Hard disk installation in New York City

My hard drive was pronounced DOA at the Apple Store in SoHo. The attendent recommended that I take my computer to TekServe on 23rd St. to get a new drive installed. The Apple Store would have charged $300 to replace my 60G drive with the same model. Techserve said they'd install a 60G drive for a little over $200, or an 80G drive for closer to $300, not including tax. Then I'd have to wait a week to get the machine back. A loaner rental would be $175. TekServe quoted me $600 for data-recovery from my old hard drive. (The truly mission-critical information is backed up electronically or in hard copy, but there's a lot of other material on the old drive that I'd be sad to to lose. My high-res Katrina and DeLay photographs are trapped on the old drive.)

Can anyone think of a cheaper and/or faster alternative? I'm happy to go anywhere accessible by public transportation in New York or New Jersey in search of a better deal.

I'm considering retiring this computer and upgrading to the new MacBook Pro, but I've still got to replace the hard drive in the old Powerbook in order to sell it.

Comments

[Squashed Lemon]

LINDSAY.... yer in NYC, second biggest nerd capital of the world after silicon valley.

Get a connection.

Otherwise.
1. Go get second hand HD and install it yourself. It ain't brain surgery. Apple is paying chinese peasant to do it. (there are more than enough 'how-to' posted online)

2. otherwise. go down to nearest nerd/coffe/NYU whatever and ask ANYBODY, they'll do it for ya cheapie. If it's nerd/leftie geek club, they'll do it within the hour and free.

And STOP patronizing expensive stores. $300 for HD? You can get WHOLE new computer for that money in china town plus a lunch.

and speaking of, why are you using all those expensive computer gears anyway? aren't you suppose to have one disposable desktop at home for when things like this happens?

[Lindsay Beyerstein]

I haven't patronized any stores yet. :) I started looking into DIY installation, but I'm hesitant to replace my own hard drive. It's not brain surgery, but it's a big step up from the next-most complicted hardware thing I've ever done on my machine, which is add memory.

We have a desktop at home, but it's Thad's computer. Like me, he works from home, so it's in pretty heavy use already.

[Squashed]

If I were you: I would look for a second hand HD. buy it from friends. then replace it yourself. Depending on the size you are looking for everything should be running again for $40-80. $140 for spanking new drive. Go to 24hrs computer store, if you are not into back alley dealing.

here we go: (no picture, dig the web for instruction with pictures.)
http://www.smalldog.com/newsarchive/techtails_display.php?id=251

[yasth]

These people will ship you drive plus detailed instructions, for not that much. Add a firewire enclosure if it suits you http://www.mcetech.com/ms.html

I mean if you don't need it right away of course. The firewire enclousre for $50 is a bad deal, but not too horribly bad.

Also recovery is not assured, even paying $600 (which won't even cover intensive recovery efforts.) Most likely they will just run something like:
http://www.alsoft.com/DiskWarrior/index.html
or (a little better I think):
http://www.prosofteng.com/products/data_rescue.php

[JDC]

Actually, adding RAM is much riskier than adding a hard drive. The drive is fairly tough and the memory module is delicate. You can do this easy.

And $300 is insane. I don't know what Powerbook you have but you can buy a lot of drive for less money. Most Powerbooks use IDE/ATA drives. Here's 80 gig for $110

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822146043&ATT=22-146-043&CMP=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r

Newegg is an outstanding retailer.

[Squashed Lemon]

Here is a pretty good DIY, HD replacement with picture.

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/

I for one vote for going down to chinatown or queens and get a second hand HD. (tho I bet somebody somewhere in Brooklyn can get you a pretty good deal)

better yet...

SOMEBODY... YOU BASTARDS....send Lindsay a spare HARDRIVE NOW...! (didcha upgrade your laptop last summer? where did you put that HD?)

[squashed Lemon]

And $300 is insane.

Posted by: JDC | February 26, 2006 at 05:08 PM

$300 is definitely a major rip off.

[Thad]

Squashed, first off, the installation at TekServe isn't done by "Chinese peasants," it's done on-site by experienced Mac techs who (rightly) expect to earn a living wage in NYC. I replaced the HD on Lindsay's previous machine, and I've popped the hood of my own Mac mini with a pair of putty knives, so my first instinct was to attempt the installation myself. However, the HD on the 12" PowerBook is much less accessible than on her previous computer and requires a substantial amount of disassembly, and after looking over the instructions, I have to reluctantly admit that this operation is well beyond my comfort zone. And since the computer is crucial to Lindsay's livelihood, we are certainly not going to ask some complete stranger to volunteer to dissect it for us.

Also, given the difficulty of dissambling the machine, it seems the height of foolishness to go to all that trouble only to put a used HD in there.

I'm well aware that new 2.5" hard drives can be had for substantially less than TekServe charges, but that's because the TekServe price includes a guaranteed installation from someone who actually knows what they are doing, and won't make a bad situation worse.

[squashed Lemon]

well, 'mkay.

(but she did say she needs it pronto. getting it that way is the fastest, second after getting fresh HD in superstores. I was talking about 'assembly line')

[Thad]

If someone knows of an authorized Apple repair shop that is cheaper/faster than TekServe, that would be great.

[Thad]

Actually, adding RAM is much riskier than adding a hard drive.

Adding RAM does not require disassembling the entire PowerBook -- there's a simple panel on the bottom of the computer that opens up for RAM replacement. Plus, replacing the HD requires removing and reinstalling the extra RAM, so it's not like it's an either/or thing (although the RAM removal/replacement is by far the easiest step).

[talkleft]

Lindsay, use ebay. I just saw a new 80 gig one for $146.00. you can probably find a seller in NY or pay a few bucks extra for fedex. Best yet is they take paypal so you can just pay with your donations.

At ebay just type in powerbook and hard drive.

[Thad]

Guys, please.

I know you're all trying to help, and we honestly appreciate all the suggestions, but the trouble here is that eBay doesn't install the drive. And again, this isn't like replacing the HD on a desktop machine, or even a Dell notebook. I've done that. This is not like that. At all.

Disassembling a wafer-thin 12" PowerBook is a long and tricky job that I'd rather trust to someone who knows exactly what they are doing. Finding a good price on a laptop HD is easy -- there are lots of places to get a good deal on 2.5" HDs in NYC or online. But that's not the problem. What we are after here is a place (or person) that will install the drive for a reasonable price. Ideally, they will also guarantee (as TekServe does) that if they fuck it up and break something during the installation process -- which is, I repeat, extremely easy to do on this machine, since everything is packed so tightly -- they will either fix it on their dime or reimburse us for the value of the machine.

[Nathan Williams]

Pay TekServe to install the new drive, but not for data recovery.

Personally, I'd do it myself (having done it on a 12" iBook and a 12" PowerBook, following instructions a lot like what have been posted here), but their prices for that aren't bad for the expertise and the guarantee. $200 for 60G + labor is fine. It's possible that someone more local to you will be able to do it faster than TekServe (unless you feel like driving up here to western MA for an afternoon), but probably not much cheaper.

The data recovery, however, sounds like too much. Disks tend to go bad in spots; you have a good chance that if you drop the disk into a USB/Firewire enclosure ($20-$40 for a laptop-disk sized one, at any respectable computer-gadget retailer) you will be able to copy off all of the data you care about. The failure spot is more likely in the system software, which you won't care about once you have a new disk.

[Thad]

Nathan,

$200 for 60G + labor is fine.

The 60GB + labor at TekServe is actually more like $250, I think -- do you think it's still worth it at that price? (They may be able to turn it around more quickly -- we will find out tomorrow.)

When you did the disassembly yourself for the first time, how long did it take, total? During the disassembly, did you feel relatively confident that you wouldn't break anything, or did it feel kind of hairy at times? Did the reassembly go reasonably smoothly?

The data recovery, however, sounds like too much. Disks tend to go bad in spots; you have a good chance that if you drop the disk into a USB/Firewire enclosure ($20-$40 for a laptop-disk sized one, at any respectable computer-gadget retailer) you will be able to copy off all of the data you care about. The failure spot is more likely in the system software, which you won't care about once you have a new disk.

I was wondering if that was worth trying. Thank you so much for the very helpful info! Lindsay and I are very much obliged.

[Thad]

Oh, one more thing...

I tried to get the drive to mount on my Mac mini by linking them with a FW cable and putting Lindsay's PowerBook into Target Disk mode. But that didn't work, the volume never showed up. (Removable media, yes; the HD, no.) Does that bode ill for the chances that the drive would show up when put into a FW or USB enclosure?

[michael]

Ugh, this is a crappy situation. I've had to replace the drive in a 12" iBook and it's not fun, although if you go slow and document what came from where, you'll probably be fine. That's what I did (I'm not a repair techie, I just didn't have the money to pay someone else to replace the drive). Nathan's comment about the price does seem fair for the repair and guarantee. The time I did the disassembly on the iBook took me about an hour and a half, perhaps a little less, but like I said, I was *very* careful and documented where everything came from. The reassembly went faster. I'll admit that I held my breath at the end to see if the drive was recognized.

The fact that the drive isn't mounting through target disk mode isn't the end of the world. You can download a demo of Prosoft's Data Rescue to see if it will pick up the drive despite it not mounting (one of the other comments above also tossed in this URL): http://www.prosofteng.com/products/data_rescue_info.php

If it does manage to access the disk, you could then buy the software and recover what files it can get if you want. That would be the cheap first step. I've never had to go farther than that, so I don't know for sure. There's some additional information out there about getting corrupted/unmountable disks repaired, including here (the guy who writes the blog is a programmer at Apple):
http://www.friday.com/bbum/2006/02/20/recovering-disk-images-with-diskwarrior/

Without more information about the drive's death, it's hard to say with too much specifity what could be done. I wish you luck.

[pebird]

I used www.powerbookmedic.com for a replacement CD/DVD drive and wireless card - they were pretty fast and had an excellent on-line manual - first powerbook (G4) I cracked open (done many PC laptops). You can get an 80GB for 170.00 (60GB 150.00) includes manual (you also need the Torx drives - s/b around $10).

If you want to make a small investment - you can buy the manual for $10.00, they may credit you if you later buy a hard disk.

The disassembly and reassembly worked very easily - the Apple stuff is so much better built that PC laptops.

On this same G4 the hard drive "failed" - a reinstall of the O/S from CD worked - even kept the data intact.

Good luck.

[Thad]

On this same G4 the hard drive "failed" - a reinstall of the O/S from CD worked - even kept the data intact.

Thanks, pebird. Naturally, we tried reinstalling the OS, but the laptop no longer recognizes the HD at all, even when booted from the install DVD. It doesn't show up in Disk Utility or System Profiler either.

[lara]

I had to replace the HD in an iBook. I saved a little bit of money by buying the drive from some website and just having TekServe install it.

I did ask a couple of geek friends about installing it, and tried a few shops in South Jersey (where my family lives) -- but the general response was that Apple laptops are so intricately assembled that mucking around inside them is best left to pros do it frequently.

I now live in New Hampshire, and a local Mac store gave me a considerably lower (I think 50%) estimate on data recovery than TekServe's, but not low enough that I can afford to resuscitate just yet. I tried the same process you did with the target drive, same results. I also tried Data Rescue with no luck, and afterward someone told me that with very damaged drives, there's a risk of even more damage when you run it through recovery software. At the moment my HD is lying comatose inside a jewelry box, waiting for a windfall.

Incidentally, the drive crapped out after only a year and a half of standard laptop wear-and-tear -- no major traumas. I kick myself for not getting Applecare, but at the same time, that seems like an awfully short lifespan.

[Thad]

I had to replace the HD in an iBook. I saved a little bit of money by buying the drive from some website and just having TekServe install it.

Thanks, Lara. I didn't know they did that -- we will definitely look into that option, see what their fee is for just a straight installation, if we provide the drive.

I also tried Data Rescue with no luck, and afterward someone told me that with very damaged drives, there's a risk of even more damage when you run it through recovery software.

At this point, I think there's a notrival risk of serious damage every time the drive spins up. Back when I could still get Disk Utility to recognize the HD and attempt a repair, the nice healthy spinning sounds were occasionally punctuated by small but terrifying metallic grinding sounds.

IIRC, Lindsay's had this machine for a little over two years now, and she's certainly never dropped it or mistreated it. Just unlucky, I guess.

[Nathan Williams]

Okay, that disk sounds worse off than I thought, if nothing is seeing it - from install media and target mode are both decent tests, although neither one tests for, say, the disk cable being loose. The failing disk I replaced wasn't that bad off, even though the system wouldn't boot. It's still worth trying the enclosure first, I think, though if that doesn't work that's about it for amateur disk-recovery options.

When I did the disassembly and reassembly, it took me 2 or 3 hours for the whole thing. I used one of the dissassembly guides that had printouts for each page and little spots to tape down all the screws, and a couple of spare sheets of anti-static wrapping to put things down on. There were a couple of touchy spots, mostly where some tiny screw very tight and didn't want to budge, and I'm leaning on it with a jewler's screwdriver, wondering what's going to break first.... but it all worked out. Reassembly was much easier. Having three sets of jewler's screwdrivers in addition to a regular toolbox was very helpful.

[Joseph Dougherty]

I’d strongly urge you to go with your decision to let a qualified tech do the installation. The reasons are several, but the chief one is that you do not yet know what is really wrong; it may not be just the HD. Replacing a working HD with an upgrade is a task that’s hard enough for one who does not do this kind of work all the time; working on a dead machine is much chancier.

If the HD was making nasty sounds you are correct to be reluctant to spin it up. Should you choose to spin it up for recovery you should have it in an external FW enclosure, the recovery software loaded and running before the drive spins up, a clear plan for recovery (prioritize; if you get the drive up it may not stay up, or ever come up again), and the certainty you have HD space to copy all you can recover (one would feel pretty silly trying to bring a 60 GB drive into 10 GB free space).

If you cannot get anything you may wish to try drivesavers.com or a similar service; I swear by drivesavers. Before you do this talk to me or to someone with a vendor relationship with the recovery outfit; cost savings may be available.

Best of luck to you. I do this stuff for a living, and would be happy to attempt to answer any questions you may have. Unfortunately, I’m here in the Athens of the MidWest instead of close to hand.

[Aaron]

Hey Lindsay

Long-time lurker, and big fan here, also in NYC. I've replaced enough drives n PB/iBs to concur with what the wise comments here are saying. It's worth the $250 to get it done by Tekserve. Yeah, they're expensive, and they don't deserve their exalted reputation, but their work is guaranteed. One screwup doing it yourself and you'll wish you'd paid a tech.

The drive souds cooked. Nathan gives great advice. Alas, recovering data from the platters (a la Drivesavers) is going to be expensive, and there's no way around it if a bearing is burned out or the heads have crashed, which is that grinding sound you heard, most likely.

There's no expectation a hard drive, especially in a notebook, will last a year or a month. They just fail. They are rated for mean time between failures, but that's just an average. So the real lesson, which never gets repeated too often, is to back up every day, and redundantly. I consult on backup strategies for archives I can't tell you how many disasters I've seen where people have lost years of work. As we get deeper into the computer era, that is turning into *lifetimes* of work These are just machines. Don't trust them with your most precious stuff. Everyone knows it, but it takes a disaster for most people to really learn it.

a

[krimpet]

I think techrestore.com also does powerbook drive replacements/data transfers by mail at similar or slightly lower prices.