hard drive upgrade

To increase my geek points, I decided to replace the hard drive in my powerbook. I am happy to report that the operation was a success! It’s gone from 80 to 160 GB. (I followed the instructions at ifixit.com, and benefited from the comments on this blog:)

http://meanderingpassage.com/2006/04/09/al-powerbook-g4-15-hard-drive-upgrade/

The last time I tried to take apart a laptop was with my old iBook. It was a disaster. Halfway through, I ended up stripping the head of a screw and had to give up. I almost ended up doing the same thing this time, but this time I was able to stop, calm down, take a break, and look up “stripped screw laptop” on google.

I got myself out of my predicament by using the next smaller screwdriver (#00–the mounting bracket is very narrow!), pushing down very very hard to increase the friction, and turning slightly the wrong way to kind of loosen it.

Lessons learned:

• Be more careful the further in you go. Opening up electronics is mentally taxing (and the fumes probably don’t help either). Don’t underestimate the fatigue factor. Take breaks.
• My iBook experience wasn’t a complete waste, since this time I at least knew what I was getting into. Also, I already got most of the tools.
• Don’t skimp on your tools.
• Spudgers are cool.

Next time: notes on my software upgrade.