Katyalatke92
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Dropped my Macbook Pro

Hi,

As many people have before me, I dropped my MacBook Pro about 2.5- 3 feet from a table when I closed it, not knowing half of it was sticking off the edge. It didn't have any dents or noticeable damage of any sort. The thing is when I tried to turn it on, the white screen turned on and stayed like that for a while. Then a picture of a folder with a question mark started flashing in the middle of the screen. So far it doesn't do anything else. I opened the bottom to look for any damage there, but nothing looked out of place and I didn't want to mess with it... So now I'm just wondering if all is lost or what on earth to do with it... There are no Mac stores or any computer places in my area, otherwise I might take it there... Please help!!!

MacBook Pro

Posted on Nov 23, 2015 6:17 PM

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Katyalatke92

Q: Dropped my Macbook Pro

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  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Nov 23, 2015 6:38 PM in response to Katyalatke92
    Level 9 (60,904 points)
    Desktops
    Nov 23, 2015 6:38 PM in response to Katyalatke92

    Hold down the Option key while you start up and see if there is any drive that has Recovery in its name. If there is, select that and it will boot up some Utilities including Disk Utility that can be used to check/repair your hard drive.

     

    If nothing comes up you need an older DVD for a MacBook Pro pre-2011, or start up again and hold Command-Option-R for a MacBook Pro newer than 2011.

  • by Katyalatke92,

    Katyalatke92 Katyalatke92 Nov 24, 2015 10:07 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 24, 2015 10:07 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

    Thanks. So far after trying a few suggestions I found, it seems the Option key worked to get things started. it seems I ruined my hard drive though because my only option after that was to erase it. Now I guess I will have to buy a new one? It says I can't use it to re-install OS X...?

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,Helpful

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Nov 24, 2015 10:30 AM in response to Katyalatke92
    Level 9 (60,904 points)
    Desktops
    Nov 24, 2015 10:30 AM in response to Katyalatke92

    BOOTing from a Hard drive is much more difficult than reading data files from a hard drive. Mac OS X itself represents over 350,000 files on your hard drive, while the files you created and cannot reproduce through a fresh Install probably number only in the hundreds.

     

    If your drive will not perk up after a Disk Utility (Repair Disk [directory]) you may indeed need a new drive. Don't be in a hurry to erase the old drive -- you may be able to salvage files off it later. If you have Trusted Backup, you have many more options for restoring your old files.

     

    If you were able to run "regular" Recovery (as opposed to Internet recovery) there is still a working Recovery/Utilities partition on your old drive. When you get a new drive, get an enclosure or adapter to run it as an External, and you can use the old Recovery to Install the new Mac OS X on the new drive.

  • by Katyalatke92,

    Katyalatke92 Katyalatke92 Nov 24, 2015 10:39 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 24, 2015 10:39 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

    Unfortunately, I was not able to run any regular recovery, it went straight to internet recovery... And after trying all other options, only erasing and re-installing were left., being that I was never wise enough to back up anything... So, one last thing. Do I need an external hard drive to re-install OS X? Thanks.

  • by my ginger,

    my ginger my ginger Nov 24, 2015 12:02 PM in response to Katyalatke92
    Level 4 (2,472 points)
    Nov 24, 2015 12:02 PM in response to Katyalatke92

    Hi. Did you run disk utilities in recovery and if told you the dive was not repairable? If the drive is not physically damaged you might be able to erase the indented drive in disk utilities an go back to recovery and select the reinstall option. I would do this using a ethernet connection. If it will not reinstall and the drive is damaged, then you will need to replace it. Then reinstall the operating system. Doing this depend on what year and model Macbook Pro you have.

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Nov 24, 2015 1:09 PM in response to Katyalatke92
    Level 9 (60,904 points)
    Desktops
    Nov 24, 2015 1:09 PM in response to Katyalatke92

    The reason I suggest a new drive, stored temporarily in an external enclosure, is that is separates the Installation and running issues (which are perfectly doable on a Drive in an External enclosure) from the drive-swap surgery issues.

     

    If you had been able to access the on-disk Recovery, it is often easier to do the Install from there onto the new drive as an external drive. But this does not apply in your case because your "regular" on-disk Recovery was not readable. Luckily, your Mac is new enough to use Internet Recovery. Those from pre-2011 can not do Internet Recovery.

  • by my ginger,

    my ginger my ginger Nov 24, 2015 2:19 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 4 (2,472 points)
    Nov 24, 2015 2:19 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

    Grant Thats not entirely true about pre 2011. it depends on the year and model. I have a 2010 early Macbook running Yosemite and I have internet recovery. Some 2008 models with Maverick or Yosemite can use internet recovery.

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Nov 24, 2015 3:19 PM in response to my ginger
    Level 9 (60,904 points)
    Desktops
    Nov 24, 2015 3:19 PM in response to my ginger

    Some computers that did not come with OS X Lion or later installed can use the OS X Internet Recovery feature after applying a firmware update:

    from:

    Computers that can be upgraded to use OS X Internet Recovery - Apple Support

     

    from memory, I can remember computers from around 2011 could include this feature, and older ones could not.

  • by Katyalatke92,

    Katyalatke92 Katyalatke92 Nov 30, 2015 9:10 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 30, 2015 9:10 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

    OK, this may seem stupid, but the hard drive says not to remove the screws or the plastic tape stuff because of the warranty. I'm not sure if I should ignore that  and go ahead and replace the HD or try to contact Apple about replacing it first... Not sure if I would have to send it somewhere or something... Any ideas?

  • by leroydouglas,

    leroydouglas leroydouglas Nov 30, 2015 9:15 PM in response to Katyalatke92
    Level 7 (23,368 points)
    Notebooks
    Nov 30, 2015 9:15 PM in response to Katyalatke92

    If you are under warranty or not you can get a free over the counter diagnostic.

     

    'Apple Service Diagnostics' test

     

    Genius reservation http://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/

     

    on-line https://getsupport.apple.com/GetproductgroupList.action

     

    check warranty https://selfsolve.apple.com/agreementWarrantyDynamic.do

  • by my ginger,

    my ginger my ginger Nov 30, 2015 9:44 PM in response to Katyalatke92
    Level 4 (2,472 points)
    Nov 30, 2015 9:44 PM in response to Katyalatke92

    Did you remove the hard drive from the Macbook Pro? Or are you talking about the screws on the Macbook?  Do not take the hard drive apart. It cannot be fixed in that way. Do you have an external hard drive.  If you do you can install the operating system on it by using recovery as long as you leave the one in the Macbook pro ,in the Macbook Pro. Reinstalling the operating system through internet recovery, may or may not work. There is an arm inside the hard drive, not unlike the arm on a record player. If it scratched the disk when dropped you might not be able to erase and reinstall.

  • by Katyalatke92,

    Katyalatke92 Katyalatke92 Dec 9, 2015 9:25 AM in response to my ginger
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 9, 2015 9:25 AM in response to my ginger

    I have not removed anything but the screws off the bottom of my Macbook Pro and I do not have an external HD on me now. From what I have tried ( internet recovery was the only option that worked and it was not able to recover anything) I am guessing the HD was most likely scratched ...so went ahead and bought another HD. The thing is,  I don't know if the warranty on the HD matters being that I don't even have a receipt from when I bought the notebook. Should I just go ahead and replace the HD? The only other option is to drive 3+ HRS away to get to an Apple store... I guess that is a stupid question though. (I am really new to all this stuff.)

  • by Katyalatke92,

    Katyalatke92 Katyalatke92 Dec 9, 2015 9:28 AM in response to leroydouglas
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 9, 2015 9:28 AM in response to leroydouglas

    Thanks.

    So far, I can't check my warranty, being that I lost my receipt and the online support is not available or sends me to something else. I think my best bet may be to try the genius reservation. It will just be a little ways away... Nearest store is 3+ HRS away.

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Dec 9, 2015 9:46 AM in response to Katyalatke92
    Level 9 (60,904 points)
    Desktops
    Dec 9, 2015 9:46 AM in response to Katyalatke92

    All  2.5" drives are strictly rectangular, with nothing protruding beyond that rectangular solid. Anything that sticks out beyond that is added for ease of mounting.

     

    On some MacBooks, there are screws added to the drive that stick out on the sides. These may be used as mounting posts. On some drives, electrically-insulating tape is applied to the drive to keep from shorting out things on the drive's face against the metal inside the MacBook.

     

    Screws that hold the drive together often have heads with unusual shapes, such as star-heads. These are used to keep you from dis-assembling the drive by mistake.

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