The Laptop hard drive died last night. RIP little drive. I was working on the computer when it locked up so I turned it off. When it came back on it showed a flashing folder icon with a question mark in the middle.
Booting off the external backup hard disk let me run attempt to diagnose the issue. I reset the PRAM and tried to repair from the Install CD. Nothing recognizes the drive. One time I heard it boot up and it ticks softly like the head is stuck or something.
Fortunately, it’s been 11 months since I got my first Mac and it’s still under warranty until 9/14. Double luck struck when I looked up Apple Repair Shops and the only one for 200 miles in any direction is less than a mile a way.
This morning I took it in. They verified everything and said, if it were just the hard drive, that it would be ready on Friday. Pretty amazing. I expected 2 wks and shipping around. I asked if they could fix the fan, which has gotten extremely noisy; almost to the point that I would buy one and replace it myself.
I’m temporarily using the work computer for internet at home. It would be great to say I didn’t lose anything. What with the NAS, Drobo, backup hard drives and stuff. But I had not copied my system disk in 6 months or more. That hurts. Passwords, settings, installed programs, serial numbers, photos, etc. And the time to set all that crap up again. That’s what I hate the most. Maybe, this time I’ll schedule the System disk backup job.