Hard Drive issues

[xkr]

Hi, recently i've been having many troubles with my Macbook. So one day I was sitting down and my Macbook slid off my lap and fell on to my rug. The drop was not so bad so I picked it up and it began running very slow. Some things would not load and it would not shutdown or restart so I held the power button. When it shut down and I re-booted it, I was greeted by the OS X Utilities. I click on Disk Utility and ran "Verify Disk" on the Macintosh HD. I got a error message "I'll inclue pictures" so I ran "Repair Disk". It was unable to repair so I took out my hard drive and took it to the Genius Bar. I told them what happened and they couldn't help me since I already did what they would have done to my Hard Drive so it would be wasting mine and their time. I got a USB adaptor for my hard drive and plugged it into my iMac. I ran Disk Utility again and got the same message. I need to back up my files so I tried to mount it but it would not mount. How do I back up my files? Apple also referred to to a company who can get information off of hard drives (http://www.drivesaversdatarecovery.com/) and they quoted me around
"The data recovery estimate for the 500GB Hard Drive you described is:

- Economy Service: $700-1985
No charge if the data is unrecoverable

- Standard Service: $900-3900
No charge if the data is unrecoverable

- Priority Service: $1800-8900
Attempt fees apply if the data is unrecoverable."

for my hard drive but if that may come to it, I just may have to suck it up and pay that much to get my information off. I am in desperate need of help here! Thanks to anyone who took the time to read this, I appreciate it!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/87847668@N06/8037876661/

 

[Fishrrman]

"for my hard drive but if that may come to it, I just may have to suck it up and pay that much to get my information off. I am in desperate need of help here!"

You have just learned what the word "backup" is about, and why it's important to have one.

You can create a backup system for less than $100, perhaps much less.

Before going further, let's get a few things straight.

You have already removed the damaged hard drive from the Macbook (and have it "in-hand"), is that correct?

How are you booting the Macbook now?

Do you have another Mac handy?

The damaged drive -- is it a "SATA" drive?

Get back with these answers, and we'll go further.

 

[xkr]

"for my hard drive but if that may come to it, I just may have to suck it up and pay that much to get my information off. I am in desperate need of help here!"

You have just learned what the word "backup" is about, and why it's important to have one.

You can create a backup system for less than $100, perhaps much less.

Before going further, let's get a few things straight.

You have already removed the damaged hard drive from the Macbook (and have it "in-hand"), is that correct?

How are you booting the Macbook now?

Do you have another Mac handy?

The damaged drive -- is it a "SATA" drive?

Get back with these answers, and we'll go further.

Yes, I have the hard drive removed and I plugged it into my iMac to try to back it up. What do you mean by "How are you booting the Macbook now?"? It is also a SATA drive.

Here is a link to pictures of my hard drive, they may help.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/87847668@N06/8039737204/in/photostream/
Thank you very much for your response!

 

[Fishrrman]

"Yes, I have the hard drive removed and I plugged it into my iMac to try to back it up"

OK.

Assuming the "bad" drive is unplugged, what happens if you plug it into the iMac?

If you hold your ear against it, do you hear it "spin up"?

Does it mount on the desktop?

If it DOES NOT mount on the desktop, do you get some kind of error message?
What does the message say?

If you open Disk Utility, what do you see, insofar as the problem drive is concerned?

Do you see a "drive name", or just "numbers", or.... nothing?

Whatever you do, DO NOT attempt to re-initialize the problem drive. Not yet, anyway.

 

[jekyl]

Drive recovery

I think I'd try connecting it to a pc and running Spinrite on it to see what it can recover. Beyond that I think a professional recovery shop is the only other option.

 

[xkr]

When it is plugged in I hear it working as usual. When I clicked mount, it said it was not able to mount "Macintosh HD" please run first aid. So after I ran the first aid it said, " Error: Disk Utility can’t repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files.""The volume could not be verified completely." In disk utility, I see "500.11 GB Hitachi Media" and right below it " Macintosh HD" the macintosh hd is faded out unlike the rest. I ran a verification on 500gb hitachi media and it came back fine unlike the Macintosh HD. I contacted Drive Savors since the apple store recommended them to me for a free evaluation. I'm shipping out the hard drive tomorrow, hopefully it's an easy fix.

"Yes, I have the hard drive removed and I plugged it into my iMac to try to back it up"

OK.

Assuming the "bad" drive is unplugged, what happens if you plug it into the iMac?

If you hold your ear against it, do you hear it "spin up"?

Does it mount on the desktop?

If it DOES NOT mount on the desktop, do you get some kind of error message?
What does the message say?

If you open Disk Utility, what do you see, insofar as the problem drive is concerned?

Do you see a "drive name", or just "numbers", or.... nothing?

Whatever you do, DO NOT attempt to re-initialize the problem drive. Not yet, anyway.

 

[xkr]

I just got a reply from DriveSavers and they said that the disc is scratched and it would cost about $1,200-$1,400 to save the information, is that a good deal?