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EK03

macrumors member
Original poster
Hey, i got my new isight today. I put it on and then i take a look at the other stands which happen to be magnetic. Im holding it in my left hand and it grabs my hard drive for a split second, and i hear a bad hard drive noise coming from my powerbook 🙁. I have 1 software restore DVD and i was wondering if i could possibly do a repair to salvage any data. Also, how do i use the software restore DVD?
 
ok, i went into system restore, it came to the welcome screen but i couldnt hit continue so im assuming this hard drive is dead 🙁 unless anyone else has an idea? Is there a disk repair utility i could run off a CD to analyze the hard drive like bootmagic for windows?
 
If you can get a copy of Mac OS X then you can boot off the CD by holding C when turning the machine on. From there you can run the Disk Utility and Repair Permissions.

Try www.macosxhints.com for some other tips that you may be able to run in the terminal if you can get to Single User Mode.

Sorry I can't be more help, good luck!
 
i got in the disk utility, but it cant gather the information on the drive, anything else i can do? if its physcially damaged is there a way to repair it? Would there be a way to recover any data from the disk?
 
update, after hitting repair disk a few times it fixed 1 error and the 2nd time it said its "rebuilding B-tree" and the hard drive is making odd noises. Im planning on letting it go for as long as i can but anyone have an idea if i can recover the data on it?
 
Most hard drives are not worth repairing as the cost of a replacement is so low.

However if the drive only has a mechanical failure and the data is still in intact but say the read/write head is damaged then look around for data recovery service and they can usually rescue what is on the physical platter. They are not cheap and it all depends on how valuable the info is to you.
 
Did you unplug the iSight? First rule of hard drive repair is to unplug all non-essential peripherals.

Thanks
Trevor
CanadaRAM.com
 
EK03 said:
update, after hitting repair disk a few times it fixed 1 error and the 2nd time it said its "rebuilding B-tree" and the hard drive is making odd noises. Im planning on letting it go for as long as i can but anyone have an idea if i can recover the data on it?


If you want to recover you data connect the computer to a another computer using firewire mode or boot from an external drive.
 
Clutz the only other machine i have is a windows desktop. Would that still be possible? I do have an ipod to use for external backup, can DiskWarrior recover data and back it up?
 
EK03 said:
Clutz the only other machine i have is a windows desktop. Would that still be possible? I do have an ipod to use for external backup, can DiskWarrior recover data and back it up?

You can install OSX on your ipod and boot from it!
Start from your OSX cd/dvd and install osx on the ipod. boot the machine from the ipod and use filesharing between the mac and the pc.

I would take some time, but it might be your best solution.
 
cluthz said:
You can install OSX on your ipod and boot from it!
Start from your OSX cd/dvd and install osx on the ipod. boot the machine from the ipod and use filesharing between the mac and the pc.

I would take some time, but it might be your best solution.


I tried, i blanked the ipod, repartitioned it in Disk Utility, but when i try installing onto it it says "you cannot install mac os x on this volume."

is there a workaround?
 
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