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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Notebooks > Will replacing hard drive fix my non-booting Mac?

Will replacing hard drive fix my non-booting Mac?
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pawpaw
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Jul 7, 2008, 02:05 PM
 
I've had my MB for two years now and it's worked fine until the other night when it froze and wouldn't reboot and I was given the infamous flashing question mark when trying to boot up. This wouldn't be a problem if I had applecare, but alas, I don't.
I went through all the steps on apple.com to try and repair the problem (resetting PRAM, etc.) and finally decided to stop delaying the inevitable and reinstall OSX; however, when i was given the menu to choose which disk to install the OS on, the only disk available was the install dvd in my optical drive.
I'm aware that my hard drive is screwed now, but what I want to know is how can I know upon replacement whether or not my computer will function?

     
ibook_steve
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Jul 7, 2008, 02:16 PM
 
In regards to your final question, you can't. But it certainly sounds like it's a dead drive and replacing the drive should get your machine working again.

Steve
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hemant
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Jul 7, 2008, 02:44 PM
 
Nm.
( Last edited by hemant; Jul 7, 2008 at 02:51 PM. )
     
JayMan8081
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Jul 7, 2008, 03:14 PM
 
You could always boot a LiveCD of Linux or something similar and run hard drive diagnostic tools on your current hard drive. If there are errors on your current hard drive then it most likely is just that your hard drive died. If everything turns out fine then you prolly have a larger issue to worry about.
     
Big Mac
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Jul 7, 2008, 03:21 PM
 
I don't think a Linux Live CD would help unless it has an HFS aware drive utility. He can use the OS X disc instead, but it sounds like he's already confirmed it's a bad drive.

"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." TJ
     
JayMan8081
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Jul 7, 2008, 03:33 PM
 
Most Linux distros can now read and write HFS and HFS+ so I'm sure there are utilities available. It didn't sound to me like he had verified that the drive was bad, but if he can do that with the OS X disc I would say do that before buying anything else.
     
mduell
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Jul 7, 2008, 07:21 PM
 
If it's less than 2 years old and you bought it with a credit card, see if your credit card company offers a complimentary warranty extension.
     
   
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