Formatting Mackbook Pro

I have tried repairing the disk with my installation disc but it still fails and shows several problems.

Certain programmes such as QuarkXpress are crashing (spinning wheel) whenever I hit 'save' which is causing me big problems... I can't save my work.

I think I need to erase the disk and start over.... need some advice:

First of all, is this the right step to be taking at this stage?

How long can I expect this to take?

Probably a stupid question but do I definitely lose all my software?
(I have Adobe CS, Quark and Microsoft Office that I got from my old place of work so don't have the discs for those and can't really afford to replace them.)

Is it worth taking to the Apple store of will they just tell me I need to format?

My machine specs are as follows:

MBP
15-inch, Late 2008
Processor 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 9400M 256 MB
Software Mac OS X Lion 10.7.2

Thanks

It does sound like your hard drive may be failing and needs to be replaced. Erasing the disk, reformatting, and reinstalling is not likely to be of any help if the hard drive is at fault.

Probably a stupid question but do I definitely lose all my software?
(I have Adobe CS, Quark and Microsoft Office that I got from my old place of work so don't have the discs for those and can't really afford to replace them.)

Click to expand...

Yes, you will lose all that software. However:

Since you do not have the original disks and accompanying license for any of the software you mentioned, they're not legal anyway. Purchasing legal copies of the above or download an equivalent free version (LibreOffice, Open Office and so forth) is what you should do.

My computer runs well apart from QuarkXpress but I use that quite a lot. I did however upgrade to Quark9 since having the problem with Quark8 and I still get the saving issue.

How much is it to replace a hard drive?

Should I take it to the Apple store?

You can replace the hard drive yourself. It's not a difficult do it yourself task and will save you money from having Apple do it. You can read the instructions at iFixit: The free repair manual or watch one of the videos that are available on the Other World Computing site.

Thanks... I'm going to try formatting this one and see how that turns out but probably will be a new hard drive. Any recommendations on the best place to buy?

The best place in my opinion to buy (on line) is from the folks at Other World Computing. Follow the link I gave you in my previous reply. Keep in mind that right now hard drive prices have spiked somewhat because of the floods in Thailand where most of them are manufactured.

I see, it makes me wonder if I'd be better selling this machine and getting a new one, it's getting on a bit now anyway, late 2008 model.

By the way, my problems only started after I installed Lion.

Unfortunately Lion has been troublesome for some folks. I'm not all that impressed with it myself but I do have it on both of my machines and it's working well. Lion probably should be installed clean rather than an upgrade as that will likely resolve a lot of the little glitches that folks are having with it.

As for selling your 2008 machine, that's always an option but you'll have to get it running well before the sale anyway. It's probably best to repair it first and see how well it runs. Maybe you'll decide to keep it thereby saving some money for Xmas shopping.

Yeah, I might just repair this then and hold out for the next generation MBPs.