Help - emergency backup from install DVD

Hello,

today something strange happened. I installed the latest Java update and had to restart my macbook pro 15 (something which I hadn't done in almost a month. Been keeping the laptop on sleep). As soon as I rebooted, the white screen with the apple logo appeared along with the loading wheel and a progress bar. The progress bar reached around 10% then emptied out, then again the same except that this time the laptop turned off on its own. Tried to boot again several times. Same result. It kept turning off at the same point and I couldn't reach my finder. I tried safe mode, but same thing happens. I decided to boot from the install DVD and perform disk utility tasks. So I tried to repair my disk. A message box pops up:

'Disk Utility stopped repairing Macintosh HD. 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.'

That started freaking me out since ALL of my work is on this very Macintosh HD. I tried creating an image file of the HD through disk utility but it comes up with an error that says (input/output error).

And I still can't reach my finder.

I'm out of ideas and options and my case is pretty desperate. I REALLY need to retrieve my files from the HD before I reformat it. I'm talking years of work here. I know I should have backed up all my files but I didn't have an external device that handled such sizes. Is there any way to use Time Machine via the install DVD ? Or better yet, is there any way for me to access my osx one last time just to take the files I need and put them on an HD ?

Any help would be extremely appreciated.

 

So that's the only available solution ? Is there no way for me to just access my finder and retrieve all my files from there ? What's so odd is that before the reboot, it was working perfectly with no freezing or anything.

 

mmmmm...yeah. Actually all it took was a computer-savvy friend of mine who knows his way around command line/unix/root. Problem could simply be solved by accessing the osx via unix (cmd-v at boot I reckon) instead of the graphical user interface which I was unable to access, mount an external drive from there and transfer all my files from the native HD to it. Once that's done, format the sucker and re-install osx. All's working like clockwork now and disk utility isn't detecting any issues with the hard drive anymore.

Process didn't take even too much time (except for the transfer of files from one HD to another and the setting up preferences and updates once you re-install the osx) so I STRONGLY suggest everyone who experiences the same problems I had to consider this way around the issue, instead of being conned into spending hundreds of dollars on a new HDD you don't need, like Fishrrman suggested above.

Anyway, thank you all for your help !