Lightening strike - MacBook crashing, external hard drive not reading

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Level 1

4 points

Lightening strike - MacBook crashing, external hard drive not reading

Lightening struck out wifi cable and came down it to our houses (weird, I know). My neighbour's work computer suffered.

I thought my MacBook Air was OK, but it is now crashing regularly (just turns off). The external hard drive is also not visible in Finder (the USB port and hard drive both have lights on as normal, and the hard drive sounds like it's 'busy').

What can/should I do to diagnose and repair these problems?

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 12.0

Posted on Dec 4, 2021 10:23 AM

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Answer 1

John Galt

Level 10

155,228 points

Dec 4, 2021 11:46 AM in response to AJC211

I assume that a nearby electrical storm affected your cable internet because "wifi cable" seems to be a contradiction in terminology. In other words at the time of the event your Mac was not physically connected to anything including its power adapter. Is all that correct?

In any event if your Mac is damaged an Apple Store or otherwise authorized Apple repair facility can provide a diagnosis. Start here: Apple Repair.

Lightning can cause a lot of damage. Homeowner's insurance can often provide at least some economic compensation. If not, ask your cable service provider. At the very least they should probably inspect your installation to ensure their equipment is properly protected.

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Lightening strike - MacBook crashing, external hard drive not reading

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