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I just got an email from Apple stating my iMac qualifies for the iMac 1TB Seagate HD Relacement Program. Oh boy, aren't I lucky 😟 I have Time Machine and a CCC bootable clone backup. Is it as simple as cloning back my System onto the new hard drive. The Apple email says I need to start from scratch with the Install DVD that came with the computer. What's the best proceedure.
iMac (21.5-inch Late 2009), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2), IOS6, Apple TV2, Airport
Mine failed just 3 months ago, but it's unclear if my replacement is affected in the recall. I've now called Apple Support twice and have gotten two different answers. On the first call, the technician said if the your serial number comes up eligilble and it's a SeaGate drive, you should take it in and replace it. The second technician said if it's been replaced, it should be fine. Anyone know if the replacement drives are faulty?
. . . and, FYI, when I had mine replaced, they asked which operating system I was using when it failed and they restored it at the store on the new drive. Time machine restored my computer as expected. It was quite smooth. No complaints about the replacement - though it was a pain hauling a 27" iMac back into the store without the box! ! !
Mine failed just 3 months ago, but it's unclear if my replacement is affected in the recall. I've now called Apple Support twice and have gotten two different answers. On the first call, the technician said if the your serial number comes up eligilble and it's a SeaGate drive, you should take it in and replace it. The second technician said if it's been replaced, it should be fine. Anyone know if the replacement drives are faulty?
. . . and, FYI, when I had mine replaced, they asked which operating system I was using when it failed and they restored it at the store on the new drive. Time machine restored my computer as expected. It was quite smooth. No complaints about the replacement - though it was a pain hauling a 27" iMac back into the store without the box! ! !
My System Preferences says the vendor is Nvidia, not Seagate. So I don't know why my machine would qualify for the program.
Did you take yours to an Apple retail Store or an Apple authorized repair center.
Oh my...Any idea how long it would take a Genius bar to replace a July 2010 hard drive? It hasn't happened to me yet. Also will they backup your data in the process for free?
A clone should be able to recover to a similar machine as long as the data is not too corrupted.
My replacement took about 2 hrs - this was, of course, before the recall. They do not backup your data, only restore it to factory specs. You might however call and ask, but I suspect not.
I took mine to the Apple retail store. My understanding is it is only Seagate drives that are being recalled, but mine doesn't say Seagate, it only has the model number ST31000528AS rev AP2E.
First of all, I'm not asking anyone to back up my data. I have it backed up by the hour with Time Machine and daily with CCC. So I don't know why anyonewould be under the impression I want someone else to do that.
My only question is about the easiest way to restore my System if I had the HD replaced.
At the moment, I'm not having issues I related to HD failure. I did have an issue with what I call digital artifacts or pixelation around the Dock and in Safari. A boot into Safe Mode seemed to fix that. And recently Time Machine would not do a backup. I checked the TM disk in Disk Utility and found out the TM disk needed to be repaired. Once that was repaired, TM is working fine.
So I guess maybe there is something going on.
HD Info
As far as I know, Nvidia makes graphics cards, not hard drives. Are you sure you checked here:
@ abrody - They usually do not restore or backup your data - but that shouldn't be necessary; most people do have bootable clones or TM backups (or they should).
I've restored a clone to an internal; if an OS is installed on the new one, simply use TM to restore or, upon first setup, use Setup Assistant. I will most likely simply boot from my external clone, wipe the new internal drive, and clone my system back. That would be my preferred method.
I also received an email; I will call Apple to ask if it can be done in house since I have Applecare and in home service is included. If I have to take in the machine, I don't know that I would trust them with my SL install disks - I'd need to talk to them about it because I don't feel comfortable giving my disks to a repair place.
For anyone: remember to wipe the disk before it is replaced; you have no idea where that disk will go and who will have access to it......
Edit: I see you posted your HD info and it does say Nvidia - that is strange, especially since your hard drive also starts with ST which is Seagate.
babowa wrote:
I will most likely simply boot from my external clone, wipe the new internal drive, and clone my system back. That would be my preferred method.
That's what I was hoping I could do. I wasn't sure if doing so, there would be any permission issues after the restore, but I guess not.
I've actually done it several times and it works quite well. I used it once on a new hard drive (an upgrade) for a Macbook - first cloned the internal to the newly formatted empty drive, and then swapped drives. I don't use Time Machine, so I don't know if or how a "restore" is different - I just prefer cloning it and since it is a clone, I don't think permissions would play a role of any kind. And it saved my .... several times during the early Lion and ML iterations.
I've been lucky because I've never had an internal HD failure on a Mac. And that's since 1993!
I don't mind having to Restore the System, it's more the inconvience of deciding where to bring it for service and the time involved in waiting for it to get fixed. Of course I'm gratful Apple is replacing a potentially defective part.
Time to reboot the G4 and watch time stand still and there's always my iPad.
Well, do you have Applecare? I will call them up (I'm in no rush at this point) and ask for in home service and see if that can be arranged in this case.
I don't have AppleCare, but I did call them. They would set up in house repair, but indicated it would most likely be faster to bring it in.
What is the best way to wipe the drive clean. Booting from the original Install disks or using the ML Recovery HD.
I'm not a fan of the recovery process having spent hours waiting for it....... it works though and if you have a fast connection, go ahead. With the install disk, no internet needed, just insert it, boot from it, wipe the drive and let the installer install a fresh base copy. No need to update that of course and pick a fictitious name for the account setup as well as an easy to remember password "1 2 3 4 5" to give to the repair place when turning it in. So my vote is totally biased and I'll take the install disk any day. Although, just thought of another option that would work for me: when I first got my brand new MBP with Lion preinstalled, I immediately made a clone of it which I will not touch/update. It is being kept for a purpose such as this or if/when I sell it and need to reinstall the original system without any added apps, etc: I will boot from the clone, wipe the drive, and clone the original system version back - done.
iMac 1TB Replacement Program
