Macbook Pro problems, now need help destroying it :D

[johnboblaw]

Hi

I replaced my 2 year old Macbook Pro after it starting to go downhill. It seems that my Macbook Pro's never last more then 2 years without suddenly sucumming to a number serious issues in a relatively short period of time. Problems with this one included;
-Red squares slowly creepy across the screen until they overtook everything. Usually took about 3-4 minutes before I had to restart and it F'ed up again.
-Disk drive just jammed one day and won't spit out my CD anymore or read it. I have tried every fix I could find without any luck.
-one of the USB ports stopped working
-Harddrive made a horrible noise.

The computer was used for pretty basic photography adjustment and storage along with standard music, video and some gaming.


Anyways. I have moved on as I couldn't fix any problems without shelling out some cash so I replaced it. Now I need to dispose of the computer but want to erase the hard-drive completely before doing so as it might contain some sensitive information.

I was planning on reformatting the hard-drive by using the restore CD but as my disk drive doesn't work I can't do that.

Any other options?

Cheers!
Tom

 

[nikiski]

To erase the harddrive without using the built-in optical drive... you may:

1) Use an external optical drive, or
2) Boot the MacBook Pro in Target Disk Mode (hold down "T" during boot) and use your new computer to securely erase it with Disk Utility (treat it as an external drive).

Hope it helps.

 

[Demosthenes X]

If you're notebook is only lasting two years, and this has become a trend, then maybe you should think about buying AppleCare...

 

[eawmp1]

If you're notebook is only lasting two years, and this has become a trend, then maybe you should think about buying AppleCare...

1) Agree with target disk erase
2) This poster ^^^ is someone to whom you should SERIOUSLY listen.

 

[johnboblaw]

Thanks for the advice. I'll link up the two and take care of it that way, not sure why I didn't remember that I could do that.

Is it "normal" for laptops to start crapping the bed 2 years into their existence? Any guidelines I could follow to prolong the life of my computer besides Applecare? I consider myself a reasonable competent user who doesn't dick around with sketchy software or downloads, keeps my computer well organized, but do use my computer a lot and push it pretty hard.

I ask as I am currently on my 4th Macbook Pro.

Cheers,
Tom

1) Agree with target disk erase
2) This poster ^^^ is someone to whom you should SERIOUSLY listen.

 

[Queen of Spades]

Thanks for the advice. I'll link up the two and take care of it that way, not sure why I didn't remember that I could do that.

Is it "normal" for laptops to start crapping the bed 2 years into their existence? Any guidelines I could follow to prolong the life of my computer besides Applecare? I consider myself a reasonable competent user who doesn't dick around with sketchy software or downloads, keeps my computer well organized, but do use my computer a lot and push it pretty hard.

I ask as I am currently on my 4th Macbook Pro.

Cheers,
Tom

Is there a reason you won't buy Apple Care? It doesn't make a lot of sense for you not to get it, since you've been replacing the computers entirely. Even Apple Care at full retail ($349) is much, much cheaper than buying a new MacBook Pro every two years.

 

[johnboblaw]

Is there a reason you won't buy Apple Care? It doesn't make a lot of sense for you not to get it, since you've been replacing the computers entirely. Even Apple Care at full retail ($349) is much, much cheaper than buying a new MacBook Pro every two years.

Reason why I haven't purchased apple care before is that I am a little paranoid about data security and didn't want to hand my computer off for extended periods of time. I have also had bad experiences with spending good money on extended warranties in the past that ended up being a waste of time. By the response I will assume that apple care is a cut above the rest.

BTW anyone notice that PC world is advertising Dell and Vista on the banner above? Seems like a pretty badly placed advertisement.

 

[alphaod]

Thanks for the advice. I'll link up the two and take care of it that way, not sure why I didn't remember that I could do that.

Is it "normal" for laptops to start crapping the bed 2 years into their existence? Any guidelines I could follow to prolong the life of my computer besides Applecare? I consider myself a reasonable competent user who doesn't dick around with sketchy software or downloads, keeps my computer well organized, but do use my computer a lot and push it pretty hard.

I ask as I am currently on my 4th Macbook Pro.

Cheers,
Tom

I don't know but my machines are starting to crap about about 6 months in which is quite unfortunate. It be the ill results of Apple's new success, but this is no way to build things.

 

[airplaneman]

Reason why I haven't purchased apple care before is that I am a little paranoid about data security and didn't want to hand my computer off for extended periods of time. I have also had bad experiences with spending good money on extended warranties in the past that ended up being a waste of time. By the response I will assume that apple care is a cut above the rest.

BTW anyone notice that PC world is advertising Dell and Vista on the banner above? Seems like a pretty badly placed advertisement.

The ads are randomly placed by Google, so not everybody who views this post will see the badly out-of-place Dell&Vista ad.

Oh, and if you push your computer pretty hard, try keeping it cool, like with SMC Fan Control. It'll last just a bit longer .

As for your information, you can password encrypt it so if an Apple employee wants to snoop, it can't (although this is highly unlikely). Goto:
System Preferences-->Personal-->Security-->FireVault (Middle Tab). (I'm sure you're using Leopard, right?) Just don't forget your password!

Hope this helps. Better luck with your next Macs!

 

[moral-hazard]

-Red squares slowly creepy across the screen until they overtook everything.

Cheers!
Tom

The pre-unibody MacBook Pro's are known to have issues with the NVidia graphics chips. Since apple (in all of their wisdom) solders all of their components to the motherboard ("logic board"), this caused serious issues for alot of MBP users.

BUT, they agreed to fix alot of them out of warranty (this has been the case for several friends), since it was NVidia's fault and a known hardware problem. I would see if you can get apple to replace the logic board. The CD drive is not a big deal - most people dont use em anyway (at least i dont). This will also fix your USB port issue.

 

[Schtumple]

The pre-unibody MacBook Pro's are known to have issues with the NVidia graphics chips. Since apple (in all of their wisdom) solders all of their components to the motherboard ("logic board"), this caused serious issues for alot of MBP users.

BUT, they agreed to fix alot of them out of warranty (this has been the case for several friends), since it was NVidia's fault and a known hardware problem. I would see if you can get apple to replace the logic board. The CD drive is not a big deal - most people dont use em anyway (at least i dont). This will also fix your USB port issue.

Boom, solve several problems in one...

 

[MrPeanut]

If you're notebook is only lasting two years, and this has become a trend, then maybe you should think about buying AppleCare...

Yeah, i just hope you're really hopeless at looking after stuff and mine doesnt do what yours has done. I have a wrist protector and trackpad protector, speck case, sleeve and soon to be a screen protector so if mine starts doing that i'll be pissed.

 

[moral-hazard]

Yeah, i just hope you're really hopeless at looking after stuff and mine doesnt do what yours has done. I have a wrist protector and trackpad protector, speck case, sleeve and soon to be a screen protector so if mine starts doing that i'll be pissed.

And i thought people who put 3M tape on their porsche's were overprotective...It's a computer. It's a tool meant to do work...