Bad MacBook Drive: Not So Bad

Original 250GB hard drive (bottom left) gave out.

The 2009 MacBook Pro was taking progressively longer to boot up. The screen froze at least once a day, and the Mac had to be turned off by pressing the power button. Disk Utility said that the file structure was corrupted, and the suggested course of action was to erase the hard disk and reinstall everything.

The original OSX (Macintosh operating system) CDs were duly inserted into the optical drive, but the reinstallation came to a halt after a few screens. The hard disk had gone bad.

The hard disk had gone bad are words that fill most computer users with dread, but not those who own Macs and who use the built-in Time Machine program.

Replacing the 250GB hard disk was a simple matter of running down to Fry's and picking up a 500GB replacement drive for about $70. I asked for a solid-state drive but Fry's didn't have any in stock. Sometimes the universe restrains our impulsivity for our own good. The SSD would have cost close to $200, and I really should save the shekels for the new-computer fund.

The physical replacement of the hard drive took only 15 minutes, but the reinstallation and updating of the software, even with Time Machine, took most of the evening. But in the end the whole episode was worth it; the MacBook is operating better than it has in years.

Thoughts:

1) Old (but not old-old) equipment can be easy and cheap to fix, greatly aided by free guides and instructional videos on the Internet.

2) The newest equipment--go ahead and blame Steve Jobs--because of its complexity and compactness is impossible to fix by the do-it-yourselfer. Another reason to go after medium-old stuff, if you can live with not having the most advanced and coolest items to show off in public.

3) It helps to cultivate an attitude of gratitude and a good memory. A 2009 MacBook is an amazing piece of technology compared to the bricks that I used to haul around on business trips ten years earlier.  I'm using only a small portion of its capability and would use even less of the 2012 model with retinal display.  Buy what you need and not what you want, and your chances of obtaining financial freedom are much brighter.
© 2012 Stephen Yuen