Question Mark Folder Of Death ? MBA 2012

Yesterday was a sad day, my MBA 2012 received the Question Mark Folder Of Death (QMOD)

Computer Stats:
Model: MBA Mid 2012
Purchased: July 2012
SSD: 128 GB Toshiba
OSX: Mountain Lion 10.8.4
Ram: 8GB


The story:

About a week ago my MBA could not function because of the "finder quit unexpectedly" problem. Every time I would close this message, the same message would reappear over, and over again.

I went to go visit the Genius Bar and no hardware problems were found after the diagnostics test. The Genius and I concluded that it is likely a software problem, and that a simple re-install would fix the issue...or so we thought.

After the re-install my MBA was able to function again, and I was able to perform a complete Time Machine backup. Just days later, my computer began to crash during simple tasks, like browsing the web or closing an application.

And then it appeared...the Question Mark Folder Of Death (QMOD). My MBA was no longer booting, so I tried to boot into recovery mode. After navigating to Disk Utility, I noticed that my Macintosh HD was not showing up.

I have made an appointment to the Genius Bar today to see if they can help, but I highly doubt it after reading similar stories here on MR.

Any advice would be appreciated. God help us all.

tey112 said:

Yep. Sounds like your SSD is dead. If you are under warranty, you should have some luck at the apple store.

Click to expand...

Unfortunately my warranty is up. I find it strange that this would happen to me so soon after my warranty ends, it's almost as though it was a time bomb.

tey112 said:

It most certainly is annoying - mine was 2 months out of warranty. How did you buy the computer? You might have some luck if you used a credit card that extends the warranty.

Click to expand...

I purchased it directly from Apple using my Amex, which should cover it. Thank the lord for Amex.

But in all honesty, data is the most important thing. Money can't buy data, but a lot of money can recover it.

hindmost said:

',,,almost as though it was a time bomb.'

Sorry guy...sounds like the SSD went kaput. The time bomb was perhaps intending to keep your computer beyond one year and not purchasing AppleCare at least a month before the one year warranty ending date.

Click to expand...

it's a conspiracy I tell ya

HarryWarden said:

Didn't you mention that you have a Time Machine backup? That should bring your data back, shouldn't it?

Click to expand...

Yeah I have a backup, what I meant was data is priceless, anyone can replace the hardware