Queries:
• Am I looking at momentary glitch(es)? Or is my hard drive in imminent risk of croaking? (I'm guessing that the very fact that I can access Recovery HD is an indication that the hard drive is functional.)
• If the latter, how does one go about replacing the hard drive?
• If one has to send it out to a repair facility (none in town), how might one protect the information on the drive from unauthorized access?
•If it needs replacing, will I be able to restore my previous system and files from Time Machine to get back to the status quo (ante)?
- As you surmise the drive is functional, that does not mean there are not problems on sectors of the disk. Disk Utility > Repair Disk can tell you if there is as damaged volume structoure and may be able to make repairs. However the only definitive test of impending drive failure I know of is a Surface Scan. TechTool Pro or Drive Genius can do the honors there.
- Replacing the drive depends on what Mac you have. Other World Computing has some excellent online videos for most machines. If you have an iMac that may be a chore best left to a professional.
- Get a known good clone of the drive, then erase the drive before sending it in for diagnistics and repair.
- Yes. But cloning back from a clone would be faster.
