burkphoto wrote:
They're not all real geniuses. Some of them will screw up your computer. That's why I always always always back up my entire machine on a regular basis. If it's running when I take it to an Apple Store, I make a full backup first. That way, if they zap my drive, I can reinstall everything on another one.
I successfully used Apple's Genius Bar for a similar problem. The "Genius" asked me if I used Time Machine. I said "Of course I do". He said only a very small minority of Apple users use Time Machine. I have no sympathy for users who ignore Time Machine. Migration Assistant is great.