# *NEED HELP* Internal Hard Drive Super Slow!



## daniscool99 (Jan 13, 2011)

I just bought a refurbished ( ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting ) Hard Drive off ebay. Upon insertion it said it wasn't recognized right away, but I formatted it to two partitions, both of which were Mac OS Extended (Journaled). I used Carbon Copy Cloner to copy my entire hard drive to my new one (via an earlier purchased enclosure and USB). I inserted my new hard drive to my system and it worked.. but ran incredibly slowly. From off until the password screen it took 5-10 minutes and once I was finally able to get into my computer, I was beachballing every minute, even when trying to scroll on a document or webpage.. literally unbearable. I tried repairing the permissions on it and repairing the disk before I got fed up and had to put my old hard drive back in.

I plugged my old hard drive back in and it worked as normal, full speed 15 second boot up time as usual. Here's a pic of it ( ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting )

I tried the exact mentioned process as above using SuperDuper in case it was a problem with CCC, but it was still super slow.

Am I dealing with a defective Hard Drive? I'm trying to repair the permissions of my original hard drive at the moment and am going to try one more time copying it after repairing it.. not sure if it will do anything. When I try to repair permissions on it (or on copied version of my newer, slow hard drive I get this every time:

Warning: SUID file "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/MacOS/ARDAgent" has been modified and will not be repaired.


The original hard drive works perfectly.. when copied to the new one, it is really slow. Is it a problem with the hard drive, does my computer not accept this kind of hard drive? (The ebay seller had a large list of accepted models of which mine was among.)

Any insight would be great.

Thanks in advance,

D


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## Paddy (Jul 13, 2004)

Welcome to ehMac! 

First off the permissions warning you're seeing is a standard one that you can safely ignore, according to Apple. 

Secondly, NEVER buy a "refurbished" drive off eBay. I don't care HOW cheap they are. Brand new drives are comparatively speaking, ridiculously cheap these days - there is no point in forgoing a decent warranty to save a few dollars for an entirely unknown entity off eBay. "Refurbished" could mean a drive that has had significant problems in the past - or it could simply mean one that has been reformatted. You really don't know, and have no way of telling. </end of scold...which I realize doesn't help you one iota at the moment> 

Next - will the eBay seller accept a return and give you a refund? If so, I'd send it back. He/she may try to argue that it was working fine/is working fine, since it does boot, but it really isn't ok. I took a quick look at the eBay listings and there really aren't any bargains to be had - the drives on offer were often very similarly priced to what you'd find at Canada Computers for new drives with 3 and 5 year warranties.

The drive you bought should work fine in your MacBook - it's an SATA drive, 5400 RPM - you can see the specs here: Newegg.com - Fujitsu MHZ2320BH-G2 320GB 5400 RPM 8MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Notebook Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Nothing special about it - it did get good reviews from purchasers when it was available, but as you can see, is no longer available from NewEgg. A quick Google reveals that it is available from a number of places in the US (most of which I don't consider major dealers, which indicates that this drive may have been discontinued by Fujitsu as well. Fujitsu's HD division was taken over by Toshiba in 2009, BTW)

So what happens when you try to repair the drive with Disk Utility? You say you got fed up, but did it just never complete? This can happen if the drive is failing. Also, if you have DiskWarrior, I'd try running that on it.

But, all indications are that the drive is certainly not trustworthy and possibly failing.

My suggestion?

Western Digital Scorpio Black (WD3200BEKT) 320GB SATA 7200 RPM 16MB Cache 2.5" Laptop Hard Disk (OEM) | Canada Computers - fast 7200 RPM drive with a 16MB cache and has a 5 year warranty. Just put a 640GB one in my MBP and it's wonderfully fast and very quiet. Various online stores including newegg.ca have similar pricing. If you would prefer a 5400 RPM drive (a little slower - but same as your original drive) which would be a little cheaper, and use a little less battery power, then consider the WD Scorpio Blue or the Hitachi 320GB models, which are $49 and $44 respectively at CC. Both carry 3 year warranties.


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## CanadaRAM (Jul 24, 2005)

A super slow hard drive is a strong symptom of a drive that has massive read/write errors and is about to fail terminally.


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## daniscool99 (Jan 13, 2011)

Thank you very much Paddy! I think I will likely just purchase Western Digital Scorpio Black (WD5000BEKT) 500GB SATA 7200 RPM 16MB Cache 2.5" Laptop Hard Disk (OEM) | Canada Computers and opt for a large hard drive than my 320 and the 7200 RPM as well. I had no idea that non-refurbished drives were so cheap. The drive I bought has a 5-year warranty and I can return it to the seller for a refund, so I will likely do that.

Dan

P.S. I also live in Toronto, and in my landlord Paddy's basement. What are the odds I live in your basement?


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## Paddy (Jul 13, 2004)

daniscool99 said:


> P.S. I also live in Toronto, and in my landlord Paddy's basement. What are the odds I live in your basement?


Er, not high, unless you're a large plecostomus or a very clever goldfish, as those are the only things currently living in our basement (other than the odd spider) that we're aware of!! :lmao:

BTW - the 640GB drive I put in my MBP was the Samsung one - the WD Scorpio Black isn't available in that size. There IS a 750GB Scorpio Black in the 2.5" form factor, but they just announced that a few days ago and I can't see anywhere to buy it yet!

Direct Dial has 50 on order - they were supposed to be in 2 days ago. 
WD7500BPKT - Canada : Western Digital 750 Gigabyte Sata 3gb S Mobile Storage 7200rpm 16mb Bare - Product Details Not cheap at $127 each - I imagine the price will drop over time as they become a little more commonly available. It's nice to see that WD has put this drive out though. 

The 640GB Samsung is a fair bit cheaper:

Newegg.ca - SAMSUNG Spinpoint MP4 HM640JJ 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Notebook Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Or you could just get the 500 GB Scorpio Black for $70 at Canada Computers.


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## Paddy (Jul 13, 2004)

Sorry...double post.


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## daniscool99 (Jan 13, 2011)

After some research the other day I found my Macbook (mid 2007 model) does not actually accept any internal memory larger than 500 GB so I had to deal with that.. which was no problem, 320 was likely large enough too, I just wanted to be able to carry a couple more things around with me like music, since I have more than plenty external storage space!

Thanks again for your help


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## Paddy (Jul 13, 2004)

Eh??? My Macbook Pro is a 2006 model and it's got a 640GB drive in it (which is not memory, btw - memory is RAM  ) so who told you that you couldn't put more than a 500 GB drive in it? If it was the blog post referenced in the Apple discussion I'm linking to below, ignore it. 

Apple - Support - Discussions - Hard Drive Capacity Limit Due to HD ...

Apple - Support - Discussions - Macbook - talk of an 'upper limit' size ...

The only limitation on the drive is the _physical_ size - there are some drives that are more than 9.5mm in height (12, if memory serves) and they don't fit in some Mac laptop models. Couldn't tell you which ones - you'd have to look your specific model up to see if it's one them. However, the Samsung is 9.5mm and fits fine.

http://www.samsung.com/global/business/hdd/productmodel.do?type=94&subtype=99&model_cd=518


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## Mr.Tickles (Mar 25, 2009)

dont buy anything with moving mechanical parts off ebay unless it's somebody with massive positives.

NCIX is also a good place to buy better macbook hard disks. Any 2.5" will work. I got a 500 GB two years ago for like $60.


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## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

daniscool99 said:


> After some research the other day I found my Macbook (mid 2007 model) does not actually accept any internal memory larger than 500 GB so I had to deal with that.. which was no problem, 320 was likely large enough too, I just wanted to be able to carry a couple more things around with me like music, since I have more than plenty external storage space!
> 
> Thanks again for your help


I don't know where you got your MB specks info from, but have a look if the model is close to yours for some accurate info:
MacBook "Core 2 Duo" 2.0 13" (White-SR) Specs (Late 2007, MB061LL/B, MacBook3,1, A1181, 2200) @ EveryMac.com

Or browse their site for more detailed info.


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## wonderings (Jun 10, 2003)

If you are looking for a speed up look at a hybrid drive. Its not the full benefit of a SSD drive, but its still mighty quick. I upgraded my stock MBP hard drive to a 500 gig 7,200 rpm hybrid drive and things are much much faster and snappier. Faster startup times, apps load way faster and just an overall speedier use for everything I do.

Seagate Momentus XT (ST95005620AS) 500GB 7200RPM 32MB Cache 2.5" Solid State Hybrid Drive | Canada Computers


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