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flashing question mark

dukebound85

dukebound85

macrumors Core
Original poster
Jul 17, 2005
19,218
4,342
5045 feet above sea level
so my macbook froze and when i restarted it, i got the flashing question mark

i then inserted the install disk to find that disk utility could not find the hard drive. i then resetted the pram and it didn't help.

i concluded that the hard drive is bad


soooo my question is i bought the hard drive from best buy about a year ago. it is a 250gig 5400rpm western digital scorpio. on the box, there is a sticker that says 3-year limited warranty

will i be able to simply take it back to best buy and have it replaced? or do i need to call western digital? or will i be stuck having to buy a new hard drive? i should also add i have lost the receipt over the past year. will that be a problem?

in either case, when i return the hard drive, how can i be sure my info is secure? is it an option to keep the bad hard drive if i can show best buy its bad?


i appreciate your input as this is an annoyance
 
honestly i think i would be more concerned with getting my info off of it, do you have it backed up?? i would be freaking out right now
 
I'd call WD and have them do it. Usually the stickers are for the manufacturer's warranty. I believe the store's return policy is 90 days.

Have you tried pulling the drive out and reinserting it?
 
I guess it couldn't hurt going to Best Buy and seeing if they will honor it. I think you might have a problem because you don't have the original receipt, but Best Buy should be able to look up your purchase if you used a Best Buy Reward Zone card.
 
yeah would have thought it would be the store you brought it from.
Though without proof or purchase could be difficult.
 
well i took the hard drive out of my mb and plugged it into my desktop and the desktop wouldnt recognize it either

however, the hard drive turns on and is spinning but isnt making any loud noises like other hard drives i have had crash on me. seems like its fine mechanically but just isnt being recognized

any ideas?
 
dukebound85 said:
would the fact i forced shut down since it was frozen up be the reason it cant see the drive?

if so, any ideas on how to fix that?
Click to expand...

Nah, Disk Utility should still see it when booted from the install discs. Forcing a shutdown may hose up a filesystem, but it won't brick a drive.
 
dukebound85 said:
would the fact i forced shut down since it was frozen up be the reason it cant see the drive?

if so, any ideas on how to fix that?
Click to expand...

put the drive in the freezer for 15 minutes and give it another go; you may be able to grab data off of it. Talk to WD to get your drive replaced.
 
dukebound85 said:
ok so i have to send my drive to WD. what is the best way to "secure" the drive? i ask as i cant wipe it as i cant detect it
Click to expand...

Burning it? But seriously, you can't do much, the reading head must be broken or something. WD will more likely just dump it, since repairing a Hard drive is really expensive.
 
dukebound85 said:
ok so i have to send my drive to WD. what is the best way to "secure" the drive? i ask as i cant wipe it as i cant detect it
Click to expand...

If you have a degaussing tool, that's the best option since you cannot see it.
 
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