jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Have any of you replaced the drive in an iMac 21.5"? Mines doesn't boot, and the common thought here is that the drive failed. I haven't pursued this yet, but if the drive is bad, I'd like to replace it with an SSD. Looking online, this seems to be a rather big project.

DavidSells Loc: Ferndale, MD

I had to same problem with my Mac, I have worked on computers for years and have repaired desktop and laptop but this Mac is more than I care to try. I replaced it with a Mini completely stripped it and installed a SSD. My old iMac is still collecting dust in the corner.

RGreenway Loc: Morristown, New Jersey

Jerry,

It might not be as bad as you think, if you have done drive replacements on other Mac's or PC's. I did what you are contemplating on a 21.5" iMac. The front glass is held in by strong magnets and this can be removed with glass holding suction cups. Surprisingly easy to remove the glass. Then, the LCD panel is a bit more tricky, but doable. The only hitch for me was that the mounting bracket I bought with the SSD was too big (extended too far forward to cram the LCD back in) So I had to grind off some metal on the bracket to make it fit. Not a big deal.

I would try booting from an external drive first to be sure its your drive. Do you have a Time Machine external back up or other external disk? I think yours has a DVD drive so booting from that should also work if you have a Mac install disk.

Bison Bud

If the drive is dead, it's going to be difficult to recover your operating systems and other files. Oversimplified, you need to clone the original drive to replace it in your machine and it doesn't sound like it's going to be cooperative. I'd take it to a reputable computer repair service and see what it might cost to recover the data, load and install a new drive. It might be time to move on, but being an Apple, it could be worth saving. In any case, there are probably files and/or programs your going to want to save if possible. Good luck and good shooting to all.

BobU Loc: Sarasota Florida

what generation I Mac is it? The newer they are the trickier they can be to work on. Having said that, if you know how to open them up, it is not as bad as it may seem.

At this point, what happens when you try and start the machine?

An audible chime tells you the self tests have passed.
Then do you get a folder with a ? in it. or a different message?
Can you boot it from an external drive or an optical drive?

It would be good to determine that the problem is is indeed the drive before you jump in. ( it usually is the drive)
Specialized tool sets for Macs are pretty common and inexpensive. Apple likes to use non standard fastener heads.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Bought new in 2012 - not overly used.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Yes, the OS could be a problem. I do have TimeMachine.

nut4golf Loc: Windsor, CT

Hi Jerry,

I would suggest looking at Other World Computing, aka https://www.macsales.com. They offer excellent kits and instructional videos that walk you through the whole process start to finish. I upgraded my wife's same generation iMac in just this way (new SSD drive) giving it many year's more life. If you have a time machine backup, restoring will be a piece of cake as well.

Regards,

Michael

johnst1001a Loc: West Chester, Ohio

Why don't you just take it to the Apple store. They will tell you whether you can put an SSD in the model you have. They can diagnose whether the drive is really the issue. I had the same problem with a 2012 Imac 27". Apple replaced the drive, a 1 TB for $199. Came with the new operating system. It worked perfectly. I did have time machine backup's and also back up all my files on a third drive, so zero files lost. I did have to reload MS Office, and Photoshop, not a big deal. I had a few other programs which I rarely used so I didn't bother with them.
A few months later, the video card went. Back to the Apple store. I told them about the hard drive, of which they had the record. The video card is $400. So, Apple said they would write off the cost of the hard drive, and only charged me $200 for the video card installed.
Net, don't bother dealing with changing componets in an apple if you live near an Apple store. Let them do it.

Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

I hope you don't need much memory. SSDs are quite expensive. The 250mb are affordable but to get 1tb, you could buy a whole PC with 1tb of memory. The price is coming down but the larger drives still cost a lot in comparison to standard drives.

Alfresco

Jerry, Didn't you say at one point you live an hour away from an Apple Store. I had a similar problem with my 27" iMac and was "certain" it was the hard drive. I made an appointment with the Genius Bar at my Apple Store an hour away and found out I was wrong. It wasn't the hard drive, it was a software issue which the Genius Bar addressed, at no cost. If, in fact, it is the hard drive, Apple will tell you all the options available to you both by Apple or for you to do yourself. It's worth a drive, believe me, they are very knowledgeable, friendly and helpful, just saying.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Jerry, here's a pretty good web site regarding fixing quite a few things, macs included. https://www.ifixit.com/

They also recommend the tools, which you can purchase from them if needed.
--Bob