Replacing the iMac's hard drive

iMac disassembly photos and more photos specific to the hard drive replacement, the text explanation was also very helpful. Getting to the hard drive is not too difficult. I did not apply fresh rubber cement on the hard drive temperature sensor, hopefully it will hold with the amount of stickiness that was left.

The most difficult part is the screws on the display. The top 2 screws are too recessed and must be put back in with a magnetized Torx-8. I took my iMac down the street to a local place and they reconnected the display for $10. Another thing I noticed is that the top of the case does not fit as snug as it used to be. The bottom is held-on with screws, but the top is only connected with flimsy metal clamps, which I probably bent a little.

I replaced the included Maxtor 250GB drive with a WD 1TB high-performance drive. Overall, the replacement process was not too difficult and the 3-year-old system is performing better than before. Contrary to the reports linked-to above, only a Torx-8 screwdriver was needed.