[ZMan9854]

Hello all,

Recently, my internal hard drive on my 15" powerbook crashed, and it turned out that the the SMART status was failing. The computer wouldn't boot from the drive, but I was able to retrieve all of my data with Data Rescue X while booted from an iPod : >.

Anyway, I sent my computer into Apple Care, and they said that there was a liquid spilled in the computer and that repairs would cost over $1,300 (I remember spilling a little bit of coffee on it around Christmas - it's worked beautifully since then). So I had them send it back without repairs so I could just buy and install a drive myself. When I got it back, I look at disk utility again (starting from a DVD) and the hard drive isn't failing anymore (verified). There are 3 volumes now, disk0s3, Q16A_Test, and disk0s5. What did they do to my drive? What can I conclude?

I've never heard of a drive un-failing? They wouldn't have replaced my drive, right? Before I sent the computer in, I ran all kinds of tests and such, and the drive was steadily failing for a few days. I'm wondering if I should not buy a new drive, and just use this one for non-crucial files and operations. Is this drive just going to fail right away again, or could I hope for any more life out of it?

Thanks,
-R

[amazing]

Applecare has this insane thing where PBs have been coming back with reformatted HDs. Sounds like that's what happened to you. The coffee thing is their way of saying that applecare has been voided because of the spill and because it's bound to have caused some damage. Whether or not it caused damage is beside the point--you're undoubtedly no longer covered by applecare, especially now that's it's in their notes.

IF you can reinstall the system, by all means do so. Just back everything up regularly and also buy an external firewire drive for a future failure. Print out the directions from xlr8yourmac.com on how to disassemble and replace the HD, keep your eyes open for HD bargains.