Any Mac experts here?

[former member]

The wife slipped badly on our wooden floor last night while holding my MacBook Pro; it now just clicks a bit but only shows a white screen (then a weird question mark sign); fairly sure the hard drive is dead.
It's pretty vital for work, etc.

I'm not keen on the new MBP with its daft lack of useful ports; would you buy a run out "old" model or get the HD and memory upgraded (SSD for memory)?

 

[Roadrunner]

Upsetting but how is your wife?, she is a bit more important. Can't help on the Mac as I tend to use Windows laptops.

 

[former member]

Upsetting but how is your wife?, she is a bit more important. Can't help on the Mac as I tend to use Windows laptops.

Quite badly bruised but okay; I thought she'd done serious damage to herself at first!
She polished a load of wooden surfaces (not the floor) a while ago and it's left bits of our wooden floor incredibly slippery; oops!!

 

[Roadrunner]

I forgot to add laptops don't like being dropped, one of mine was and I managed to save the HD and the data off it. The new one I have that replaced it needs cahnging now as it#'s around tree years old and getting very slow. Never had a macbook though I had thought of getting one. I thought Macs had SSD drives now not like the ones in laptops so shoupld survive a drop. Cost me 400 quid to get the data off a HD I dropped and even then not all of it was retreved. Looks like you might have to take it to n apple store.
Glad your wife is OK

 

[redvers]

Is the data on the drive backed up anywhere?

Assuming the speed of the machine wasn't an issue for you, then better to save the money & just buy SSD (& memory if you have room for it) for now. Wait another couple of iterations before buying a new MacBook while they get over the hurdles of new port acceptance!

From memory you may need a special adaptor to put into the machine with a normal hard drive to enable it properly. So if space isn't an issue SSD is definitely best bet.

In theory you put in the SSD & boot in recovery mode which allows you to format the disk and install the OS from the internet. Then you can reinstall apps/data as needed.

If you have a full backup on time machine you can even restore from the backup using the recovery console.

Hold down the command key & R when booting and you should be able to at least see that the rest of the machine is working.

May be worth taking apart first to check for any loose memory or drive cables (always a possibility something just knocked loose), and to have a look to see what memory slots you have and if any are spare

 

[Loz]

Hard drive or hard drive cable dislodged. Go onto ifixit and there will be a tear down you can view to see how to take it apart..

 

[former member]

Thanks all! There's a good guy near here who sorts them so I'll contact him to see if he can replace the disk.
Everything backed up on iCloud and Dropbox so no data loss worries.

 

[Roadrunner]

Thanks all! There's a good guy near here who sorts them so I'll contact him to see if he can replace the disk.
Everything backed up on iCloud and Dropbox so no data loss worries.

Think I would want it on a portable drive as well so I have a physical copy

 

[BIgben]

If you want a tidy older model i came across these guys a while back when I was looking.
Refurbished MacBook Pros, iMacs, MacBook Airs and iPads - Hoxton Macs
In the end I was given an air for work and have not needed anything more.

 

[former member]

Well it's back - 500GB SSD drive and 8GB (from 4) of RAM fitted, new worn out keys replaced and a good clean - it looks like new and it FLIES along (while remaining on my desk)!
£330 well spent - I don't pimp my rides but I highly recommend pimping your MacBook.

 

[Roadrunner]

So didn't get tell you what had broken on it

 

[former member]

The hard drive was dead as suspected.

 

[T6 Dave]

Panasonic Toughbook all the way , drop it, use it in a sandstorm (or shitstorm), bury it, freeze it and wash it all off with a hose whist it's all still on or lob it a someone Why? Got a landrover and the manuals are on it, so when it breaks down....

 

[T6 Dave]

Oh forgot, multi channel GPS, GPRS extra & used by the military etc! Lit keyboard, touchscreen screen & stylus, heated hdd, encrypted hdd.... SPOOKS!

 

[T6 Dave's Dad]

@ T6 Dave = CU !