Help my wife dropped my MacBook Pro

The first thing to try is booting the machine to the Apple Hardware Test, which is on the system installer DVD that was shipped with the MBP. If it won't start up or the hardware test reports any problems, take the machine in for repair ASAP. The warranty doesn't cover the cost of repairing accidental damage of the kind that is caused by dropping the machine.

Take it to an Apple Store to have it checked out. If OS X doesn't load, sounds like a hard drive failure. Speaking from experience, my MBP HD crashed a few weeks ago and I ran test and it said it had no problem, took it into my local Apple Authorized Service Provider and I have to get a new drive. Since it was dropped and not covered under warranty go to macsales.com, order a new Hard Drive, you should find one for under $100.00, they have videos on how to install the drive, the level to install it (according to their site) is easy. I think that will save you lots of money.

Message was edited by: wngriff

Yes, the hard drive is shot. That's not surprising after a drop. Replacing it yourself is dead easy — instructions are in the little owner's guide that came with it — and if you do so, you will get your choice of drives, a lower price, and a much longer manufacturer's warranty on the new drive than Apple would give you.

Your warranty on the rest of the computer is gone, though, as a result of the drop. The dent in the bottom may be purely cosmetic or it may not, but in either case it is +prima facie+ evidence that the MBP has been mistreated, and that invalidates the warranty. If you bought AppleCare extended coverage in addition to the one-year warranty, that is also void now, and you may want to call AppleCare, explain the situation, and see whether you can get a pro-rated refund of part of the cost of the AppleCare plan. Some other people have reported success doing that.

If, after replacing the hard drive, you find that the machine still doesn't work completely right, you may want to bite the bullet and pay Apple to restore it to like-new condition. I believe doing so would restore your warranty and AppleCare coverage, if time remains on them.

No, I definitely don't think it's worth a trip to the store. Just replace the drive and restore to the new drive from your Time Machine backup. If you continue to have problems after replacing the drive, then will be the time to visit the store.

I just installed a 500GB 7200 RPM Seagate Momentus XT hybrid drive in my MBP, for a substantial upgrade in capacity and speed over my stock 250GB 5400 RPM drive. It cost me $104 with free shipping from www.newegg.com:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH &Description=momentus+XT&x=0&y=0

I see the special promotional price I took advantage of has gone away now, but I still highly recommend the drive, and if you don't need 500GB, there are lower-capacity versions available for less.

Apart from NewEgg, I highly recommend OWC as a good place to buy anything for a Mac:

http://www.macsales.com

I don't have a Time Capsule or use Time Machine, so I can't advise you on that. Someone else will probably be along to do so.

After you have installed the new hard drive (btw I also recommend the Seagate Momentus XT Hybrid) you will need to format the new disk and then install OS X and finally restore from Time Machine. Here is one detailed instruction that shows how to do it, it's very straightforward. You should be up and running within an hour or two.




http://macs.about.com/od/snowleopardmacosx106/qt/cleaninstall_sl.htm




Once OS X is installed you will get a screen asking if you want to restore, one of the choices is Time Machine. Choose that, choose the options (which should be all of them) and then go take a walk, or eat lunch or catch up on some TV you recorded but haven't watched yet. When you come back the restoration should be complete and your computer will be just like it was.

Roger