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iMac 1TB Seagate Hard Drive Replacement Program - how long does it take?

I started a new thread for this issue since the original thread has degenerated into a rant. I just got my love letter from Apple informing me that my new 27" iMac has the bad drive. I backup to an external USB drive using Time Machine, and I am planning to have my nearest Apple store replace the drive sometime in the next few weeks.


I am posting to ask if anyone has yet contacted Apple about this issue? I am curious how long it takes to swap the drives. Can it be done while you wait? Does Apple have any ability to clone the old drive's data to the new? Has anyone been able to arrange for in-home service as mentioned in the original thread?


Please don't use this new thread to rant about the problem. If you need to let off steam, please post to the original thread.


Thanks for the help!

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Jul 23, 2011 9:54 AM

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Posted on Jul 23, 2011 11:11 AM

I suggest making a bootable backup/clone onto annother ext HD, preferably FireWire, using something like Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper! and then test it by booting with it. If that works, run the machine from it and give up on using the int HD. When the HD's replaced, I suspect they'll just install the factory OS. When you get home, boot with the backup/clone, wipe the HD, and restore the backup/clone. Depending on the TM backup w/o verifying it works isn't a good idea, especially since it's contents come from the corrupting int HD. As for your other questionis, call the Apple Store or AppleCare.

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Jul 23, 2011 11:11 AM in response to Dave Lasker

I suggest making a bootable backup/clone onto annother ext HD, preferably FireWire, using something like Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper! and then test it by booting with it. If that works, run the machine from it and give up on using the int HD. When the HD's replaced, I suspect they'll just install the factory OS. When you get home, boot with the backup/clone, wipe the HD, and restore the backup/clone. Depending on the TM backup w/o verifying it works isn't a good idea, especially since it's contents come from the corrupting int HD. As for your other questionis, call the Apple Store or AppleCare.

Jul 23, 2011 11:30 AM in response to Dave Lasker

I made an appointrment as soon as I got the letter yesterday. My store said 1-3 days. They will transfer my entire system to the new hardrive -- make sure you ask for that -- so the data transfer alone will take several hours. And no doubt they will have a lot machines being worked on. Make sure they have your new hard drive in stock before you take it in.


I use Time Machine to backup to an external drive, but they said they'll transfer directly from the old hard drive.


If they do what they say, I won't need to do anything except drop it off and pick it up. That would be great. Of course, I still have my back up. But the least time I have to spend on this, the better.


I have not seen any evidence of hard drive problems on my system yet.

Jul 23, 2011 12:53 PM in response to Dave Lasker

Just bought my machine two weeks ago and yes, it is eligible for the program...


Fortunately, since it's brand new I didn't put much data in there so backups will not be problematic but still, it ***** especially considering I live over 150 miles from the nearest AASP or Apple Store. Let's just hope Futureshop (Best Buy over here) will take care of it, but they are not an AASP.


Rants are useless basically but still I'm quite ******.

Jul 23, 2011 1:32 PM in response to Dave Lasker

I dropped off my machine at the Carlsbad, CA Apple store this morning. The Genius bar guy ran a hardware diagnostic, checked the machine for eligibility, and grabbed a replacement drive.


After swapping the drive, they will do a clean install of 10.6.x, reinstall all Apple apps (iLife, Safari, etc), apply all updates, and then copy the data, settings, and other apps from the old drive. This is very similar to setting up a new machine. The time estimate is 3-5 days. You get to sign a disclaimer that Apple is not responsible for data loss or corruption.


The work order showed a cost of $225 for the drive, plus $39 to install. A separate work order was $99 for data transfer. Everything is under warranty, so the Amount Due is $0.

Jul 23, 2011 1:51 PM in response to Dave Lasker

I took my machine to my apple store today and they said it would take up to 10-12 days! They did not even know about this issue until today and were completely unprepared. They can't even get the part to the store for 5 days. Then it is another 5-7 days service time (standard Apple policy). That is a long time to not have a machine for an issue that is their fault.


Frustrating given that one pays extra money for an Apple in order to have reliability and decent customer service.


Also according to Apple's message, this problem affects iMacs "sold between May and July."


If I were considering buying an iMac, I would not do it until these machines have time to clear out of the retail supply chain. At a minimum, ask your sales person to look up the serial number before you leave the store so you KNOW you don't have one of the large numbers of lemons that they made.

Jul 23, 2011 2:02 PM in response to Dave Lasker

I am reading all these replies about people taking their macs back to an Apple store for the replacement yet I had an entirely different experience since I got my email from apple.


First, I called my closest Apple Store in Westfarms mall in Connecticut (where I got my Mac). After they supposedly checked into it, they told me they don't do the replacements there and I would have to call Apple support and ship it back to Apple. I called Apple support and he had to check on it and told me there is no shipping a 27" imac back to them and I had to call a local Apple authorized service provider, which is not far from me. I called them, and they said they just read the memo on it and said I had to bring it in "first," then they order the replacememt drive and would take a few days. He also said he wasn't sure about who reinstalls the data and that it was probably on me to do that. I called Apple support back and this guy finally said it might be to my advantage to wait a bit longer till they get the kinks out and maybe my local Apple store "might" do it and restore my data - but he wasn't sure about anyting.


So if you people are getting yours done by Apple stores, maybe my store will get the message and do it in the near future - hopefully. I am backed up to Time machine externally and can bring that with me when the time comes.


Just reporting this so others will know what is going on.

Jul 23, 2011 3:37 PM in response to Ed George

Ed George wrote:


After swapping the drive, they will do a clean install of 10.6.x, reinstall all Apple apps (iLife, Safari, etc), apply all updates, and then copy the data, settings, and other apps from the old drive. This is very similar to setting up a new machine. The time estimate is 3-5 days. You get to sign a disclaimer that Apple is not responsible for data loss or corruption.

Be very careful about that procedure. They'll have to create an admin user account which will muck up any you've set up. If you don't have a bootable backup/clone that's tested, expect to have issues resetting things to match your current state. Peruse Setup New Mac for starters.

Jul 23, 2011 3:48 PM in response to baltwo

baltwo wrote:. . .

Be very careful about that procedure. They'll have to create an admin user account which will muck up any you've set up.

Couldn't agree more. ➕


If you have a "clone," when you get your Mac back, I'd recommend just cloning back to the new HD.


If you have Time Machine backups, do a full restore, per #14 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions.


Better yet, if you have both, as may of us recommend, tell Apple not to bother, and take your pick!

Jul 23, 2011 8:23 PM in response to baltwo

Points well taken. I would think, however, that for much of the general user base, Apple's offer to restore the data would be appropriate.


With regard to the Admin rights needed to rebuild the system on the new drive, two options were offered. I could supply the tech with the password to my account on the system, or I could create a temporary password for them to use. In either case, they planned to use my admin user rather than creating a new one.


I'm actually quite interested in how, and how well, Apple techs will restore the system in this case. After I get the machine back, I'm planning to spend a bit of time analyzing what they did before deciding whether to use it, or to do a full restore over it from my backups.

Jul 26, 2011 9:06 AM in response to Dave Lasker

When I purchased my iMac I also got the AppleCare extended warranty which includes on-site service.


I have been out of town and didn't know my iMac's serial number, so I couldn't call AppleCare. I called the 2 Apple Stores closest to my home, but neither could give me any information on how long it would take to swap drives, or thell me if they could transfer my data from the old drive to the new. Both suggested I set up a Genius Bar appointment just to ask the questions in person!


When I returned home yesterday, I called AppleCare and requested on-site service for the drive swap. The technician who answered the call didn't think that was possible, but after escalating to the second level, they agreed to do the drive swap on-site. The second-level technician was extremely pleasant, helpful, and knowledgable.


I am now waiting for a phone call from the local repair people to set up an appointment for the drive swap. I'll report later how that goes.

Jul 27, 2011 3:30 PM in response to Dave Lasker

Greetings from an apple mac newbie in UK. On the one hand, after getting the email today I was disappointed to find my brand new shiny mac 21.5 might have a fault on hard drive, on the other at least apple points it out! But doubly frustrating for someone that has just taken the plunge and converted from pc/microsoft rubbish after two decades and still finding my feet in macworld....and who upgraded to OS X lion this past weekend without a hitch (nervous as an XP SP2/SP3 veteran)...and had to pay for Lion because I bought my imac just a week to early to qualify for free Lion upgrade.


My decision on Hard drive is to wait and see, firstly to guage experience of apple turn around times/customer experience etc in UK and secondly because I would like to understand what kind of percentage of the seagate drives are faulty...I am backing up with time machine, the machine is under warranty and applecare too, so maybe no need to rush, there's a year yet at least.


Another consideration for me is that I bought my mac with dual drives - the 1TB Harddrive for data and the 256SSD for OSX/apps...idea was to keep the programs on the ssd as it is fastest and is best with less rewrites, the conventional hard drive then used for big data stuff like docs, music and photos. This needed a bit of custom set up involving apple support to get the right things on the right drives, so am in no hurry to muck that up!


PS does anyone else in the UK ⚠ have my mac dual drive configuration...?

🙂

Jul 27, 2011 5:03 PM in response to Dave Lasker

This is an update to my first post above from July 23. I called my local Apple store again today, figuring they had some more time to get more info on this matter and maybe their stance would change. It did. They told me I could make an appointment with them to have my drive swapped out and they will also install all my data from my external drive I used with Time machine. I told them about my apprehension in having them replace all my data and asked if I might do it myself. They said it would void the replacement policy. I then expressed my concern for all the data on my old drive going back to Seagate. They said they wipe all the drives clean before they return them and when they transfer my data back, no one actually sees it. They then asked me if I wanted to make an appointment for the replacement.


I told them not yet, but I will in about a week. I have a new external drive coming from Amazon and I plan to back up on that drive with Carbon Copy Cloner so as to have 2 complete backups.


My plan is: Just before taking my imac to them for the replacement, I turn off and remove the Time Machine and the Carbon Copy cloned drives and disconnect them. Then wipe all my sensitive data off the imac hard drive and take it in to the Apple Store, along with my original disks and my Time machine backup drive for them to transfer the data. Just in case something goes wrong, I will have the Carbon Copy bootable drive at home to not only compare things, but if I have to, make a clone from it of my imac new drive.


Hope this works. Has anyone had their drive replaced yet, and if so, how did it go??

Jul 27, 2011 5:24 PM in response to kateeba

I did that over a year ago with a 24" iMac, when its internal HD I went south. However, I cloned the HD to an ext FWHD, ensured that it booted the machine and looked and acted like the original. Then, I wiped the int HD, reinstalled the OS, set up a test account, and let them replace the HD and reinstall the software, without giving them a TM backup. There's no need to involve them with your data. When the machine returns, boot wtih the clone, wipe what they put on, and restore the clone. Just my

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Jul 27, 2011 7:14 PM in response to baltwo

I took my 27" in to my Apple store yesterday morning and picked it up this afternoon, along with the old HD. It really was not a big deal. Although I use Time Machine, there was no need to take my backup drive in because the old HD was still working fine. They attached the new drive, used my admin pw to log in, cloned my system over to the new drive, then swapped them out, and rebooted to test. It was a simple procedure.


All I took was the machine. No cords, disks, drives, keyboard, mouse, nothing.


I had already upgraded to Lion and installed a lot of software, so I was hoping everything would go smoothly. It did.


All my preferences, settings, drivers, programs -- everything is just as I left it.


I was not too concerned about a technician trying to mine my HD for data. They are are working on dozens of machines per day and would have to spend a lot of time copying and examining data to get anything of use. Also any ID theft would be rather easily be traced back to the store. I don't have the computer remembing passwords in any case.


I did have the Time Machine backup at home, and I transferred my most important files to my MacBook Air beforehand as an additional precaution.


So -- I'm happy to report that everything seems just fine.

iMac 1TB Seagate Hard Drive Replacement Program - how long does it take?

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