How do I detect a hard drive failure on MacBook Pro

My laptop boots up, the meter proceeds across the screen, after 3 minutes the device shuts off.  Is this a hard drive failure?

Could be. Try:
Boot from the Recovery HD;
Boot from your Snow Leopard DVD if the computer did not come with Lion pre-installed.
Boot Using Command+R keys:
  1. Restart the computer.
  2. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the
      "COMMAND" and the "R" keys together.
  3. Release the keys when the Utilities Menu appears.
Booting From An OS X Installer Disc
1. Insert OS X Installer Disc into the optical drive.
  2. Restart the computer.
  3. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the "C" key.
  4. Release the key when the spinning gear below the dark gray Apple
      logo appears.
  5. Wait for installer to finish loading.
Once booted from one of the above you need to run Disk Utility. If the hard drive does not appear in the Disk Utility sidebar then the drive is dead.

Similar Messages

  • How do I split my hard drive on my macbook pro to add windows7 proffessional

    Where do I find info on how to split/partition my hard drive on my macbook pro so I can add windows7 pro. ?
    my wife is taking an intro to computers course and needs to be able to access windows programs.

    Hi,
    the BootCamp support site http://www.apple.com/support/bootcamp/ and the BootCamp Installation Guide to be found there.
    Read the Guide carefully and make sure to have/make a backup of your OSX before starting.
    Regards
    Stefan

  • How do i transfer external hard drive content to macbook pro?

    How do i transfer external hard drive content back to my macbook pro?
    I do not see the hard drive icon or a back up icon, where should it be?

    What kind of drive is it - a large drive with a power cord, or a portable drive? Can you tell if the drive itself is actually on? (Is there a light, or a power switch, etc, can you hear it?)
    How is it attached to the Mac?
    On your Mac, click on the desktop, then go to the Finder menu (top left), click Preferences, then under the General tab, make sure that everything is ticked.
    If that works, you should then get the external HD icon appearing on your desktop.
    Hope that helps.
    Matt

  • Multiple Hard Drive Failures on Macbook Pro 15inch (late 2008)

    So I just lost my THIRD hard drive since July on my refurbished Macbook Pro. I was told when the first one failed it was just bad luck. That hard drives fail once in a while. Then in December when the 2nd one died I was told there was no way there was a connection but they would run test on the macbook Pro. Both times I told the genius workers that my Macbook pro runs very very hot at random times (not all the time and I have not had it happen at an Apple store) and that I have many friends with Macs and I have never had a friend macbook get as hot as mine but both times I was told that my macbook could not be getting too hot it would shut off if it got too hot. The 2nd time I was told all the test came back normal and it was just bad luck the 2nd hard drive failed. SO.....
    Anyways so yesterday my hard drive is failing again!!!! Third time! since July!!!
    So my question anyone else having this problem?
    I am sure that there is a problem with the macbook pro that is leading these failures-- but I cannot get an apple genius to believe me. I personally think it is time for Apple to replace my macbook pro if they cannot fully determine the underlying problem. Anyone have these issues?
    I am headed to an apple store tomorrow but it is a 2.5 hour drive (one way) for me and this gets really really old each time I lose a hard drive!!

    A drive can be so badly corrupted that it doesn't work, but be resurrected through repartitioning and reformatting etc, TravisPaul.
    On some occasions, too, I can imagine an over-pressured service department deciding to simply replace a drive rather than go to the trouble of thoroughly troubleshooting it and "not being able" to recover data from it for much the same reasons! It takes less time, though there is no evidence that this is what has happened here, of course, and I wouldn't expect it to occur in an Apple Retail Store.
    The symptoms you report could just as readily involve corruption as failure. Doesn't sound like lack of free space was an issue. Did you attempt any repair processes yourself before taking them in (repairing the disk with Disk Utility or a Safe Boot, checking SMART status, reformatting the drives and re-installing your OS etc?) If three drives have really failed there is either another , undiagnosed, problem or you have been extremely unlucky, but probability being what it is, given the number of these computers in circulation, I guess it must happen every once in a while. Heck, a person I know lost their house in the Australian bushfires last year and then got caught up in the Peruvian mudslides while on a holiday trying to forget about the house! Even lightning really does strike more than once in the same spot occasionally.
    Cheers
    Rod

  • How can I reformat my hard drive on my MacBook Pro if I can't see the screen?

    The graphics card connected to the logic board on my old MacBook Pro is broken. Due to this the screen does not come on. I intend to sell my MacBook for parts. Before doing this I need to wipe the Hard Drive. How can I do this without seeing the screen?

    Thanks OGELTHORPE,
    Unfortunately I would not know where to start disconnecting and fitting Hard Drives!
    I did however manage to mount the old machine to my new MacBook. Then used the disk utility to earse the contents of the old drive.
    Cheers
    Connor_

  • Hi, how do I erase my hard drive on a macbook pro?

    Hi - can anyone help|? I am trying to erase my hard drive and I have been told to go in to Disk Utility and click Erase, then Erase again but the second "Erase" is greyed out. Any ideas how to ungrey the second "erase" button.
    Thanks

    cfirebrace wrote:
    Thank you for being so helpful. Do I just hold down Alt? It does nothing!!
    When starting or restarting the computer, At Boot or ReBoot. And in the Mac World it is really the Option key, Alt is used for PC users that make the switch to Mac.

  • How do I replace the hard drive in my Macbook Pro

    Okay...
    I need more space on my computer, so I want to replace the hard drive. I have no OSX install disk, but my computer is running Lion from the app store download. Can I just back up my data onto my new hard drive, and literally just swap them out? Also, how should I back up my drive? should I use a hard drive enclosure with my future drive, and just use time machine or something? Would time machine back up everything? Would the drive become bootable? Please help!

    The best way to do this is buy your new drive.  Get the largest you can buy, and don't buy anything from Western Digital, just a recommendation.  The Samsung 1TB is pretty sweet.  Put that drive in a external encloser (they're inexpensive).  Using CarbonCopyCloner, clone your internal drive to your external one.  This is the cleanest way to do it.
    Then, boot to the cloned drive, just to make sure it works.  It's just a test.  Shut down.  Replace drive (you can find the instructions for your MacBook Pro, by searching the support section of this website, the manual is there).
    Start up with new drive.  Make sure everything is fine.  Use old drive in external enclosure as either a data drive or scratch drive for Photoshop or whatever you do.
    I would set up Time Machine going forward with your new drive.  You need a drive at least as large, and probably 50% larger than your internal drive. 

  • Reformat the hard drive on my macBook Pro 10.5.8

    how do i reformat the hard drive on my macBook Pro 10.5.8 - dvd player doesn't work - otherwise what is the best way to delete stuff off the hd - thanks a million.  I want to keep the os on it.

    Get your PRAM battery replaced.  It may fix your optical drive in the process, if it is over 4 years old.
    Read my FAQ*:
    http://www.macmaps.com/diskfull.html

  • The hard drive on my Macbook Pro is getting full (mainly due to the size of my iTunes library). Can I store it on my time capsule and if so, how is it done ?

    The hard drive on my Macbook Pro is getting full (mainly due to the size of my iTunes library). Can I store it on my time capsule and if so, how is it done ?

    You can store your iTunes library on a Time Capsule.  So that you can access on your local (home) network (I wouldn't recommend access via the internat), (off site.....to slow).  
    If you do decide to put your libray on Time Capsule I'd recommend doing this.
    Option 1:
    1.  Don't use TC as a Backup (Time Machine).
    2.  Connect a USB drive to your TC or Computer and backup to the  drive. Backup when a change is made to the library (adding Apps, Songs you get the idea). 
    Option 2:  (What Im doing)
    1.   Two Time Capsule's connected via ethernet cable (roaming mode, bridge).
    2.   Use TC1 as a Time Machine backup
    3.   Use TC2 as network drive.  (The information on TC2 does NOT get backed up to TC1).
    3a. Connect a USB, FW, drive to your desktop computer (if you have one) use SilverKeeper to schedule backups.       Silverkeeper will look at TC2 and back it up to a external or internal HD.  I've been doing the or some time now.  Or connect to your TC and do an archive.
    I have this setup because I don't trust Cloud base services and I want access to my files (in Sync) on TC where ever I am, as long as there's a internet connection.  It's expensive, but does exactly what I expect.
    The most important thing is to safe guard your data in case of a failure.
    In your situation it would probably be better to get a high speed SD or thumb drive, however I've never been successful in backing up those type of drives with TM.  What ever you decide to do make sure you have a GOOD duplicate (backup).

  • HT204370 I have changed my internal hard drive on my macbook pro. I have put old hard drive into a capsule and have this plugged into my laptop. I can't find the movies on my old hard drive now? Any idea how I can move them to iTunes again? cloud taking H

    I have just changed my internal Hard drive on my MacBook pro. I had recently downloaded some movies on iTunes which I want to put into my iTunes library on my new internal hard drive. I have put my old internal hard drive into an external capsule but when I open the icon of the hard drive from the desktop I can't find my movies.
    At the moment I have the new movies downloading again from the cloud but it is literally taking hours for even one movie to load.
    When I changed the internal hard drive I restored my info from my old external hard drive which hadn't been backed up in a month and hence does not have my latest movies...
    I am concerned that I might go over my internet usage limit (flatmate is refusing to change to unlimited package!!!!) by downloading all the movies again from the cloud never mind how long it is taking...
    Is there any way to restore all my info and media from the old internal Hard drive in the capsule as well as from the external hard drive?

    It means there is no bootable system on the drive. If you still have access to the old drive, then I suggest you boot from it then clone it to the new internal drive. Use OPTION boot to boot from the Recovery HD on the old drive:
    Boot to the Recovery HD:
    Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
         1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu then press the Continue
             button.
         2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.
         3. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
         4. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it
             to the Destination entry field.
         5. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to
             the Source entry field.
         6. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
    Source means the external old drive. Destination means the new internal drive.

  • How can I move my project from external hard drive to my macbook pro?

    How can I move my project from external hard drive to my macbook pro? every time I try to do some editing, the sequence is very slow, thanks in advance

    Try here...
    Setting-up a new Mac from an old one, its backups, or a PC

  • My hard drive on my MacBook Pro stopped working and I had to replace the hard drive.  I cannot get my playlists and photos to appear in my iTunes and iPhoto.  Does anyone know how to resolve this?

    My hard drive on my MacBook Pro stopped working and I had to replace the hard drive.  I cannot get my playlists and photos to appear in my iTunes and iPhoto.  Does anyone know how to resolve this?

    Peace Lilly wrote:
    ...  Will I loose everything if I connect the iphone to the itunes as a new device?
    To avoid that...
    See these 2 Links...
    Syncing to a New Computer...
    https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3141
    Recovering your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device
    https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3991

  • Is it possible to change the hard drive in a macbook pro, if so where from? and how?

    is it possible to change the hard drive in a macbook pro, if so where from? and how?

    secondrow wrote:
    whats a green drive? thnks
    Green is a marketing term for a drive designed for lower power use, lower noise, and lower heat. The side effect is that it's not as fast. Black drives are designed for highest performance, so they might use more power and run hotter and noisier. I upgraded my Apple Time Capsule with a green drive, but I put a black drive in my Mac Pro.
    Kappy wrote:
    7200 RPM drives are faster than 5400 RPM drives.
    As in cars, RPM is not the sole determinant of performance. In some cases, a newer drive at a lower RPM is faster than an older drive at a higher RPM, when the newer drive uses better technology. I have heard that some of today's high-capacity 5400RPM drives are faster than 7200RPM drives of lower capacity simply because the very high density of a 1TB drive means more data passes under the head even at a lower RPM. Certainly there have been times in Apple's past when new lower RPM drives were faster than higher RPM drives of the previous generation, a notable example being when 4200RPM perpendicular recording drives were introduced and beat 5400RPM drives.
    Yes, generally RPM can be used to compare, but it is important to realize it isn't always true.

  • How much should it cost to replace a hard drive on a MacBook Pro.

    How much should it cost to replace a hard drive on a MacBook Pro?  I think the drive that failed was 500gb.

    This is an international community.  Prices vary from country, state, city, etc. 
    You should call the repair shop of your choice and ask for an estimate.  Make sure the estimate includes taxes, labor costs, etc.

  • How do I a setup an external hard drive on my Macbook Pro?

    How do I a setup an external hard drive on my Macbook Pro to my primary hard drive for my iTunes library?
    I ask this because every time I try to do this it my Mac book pro always wants to use the external hard drive I plug in as a time machine back up rather than my primary hard drive. I figured it would be cheaper and more efficient to use an external hard drive rather than have apple charge me an arm and a leg to replace and upgrade my current hard drive in my Mac book pro.

    I responded to this in your duplicate posting at: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2690347
    I recommend giving a first post a chance before posting a second time, especially since it may result in a lot of duplication in effort from the people volunteering their time here.

Maybe you are looking for

  • Date and time wrong

    My date and time has gone wrong on my iPod touch. It is showing 2513BE as the date and will not met me change it manually in settings and time and date. I have tried changing the time zones and this has not helped...any suggestions?

  • If i have "saved my tabs for later", how do i recover them during a later session?

    with several tabs open, i chose "save tabs for later". i then quit firefox, and did not "restore the previous session" when i opened it next. i have now opened firefox again, and would like to restore the tabs that i had previously saved. how do i do

  • Iphone 5 Mexico

    Hola, Quisiera saber si compro un iphone 5 en apple store de Chicago, desbloqueado, lo puedo traer a Mexico DF y ponerle chip de Telcel y funcione como telefono normal mexicano, o no me va a servir el aparato y tengo que comprar uno en Mexico solamen

  • Apple Windows Software page?

    I know it's heretical to ask this, but now that I'm running Parallels and setting up installations for Windows Switchers and such, is there a page on Apple's site dedicated to all of the Windows software they write? I've found individual pages for Qu

  • What can I do to find my original sercurity answer

    Can you help me track down my sercurity answer for my iTunes