Reformat?

[jchu1314]

I have a 13" MBP from mid 2009 and i had a kernal panic last month. I currently have problems saving files randomly giving me the error (-50)? Also, My MBP gives me that "rainbow disk of death" and forces me to restart the computer occasionally. Should I reformat my computer? Will that fasten my MBP?

 

[Makosuke]

Well, something is obviously quite wrong, and that description could well be a disk problem, but there are several things to try before resorting to reformatting the drive.

First, get the discs the computer came with, boot into the install disc, select "Disk Utility" from the menus, and do a "Repair" on your hard drive. With any luck, it will find and fix problems, and that might be the end of it.

If that doesn't find anything (or doesn't help) use those same discs to run Apple Hardware Test and see if it finds any hardware problems.

If that also comes up clean, at that point you might consider a reinstall of the OS to see if it clears up your issues.