Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
My hard drive failed after one year
- Thread starter bette
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Go to to iFixit, they have good guides on replacing a HDD.
If you give me the model I will look it up for you and post the link here.
With patience you can easily fix it yourself.
Cheez, that's an easy one, just a few steps, WOW, you will see.
MacBook Unibody Model A1278 Hard Drive Replacement
Not really, as the A1278 moniker is used for all Unibody 13" Aluminium MacBooks and MacBook Pros since 2008, and if the machine is one year old, that door will not be there anymore, since it is gone since 2009.
Maybe the OP can take a look here:
MacBook, MacBook Pro: Replacing the Hard Disk Drive, transferring data to the new HDD
the guide includes:
the guide includes:
- 0. Identify your MacBook or MacBook Pro
- 1. Getting a new HDD
- 2. Guides to replace the internal HDD with a newer one
- 3. Transferring data from the old HDD to the new HDD
- 4. Using the optical disk drive (ODD) slot for placing an SSD or HDD inside the MB/P (OPTIBAY)
Or here if the above guide is too complicated to navigate.
----------
The blinking folder is because the Mac cannot read the OS anymore, thus is not able to boot.
You could try these steps:
Have you tried to start up in Safe Mode, hold the Shift key upon startup?
Sadly that's true, I should have checked MacTracker first.
Last edited:
You're sure that it doesn't need the OS reinstalled? Also, Apple has been known to repair a machine if it's just past it's warranty period. It just might be worth your time to ask.
I had called Apple and they told me to follow the above procedures before concluding it was the hard drive which had failed and not the OS.
Yes, mine does not have the door. I purchased it in June '11. I believe this is my model:
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Install...body+Early+2011+Hard+Drive+Replacement/5119/1
Holding shift still brings up the blinking folder.
Yes, mine does not have the door. I purchased it in June '11. I believe this is my model:
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Install...body+Early+2011+Hard+Drive+Replacement/5119/1
Holding shift still brings up the blinking folder.
Yes, every 13" MacBook Pro since 2009 can be modified via those guides, as the layout and procedure is still the same.
What about the rest of the steps? Can you boot into the recovery partition via CMD+R?
All that comes up is a rotating globe with Internet Recovery and a bar stating for me to choose a network. Nothing else.
I chose my usual network and am now waiting for the grey bar to move to complete.
I was worried that I would be forced to take the computer to apple. In regards to OS, it didn't come with any installation disks when I purchased it (I read they put them in the laptop system now), and thus, I didn't know if for some reason Apple made it impossible for consumers to fix these newer versions themselves whether it be the OS or the hard drive.
I was worried that I would be forced to take the computer to apple. In regards to OS, it didn't come with any installation disks when I purchased it (I read they put them in the laptop system now), and thus, I didn't know if for some reason Apple made it impossible for consumers to fix these newer versions themselves whether it be the OS or the hard drive.
No Mac coming with Mac OS X 10.7 Lion or OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion has physical restore media included.
OS X: About OS X Recovery
If you want to make a bootable installation medium, you can follow these steps:
• Lion DiskMaker
• Create bootable installation medium for Mac OS X 10.7 Lion
• Create bootable installation medium for OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion
• Create bootable installation medium for Mac OS X 10.7 Lion
• Create bootable installation medium for OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion
Last edited:
Click on the first link in the post above yours to get an explanation from Apple.
The language selection is for you to decide which language you want to choose during the troubleshooting. It is a normal screen and you choose or select a language you are comfortable with.
I had called Apple and they told me to follow the above procedures before concluding it was the hard drive which had failed and not the OS.
Yes, mine does not have the door. I purchased it in June '11. I believe this is my model:
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Install...body+Early+2011+Hard+Drive+Replacement/5119/1
Holding shift still brings up the blinking folder.
Sorry about the other link I gave you before, should have checked mactracker before.
You did find the right page so it seems, but hopefully you won't need it if you get it recovered over the internet.
You should have started to ask that first, it's not always Hardware.
Good luck
What I got from the link simsaladimbamba is that it's going to Reinstall Mac OS X.
My screen says:
"Mac OS X Utilities:
- Restore from Time Machine (I didn't use this - I just save certain files to external every month or so)
- Reinstall Mac OS X
- Get Help Online
- Disk Utility"
Should I attempt Disk Utility? I say this because I really do want stuff off my old hard drive if I can try to get it.
How can I get to this screen if my hard drive had failed, or would I still need a new hard drive? I don't understand what happened to my laptop/what caused this.
By the way, thanks so much for your help so far.
My screen says:
"Mac OS X Utilities:
- Restore from Time Machine (I didn't use this - I just save certain files to external every month or so)
- Reinstall Mac OS X
- Get Help Online
- Disk Utility"
Should I attempt Disk Utility? I say this because I really do want stuff off my old hard drive if I can try to get it.
How can I get to this screen if my hard drive had failed, or would I still need a new hard drive? I don't understand what happened to my laptop/what caused this.
By the way, thanks so much for your help so far.
Last edited:
Yes try to repair the disk first, it might just help, you can repair it and repair permission, if that won't work you need to reinstall, or, if you really want to get your stuff back is to install a fresh copy of OS X on a USB drive, boot from it and recover the files you need first.
When I go into Disk Utility the only drive to choose from on the left bar is "Mac OS X Base System" with capacity 1.39GB, available 224 MB and 1.17GB used space. I remember my computer had ~188 GB before this happened.
Under "First Aid" tab it won't let me choose buttons to "Verify disk," "Verify disk Permissions," "Repair Disk Permissions," or "Repair Disk." They're, you know, grey.
The other tabs other than First Aid are "Erase" and "Restore."
- - So my hard drive is gone?
Last edited:
When I go into Disk Utility the only drive to choose from on the left bar is "Mac OS X Base System" with capacity 1.39GB, available 224 MB and 1.17GB used space. I remember my computer had ~188 GB before this happened.
Under "First Aid" tab it won't let me choose buttons to "Verify disk," "Verify disk Permissions," "Repair Disk Permissions," or "Repair Disk." They're, you know, grey.
The other tabs other than First Aid are "Erase" and "Restore."
- - So my hard drive is gone?
Update: So, I guess I'll need to install fresh OS X. Can you help me do this? How much space on external will I need?
Also, possibly malware caused this?
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-57410604-263/how-to-reinstall-os-x-after-malware-infection/
About a minute before "it happened" things started acting slowly, I got the balloon of death and my laptop was not responding so I turned it off. When I turned it back on, I was greeted by the blinking folder.
If it doesn't show up in disk Utility it is most probably dead.
You could still install a fresh copy on an external, even a 8 GB USB would be enough but if I am honest I think it (the Data) is lost.
It is very simple though to install, just insert a USB and select the USB when you get to the screen to install OS X.
Also, possibly malware caused this? NO
You got to the point where you were able to choose in between 4 options, select Install from there and choose USB.
After it's installed start up from it, then see if the internal disk shows up on the desktop, if not try Disk Utility once again, see if it shows up on the left, if not your ran out of luck, sadly.
My drive shows up in Disk Utility, but just to make sure, I can install it using Disk Utility right?
----------
Ok, another stupid question. Do I choose the first title or the one tabbed in underneath it? I just don't want to mess this up.
Huh, just before this you said it did not show up when you tried to repair it.↓
Does it or doesn't show up, if it shows up that's something, last week I had a problem and the disk showed up in Disk Utility but could not repair it, I then used DiskWarrior to repair it and it did.