Wi-Fi: No hardware installed

[BarkingGhost]

i had gotten wieless networking up and running and even got the Samsung wireless printer working. I then shutdown the new i7Mac do run an errand an when i started up again I had no wireless connectivity.

Using help, I somehow got the wireless indicator back on the Finder bar, but it is reporting No hardware found. Is the i7Mac already dying? Anyone have any suggestions? I already tried restarting twice and no chage.

 

[BarkingGhost]

Using the iPad, I went out to the Apple support website and learned of the Apple Hardware Test. Instruction says to restart the Mac ans press and hold the D. I didn't know what to expect, so when the login screen came around I repeated. After the second routine with nothing indicating anything, I logged in and the Wi-Fi was working.

Pretty buggy for a $2,200 computer.

 

[BarkingGhost]

So this morning the problem repeated itself. I restarted once while holding down the D key and that fixed it. I guess you cannot boot without D if you want to use wireless connectivity.

 

[r.j.s]

Take it to the Apple Store. That is unacceptable.

 

[BarkingGhost]

Apparently I am not the only one experiencing this issue. And if one Googles there are a bunch of threads.

----------

Before I do that, is there a way to do a Time Machine backup to an external drive, and if they replace the unit do a restore to any replacement unit? I have a 3TB USB external drive (Western Digital My Book Essentials) not opened yet.

And if I do a Time Machine backup, how can I reset this unit to factory defaults to keep personal data out of other people's hands?