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changed hard drive.. advice needed

C

chinoky

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 17, 2010
7
0
Hi all

I recently changed the hard drive on my macbook air as the previous one had failed. The one i bought was compatible but when i installed it theres a flashing folder icon with a '?'. I understand this means hard drive not detected. I checked all the cables and everything is connected.

Does anyone have any advice with what to do next?
 
C

chinoky

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 17, 2010
7
0
sorry should have been for informative.

Yes to install the mac OS possibly via usb stick as i dont have a dvd drive.
and how to format it. Im a mac newbie:(

I thought the hard drive wasnt being detected as that was what the apple tect told me when i took it there. I didnt let him book it in or open it as the hard drive is bigger and non oem
 
Beanoir

Beanoir

macrumors 6502a
Dec 9, 2010
571
2
51 degrees North
Was your original hard drive too far gone to be able to clone it before swapping it out? Makes life a lot easier when swapping hard drives.

To format the new drive you need to open up Disc Utility and format it as Mac OSX Extended. I think you actually Erase it first (even though there is nothing on it) and go from there.
 
simsaladimbamba

simsaladimbamba

Guest
Nov 28, 2010
22,670
31
located
chinoky said:
sorry should have been for informative.

Yes to install the mac OS possibly via usb stick as i dont have a dvd drive.
and how to format it. Im a mac newbie:(

I thought the hard drive wasnt being detected as that was what the apple tect told me when i took it there. I didnt let him book it in or open it as the hard drive is bigger and non oem
Click to expand...

The HDD is detected, but it hasn't been formatted yet. Guides on how to format and install Mac OS X can be found in post #3.
 
C

chinoky

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 17, 2010
7
0
Beanoir said:
Was your original hard drive too far gone to be able to clone it before swapping it out? Makes life a lot easier when swapping hard drives.

To format the new drive you need to open up Disc Utility and format it as Mac OSX Extended. I think you actually Erase it first (even though there is nothing on it) and go from there.
Click to expand...

It wouldnt load up from the computer but did in the apple store when he used a external device to boot it. Enough to back up my files.
 
C

chinoky

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 17, 2010
7
0
I checked through the guides and as my macbook doesnt have a dvd reader isit possible to install it from a usb stick??
If so whats the best way to do it??
thanks
 
T

tcassio

macrumors newbie
Mar 23, 2011
28
0
When you purchased the Macbook Air, it should have come with a USB stick with the OS on it. Use that.
 
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