The 2011 MBP refresh / buyers and owner's thread (1 Viewer)

[mattCR]

Ron-


Yes, you can do that. Run the transfer utility, and then, if your other PC seemingly fails to boot, there is a mode to make it a firewire target and the transfer utility will grab what it can.


Of course...... if you had been using Time Machine or daily backups outside of your PC, or Mesh, or Dropbox or

 

[DaveF]

Originally Posted by Ronald Epstein



Is it still possible to hook an old Macbook up to a new one and

import over all the software? Is that prompted during the initial

bootup on a brand new Mac? I think the old one has Firewire

400 while the new one 800. I do have firewire cable with an adapter

so hopefully it will transfer under those circumstances.

We used this to import as much as possible when we upgraded from a G5 tower to an iMac last year. Brought my wife's stuff over pretty well. I recall it did a pretty good job, though some time is required to check it over; particularly for settings and customizations for programs like Adobe CS.


I vaguely recall having some confusions over just what options to choose when doing the transfer. You have to be patient, read the dialogs carefully, and give it some time. It wasn't something we could blast through in an hour and be done with it.

 

[Sam Posten]

Yes use the migration assistant, it rocks I'm here at the Apple store, wish I could buy today. Sold on matte, no contest!

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Just plopped down $2912 for a loaded Macbook Pro 17".

That's including tax and $20 expedited shipping. That also

includes $100 GVT discount.


The Apple store does not have the advance configuration

on the Macbook Pro. You have to order that online.


Not happy about the money I just spent but at least I have

a powerhouse to look forward to.

 

[Sam Posten]

Congrats, I just found out I'm eligible for the gov. break too. If my tax return had been here I'd be taking a loaded up one home

 

[DaveF]

I made the mistake of looking up my MBP for comparison. The new 15" is about 3x faster than my 2007 model, in that GeekBench rating! I don't know how that corresponds to normal uses...but it would definitely speed up my Handbrake encodes!

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Never thought I would say this, but thank God Apple

isn't shipping these new Macbook pros out same day.


Last we left me, I was dealing with a dropped Macbook

that was not booting properly and freezing up.


Well, thanks to advice I received on Macrumors, I ran

a diagnostic test using the original install disc that came

with my Macbook. It showed no issues.


I then opened up my Macbook and removed the hard

drive using a Torx screwdriver. I made certain that the

SATA cable was firmly attached to the drive.


I packed everything up, and then restarted the Macbook.


BONG! There was a noise that I had lost after dropping

the Macbook. It was back! The Macbook booted up

instantly. All seems to be working flawlessly.


Saved myself $3k.


The only bad news is now that this Macbook has a

dent and some chipped blemishes on it I can't sell it

for as much as I wanted to.


However, at least I can wait a few months and find

a buyer and not have to spend $3k right away.

 

[mattCR]

Ron - replaced the hard drive with a new one or was this a secondary drive that went bad?

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Matt,


For the moment, everything is working fine.


I believe what happened was that the SATA cable

was loose. After I went in and opened up the MBP

and loosened/attached that cable everything seems

right again.

 

[DaveF]

If you don't already, get an automatic backup system going. No good comes from tempting fate with a dropped hard drive.


If the shock was enough to disconnect a (tight) connector, it might have been enough to damage something else.

 

[Sam Posten]

Why haven't you taken it to the apple store yet? Does it show signs of physical damage? If not they might bevreally able to do so heavy diags for you... My lappy had trouble starting up this week and I knew enough to get into safe mode and run fsck which made all the difference, but I suspect most users would never do that and the geniuses have tricks and tools even I don't have...

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Sam,


Yeah, it is showing physical damage.

It's not working well. Thought it was, but it's sporatically

stalling at bootup. Once it is booted it works for a bit then

freezes up.


Looks like I am back to plan A of buying a new Macbook.

 

[mattCR]

I know it sucks, but at minimum, replace the drive. I would never trust any data to any hard drive that was at risk. Not when drives are so cheap. SATA 500G? About $65. Small price compared to the risk of losing data

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Matt,


Would this be the drive I want?


http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Scorpio-Drive-WD5000BEVT/dp/B001JSSDGU/ref=lh_di_t_dup_

 

[Sam Posten]

Dude take it to the Apple store FIRST before you do anything even if it's showing minor damage. Be honest with them, tell em you dropped it, and see what they say. TRUST me here!

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Sam,


Really, what are they going to do?

They aren't going to fix it for free. I have no Apple Care on this.


I just spent $60 for a 500GB Hard Drive via Amazon, which includes

2-day shipping for Monday delivery.


I am hoping all I need to do is put a new hard drive in and I am good to go.

 

[Michael_K_Sr]

A new hard drive is a small price to pay. It's the first thing I would do after making sure all the cables were secure, RAM seated properly etc. I would have opted for a 7200 rpm drive, but that's just me.

 

[Sam Posten]

I've had amazing service there, with or without apple care. Doesn't hurt to take 40 minutes and run to Freehold to see what they might say and save the drive and maybe some long term frustration...

 

[Sam Posten]

Thinking about this here, I wonder if Apple might have Osbourned themselves a bit (not Ozzy!). If I was in the market for an iMac or a MacPro there is NO WAY I'd buy one now until they came thunderbolt equipped.

 

[mattCR]

Well, it's not quite as simple as "putting it in and done".. you will of course have to clone your current hard drive to it, or make a backup and re-install onto it. but basically, that's it. And like I said, I would 100% spend $60 to fix a problem that would prevent me from spending $3000 to replace. That's a no brainer.