Q on how to safely format my MBP and quality issues

[proverbs]

i just bought a MBP C2D about 2-3 weeks ago, and ive been having some problems.

it gets locked up now and then, and its pretty annoying. the pb that i had previously rarely locked up and was SMOOTH. so i was advised to format the hd and start from scratch again. is there a proper way to do this, or do i just pop in my recovery disc? can someone help me with some step by step instructions?

i also noticed that the front of the laptop is not completely tight. the right side where the cd slot is located is fine, but the other side is loose. i can press down on it a little because there is space in between the top and bottom. is this normal? if not, will they swap it out?

it seems like the quality of my pb was far better than my mbp. im guessing its because so many people are switching to mac so they have to produce many more units than 2-3 years ago.

 

[mad jew]

You can reformat a drive by booting from the restore discs, heading to Disk Utility and erasing + formatting the disc as Mac OS Extended (Journaled). From here, just follow the usual installation steps.

 

[EvryDayImShufln]

I have a small gap on the left side as well, but it doesn't really bother me since the rest is perfect.

 

[eluk]

Most of us have gaps. Doesn't seem to affect the performance.

 

[aristobrat]

Most of us have gaps. Doesn't seem to affect the performance.

It's how they keep the new models so cool. The gap lets the heat out.

 

[proverbs]

thanks. ill go ahead and re-format now.

 

[proverbs]

so i erased both the hard drive and the macintosh hard drive in the utilities option but i dont see a format option??