How to Boot a Macbook With a Clicking Noise

6-pin Firewire Cable

Boot your Macbook with extreme caution if it has an audible clicking noise, because that can imply imminent hard drive failure. The safest and best way to boot your Macbook in this situation is to Firewire Disk Mode, where the Macbook will show up as an external hard drive to another Firewire-enabled Mac. This can allow you time to transfer crucial data before bringing the Macbook to a professional technician for further diagnosis. If another Firewire-enabled Mac is not available, booting to Safe Mode may afford you enough time to transfer necessary files to an external drive or CD.

Things You'll Need

• 1 6- or 8-pin Firewire cable

Instructions

Booting Macbook in Firewire Disk Mode

1. Plug in Macbook to a known good power supply and boot, holding the "T" key until the Firewire symbol appears on screen.

2. Connect Macbook to another Firewire-enabled Mac with a 6- or 8-pin Firewire cable, depending on the Mac model. Visually, 6-pin Firewire ports look more rectangular than 8-pin ports.

3. Select yellow Macbook HD disk icon when it mounts and access user information by opening "Macintosh HD", then opening the "Users" folder. User information is contained in the folders therein.

Booting a Macbook into Safe Mode

1. Plug in Macbook to a known good power supply.

2. Boot, holding the "Shift" key until the Apple logo appears on screen.

3. Connect an external hard drive and transfer desired files.

Tips & Warnings

• Back up your data frequently. Time Machine, an automatic utility included with Mac OS X 10.5 and later is a very convenient option.

• Work quickly, as a clicking hard drive can suggest impending hardware failure.

• If Macbook does not boot or crashes repeatedly, bring it to a trained professional.

References

• Apple: How to use and Troubleshoot Firewire Disk Mode
• Apple: Starting up in Safe Mode

Resources

• Apple: Mac OS X Keyboard Shortcuts