MacBook Pro: failing hard drive

chucker

So after a broken fan and a melting MagSafe power plug, I now have the third support case in just about a year.



Windows Vista (hardly ever use it; pure coincidence) was running, and I was out. When I came back, it showed me an alert informing me that my MacBook Pro's internal hard drive was failing, and it offered me to back up as soon as possible using its built-in tool. I decided to use HDTune to verify, and indeed; one SMART property was red, another was yellow, and even with just a quick scan (rather than a deep one) one sector was identified as broken.



So I rebooted into Mac OS X and am now backing up everything with SuperDuper!. I assume the drive is still okay enough to get that done, because, as your average-day luck would have it, my most recent backup has been accidentally wiped out.



Anyway, the question now becomes how to handle the replacement (I assume the drive is beyond repair): the laptop was purchased at the German Apple Store (online). Which should I try first: to go to a local retailer (despite them being a third party; last time they were being rather uncooperative with a "you didn't buy here" attitude), or do I call Apple?



I have AppleCare APP, so that's not the issue. I assume the hard drive is covered for all three years. (Right? Pwetty pwease?)



Thanks for advice.

sammick

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chucker


So after a broken fan and a melting MagSafe power plug, I now have the third support case in just about a year.



Windows Vista (hardly ever use it; pure coincidence) was running, and I was out. When I came back, it showed me an alert informing me that my MacBook Pro's internal hard drive was failing, and it offered me to back up as soon as possible using its built-in tool. I decided to use HDTune to verify, and indeed; one SMART property was red, another was yellow, and even with just a quick scan (rather than a deep one) one sector was identified as broken.



So I rebooted into Mac OS X and am now backing up everything with SuperDuper!. I assume the drive is still okay enough to get that done, because, as your average-day luck would have it, my most recent backup has been accidentally wiped out.



Anyway, the question now becomes how to handle the replacement (I assume the drive is beyond repair): the laptop was purchased at the German Apple Store (online). Which should I try first: to go to a local retailer (despite them being a third party; last time they were being rather uncooperative with a "you didn't buy here" attitude), or do I call Apple?



I have AppleCare APP, so that's not the issue. I assume the hard drive is covered for all three years. (Right? Pwetty pwease?)



Thanks for advice.

I should think the drive is covered if it was purchased with the computer---but if it wasn't a new one is not that terribly expensive and is supereasy to install--as long as your data is backed up, you are in good shape--

benzene

Call AppleCare and tell them to fix it, as you are right in assuming it should be under warranty.