Have Apple installed a second-hand hard drive in my recalled machine?

Joined
Dec 29, 2012
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Points
1
My iMac was recalled for a replacement hard drive which my local Apple store completed.
When I got it home and initialised it , there was somebody else's 'go mail' email address in the input area at the first stage of initialistion. I would have thought a brand new hard drive would have been free of any other person's data.
Does this point to a second hand hard drive being used?

It is also seems to run as if lacking ram or memory. For example, when I scroll through files using cover flow, large sections of files disappear for a few seconds and then rebuild slowly in fragments. I use Mac's all day long and have never experienced any like this before?

Any ideas? Should I take it back to Apple again?
 

bobtomay

,
Retired Staff
Joined
Dec 22, 2006
Messages
26,561
Reaction score
677
Points
113
Location
Texas, where else?
Your Mac's Specs
15" MBP '06 2.33 C2D 4GB 10.7; 13" MBA '14 1.8 i7 8GB 10.11; 21" iMac '13 2.9 i5 8GB 10.11; 6S
If the drive was replaced, it was likely turned on and tested at the factory to verify it was working "before" being shipped back to you.

When you first start up a new Mac it is going to be building it's Spotlight index.
 
OP
N
Joined
Dec 29, 2012
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Okay Cheers, bobtomay. That makes sense. In regards to the Spotlight index, I've been using it for 2 months with no improvement (the old HD it never did anything like that) so I reckon I'll take it back in...

Cheers
 

bobtomay

,
Retired Staff
Joined
Dec 22, 2006
Messages
26,561
Reaction score
677
Points
113
Location
Texas, where else?
Your Mac's Specs
15" MBP '06 2.33 C2D 4GB 10.7; 13" MBA '14 1.8 i7 8GB 10.11; 21" iMac '13 2.9 i5 8GB 10.11; 6S
Depending on what folder you're viewing in Finder, I've always had that happen since Coverflow was introduced. I sure wouldn't want it loading a pic of every file I have in a few of my folders into memory. Wouldn't have any left for the applications I have running. However, if you're concerned about it, a trip with it back to the Apple store could be worthwhile.

How much memory do you have in it?
 
OP
N
Joined
Dec 29, 2012
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Points
1
4Gb ram with virtually an empty 1TB drive. I have another mac with more on it, that runs 100% smooth.
 

bobtomay

,
Retired Staff
Joined
Dec 22, 2006
Messages
26,561
Reaction score
677
Points
113
Location
Texas, where else?
Your Mac's Specs
15" MBP '06 2.33 C2D 4GB 10.7; 13" MBA '14 1.8 i7 8GB 10.11; 21" iMac '13 2.9 i5 8GB 10.11; 6S
4 GB should be plenty for that. I get some of what you're describing even with an SSD on first pass through of Coverflow - although, as in your experience, all of our Macs do run Coverflow pretty smoothly. Have you an issue with anything other than Coverflow?

You could try this app. I keep it around because my machine is limited to 4 GB and both Safari and Firefox can eat that all up like no tomorrow. It'll give you a quick glance at how much free memory you have right on the Menu bar to see if that's the issue and 2 click access to freeing up memory also.
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top