Multiple Hard Drive Failures

I purchased a MacBook Pro just before last Christmas and in late January or early February the hard drive failed and had to be replaced. I was told then that it was a fluke and not to worry about it that the chances of it happening again were very slim. Well, yesterday it happened once again.
That is now 2 hard drive failures within 4 months of each other, and within 6 months of being purchased new. This is simply unacceptable for a computer that costs nearly $3,000 with an extended warranty.
Until Macintosh figures out this problem, I would advise everyone to stay away from the MacBook Pro. From what I was told by the "Genius" at the Apple Store yesterday when I was having the hard drive replaced once again, "Apple knows about this problem". Well, they may know about it, but apparently they are not doing anything about it because the problem still exists.
I guess they assume its cheaper to just keep replacing hard drives every 2 or 3 months than to fix the problem and have a satisfied customer.
WARNING - Do not buy the MacBook Pro unless you do not mind spending several days reloading your software and files onto a new hard drive every 2 or 3 months.

Even with a backup, that does not reinstall all of the software onto the new hard drive, only the personal files and data. I have over $15,000 worth of software that I have to painstakingly reinstall each time this happens.
You are mistaken. If you've backed up by cloning the entire hard drive, everything on it is backed up and can simply be cloned onto a new hard drive. Nothing at all needs to be reinstalled from any other source. If you clone to a portable hard drive, you can take it with you on location. If your primary drive fails there, you'll be able to boot to your portable drive exactly as if it were the internal drive, and keep right on working without missing a beat. A 250GB Seagate FreeAgent To Go portable USB2 drive containing a clone of my MBP's internal drive goes everywhere I go, and is ready to step into the place of my internal drive in moments if ever it should go pear-shaped.
Believe me, I am not making this up, and there is no Catch-22. This is what cloning software is for, and it works beautifully. You may have good uses for other kinds of backups too, but a bootable clone of your primary internal hard drive would be invaluable to you as an additional protection against lost time and work in the field.
http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html
I've used both, and I prefer SuperDuper. It's simplicity itself to use, and costs under $30. Carbon Copy Cloner is free, offers more selective-copying options, and in the versions I've used, it presented more inscrutable messages that I didn't know how to interpret, leaving me wondering what had and hadn't happened. I'm told those rough edges have been polished off in recent versions, but I haven't tried them. SuperDuper works very, very well for me and never leaves me puzzled.

Similar Messages

Multiple Hard Drive Failures on my Macbook Pro - Entourage reminders?

Over the past 2 months I've had three hard drives fail on three different macbook pro computers.
I've retraced my steps, searched many forums, and spoken with multiple Mac Geniuses but still can't figure out what's happening. The IT guy at work is about to kill me and I really want to figure out what's going wrong so I can fix it (or change my current behaviors).
Computer #1 - Out of the box, 2-3 weeks old. I took the computer home to do some work over the weekend. I didn't turn the it off before transporting it, but I did wait for it to go to sleep completely (I've since read that it takes a few moments while things in RAM switch over to the Hard Drive to save incase of power failure). I worked on it a bit at home, mostly just internet searches and a few word documents. When I returned to work my computer was running slowly and suddenly all of the programs locked. Since I've had this problem before with my personal computer (a G4 Powerbook), I tried the force quit options to no avail so I just held down the power key to power off. When I rebooted I got the dreaded "no" symbol.
Computer 2: IT gave me a used macbook pro that they repurposed for me. I made sure to shut down before transporting this computer. A few days later, before I even got to transfer all of my files, the computer started running slowly, programs locked. I eventually got the computer to shut itself down (as IT didn't want me to do a forced reboot) but upon restarting I got an even more dreaded screen, the folder with a question mark in it.
Computer 3: It was a fairly new computer, though a bit more ram, and probably only a few months old (used by a freelancer). It worked great. I took it home several times, transfered all of my files. Set up everything perfectly. Three weeks in, after working at my desk for about 4 hours, everything began to slow down. I called IT immediately and remotely sent a force shut down message. Nothing happened for about 15 minutes so I left for a meeting. I came back a few hours later and my computer was off. When it restarted, nothing appeared. There wasn't a "no" symbol or folder with a question mark in it, just a blank screen.
I've read and thought about all of the options.
- Large Magnet somewhere - It would have affected my personal computer (if at home) or my colleagues (if at work) or everyone else in nyc (while on the subway)
- Too hot - Possible I suppose, but how does running iTunes, powerpoint, and entourage do this?
- Downloaded something/Virus - We don't have administrative privileges. I can only update some software and send/receive folders. Plus, can any single file cause this much damage?
- Moved before asleep - This might have happened on the first computer, but I doubt it could happen to three. I always shut it down now before transporting, and I was sitting at my desk for hours before I had any trouble last time.
The one common factor that I haven't mentioned.
We use Entourage as a mail client here.
Each time the computer froze, the first things to freeze were the Entourage calendar reminders. Entourage seems to run strangely with the airport, but not with our LAN. When my computer froze last time, I had the aiport on but was working off the LAN. Could Entourage cause this much trouble? Has anyone else had trouble with entourage calendar reminders or failing hard drives?
Oh, and it also always happens on a Monday. I've taken the computers home multiple times though, so I'm not sure if it's something I'm doing during the transport or not, but the computer is always off now when I move it. I also cary my personal computer with me often, same routes and bags, so I'm not sure why it's not affected.
Thanks

columbus new boy wrote:
How crap is that?
It's not crap at all.
It's not that simple. For example, I've 3500 songs on my MacBook but don't want them all on my phone, so I have to manually select each song again???
There has to be a solution.
Why not simply make a playlist with the songs you want on the iPhone?
and maintain a current backup of your computer.

Multiple Hard Drive Failures in 2 months on 2 MacBook Pros

I have a mid-2009 13" MacBook Pro with a 320GB hard drive. In early Feb. the hard drive failed suddenly and would no longer mount. My Apple Store replaced it and I restored from a Time Machine backup. A week later the hard drive failed again. It was again replaced, and they order a completely new machine. On the second restore I did not restore from Time Machine but rather moved the files I wanted, iTunes, iPhoto, documents, as to not bring along bad system files. The new computer came in and I set it up as a new machine and transferred files from the old Time Machine but did not do a full restore. I then erased Time Machine and ran a fresh backup. Two weeks later the hard drive on the new machine failed. It locked up so I powered down and upon restart got the file folder with a question mark and the hard drive was nowhere to be found. The Apple Store kindly replaced my hard drive for the third time, the second hard drive in a two week old computer. The asked me to not move any files from Time Machine for a couple of weeks.
I now have my fourth hard drive in 2 months and I do not want a fifth. In fact, the first computer may have failed three times. At this point I don't remember. The Geniuses at the Apple Store are stumped so I'd appreciate any input. What the heck is going on here?
My theories
1. Simple bad luck
2. A file in iTunes, iPhoto or an Office, iWork, pdf...... is causing the failures
3. Restoring Office from Time Machine is killing it.
4. I'm doing something to cause physical damage. I've never dropped it and I handle it fairly carefully and in the same way I've handled every other Mac laptop I've had in the past 10 years.
5. Moving the computer immediately after closing the lid to sleep. I've been told that the disk doesn't stop spinning until the sleep light pulses and moving it around too much too soon can cause damage. I've been doing this every laptop I've had and in the past much more aggressively as a grad student hurrying out of class rooms.
6. My most recent idea, not having the Put hard disk(s) to sleep when possible button checked in System Prefs. I unchecked it for better performance but maybe this is causing the hard drive to never lock when sleeping so when I move it around the heads bang on the disks.?
7. Something environmental. Using it on my lap? Setting it on the couch or ottoman while running? A power surge?
Please help. Thanks a lot.

Dunno about your hard drive issue.
However, everything you list in number seven are definite no-no's. All of them, except power surge, will cause heat related problems.
Have a nice day.
Boyd
Message was edited by: Boyd Porter

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

Likelyhood of being replaced on multiple hard drive failures.

My 17" Core duo macbook pro just ate its 2nd harddrive. I am outside of the apple warranty but luckily purchased apple care and they are taking care of everything. After 3 repairs does apple replace the entire unit? Or is there a set number of times that requires them to replace it.
And if they replace it do you have any options in what you get. Do you get an identical model or a newer core 2 duo model. I would be willing to pay a difference to get the core 2 duo 15" version if the option were given to me. Just curious how applecare handles these situations.
Thanks

You're right in that Apple should treat everything it sells with the same weight. However, given the information provided one could hardly conclude that there was a pattern of drive destruction. For all we know the drive failures could well have happened over 12 months apart and that would hardly suggest a serious issue with the MBP as a whole.
Yes there are guidelines for system replacement but ultimately the deciding factors are weighed on a case by case basis with no hard and fast rules. Sometimes replacements are done with lesser contributing factors although the individual circumstances deemed it prudent. There are also times when you simply have weird, unforseen, circumstances that given no alternative (I should know about this one as I had a 3 year old PowerBook G4 be replaced by my current MBP).
Also bear in mind that this is a 2nd drive replacement and not a 3rd.

Multiple hard drive failures on multiple mid-2012 13" macbook pros

I have a mid-2012 13" MacBook Pro (500GB hard drive), which is actually the third one I've owned in two years. The hard drive on my first laptop failed and was replaced at least five times (I lost count) before Apple agreed to just replace the machine after about a year and a half. Thinking that was the end of it, I was unpleasantly surprised when the second machine's hard drive failed after just a month. Luckily, Apple was willing to replace it right away since it had only been a month. Now it's been about four months since I've gotten my third laptop, and its hard drive has just failed.
At this point, it seems like the problem is something I'm doing, but I don't see how that's possible - I don't handle my laptop any differently than the average college student, and many of my friends who own MacBooks haven't had this issue. I don't have above average knowledge of computers, and Apple representatives haven't offered any solutions aside from just replacing the hard drive, so I know that that's exactly what they're going to do if I take it to the Genius Bar again. I know enough to see that the issue isn't the hard drive, and I'm so fed up now that I just want to get rid of this laptop altogether. Does anyone know of anything that could be causing the problem, and is there anything else I can do?

The range of reported problems using an external monitor or projector and the mid-2012 MBP is dizzying. The only way I've found to use an external monitor is to shutdown and plug the monitor in prior to rebooting. Any attempt to attach a monitor (or projector) after I'm up and running fails. All the trashing of plist files, resetting PRAM, etc etc. doesn't solve anything.
And turn off energy savings. If my MBP goes to sleep, it won't find the external monitor when waking. I have to reboot again.
Bush league problems. Our only encouragement is that it appears to be a software issue, since booting into Windows solves the problem. So we can hope for a fix. I'm pretty disgusted with Apple here. They've had a lot of time to fix this since 10.8 was released. I've been an exclusive Apple user since 1984. But as they've gotten fat and sassy, their quality control and responsive service has sunk. I can put up with their secretive, non responsive approach if things get fixed. But if they don't, they're headed for the ash heaps.

Macbook Pro 2011 extremely slow wondering if hard drive failure

Hello, I want to start off by saying I'm not a huge computer guru, so that is why I'm coming here first. My Macbook Pro worked very well for a year, and then it has slowed down drastically. I've always been a windows user so mac is kind of foreign to me, but I'm trying to learn.
Some problems I've encountered are 1. Extremely slow running whether internet related, or just an application. I have checked the activity monitor and nothing is hogging up my memory. 2. Spinning wait cursor (rainbow circle) when I try to do ANYTHING. It takes minutes to start computer once it makes it to home screen. The circle just spins for a few minutes. Even just web surfing it's there. 3. Battery drains from 100% to less than 20% in 30 minutes, which again is annoying. 4. When battery drains the fan turns on and seems to drain battery even faster. 5. I get a lot of random errors forcing shut down of programs. I have ignored this problem for two years by not using my laptop or using it very minimally, but I am going to be needing a laptop again for school and not just my iPad and phone so I was planning on taking my macbook to genius bar, but wanted to check here first since Apple is an hour away. Plus I want to be able to use the piece of equipment that I spent a decent chunk of change on. I used time machine to back up everything today. I know its not a space issue as I have 300+ free GB on hard drive. I have tried to read through similar posts, but its overwhelming so I came here to post my own question.
I ran disc utility and there were some errors, which were able to be corrected after a couple tries. Computer still slow though when trying to do anything and running rainbow circle.
In recovery mode I reinstalled OSX
I was finally able to install updates after completing the above that were not able to be installed before.
I ran etre check, this is the report that came up:
Problem description:
Extremely slow computer, possible hard drive failure
EtreCheck version: 2.0.11 (98)
Report generated November 3, 2014 9:25:29 PM EST
Hardware Information: ℹ️
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2011) (Verified)
MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro8,1
1 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 2-core
4 GB RAM
BANK 0/DIMM0
2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok
BANK 1/DIMM0
2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok
Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported
Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n
Video Information: ℹ️
Intel HD Graphics 3000 - VRAM: 384 MB
Color LCD 1280 x 800
System Software: ℹ️
Mac OS X 10.7.5 (11G63) - Uptime: 0:6:50
Disk Information: ℹ️
Hitachi HTS547550A9E384 disk0 : (500.11 GB)
S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified
disk0s1 (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB
Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 499.25 GB (357.49 GB free)
Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB
OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5970H
USB Information: ℹ️
Apple Inc. BRCM2070 Hub
Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad
Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)
Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver
Thunderbolt Information: ℹ️
Apple, Inc. MacBook Pro
Kernel Extensions: ℹ️
/System/Library/Extensions
[not loaded] com.Logitech.Unifying.HID Driver (1.2.0 - SDK 10.0) Support
/Users/[redacted]/Downloads/LCC Installer.app
[not loaded] com.Logitech.Control Center.HID Driver (3.5.1 - SDK 10.0) Support
Startup Items: ℹ️
HP IO: Path: /Library/StartupItems/HP IO
Startup items are obsolete and will not work in future versions of OS X
Problem System Launch Agents: ℹ️
[failed] com.apple.coreservices.appleid.authentication.plist
Launch Agents: ℹ️
[not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist Support
[loaded] com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager.plist Support
[running] com.Logitech.Control Center.Daemon.plist Support
[invalid?] com.luthresearch.savvyconnectmenu.plist Support
[loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist Support
Launch Daemons: ℹ️
[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist Support
[invalid?] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist Support
[invalid?] com.luthresearch.scservice.plist Support
[loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist Support
User Launch Agents: ℹ️
[loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist Support
[failed] com.apple.CSConfigDotMacCert-[...]@me.com-SharedServices.Agent.plist
[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist Support
User Login Items: ℹ️
iTunesHelper Application (/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)
Dropbox Application (/Applications/Dropbox.app)
SavvyConnect UNKNOWN (missing value)
Google Chrome Application (/Applications/Google Chrome.app)
HP Scheduler Application (/Library/Application Support/Hewlett-Packard/Software Update/HP Scheduler.app)
Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️
Silverlight: Version: 5.1.10411.0 - SDK 10.6 Support
FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 15.0.0.152 - SDK 10.6 Support
Flash Player: Version: 15.0.0.152 - SDK 10.6 Mismatch! Adobe recommends 15.0.0.189
QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.1
JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 7 Update 67 Check version
3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️
Flash Player Support
Growl Support
Java Support
Logitech Control Center Support
Time Machine: ℹ️
Time Machine not configured!
Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️
      11% Safari
      3% WindowServer
      0% fontd
      0% Google Chrome
      0% ps
Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️
245 MB WebProcess
206 MB System Preferences
168 MB Safari
99 MB mds
82 MB Google Chrome
Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️
1.37 GB Free RAM
1.57 GB Active RAM
318 MB Inactive RAM
1.03 GB Wired RAM
436 MB Page-ins
0 B Page-outs
Basically I'm wondering if anything sticks out in this report. I was thinking it could be a possible hard drive failure. I know my computer has been dropped on the floor at least a few times. Thoughts are appreciated. Thank you for your patience.

Eab, I feel your pain! I am replying simply to share my similar ongoing experience with my early 2011 17 inch MacBook Pro, running Mavericks with seeming ample hard drive space, [applications requiring less than 100GB, about 200GB data (total drive space of 500GB)] & 4GB RAM. (Disclaimer: I am not a wise or computer-savvy mac guru - simply a fellow traveler who has had a very similar set of problems - apps taking forever to load, rapid battery depletion & super overheated MacBook. While I am a Genius Bar groupie, getting to the Apple store is, for me, akin to an antarctic polar expedition (i.e. problematic). Having spent endless hours struggling with a similar issue, I offer you a synopsis of my struggle/experience.
STEPS TO DATE:
1.Installed several memory utility programs (Daisy Disk & MacCleanse) system
maintenance program to regularly and thoroughly empty application caches (Adobe apps & internet browsers being tremendous hogs), identify and remove language elements and other redundant space hogs, etc.   Result: Small, but real improvement when I forced myself to perform a "scan and delete" session every second major computer run (typically about 6-8 hours in length). However, this did nothing to help the problems regularly detected when I run the Disk Utility which almost invariably demonstrates disk permissions that need to be repaired and, with increasing frequency, has demonstrated actual disk errors that require restarting and walking through a disk repair protocol. I did bring it to the Genius Bar where they kindly reinstalled Mavericks which they could do in about an hour versus the several hours that doing this at home requires. This did identify that my RAM was, on fact, a limitation on the speed at which I could run certain apps.
2. My next move was to install an additional 4GB of RAM. I bought the new RAM on eBay for about $90 because, with 3 kids equipped with MacBooks & iPhones, I simply couldn't afford the official Apple RAM. I even installed it myself, with the help of a YouTube video. Result: Giant improvement in speed (starting up or switching apps. If I had realized how simple it turned out to be, I would have done it well over a year ago. Some minor improvement in the overheating problem, but persistent problems with disk permissions continually requiring repair and periodic disk repairs (using Disk Utility) required.
PLANNED FINAL INTERVENTION:
3. I am purchasing and installing a solid state drive (ssd) and simply chucking the original hard drive, after considerable discussion with my savvier mac friends. It has become clear to me that, sadly, every hard drive has a finite life affected by a variety of factors. I am, in fact, hard on my equipment - running multiple graphic apps simultaneously, transferring massive GBs of data between my laptop, time capsule and an array of hard drives. I will let you know how it goes, but can share that the decision to get a solid state drive followed many conversations with multiple Mac guru-types (in the hope of saving you similar painful tribulations). The cost varies according to the size of the drive, but $400-$500 would buy a reasonable starting size. I am waiting for Black Friday sales, myself. Amazon (where I will likely purchase the ssd) is already offering a number of pre-Black Friday deals. While I don't really feel like putting out that amount of cash, I reassure myself that a new drive will almost certainly solve the disk errors (with a solid state one offering more durability) & will help me prolong the life of my MacBook Pro by a couple of years hopefully. It beats buying a new Apple MacBook only three and a half years after investing close to $3k for this one!
I am certain that more experienced forum users could point you to software that could help defragment your drive or may be able to offer other solutions. I've simply had enough of struggling with burning thighs and head-banging behavior triggered by slow performance. I hope this is helpful to you in some small way. The war is not yet over, but I'm feeling good about the battle plan!

Satellite C855-1GQ - hard drive failure warning

Hi
suddenly my laptop has started showing me "hard drive failure warnings" and I honestly have no idea what to do about it please can someone help me.
Symptom: The PredictFailure flag is set on the disk
Cause: A logical disk has the SMART Predict Failure bit set.
Details: This disk is experiencing a problem and predicts that the drive will fail
Symptom: Pred Fail
Cause: A device has reported a "Not OK" status.
Details: The device, Disk drive, is reporting a bad status value. This device will not be available until the issue is resolved. The Plug and Play ID for this device is \\.\PHYSICALDRIVE0.

Hard drive failure can be cause of computer is bumped or jostled while it is running; the electric motor which allows the platter to spin fails due to bad bearings or other components; filter on your air intake gets too clogged or the filter isn't working properly.
Extreme heat while running causes the electronic circuit board to fail.
There is a sudden power failure while the disk is writing.
You can try the following solution:
Firstly, create a bootable CD/USB by Windows Boot Genius
Windows Boot Genius is a multiple windows repair tool which can be used to fix all computer errors, create bootable CD/USB, recover data lost and unlock windows password, etc.
We just need to insert a CD or USB flash drive and run the program, then click "burn".
Secondly, set the computer boot from CD/USB after enter into the BIOS menu.
Thirdly, start to fix Hard Drive Failure with the CD/USB created at the first step.
At this section, the wizard will tell us what we need to do according to our computer's issues.

Possible Hard Drive Failure on dv76175us

This Laptop has to be one of the worst pieces of technology i have ever used. The issue started last friday when i started up my laptop. The system would freeze up completely when trying to read data. I restarted to run some tests and Hp diagnostics start up test came up with the following failure id code: 9lhvwc 5rg6k7 mfh15f 6otp03. I ran a Hard drive test under the Bios, and it gave me error code 303. A web search indicated that 303 means the Hard drive is failing, but that was with a different notebook. Is this accurate with my dv76175us laptop running Windows 7 64 bit home premium? If so, what are some steps i can follow to recover my personal data (music, pictures, setup files, etc) & purchase recovery software and a new drive?
This question was solved.
View Solution.

Well if it still boots into Windows odds are very good. It is a dv7 which means there is a space for multiple hard drives. Heck it is not even impossible that a disk clone operation would still work. If you want to try the cut and paste I would remove the (now bad) drive from the hard drive bay, and put in the new one. Load Windows and drivers and then put the old drive in the secondary bay and try a cut and paste transfer from the old drive. You can also use Windows 7 Easy Transfer which would move over your browser settings, email (if you use Outlook) desktop image and a lot of other stuff that is hard to duplicate on a new computer. Boot the bad drive into Windows, use an external hard drive or network share and run Easy Transfer as the "old computer". It will make a big tarball of data that you can then import into your new system from the storage place you have chosen. It is pretty granular so you can choose just what to transfer. It works best if you set up the new installation to use the same User Name.

Chronic T400 Hard Drive Failures

Our company has been using Lenovo laptops for five years, depending primarily on the T61/T400/T410 family of laptops. We first purchased T400s in late 2008, and deployed almost 40 of them between 2008 and 2010.
Beginning this spring, we have had a string of catastophic hard drive failures on T400s purchased in 2009. In nearly all of these cases, we end up with a HDD Initialization Error (or similar) that render's the drive unrecoverable, particularly because we use PGP to encrypt the drives. With the PGP encryption, if we cannot access the boot sector of the drive and decrypt the disk, it is impossible to recover any data.
In the past three to five months, I believe that we have had almost ten T400 PCs experience a catastrophic disk failure.
The 2010 cohort of T400s have been more reliable, but perhaps that is because they are younger. I don't believe that any of our T61 machines experienced a disk failure before their 36 month refresh date.
I have heard from another company in our region that they have experienced similar problems with 2009 T400s. Has anyone else experienced this, and more importantly, diagnosed the root cause? Is it heat related, caused by manufacturing defects, or related perhaps to PGP? Although Lenovo is always prompt with disk replacements, the overhead associated with reimaging and risk of data loss is becomming a challenge for us to manage.

i think the OP is referring to multiple T400 as T400s, the T400s was not around in late 2008, it was released in the end of June 2009 if my memory serves me correctly.
Regards,
Jin Li
May this year, be the year of 'DO'!
I am a volunteer, and not a paid staff of Lenovo or Microsoft

Imminent hard drive failure message

can i return my laptop to the store for a replacement.. it is less than 5 months old and i am getting an imminent hard drive failure message. totally unacceptable

HP will replace the hard drive under warranty. Not too many stores will permit a return after 5 mos. We can also assist with a hard drive replacement.

Data Recovery After Hard Drive Failure!

Ok, basically, I've got a 2 1/2 year old iBook G4 with a bombed hard drive, and unfortunately, the last time I backed up was around 3 months ago. Here's what happened right before the crash: some applications like Widgets and Safari were acting fluky, and it wouldn't let me open Word documents, so I restarted, because I thought it might have something to do with the fact that i had downloaded the new version of itunes not that long ago and hadn't restarted since. well, when i restarted, the gray screen with the wheel and the apple symbol went on for a really long time, and then the blue screen came up with the cursor, but nothing else happened, and the blue screen just stayed there. as far as i know, the hard drive wasn't making any unusual noises, just the usual occasional soft sounds that my hard drive has always made (there are usual sounds, right?) a piece of information that might be useful is that the hard drive was almost full (it only had about 5 GB left, which i understand is how much you should leave) could this have caused the failure maybe? anyway, i tried using the hard drive as a target and tried getting another computer to recognize it and pull the files off, but that didn't work. so, i brought it into the apple store, and they got it to boot up but using some external hard drive, i think. they tried disk utility, but that didn't see my hard drive. then the tried disk warrior, and that saw it and repaired it or something, but then it couldn't get the drive to mount. so, i'm assuming that because disk warrior didn't work and couldn't get it to mount, then other software like data rescue, etc... won't either. like all computer users, i've got some REALLY REALLY important data on there, and all the data recovery places i've gotten quotes from are pretty pricey. if the drive doesn't require physical data recovery, only non-physical, as i hope, the cheapest is still $350. even so, the person on the phone there didn't seem to know nearly as much as the people at the more pricier places. so, are there any other options besides expensive data recovery? i read something about using dd - a unix thing, but i don't know the first thing about it (http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20050302225659382) so i'm not sure i want to risk messing it up even more. and, if worse comes to worst, then i'll use a data recovery place... but can anyone tell me if they've used any of the data recovery companies below, and which ones are good?
(first three do evaluation for free, and then you decide if you want to continue based on more accurate price idea)
MacintoshDataRecovery.com
$500 non physical
$1100-1600 physical
Heroic Efforts
http://www.heroicdata.com/data_recovery
$350 non physical
ships to another (very expensive) place if physical
ACS Data Recovery
http://www.acsdata.com/index.htm
$600-700 non physical
DriveSavers.com
(recommended by Apple, probably the best, but the most steep, too)
could cost anywhere from $500-$2700 and $200 evaluation fee even if data is unrecoverable
Since this is our fourth hard drive failure in four different iBooks in 2 1/2 years, i am starting to become seriously disillusioned about the quality of the hardware Apple uses...not that i would ever get a dell or anything, but still....
THANK YOU in advance for any tips you might be able to offer, and also for reading this extremely long post!
katie
iBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.3)
iBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.3)

I have read good reports concerning Data Rescue although I have not used it myself.
Once you get your data back, focus on a regular (even daily) backup routine, because as you know only so well, the question is not if a drive will fail, it's when.
My condolences, by the way.

Having hard drive failure every year

Trying to find out why the hard drives on our computer HP TouchSmart 310-1124F keeps failing. Purchased this computer new in 2011, in February of 2012 the hard drive failed, message was "Hard desk failure is imminent have it replaced" so I did. Now in 2013 I'm getting another message " we strongly recommend that you back up your computer to avoid potential data loss ... contact your computer manufacturer to determine if the disk with errors needs to be repaired or replaced." The computer is attached to a good battery backup, it's not used for extended Internet work, No new programs have been downloaded, it is not used to download or upload information and although it's not our main computer it is used daily. What is going on, is anyone having same issues. I feel the computer itself is a lemon. This will be the 3rd hard drive in 2 years on this machine! By- the- way I did contact the Tech. department telling them the error message but was only told this computer was "not in warranty now" and that ... "you'll need to purchase a new hard drive" No offer or indication as to a possible repair could be done. Yeah that dosen't make me feel that great about this product. I just want to find out why the hard drives installed on this machine only last one (1) year! Any advise would be appreciated, thank you.

WRI-Jupiter,
Your computer may not / most likely doesn't have anything to do with the hard drive failures you have experienced. Drive manufacturers have been reducing the warranty period on drives for years. Also, as drive density has gone up, it appears that quality control has gone down.
Was the first drive replaced under warranty by HP or did you do it yourself??? Have you kept the computer free of "dust bunnies"??? What is the average temperature where you live???
By the way, the "we strongly recommend that you back up your computer to avoid potential data loss ... contact your computer manufacturer to determine if the disk with errors needs to be repaired or replaced" message was primarily just for your information. Because the warranty has expired, HP will no longer repair the machine without you incurring additional costs.
Your best bet is to;
1) Follow the advice of the message above and back-up any and all data you wish to save before the computer encounters a major hard drive issue.
2) Run the hard drive diagnostics from the boot menu or DOWNLOAD and run the HP Vision Hardware Diagnostics CD Image.
3) Also consider downloading and running the hard drive manufacturuer's diagnostics routine and see if it generates an error code. If the drive is still under warranty and you receive an error code, contact the manufacturer for an RMA.
4) When replacing the drive make sure to blow all the dust out of the computer and continue this practice about every three months.
Please send KUDOs
Frank
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Envy 14 - Hard Drive failure imminent

I have an Envy 14-1110NR laptop and am getting a Hard Drive failure imminent message every time I boot up. Having run the HP diagnostics, the hard drive check fails so I'm guessing I have to replace it.
The hard drive is a Samsung HM640JJ which has gone obsolete. Does anyone know what I need to do...?
Thanks so much...
This question was solved.
View Solution.

Hi,
The error message would indicate that the Hard Drive is failing and needs to be replaced.
If your notebook is still under warranty, contact HP and arrange to have the drive replaced - you can check your warranty status Here.
If you live in the US, contact HP Here.
If you are in another part of the world, start Here.
If you are out of warranty and would like a guide on replacing the Hard Drive yourself, please let me know.
Regards,
DP-K
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****Please mark Accept As Solution if it solves your problem****
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Microsoft MVP - Windows Experience

Satellite A-35-S159 Hard Drive Failure

Hi,
I am getting a message that a hard drive failure is imminent. I am prepared to replace the hard drive. (I might need your help there, hope not!) Prior to this, I tried to upgrade the memory, and was having crash events. Do you think that the crash events were hard drive related and not memory upgrade related, as I originally thought? Do you think with the replacement of the hard drive that the memory upgrade might take?
Also, will I be able to get the drivers I need from here? i don't have a Toshiba recovery disk, i will have to install WXP on the new drive.
Thanks for any help!

Satellite A35-S159
All your Toshiba drivers and utilities are here.
But you are far better off ordering the recovery media from Toshiba by calling Customer Service at 800-457-7777. (Have the computer's serial number and a credit card handy.)
When you restore the hard drive from there, all the drivers and utilities have been preinstalled in the correct order.
-Jerry

Multiple Hard Drive Failures

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