The results were not good so I erased the disk (from Disk Utilities) and restored from Time Machine (on a 1 TB LaCie). With Firewire 800, it took 1-1/2 hrs to restore 160 GB. Viva la Time Machine and FireWire 800!
I ran my utilitities again with only marginally better results, so Monday morning I took the MB P to the Galleria (Houston) Apple Store. A “genius” (I still think that word is pretentious) looked at it, agreed with me and sent it off to get a new hard drive.
I am covered by AppleCare ($$$) so the replacement was free.
Tuesday afternoon I got the call that it was ready. Viva la Apple Store!
When I fired it up the welcome screens offered the chance to transfer my files and settings from Time Machine, which I did. It took about 2 hrs this time.
One glitch: When the transfer process got to “less than one minute” it hung. I waited about an hour and then quit the transfer software. The MacBook Pro rebooted.
I downloaded nine software updates and went to bed.
This morning I rebooted and then tried things out. iTunes said it didn’t recognize this computer (as reported elsewhere). I logged on and was told “this computer is already authorized.” After that I could play all my DRM songs. Everything else worked from the git-go.
Viva la Apple for all of this, with a tip of the hat to LaCie!
