speed up early 2009 macbook5,2 by switching mechanical hard drive to SSD

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speed up early 2009 macbook5,2 by switching mechanical hard drive to SSD

I am running Mavericks on an early 2009 Macbook5,2 4gb RAM CPU@2ghz Intel core 2 duo. It is running at an unacceptably slow speed. Network performance is very hopeless too. I am wondering if switching mechanical hard disk to a SSD would revive this macbook enough to keep it for a few more years. Please advise if this approach has a chance to improve its performance adequately. If yes, what steps to follow to migrate software on my existing hard drive to SSD?

Posted on Jul 11, 2014 12:57 AM

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Answer 1

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SeaPapp

Level 7

26,486 points

Jul 11, 2014 4:59 AM in response to gurdaspur

I upgraded my hard drive in the same MacBook to an SSD and it's the best computer upgrade I've ever done. The MacBook feels like a new computer. Start up time, application launching and read/writes are wicked fast. I recommend upgrading to an SSD especially because of the low cost of SSD now days and the ease of installation in an older MacBook. Your network problems are probably not connected to your hard drive unless the drive is failing. You should try another browser, rebooting your modem and router and disabling any browser extensions that you have installed. If those basic steps don't help post back with more specific information and we can try to help out with that.

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Answer 2

gurdaspur Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 11, 2014 3:24 PM in response to SeaPapp

hi mike, your reply & results have encouraged me to follow thru with your suggesions after which I shall update this post.two things i need to know is 1. what ssd ( brand & size to buy, bigger the better, cost being non issue). 2. steps to copy exising hard disk on to ssd in order it to be a boot disk. my network issue is random but is worst at peak times of morning and evening when our apt. bldg. is all full of people back from work, macbook keeps on going forever long time. mid day is all well. thx for your help in advance

🙂🙂😎😎

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Answer 3

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Jul 11, 2014 3:32 PM in response to gurdaspur

I have used Samsung 840 Pro drives with much success in a Late 2008 MBP, 2 x 2012 13" MBPs.

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Answer 4

gurdaspur Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 11, 2014 5:59 PM in response to Loner T

Hi Loner T, I was wondering if you can please share with me as to

1. what ssd ( brand & size to buy, bigger the better, cost being non issue) do I buy? website to buy it from? for my early 2009 Macbook model 5,2 white body?

2. steps to copy existing hard disk on to ssd in order it to be a boot disk.

3, any other pertinent steps as I am not a computer whiz.

all guidance & help is gratefully appreciated very much

😕😕😕

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Answer 5

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Jul 11, 2014 6:53 PM in response to gurdaspur

Your Macbook has a SATA bus.

1. This is what I recommend. Some drives which are SATA 2/3 compliant do not support SATA 1. http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Electronics-2-5-Inch-SATA_6_0_gb-MZ-7PD512BW/dp/B0 09NB8WTI/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1405128604&sr=8-3&keywords=samsung+840+pro

I have used this in SATA 1 systems without any issues (the OCZ Vector is an example of problems with SATA 1).

2. Replacing the drive can be done using these steps - https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Core+2+Duo+Hard+Drive+Replacement/514

3. I suggest you use an external drive and make a Time Machine Backup of your MB, before you make any changes. If you have a Time Capsule, it can help as well (otherwise see if you can find a USB/FW external drive for backup).

4. Once you have a good backup, replace the drive using steps in 2. Take the old drive from the MB and put it in an external SATA enclosure (preferably one that has both USB and Firewire), so it becomes your external boot disk. If you do not want a SATA enclosure, you can also consider a FW only enclosure.

5. You can now boot from the external disk. Restore the TM backup in step 3 to the internal SSD. You will have to format the internal SSD (because it is usually unformatted). FW connectivity will allow you to daisy-chain the TM backup and your external boot drive. The restore also makes your internal drive bootable. All your applications/settings/accounts/passwords will also be preserved this way. You are essentially restoring everything from the old drive to the new drive.

If you need help regarding TM, let me know.

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Answer 6

SeaPapp

Level 7

26,486 points

Jul 11, 2014 8:00 PM in response to gurdaspur

I used a 250gb Samsung 840 but when I replace the optical drive in my iMac with an SSD I'm probably going to buy from OWC. Samsung has replaced the 840 with their EVO line and I just don't know enough about it.

The steps listed above by Loaner T are pretty much straight forward, the only thing I would do (did) differently is instead of using Time Machine I put the new SSD into an external enclosure, prepared it with Disk Utility (GUID partition and Mac OS extended journaled format) and cloned my hard drive onto it using Super Duper. Then I just popped the SSD into my MacBook and started up.

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Answer 7

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Jul 11, 2014 8:22 PM in response to SeaPapp

The 840 EVO has had some issues with MBPs and performance which may be a firmware issue on both sides, Apple and Samsung. The 840 Pros have a 5-year warranty. The Crucial SSDs are good too. I have very little experience with OWC SSDs, but like their other products.

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Answer 8

gurdaspur Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 12, 2014 12:53 PM in response to Loner T

I took out the hdd from my macbook, it is Hitachi HTS543212L9SA02 Media 119.17 GB (119,174,365,184 bytes). I assume it is Hitach hard drive 120GB. Now it is time to buy the best SSD for an upgrade. What is the max capacity of SSD should I buy for an early 2009 macbook model 5,2? I only hvae 4GB of RAM in it. Please advise.

😕😕😕😕

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Answer 9

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Jul 12, 2014 2:10 PM in response to gurdaspur

The OS will support almost any currently available SSD as long as it can negotiate the appropriate SATA speeds. I am biased towards the Samsung 840 Pros (4 x 256Gb, 1 x 512 Gb so far).

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Answer 10

gurdaspur Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 13, 2014 10:42 PM in response to Loner T

While I await the delivery of my SSD, I would like to get your nod to clone the new SSD from the HDD using following steps:

clonning a SSD

You may use these instructions which do not require anything but Disk Utility:

INSTALLING A NEW HDD IN A MBP.

1. Make certain that you have backed up all of your important data.

2. You will need a HDD enclosure. One with a USB connection will do. A 9 pin Firewire is better.

3. Install your new drive in the enclosure and connect it to your MBP.

4. Open DISK UTILITY>ERASE. From the left hand column drag the new drive into the 'Name' field. Make sure that the format is 'Mac OS Extended (Journaled)'. Click on the 'Erase' button.

5. Click on the 'Restore' button (on top). Drag the old drive into the 'Source' field and the new drive into the 'Destination' field. Click on the 'Restore' button on the bottom right hand corner.

Depending upon the amount of data you are transferring, this may take a couple hours or more. A Firewire will speed up the transfer. This will result in both drives having identical information on them.

6. After the data transfer has completed, you may test the new HDD by starting your MBP with the OPTION key pressed down. Select the new HDD and see if it working to your satisfaction. If so, swap the drives. Start the MBP and you have finished the installation. The initial boot may take a bit longer than you are accustomed to, but that is normal.

7. When you are satisfied that the new hard drive if functioning properly, you can erase the old drive and use it for any needs that you may have.

I would gratefully appreciate your sign off on the above before I attempt clonning process. Please advise.

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Answer 11

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Jul 14, 2014 5:03 AM in response to gurdaspur

This is a two-separate drive method of cloning. It will work, as long as you are extra careful in picking the correct drive for each step and are careful in terms of source and destination. My suggestion uses an additional TM backup, so you have three copies instead of two. If either the old drive or the new drive has issues or either is accidentally erased, you will have the third backup.

You are installing the new drive in the external enclosure first and then cloning, swapping drives and booting. It can be also done as remove the old drive, put it in the external enclosure, put the new drive in MBP, boot from external drive and then clone.

There are variants and you can choose rather than some anonymous poster on a forum 'signing-of' on a set of steps which have no guarantees of success. 😉

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Answer 12

gurdaspur Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 19, 2014 3:21 PM in response to gurdaspur

My sincere thanks to Mike Sombrio and Loner T for their encouraging messages about SSD clonning. I have successfully replaced my macbook white's 120GB Hitachi HDD with a 240GB SSD from OWC for $157 & the tool set comes free in the box. A very smooth upgrade indeed using mac's disk utility only. A unbelievable jump in performance including network. I have repeatedly & successfully measures my Uverse delivering 7-8MBPS after the upgrade as opposed tp ~4MBPS using Sonic.net speed test.

🙂😁😎

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Answer 13

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Jul 19, 2014 4:34 PM in response to gurdaspur

Congratulations! Glad to see it work all together. I would keep the old drive handy instead of erasing it. Invest in an external drive for TM backups.

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