Another MacBook hard drive dies due to Seagate 7.01 firmware issue

Update 2/1/11: We’ve noticed (and others on the Internets) that Seagate drives that have the firmware version of 3.CAE are in the same category as the Seagate 7.01 firmware drive that are prone to catastrophic and sudden failure. MacMedics STRONGLY recommends that both the Seagate 7.01 AND 3.CAE hard drives should be replaced no matter where they are installed or how old they are. Having an effective back-up is great protection, but if you’ve got a ticking time bomb in your computer it could blow up at anytime, and you could still lose data. Also, no time is a good time to have your hard drive blow up. It could happen before a big trip or project and the computer would be unusable until the drive was replaced, and the data that you HAVE backed up can be restored. In some cases that could take an entire day as Time machine often take several hours to fully restore. Also, MacMedics recommends having a clone of your hard drive in addition to your Time Machine back up. Read all about Time Machine warnings here.
Update 2/16/10 Apple announces repair extension program for MacBook Seagate 7.01 hard drives. Get details from Apple.com. If you have an affected MacBook, call MacMedics and we can arrange to have hard drive replaced.
This is no trick-or-treat folks! Check NOW to see if your MacBook (most common in White or Black MacBooks from 2-3 years ago) has a Seagate 7.01 hard drive before it’s too late! I just put another one (including client’s important lost data) into a body bag to send back to Apple. With this model there are NO clean room recovery options!
Read my previous Blog post to learn if you have one installed or not.
I’ve had two clients in as many days lose all of their data due the fact that the Seagate 7.01 installed in their White or Black MacBooks kicked the bucket. In the first case the Seagate 7.01 hard drive was installed as “replacement” for a previously failed hard drive by the Apple Store. In the second case the young man who owned the White MacBook had important school work on it that was due today. Sadly he did NOT have a back up.
Here’s a picture from Wired.com that shows the damage that can be caused if the drive fails:

This is a case where the hard drive appears to be destined to “FAIL”, but hard drives of ALL makes and models fail all the time. It is super critical to have you data backed up, and on a tested and functioning back up at all time. See our web page http://www.HardDrivesDie.com