Speed tips for slow MacBook Pro hard drive?

huckdunsany · 03-08-2007, 12:33 PM

Hi guys,

A couple months ago, I ordered a shiny new 17" MacBook Pro, with the 200gig, 4200rpm drive. The machine is very fast at video/processor intensive stuff (games, video conversions, etc.), but anything that accesses the hard drive is painfully, painfully slow. I sorta knew what I was getting into with the lower-rpm drive when I ordered it, but now I'm almost regretting not going for the high-speed 7200rpm drive. My boot times a terribly long, loading programs takes forever, you name it, if it involved the hard drive, it's gonna bog down. I use the fantastic MenuMeters program and keep an eye on my disk access, and it's amazing how long the read/write lights will be flashing just for something relatively simple, like loading iTunes or iPhoto before I even see anything on screen.

Anyway, enough whining, now for the obvious question: Is there anything I can do as a (fairly advanced) user to help speed up my system? I run Diskwarrior regularly, as well as the command-line AppleJack, and this machine has 2 gigs of RAM, high-speed Core2Duo processors and a beefy graphics card, so I'm sure that the bottleneck is the hard drive. Back in the old days I'd just run Norton Speed Disk, but I don't think that's a good option anymore...

Any ideas would be great! I know I could just invest in a large, high-speed external drive (mmm, firewire 800...), but that kinda reduces the fun of having a high-performance laptop...

Thanks a bunch,

Huxley

JDV · 03-08-2007, 12:48 PM

Well, it seems to me the obvious solution would be to replace the 4200RPM drive with a 7200RPM drive. You could always stick the older drive in FireWire 400 enclosure and use it for data storage of some sort (files you don't access often). If the bottleneck in your system really is read-write speed of the drive, nothing much is going to change that except replacing the drive with a faster one.

Joe VanZandt

pink · 03-08-2007, 02:11 PM

Well, that's why I put a 7200 rpm drive into my iBook

.
But earnestly, if disk access is really as long as you describe (though it is hard to tell without any numbers), it might as well be that your file system needs repair. Ever ran disk utility on it ?
Just my 2 cents.

cheers, pink

KiNGME · 03-30-2007, 09:39 AM

Would 100GB limit you though? Only the "smaller" drives turn at 7200.

JDV · 03-30-2007, 11:13 AM

I'm not quite sure what this means....there are many large drives that are 7200 RPM (or faster) drives.

Joe VanZandt

KiNGME · 04-09-2007, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JDV


	I'm not quite sure what this means....there are many large drives that are 7200 RPM (or faster) drives.

To my knowledge, the largest 7200RPM 2.5" (MacBook Pro) drive is a 100GB and that includes aftermarket upgrades.

Name one 2.5" faster and larger.

DeltaMac · 04-09-2007, 09:45 PM

http://www.macsimumnews.com/index.ph...rd_disk_drive/

Seagate will be shipping soon - also 160GB - 7200rpm

KiNGME · 04-09-2007, 10:02 PM

WOW! That's cool! I'd go for one of those Seagates (great brand). (And I JUST saw it on MacSales.com for $240... but I don't know them from experience... any good?)

How hard is it to replace a drive in a MacBook Pro?

styrafome · 04-09-2007, 10:51 PM

How slow is your boot time? My PowerBook (1 CPU @ 1.25GHz) starts up and reaches the desktop in 35 seconds with its 5400RPM drive. If yours is not faster than that, maybe it's not the drive.

03-08-2007, 12:33 PM	#1
huckdunsany Prospect Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 18	Speed tips for slow MacBook Pro hard drive? Hi guys, A couple months ago, I ordered a shiny new 17" MacBook Pro, with the 200gig, 4200rpm drive. The machine is very fast at video/processor intensive stuff (games, video conversions, etc.), but anything that accesses the hard drive is painfully, painfully slow. I sorta knew what I was getting into with the lower-rpm drive when I ordered it, but now I'm almost regretting not going for the high-speed 7200rpm drive. My boot times a terribly long, loading programs takes forever, you name it, if it involved the hard drive, it's gonna bog down. I use the fantastic MenuMeters program and keep an eye on my disk access, and it's amazing how long the read/write lights will be flashing just for something relatively simple, like loading iTunes or iPhoto before I even see anything on screen. Anyway, enough whining, now for the obvious question: Is there anything I can do as a (fairly advanced) user to help speed up my system? I run Diskwarrior regularly, as well as the command-line AppleJack, and this machine has 2 gigs of RAM, high-speed Core2Duo processors and a beefy graphics card, so I'm sure that the bottleneck is the hard drive. Back in the old days I'd just run Norton Speed Disk, but I don't think that's a good option anymore... Any ideas would be great! I know I could just invest in a large, high-speed external drive (mmm, firewire 800...), but that kinda reduces the fun of having a high-performance laptop... Thanks a bunch, Huxley

03-08-2007, 02:11 PM	#3
pink Major Leaguer Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Germany Posts: 441	Well, that's why I put a 7200 rpm drive into my iBook . But earnestly, if disk access is really as long as you describe (though it is hard to tell without any numbers), it might as well be that your file system needs repair. Ever ran disk utility on it ? Just my 2 cents. cheers, pink __________________ "And what have we got in here ? - Ahh, things.." (Louis (2), inspecting kitchen cupboards.)

04-09-2007, 10:02 PM	#8
KiNGME Triple-A Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 59	WOW! That's cool! I'd go for one of those Seagates (great brand). (And I JUST saw it on MacSales.com for $240... but I don't know them from experience... any good?) How hard is it to replace a drive in a MacBook Pro? Last edited by KiNGME; 04-09-2007 at 10:08 PM.

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03-08-2007, 12:48 PM	#2
JDV Hall of Famer Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Chicago, Illinois Posts: 3,191	Well, it seems to me the obvious solution would be to replace the 4200RPM drive with a 7200RPM drive. You could always stick the older drive in FireWire 400 enclosure and use it for data storage of some sort (files you don't access often). If the bottleneck in your system really is read-write speed of the drive, nothing much is going to change that except replacing the drive with a faster one. Joe VanZandt

03-30-2007, 09:39 AM	#4
KiNGME Triple-A Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 59	Would 100GB limit you though? Only the "smaller" drives turn at 7200.

03-30-2007, 11:13 AM	#5
JDV Hall of Famer Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Chicago, Illinois Posts: 3,191	I'm not quite sure what this means....there are many large drives that are 7200 RPM (or faster) drives. Joe VanZandt

04-09-2007, 09:45 PM	#7
DeltaMac League Commissioner Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 7,957	http://www.macsimumnews.com/index.ph...rd_disk_drive/ Seagate will be shipping soon - also 160GB - 7200rpm

04-09-2007, 10:51 PM	#9
styrafome Hall of Famer Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 3,818	How slow is your boot time? My PowerBook (1 CPU @ 1.25GHz) starts up and reaches the desktop in 35 seconds with its 5400RPM drive. If yours is not faster than that, maybe it's not the drive.