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HD Failure?

dawgfan

dawgfan

macrumors 6502
Original poster
My MacBook went out today. Will not boot and I see a folder with a question mark inside.

Sounds like the HD failed. Any idea how much the Genius bar will charge to replace it?
 
dawgfan said:
My MacBook went out today. Will not boot and I see a folder with a question mark inside.

Sounds like the HD failed. Any idea how much the Genius bar will charge to replace it?
Click to expand...

I have no idea, but you can always call and ask them. You could also try a recovery and maintenance tool if you have access to an IBM PC.

I highly recommend Spinrite. Take the HDD out of your Mac and put it in the PC and run the DOS-based program Spinrite. It's a great HDD recovery and maintenance tool. It will detect and repair or mark bad sectors on any HDD.

Below is my MBP HDD in an old Dell PC with Spinrite running on it.

IMG_2003.JPG


IMG_2004.JPG
 
They will not estimate. Say technicians have to see it first. Unlike my pc laptops, I do not know how to remove a HD from this MacBook. Will have to Google it. Thanks for the advise and link.
 
dawgfan said:
They will not estimate. Say technicians have to see it first. Unlike my pc laptops, I do not know how to remove a HD from this MacBook. Will have to Google it. Thanks for the advise and link.
Click to expand...

If you want to open it up yourself, iFixit.com has fantastic step-by-step instructions, photos and videos for almost every model Mac available. Check them out too.
 
dawgfan said:
They will not estimate. Say technicians have to see it first. Unlike my pc laptops, I do not know how to remove a HD from this MacBook. Will have to Google it. Thanks for the advise and link.
Click to expand...

There are instructions on how to do hard drive replacement in the manual I'm pretty sure.

It is no different to a PC - remove case, unscrew drive, replace, screw back in...
 
Yes, I see how easy it is. I've been shopping for a SSD to upgrade.
 
Last edited:
dawgfan said:
My MacBook went out today. Will not boot and I see a folder with a question mark inside.

Sounds like the HD failed. Any idea how much the Genius bar will charge to replace it?
Click to expand...

You are probably right. Do you have your original install disks? If so, you could boot up from them, and let disk utility have a look: Does it even see your HD?

In any case, you are probably in for a new HDD, but remember that you'll need some system media to install your OS from.

RGDS,
 
In closure, I changed my mind about going SSD and bought a WD Scorpio Black 500 GB SATA 7200 RPM 16 MB Cache Bulk/OEM 2.5" Mobile Hard Drive (WD5000BPKT).

edit - reason is that most warranties are 2 or 3 yr and this one has 5.


PS - Can you tell me the size of the torx needed to remove install new hdd in carrier?
 
Last edited:
dawgfan said:
In closure, I changed my mind about going SSD and bought a WD Scorpio Black 500 GB SATA 7200 RPM 16 MB Cache Bulk/OEM 2.5" Mobile Hard Drive (WD5000BPKT).

edit - reason is that most warranties are 2 or 3 yr and this one has 5.


PS - Can you tell me the size of the torx needed to remove install new hdd in carrier?
Click to expand...

It's all on ifixit. I'm glad you decided to DIY, it's an incredibly easy fix. Also, I wouldn't worry about the warranties. SSDs are the type of product that will either fail early, or last forever. If it hasn't died within about a year, you can be pretty confident it will far, far outlast the computer you put it in.
 
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