macbook pro won't boot up

It's possible that your hard drive is failing or has failed, but equally possible that a cable or connection is loose. In either case, there's not much you can do unless you have some knowledge or expertise. (Some users routinely open up the case and check the internal connections with info gleaned from uTube videos.)

If you're not as adventurous, it won't hurt to visit your local Apple Store.

Get the original installation disk and insert it holding down the C key. When you get to the point where you see the menu bar, select UTILITIES. Then select from the drop down menu Disk Utility. Open to First Aid and see if you can repair the disk.

Ciao.

How did you get into Disk Utility?

Did you try and repair the Internal HDD (Macintosh HD) in Disk utility?

Can you see both HDDs?

Right now my thinking is to extract the internal HDD from the MBP, place it in an enclosure and then connect the two HDDs to a functioning Mac and transfer the desired data that way. Leave that as a last resort.

Ciao.

If you can get your MBP to boot normally, then you should be able to attach the external HDD and transfer selected data via drag and drop.

If you cannot start it normally, try this. Use your installation disk and get into Disk utility. If the external HDD shows in DU, open Disk Utility>Restore. That would copy all data from the internal HDD to the external HDD, essentially making a clone. This is speculative on my part and may not work.

Ciao.

The only suggestion I have is to take it out and connect it to another Mac and hope that the HDD is not totally dead. You might take this to an Apple store and they might assist you.

Ciao.

That SSD would certainly be compatible with your MacBook Pro - note that it's SATA III (6.0Gbps) but can be used with a computer that only has SATA II capabilities.

You need some sort of dock to put your hard drive in if you want to try to rescue some data from it. I would suggest one of these from OWC.

There are a number of applications, some quite expensive, that can help to 'repair' your hard drive to the point of being able to rescue SOME data. I've personally usedData Rescue 3 and can recommend it. Others have used DiskWarrior and have had some success with it.

Good luck,

Clinton

The Vertex 3 is economical and pretty reliable, but you also might be interested in the Crucial M4. I'm not sure is patience is a luxury at your disposal, but DealMac regularly lists the latest discounts and deals with SSDs; they appear just about every day.

I can't help you out with a profile of the faulty HD, but installation of the SSD is relatively straightforward.

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4741

You can also find YouTube videos on users installing the SSD.

I don't know what procedure you followed for the installation of the SSD - but clearly something went wrong. But not something that can't be fixed.

Specifically, what kind of SSD did you install?

Generally, what procedure did you follow for the install?

Did you use a software program like CarbonCarbonCloner?

If you used CCC, from a backup, you'd have been able to transfer the data from your backup to your new SSD.

If you didn't, you'd still have to install your previous OS, or else your SSD wouldn't be recognized.

First, I'm glad the SSD is working fine.

But I'm not sure what can be done about your malfunctioning HD. ClintonfromBirmingham suggested DataRescue 3 and Diskwarrior, but there's no guarantee of success; the drive is still alive, so there's still a chance of success.

Of course, if you'd backed up, there's no problem; just import the contents from your backup to your new SSD.