Chapter 2: Add RAM, Hard Drive Space, and Stir

In This Chapter

Understanding the advantages of extra RAM

Shopping for a RAM upgrade

Choosing between internal and external hard drives

Determining your hard drive needs

Shopping for a new hard drive

Installing your upgrades

Most Macintosh owners will make two upgrades — adding more memory (RAM) and additional hard drive space — during the lifetime of their computers. These two improvements have the greatest effect on the overall performance of OS X. By adding RAM and additional hard drive space, not only do you make more elbow room for your applications and documents, but everything runs faster: Think of the Six Million Dollar Man, only a heck of a lot cheaper to operate (and no strange noises accompanying your every move).

In this chapter — meant for those of you who aren’t well versed in selecting memory modules or weighing the advantages of different types of hard drives — I steer you around the hidden potholes along the way. However, if you buy the wrong piece of hardware, remember that using a hammer to make it fit is not a workable option.

Adding Memory: Reasons for More RAM

Of all the possible upgrades that you can make to your Macintosh, adding more random access memory (RAM) is the single most cost-effective method of improving the performance of OS X. (In fact, your machine will likely run faster with more memory than a reasonably faster processor!) Here is exactly what OS X uses available RAM for:

Applications: Naturally, OS X needs system RAM to run the applications that you launch. The more memory in your machine, the larger the applications that you can open and the faster they’ll run.

Overhead: This includes the operating system (OS) itself, as well as various and sundry buffers and memory areas devoted for temporary work. As you would guess, the more memory here, the merrier.

“But Mark, what happens if my Mac runs out of system memory?” A-ha! Great question, and the answer is virtual memory — something that I mention lightly and politely in Book I, but hasn’t really amounted to a hill of beans until this moment. (Can you tell I’m a big fan of Bing Crosby?) Virtual memory allows OS X to use empty hard drive space as temporary system memory, as shown in Figure 2-1. Data is written to your hard drive instead of being stored in RAM, and then it’s erased when it’s no longer needed. This is a neat trick that’s also used by Windows and Linux. Virtual memory works automatically within OS X.

At first, virtual memory sounds like absolute bliss, and it does indeed allow your Macintosh to do things that would otherwise be impossible, such as running an application that requires 4GB of RAM in just 2GB of actual physical RAM. However, here come the caveats:

Slow: Virtual memory is as slow as molasses in December. Today’s fastest magnetic hard drive is many, many times slower than RAM (and even solid-state hard drives, which actually use memory chips as well, are still much slower than your Mac’s system RAM), so any use of virtual memory instead of RAM slows down OS X significantly.

Pain: Virtual memory abuses your hard drive. If you’ve ever run Photoshop on a Windows PC with 128MB of RAM, you’re having flashbacks right now. Whenever your Macintosh is using virtual memory, your hard drive remains almost constantly active. (Hardware types, like myself, call this phenomenon thrashing because we know what’s happening inside that poor hard drive.) Over time, running any computer with insufficient RAM and behemoth applications will result in a significant increase in hard drive wear and tear.

Less oomph: Virtual memory costs you processing power. With sufficient RAM, OS X gleefully runs as efficiently as it can. When virtual memory kicks in, however, your Mac has to spend part of its quality time shuttling data to and from the hard drive, which robs your computer of processing power.

The moral of the story is very simple, so it’s time for another of Mark’s Maxims:

The less OS X needs to use virtual memory, the better.

To put it another way, physical memory (meaning memory modules) is always a better choice than virtual memory. This is why power users and techno-types crave as much system memory as possible — and why my Mac Pro boasts 12GB of RAM. (Someday I hope to win the lottery and add more!)

About five years ago, 256MB of RAM was a quite comfortable figure for most folks. All current Macs can accept at least a whopping 4GB (that’s short for gigabyte, or 1,024 megabytes) of system RAM. (At the extreme end of the scale, the King Kahuna — Apple’s latest Mac Pro — can now accommodate an unbelievable 64GB of RAM!) The MacBook Air comes from Apple preconfigured with either 2GB or 4GB of RAM, but it’s a sealed unit (so the RAM can’t be expanded).

If you’ll be keeping your Macintosh for a few years, order it with as much memory as you can afford (or install more later) — you’ll thank me every time OS X Mountain Lion boots.

Shopping for a RAM Upgrade

Before you click some online computer store’s Buy button, you need to determine two things that will help you determine which memory module to buy: how much RAM you already have and how much more your system can handle.

Finding out the current memory in your Mac

Memory modules are made in standard sizes, so you need to determine how much memory you already have and which of your memory slots are filled. To do this, click the Apple menu () and choose About This Mac. On the dialog that appears, click the More Info button, and then click the Memory toolbar button.

Here you can see exactly how many memory modules you have, what type they are, and how much memory each provides. For example, in Figure 2-2, my Mac Pro has eight memory slots, each of which use a 800 MHz DDR2 module. Four of those slots are filled with a 1GB module each, and the other four slots are filled with a 2GB module each, giving me a total physical memory of 12,288MB, or 12GB. Jot down the name and contents of each slot on a piece of paper — or, if you’re a real OS X power user, add a Sticky to your Desktop with this information. (Stickies are covered in Book II, Chapter 2.)

Click the Memory Upgrade Instructions link at the bottom of the dialog, and OS X Mountain Lion automatically opens a Safari browser window with online instructions on how to upgrade the RAM in your specific Mac model. If you’re confident about your technical skills, you can use this documentation as a guide to removing and installing memory modules. (Because I can’t cover the process for every Mac model, I highly recommend that you review these instructions closely!)

Unfortunately, on some machines, only one memory module can be upgraded by a mere mortal — and as I mention earlier, the memory in the MacBook Air laptop can’t be upgraded at all.

Potentially confusing? You bet. This arrangement differs on just about every model of Macintosh ever made: Some have more memory slots, and others allow you to upgrade all the system memory instead of just one module. The only way to determine which modules are accessible on your Mac is to identify the exact model of your computer.

Determining the exact model of your computer

Most folks know the type and model of their computers, but there’s a catch here, too: Sometimes the memory that you need varies by the processor in your Macintosh. For instance, many different versions of iMacs have been made since the Bondi Blue Beast debuted, and over the course of those years, Apple has made a slew of changes inside. Your eye should be on the actual processor speed and bus speed — the transfer speed that data reaches whilst speeding across your motherboard — because they’re the identifying factors here. An older iMac with a 2.93 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, for example, will use a different type of memory from the latest iMac with a 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7 processor.

Again, your salvation turns out to be the About This Mac dialog. Just click the Overview toolbar button to display both the machine speed (processor speed) and the common identifier that Apple uses to refer to your specific model. For example, my Mac Pro has two quad-core 2.8 GHz Intel Xeon processors, and it’s identified as a Early 2008 model. Grab that same piece of paper (or open that same Sticky) and add these two figures to your list.

Now armed with the information you need, go online and buy the right memory — or, if you’d rather work directly with a human being, you can visit your local Apple dealer, present that most august personage with the list, and have the memory upgrade ordered for you.

Buying memory online is much cheaper, though. I recommend the following online stores:

MacMall: www.macmall.com

Other World Computing: www.macsales.com

MacConnection: www.macconnection.com

The Tao of Adding Hard Drive Territory

Next, turn your attention to the other popular Mac upgrade — adding extra hard drive space. With today’s cutting-edge, 3-D games using several gigabytes of space each and Photoshop CS6 expanding to a minimum of 16GB, IDC (short for Insidious Data Creep) is a growing problem. (Bad pun most certainly intended.)

Of course, you can always reclaim wasted space by deleting those files and folders you don’t need. And yes, you guessed it, you can even determine how much free space remains on a hard drive from the About This Mac dialog! Click the More Info button and then click the Storage toolbar button to display all your glorious hard drive information, as shown in Figure 2-3. (I’m a major-league Mozart fan-boy, hence the name of my internal hard drive — my other drives are named after other composers as well.)

As a general rule, the following factors indicate that you’re ready to upgrade your hard drive territory:

You have less than 20GB of space on your hard drive.

You’ve cleaned all unnecessary files, and your Mac is still lagging behind in storage.

You need to share a large amount of data between computers that aren’t on the same network. (Read on to discover why.)

Internal versus External Storage

Most people who upgrade their existing hard drive do so because they need extra space; however, you might also need to add a hard drive to your system that can go mobile whenever necessary. Unlike an internal drive (residing hidden inside your Mac’s case), an external drive is a lean, mean, self-contained traveling storage machine that’s perfect for road warriors.

External drives

Although most external drives carry their own power supply, some models actually don’t need a separate power supply because they draw their power through your Mac’s Universal Serial Bus (USB), FireWire port, or Thunderbolt port. (The next chapter in this minibook tells all about Thunderbolt, USB, and FireWire.) If you have an older MacBook Pro with an ExpressCard/34 slot and an external SATA (eSATA) card adapter — or if you’re using a Mac Pro with an eSATA expansion card — you can also use an external SATA drive.

External drives also have a number of other advantages:

No installation hassle: You can easily install a Thunderbolt, USB, or FireWire drive in seconds. Simply plug in the drive to the proper connector on the side or back of your Mac, connect the power supply (if necessary), and turn it on. (No software installation necessary. As the folks in Cupertino are fond of saying, “Look, Ma — no drivers!”)

No extra space needed: Many Macs simply don’t have the internal space for another drive — laptops and iMacs are good examples. Therefore, if you want to keep your existing internal drive as-is while you’re adding more storage, an external drive is your only choice.

File sharing with ease: With an external drive, you can share your data between multiple computers or bring your files with you on your next trip.

Safe from prying eyes: Unlike an internal drive, external drives are easy to secure. Take your sensitive information home with you or lock it in a safe.

After you plug in an external drive, OS X displays it just like any other hard drive volume. Figure 2-4 illustrates my 500GB USB external drive in action with Time Machine, as shown in the Storage pane — note the drive bears the USB symbol as an icon, marking it as an external drive.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that the Mac Pro and iMac have a DVD-R drive, which makes it easy to send up to 8.5GB of data through the mail on a single recordable disc. No one wants to box up an expensive external hard drive to transport 4GB worth of photos to Aunt Martha!

Internal drives

Your other alternative is to upgrade your internal drive, which can be a hassle. Like undertaking a memory upgrade, adding or swapping an internal drive involves opening your Mac’s case. In fact, it’s a somewhat more complex procedure than adding memory.

I usually recommend adding a second drive rather than swapping out an existing drive. You’ll avoid the hassle of backing up and restoring your system on a new drive or (even worse) reinstalling OS X and then reinstalling all the applications that you use. (Swapping a hard drive should be the definition of the word hassle.) Instead, add a second drive and leave your current hard drive as-is.

However, here are some important reasons why many Mac owners choose updating internal drives, even with the hassle of swapping:

Cost: You’ll spend significantly less on an internal drive because it doesn’t need the case and additional electronics required by an external drive.

Speed: A typical USB 2.0 or FireWire 800 drive isn’t as fast as an internal drive.

Space: An internal drive eliminates the space taken by an external drive, which can range anywhere from the size of a deck of cards to the size of a hardback book.

After you establish that you are in fact ready for more space — and you’ve decided whether you want to add an internal drive, an external drive, or (if you enjoy punishment) upgrade your existing internal drive — you’re ready to consider how big a drive you need.

Determining How Much Space You Need

Your next step is to decide just how much hard drive space is enough. I suppose that if your last name is Zuckerberg and you had something to do with that Facebook thing, you can probably pick just about any drive on the market. However, I have a family, a mortgage, a car payment, and lust in my heart for the latest computer games; therefore, I must be a little more selective.

I have two hard-and-fast rules that I follow when I’m determining the capacity of a new drive:

Replacement: If you’re buying a replacement for your existing drive, shop for a drive with at least twice the capacity of the existing drive (if possible).

Augmenting: If you’re buying an external drive, shop for a drive with at least the same capacity as your existing internal drive (if possible). One exception: If you’re adding an external drive for use with Time Machine, you’ll want at least twice the capacity of your existing drive.

Those rules seem to work pretty doggone well in most circumstances, with these two exceptions: gamers and digital video gurus. These folks need to shoehorn as much space as they possibly can into their systems. If you’re a hardcore gamer or if you work primarily with digital video, you need a wheelbarrow’s worth of hard drive capacity. Trust me: Buy the biggest hard drive that you can afford.

Shopping for a Hard Drive

Ready to brave the local Wireless Shed superstore (or perhaps its website)? Here’s a list of guidelines to keep handy while you’re shopping for a new internal or external hard drive:

Faster is indeed better. You’ll pay more for a 10,000 revolutions per minute (rpm) drive than a slower 5,400 or 7,200 rpm drive, but the extra expense is worth it. Faster drives can transfer more data to your Mac in less time, especially if you’re replacing your Mac’s internal Serial ATA drive.

Faster drives are especially important for storing digital video.

Serial ATA and EIDE drives are different. If you’re replacing your internal drive, you have to get the same type of drive that you already have: EIDE or Serial ATA. (EIDE, short for Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics, is a common parallel ATA standard hard drive used in PCs and older Macs.) Again, the About This Mac dialog can tell you which type of drive your Mac is currently using. Click the Overview button in the toolbar and then click the System Report button to launch the System Information utility. Your drive will be listed under either the Serial ATA heading or the Parallel ATA heading.

Solid state drives (SSD) are hot. An SSD drive has no moving parts. It uses RAM modules to store your data, much like the USB flash drives so common today. Silicon storage allows for superfast performance (and avoids the possibility of a hard drive crash, where the internal moving parts in a traditional magnetic hard drive decide to take a permanent vacation). Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, you’ll pay more for a solid-state drive than a standard magnetic hard drive. (Go figure.) Check the specifications on any SSD drive you’re considering to make sure it’s compatible with your Mac.

Avoid used or refurbished drives. Hard drives are one of the few components in your computer that still have a large number of moving parts. (Again, the exception is a solid-state drive.) Therefore, buying a used drive isn’t a good idea unless it’s priced very low.

Because the prices on new hard drives are constantly dropping, make sure that you check on the price for a new, faster drive of the same capacity before you buy that “bargain” used drive.

Pick FireWire over USB. Compared with a FireWire 400 connection, a USB 2.0 external hard drive is less efficient and slightly slower. Because most Macs with USB ports also have FireWire ports, make very sure that you buy a FireWire drive! (Of course, you can buy a USB 2.0 drive without being embarrassed. Or invest in a drive that has both FireWire and USB 2.0 connectors! Heck, if you’re running one of the latest Mac models with a Thunderbolt port or a USB 3.0 port, you can invest in some of the fastest external performance on the planet — but you’ll pay a higher price.)

A FireWire 800 port is roughly twice as fast as either a USB 2.0 port or the older FireWire 400 port, but a FireWire 800 port is far slower than a USB 3.0 port. (For a complete discussion of USB, FireWire, and Thunderbolt, turn to the next chapter in this section. It’s thrilling reading, let me tell you.)

Watch the size of the drive when buying internal drives. Most SATA (Serial ATA) and EIDE drives are standard half-height 3.5" units, but check to make sure that you’re not investing in a laptop drive — unless, of course, you’re upgrading a laptop.

Installing Your New Stuff

After you get your memory modules or hard drive, pick one of two methods of installing them: easy or hard. Guess which method will cost you money?

The easy way

Your Apple dealer can perform either type of hardware installation for you. You can rest easy knowing that the job will be done right, but money will definitely change hands.

Personally, I always recommend that MacBook Pro laptop owners allow their dealers to install hard drives because these laptops are much more complex than a desktop, and they’re much easier to damage. (The Mac mini is a bear to work on, as well.)

The hard way

If you’re familiar with the inside of your Macintosh, you can install your own upgrade and save that cash. A memory upgrade is one of the simpler chores to perform, but that doesn’t mean that everyone feels comfortable taking the cover off and jumping inside a computer; hard drives are a tad more complex.

If you have a knowledgeable friend or family member who can help you install your hardware, buy him the proverbial NSD (short for Nice Steak Dinner) and enlist him in your cause. Even if you still do the work yourself, it’s always better to have a second pair of experienced eyes watching, especially if you’re a little nervous.

Because the installation procedures for both memory modules and hard drives are different for every model of Mac — heck, even removing the cover on each model of Macintosh involves a different challenge — I can’t provide you with any step-by-step procedures in this chapter. (As I mentioned earlier, Apple provides instructions for upgrading memory from the About This Mac dialog.) Many online stores include installation instructions with their hardware. Other sources for installation instructions include the Apple website (www.apple.com/usergroups ) and your Apple dealer. You can use Safari’s Google search feature to scan the Internet for installation information for your particular model. However, here are guidelines to follow during the installation:

Watch out for static electricity. When opening your Macintosh and handling hardware, make certain that you’ve touched a metal surface beforehand to discharge any static electricity on your body. (You can also buy a static wrist strap that you can wear while working within the bowels of your Mac.)

Check the notches on memory modules. Most types of memory modules have notches cut into the connector. These notches make sure that you can install the module only one way, so make certain that they align properly with the slot.

Make sure you’re using the right memory slot. As I mention earlier in this chapter, most Macs have multiple memory slots, so check the label on the circuit board to make sure that you’re adding the memory to the correct slot. (Naturally, this won’t be a problem if you’re installing a module into an unoccupied slot.)

Take good care of older hardware. If you replace an existing memory module or hard drive with a new one, put the old hardware in the leftover anti-static bag from your new hardware and immediately start thinking of how you’ll word your eBay auction . . . Used 1GB Memory Module for Intel iMac, for example. (Heck, some online stores will even give you a rebate if you return the original Apple memory modules.)

Check your hard drive jumper settings. If your Mac uses EIDE hard drives, you must set the Master and Slave jumpers correctly on the back (or underside) of the new drive. A jumper is simply a tiny metal-and-plastic connector that is used to change the configuration on a hard drive. Setting jumpers indicates to your Mac which drive is the primary drive and which is the secondary drive. (I don’t know how engineers got into the whole Master/Slave thing . . . they’re normally not quite so exotic when naming things.)

If you’re adding a second drive to a desktop with an EIDE drive, you’ll probably have to change the jumper settings on the original drive as well. (If you’re replacing the existing drive, you’re in luck; simply duplicate the jumper settings from the old drive and use them on the new drive.) Because the configuration settings are different for each hard drive model, check the drive’s documentation for the correct jumper position.

To determine whether a memory upgrade was successful, you can again turn to the About This Mac dialog. Display the dialog again and click the Memory toolbar button, and then compare the memory overview specifications with the original list that you made earlier. If the total amount of memory has increased and the memory module is recognized, you’ve done your job well. If not, switch off the Mac and check the module to make sure it’s completely seated in the slot.