Just a quick reminder about data recovery and Apple’s warranty. If you need your data off your hard drive and you are also under warranty, your best choice is to waive your Apple warranty on your hard drive and buy a new drive instead. I just had to tell a friend of one of our clients that once Apple replaces your drive (or MacMedics) that “dead” hard drive HAS to be sent back to Apple. Once it’s been sent in to exchange your warranty drive it’s gone forever. It’s NOT worth trying to get a free hard drive and weaving in and out of the Apple store trying to get your drive back.

In some cases a better choice is to buy a new drive, install it and get back to work on your computer while the recovery is under way. If your drive DOES NOT need to be opened, you can still get it replaced under the Apple warranty after the fact. You can then swap the drives back or just leave the newer, more robust drive in place, and keep the Apple replacement drive as a back up, or have it swapped at a later date.

See more at: http://www.macmedics.com/recovery.htm