macbook white 2009 wont boot

pigoo3

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Not much info to go on. But it could be the hard drive going bad.

- Nick
 
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If I replace the hard drive Nick, how do I get the OS on the computer

No recovery partition on the new hard drive, so how do I get a current OS on the new drive.
Chuck

PS sorry if I didn't give more info, but I am a beginner
 

pigoo3

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No recovery partition on the new hard drive, so how do I get a current OS on the new drive.

Firstly…you haven't told us what OS version is currently installed. Got to know "where we are"…before we can figure out where we "want to be".:)

Second…you mentioned "a current OS" on the hard drive. If you said the most current OS…that would be a specific answer. But when you say "a current OS"…this can have multiple possibilities.

Third…if the hard drive is going bad or dead…then there is no way to get a "current" OS on the drive. You would need a new/replacement HD first.

- Nick
 
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More details to Nick

1) My computer runs Yosemite
2) When I get a new hard drive or SSD, how do I get Yosemite on the new drive without an install cd? When I said no recovery partition, I meant on the newly purchased drive.
3) I need only a small hard drive to purchase, if my original drive is truly dead or about to die. Where do I go to get a new drive, 120 SSD or 240 spinning drive?

Thanks for the help.
Chuck

PS Sorry if I don't give the right info, as I said, I am a beginner and am not sure what you need to know
 

pigoo3

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1) My computer runs Yosemite

Good to know. Yosemite is the most current OS. When you said "a current OS"...this made it sound like you were running something older (and trying to choose).

2) When I get a new hard drive or SSD, how do I get Yosemite on the new drive without an install cd? When I said no recovery partition, I meant on the newly purchased drive.

Use "Internet Recovery":

OS X: About OS X Recovery - Apple Support

3) I need only a small hard drive to purchase, if my original drive is truly dead or about to die. Where do I go to get a new drive, 120 SSD or 240 spinning drive?

Lots & lots of places to purchase hard drives:

- Newegg.com
- Bestbuy.com
- Walmart.com
- Tigerdirect.com
- etc. etc. etc.

Hard drives are really like a "commodity" and can be purchased at many many many places. So you shop for best price.:)

But if I was to recommend a single place...it would be OWC (macsales.com). Decent prices, good return policies, good customer service, longtime Macintosh devoted seller.;)

- Nick

p.s. We don't really know 100% that your current HD is good or bad (may need further testing). You could try using "Internet Recovery" as outlined above. Or:

- boot the computer from an OS install DVD (like a Snow Leopard DVD). Which your computer is capable of running. And if you don't own it...you need to purchase it.:)
- boot the computer from an external bootable hard drive (must have an OS installed on it...which makes it bootable).
 
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no matter what I do, progress bar stops at 50%, maybe it impossible to go further to disk utilities, so how do I test my hard drive? Frustrating. Other sites say upgrading to Yosemite is the culprit, not the hard drive. Command + R at bootup sends me to progress bar at 50% max. Any ideas Nick?

Thank you for the replies so far. I would like to know how to test my hard drive. Computer is MacBook 2009 white running Yosemite for those not seeing the earlier posts.
 

pigoo3

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no matter what I do, progress bar stops at 50%, maybe it impossible to go further to disk utilities, so how do I test my hard drive?

This is where a couple of the ideas I mentioned earlier can be tried:

- Boot the computer from an OS install DVD (Snow Leopard).
- Boot the computer from an external bootable HD.

In either of these cases the computer is being booted from something other than the computers internal HD. Then you launch Disk Utility...and see if anything can be done with the HD.

- Maybe Disk Utility says the disk is damaged, can't "find" it, etc.
- Or maybe you completely erase & reformat the HD (if possible). But if this is done...then anything on the HD is lost. But if the HD is "dead"...then the data is lost anyway (so hopefully you have a backup if this is the case).

And if the internal HD is "dead"/failing...then it's new HD time.

- Nick
 

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