I got it. Is it important?

Thanks

[codalyokofan]

I wish my Imac would be that easy to take apart!

[gemsroadwarrior]

If you have a Apple Store nearby, they may be able to look at it for you. You might also look for someone local in your area that specializes in Macs. I know that there is a place in Virginia Beach, Virginia that specializes in Macs, but their name escapes me right now.

[benjilips]

Very helpful. I might just have to bite the bullet on this one and get them to install a harddrive (that I plan to buy from a 3rd party). Wish the intel iMac was as easy to do having read a bit on people servicing theirs I can't see myself doing so. Wish I had a G5 model cause your video is very informative. Do you think they could do a diagnostic on my iMac to determine if it indeed is the harddrive? Thanks for taking the time to answer my question it's greatly appreciated 5 stars on the video.

[benjilips]

My iMac g5 with iSight recently has restarted itself and had the line issue. I've searched online an this appears to be a common problem with this make (intel iMac duo core). I tried powering it on today and I get a flashing folder with a question mark. Would this have to do with a fried harddrive? Any answers to this would be awesome if so I'm trying to avoid getting it serviced by apple because I'm sure it'll be expensive. I love my mac and I'm eager to find a solution to this problem.

[gemsroadwarrior]

@benjilips that would most likely be a bad hard drive. This video is for the Mac version before Intel. You will want to search for a different video to replace the hard drive in your Mac. I have never seen one changed, but I know that it is different. Hope that this helps.

[marvin4578]

Hi, I am also using an iMac G5 and some months ago I was booting it up and was using iMovie to make a project, and everything was fine until I heard a 'sh' sound. I am not sure where it came from, and I turned it off. Next day I booted it up, and after the white light turned off it made the same sound. I leaved it on for like 5 min and the screensaver came up and the noise stopped, but as soon as I moved my mouse the sound returned. After some time the sound stopped. Is it my HD?

[gemsroadwarrior]

@marvin4578 This sounds like it may be your hard drive or the fan. I would not waste any time getting an external hard drive to back you computer up to and at least be prepared if your computer hard drive goes. If the fan is not working properly, it will cause the hard drive to crash and maybe more.

[pacmon99]

how much hard drive space can i use on this mac using mac os x ?

[gemsroadwarrior]

@pacmon99 I put a 500GB hard drive in mine. That is probably enough, but you may be able to go higher.

[jmurray2697]

Great Tutorial!!! Long time Mac User, first time installing a HD.... This video was a great help to get my Old G5 up and running! Many Thanks Gemsroadwarrior!

[gemsroadwarrior]

@jmurray2697 You are welcome. Just replaced the hard-drive in a iPod Mini and hope to post soon. It was more work than the iMac!

[Laxbro37]

Thanks so much for this video! Really helped me alot! To help clear some confusion the cd was the osx os cd ( leopeard).

[gemsroadwarrior]

@Laxbro37 It is the operating CD that came with the system.

[ladybracknel]

Thank you for putting up this very instructive video. Might I relate my own experience of replacing the hard drive in my Mac, which will serve as slight corrective and warning. I only had to remove the two large connectors. The small one is an integral part of the housing and if it does not come away easily, do not persist in trying to remove it. Also I booted up from an external hard drive I had prepared using SuperDuper and formatted then copied my old hard drive to the new.

[gemsroadwarrior]

It's a torx driver, which is mentioned in the pop ups (I don't know if you can see them on your computer or not). Apple tries to do whatever they can to keep consumers from fixing their own computer. It shouldn't be this hard. A PC hard-drive can be changed by a 3rd grader. Good luck.

[monstermonte666]

Where the hell do you get a screwdriver to open the damn thing. I have every size hex driver available and none fit it. I asked the Mac stores and they say they don't know but they can fix it for me. Someone else told me I need a torq driver. Nothing on ebay. WTH ?

[FreebersJeebers]

Im getting two 2 iMac for FREE...one for my friend and I....we're working together! Check my video! I am getting them for free because i signed up at a site...learn more in my video

[missgj1]

the cd you put in the g5 at the end, is it the operating system cd?

[gemsroadwarrior]

@missgj1 Yes.

[gemsroadwarrior]

This all depends on whether or not the hard drive was your problem. If the hard drive is good, you should be able to pull everything off of it. If the computer that the hard drive was in is not working, you will have to find a way to pull that information off of the old hard drive. External hard drives are pretty inexpensive now and I highly recommend getting one. If you are buying a new Mac, Time Machine will save all of your info to the external hard drive in the future.

[J03y805]

so my imac needs to be fixed but they want $400 to fix and i rather just buy a new computer but hard drive has all of my music and pictures on it. if i open my imac and take the hard drive out will i be able to get all my music and pictures off ?

[ghostdog650]

Ty for posting this tutorial. It was extremely helpful.

=0)

[marissuuhWearsprada]

what kind of hard drive will you have to buy?

and, what three screws, one of mine are missing...

[gemsroadwarrior]

@marissuuhWearsprada SATA regular size (not laptop size) hard-drive. I put a 500 GB in mine. You can go up or down. 500 GB should be plenty. The 3 screws are on the bottom of the display as shown in the video. They are just lock screws, turn and loosen.

[ccubsfan94]

you can boot up holding option and then choose the boot select

[mderby929]

Excellent video! Does IMac G5 support most any SATA Hard Drive? Or are there specific Hard Drives for Macs?

[Drummerofrevolt]

As long as you format the drive it will support any drive.

[douglasearlallen]

The disc 1 of two you talked about at the end,,What is that? Im sure my iMac came with some discs but they are missing. I do have the lepord OS 10.5. Is that the same thing of am i up a creek with out the discs?

[gemsroadwarrior]

These are discs that came with the computer. If you don't have them, you might try eBay or Apple themselves.

[aaartnaz]

can i still save the data on my hard drive? the mac genius told me that my hard drive is dead but i hear you can freeze it to get it to work again. what's the chance i might be able to save my data?

[gemsroadwarrior]

I am not sure about the 'freezing' idea. There are companies out there that can try and retrieve your data, but they are very expensive. Going forward, I highly recommend using an external hard drive and Time Machine. I back up there, save to DVD and even save some things on a second hard drive. You can never back up your stuff enough. Sadly, when we go to look at the things we were smart enough to back up on our own, it's usually the worthless junk. Time Machine does it for you.

[spyder357]

I work as a Systems/Network administrator (5 years exp) and have used the freezing method before.

This method works when the drive will detect when plugged in (not a circuit board problem) and the platter still spins. When drives fail under load (say transferring a 2GB file it fails halfway through due to heat) freezing it can work wonders.

Make sure to put it in a ziplock bag and get all the air out to prevent frost when you put it in the freezer.

[kungfutastic]

I need to replace the super drive on my intel core duo (20') would this be a the same proceedure?

[gemsroadwarrior]

It would not. Apple complicated the intel version. Search YouTube, I am sure there are some links on here.

[kingchris626]

I replaced my hard drive with a Western Digital SATA 320 GB. And I did everything you instructed, but I get the apple screen with the spinning gear. And it stays that way.

[kingchris626]

Ok now I got it to work, but it's not recognizing the new hard drive

[hewboltinvention]

@kingchris626

mine too, new hard drive but i cant select destination volume because does not show it!

help

[gemsroadwarrior]

Unless you got a bad drive, I am not sure what to tell you. It worked flawlessly this way for me twice.

[jdills1196]

Is there anymore upgrade videos for iMac G5? I want to upgrade mine (I love It :3) I got recently, but not sure how to go about doing it.

[RJRibeira]

Thanks for this! This is exactly the iMac I have and this video was very helpful!

[spenqs]

What size is the HD? 3.5"?

[gemsroadwarrior]

Hard Drive Replacement

Seagate 500GB Serial ATA HD/7200/32MB/SATA-3G/SKU: TSD-500ASS SY. Not sure about 3.5"

[gemsroadwarrior]

The arrows and stuff were actually done with YouTube. That was before Google, so I don't know if they still have the tool. to do it. It's been a while, so I am not sure where in the YouTube editing software it was at. The video itself was made on the Mac.

[zimcricket]

great job, dude. thanks for taking the time and saving me time! p.s. love the arrows and such... how was that done?

[NorCalExplorer]

Great video. That looked even easier than replacing a hard drive on an old imac G3. Unfortunately I would have to take my current 20" into the shop to replace the hard drive. I have seen a video on replacing one on it and it scared me to death on all you had to do to get to the hard drive.

[gemsroadwarrior]

That's my voice.  Can't change that.

[randyrhoads911]

thanks it really helped me

[timdwyer62]

Thanks for posting the video, it's a great help. Did everything you did, but when it starts the install no disk shows up. Plugged in a fire wire external, that shows. Do you think I have a bad new hard drive? Replaced a 80gb WD Caviar with a 500gb WD Caviar Blue. Thanks

[gemsroadwarrior]

If no drive shows up, I would guess that it is bad or has some type of formatting issue. I would not know what to do to correct a formatting problem. I replaced mine with a 500GB, as well.

[silverdawn1978]

This video was great and very informative. I normally build and repair PCs, but I have never dived inside of my wife's iMac. Her hard drive just failed and I was afraid I would have to take it to the apple store.

Fantastic job!

[gemsroadwarrior]

Glad I was able to help.

[andeyejah]

ca you please tell me which kind of ram i need to get for my pre isight g5 ive asked a few people already but have had no response yet thanks alot!

[gemsroadwarrior]

Are you looking for additional Ram or replacement Ram?

[gemsroadwarrior]

The hard drive installed in this video is a SEAGATE 500GB Serial ATA (SATA) HD. 7200/32MB/SATA-3G. SKU: TSD-500ASS-SY

[gemsroadwarrior]

I don't want to say for sure, but I think a SATA is a SATA. I replaced mine with a 500GB hdd, where it had a 160GB before.

[ihakkr]

it is sata. i just checked in my g5 imac

[justice1606]

I have this same iMac (1.6 hz ppc G5--pre-isight) . It tells me I need to replace the hdd. Can I use any SATA 3.0gb/sec hdd for the replacement? They are so cheap now. And it would be nice to have like a 250 gb one.

[gemsroadwarrior]

The thing on my wrist at 3:50 is a grounding strap, used to prevent static electricity from causing damage to any components.

[fetymann]

geez man, that's so old fashioned, you don't need a wrist strap! just touch any metal part on the case before you start handling stuff inside. btw, what did you have the other end clipped to in this video?

[darkstar744]

Nice! hey, what was that thing you had in your hand on 3:50 ?

[rellen4]

Thanks for the help it saved me alot cause the apple store does this for 20 bucks

[gemsroadwarrior]

Glad to hear that the video was helpful.

[techdeckin2day]

great video im doing this in a couple of days but I need to know whats the hard drive size for when i buy a new is it 3.2 inches please get back to me. Thanks

[gemsroadwarrior]

Sorry to be so late responding. If you have this type of Mac, I recommend that you go ahead and open it up (it's extremely simple) and get the information directly from the hard drive installed. If it is a newer version of the iMac, they are more difficult and there are some excellent videos posted by others to show how to work on newer iMac's. I would not want to send you off in the wrong direction.

[anon540]

People whine and cry about how you can't make any changes to Macs. Thanks for showing how simple it is.

[gemsroadwarrior]

This version of the iMac is EXTREMELY simple to work on. Newer versions are much more complicated and there are some other excellent videos posted on YouTube that explain the process for working on those.

[anon540]

That's OK, I can still use it as a bluff. I saw someone complain about how hard it was to replace the power supply on these things. Yeah, I change my power supply every freaking day. /sarcasm

[ctrob71]

cool, i was looking for a vid showing this

[gemsroadwarrior]

Glad that I was able to help. I was looking for one, too. When I didn't find it, I decided to make my own.