Hi all, first post here.
Bit of a complicated question - had trouble getting Google to cough up anything.
After installing the Torch browser, it hung for ages so we restarted the computer. Afterwards it got the flashing question mark.
Followed the instructions on an Apple support site. Unplugging USB devices, resetting PRAM etc did not work. On running Disk Utility, the hard drive does not appear.
Google suggests the hard drive might be fried or have a loose cable.
Questions: Can we recover files from the Win7 side of Parallels Desktop by plugging the hard drive into a PC? Or can we only get out the files on the Mac side? I don't really know how Parallels works.
Will we be likely to be able to recover the files by taking it to a computer repair shop, having them take out the hard drive and putting it into another computer? Will they be useable on a PC? There are things that need to be done in a timely fashion and can't really wait for a new iMac to get delivered - hoping to use the computer we already have.
Do you have any other suggestions for fixing it just in case it is not a hardware problem? We have tried every combination (as suggested on Google searches of people fixing flashing question marks) of holding keys down as the Mac starts up, with and without the installation CD in.
We really really need the hard drive to not be fried - there are work files on it that a business relies on as well as personal stuff that has been a year or two in the creating :-(
We only just found out about Time Machine while trying to fix this problem, so recovering from backup, unfortunately, in not an option right now. Although if we get the computer working again we will certainly be using it on a regular basis!
Bit of a complicated question - had trouble getting Google to cough up anything.
After installing the Torch browser, it hung for ages so we restarted the computer. Afterwards it got the flashing question mark.
Followed the instructions on an Apple support site. Unplugging USB devices, resetting PRAM etc did not work. On running Disk Utility, the hard drive does not appear.
Google suggests the hard drive might be fried or have a loose cable.
Questions: Can we recover files from the Win7 side of Parallels Desktop by plugging the hard drive into a PC? Or can we only get out the files on the Mac side? I don't really know how Parallels works.
Will we be likely to be able to recover the files by taking it to a computer repair shop, having them take out the hard drive and putting it into another computer? Will they be useable on a PC? There are things that need to be done in a timely fashion and can't really wait for a new iMac to get delivered - hoping to use the computer we already have.
Do you have any other suggestions for fixing it just in case it is not a hardware problem? We have tried every combination (as suggested on Google searches of people fixing flashing question marks) of holding keys down as the Mac starts up, with and without the installation CD in.
We really really need the hard drive to not be fried - there are work files on it that a business relies on as well as personal stuff that has been a year or two in the creating :-(
We only just found out about Time Machine while trying to fix this problem, so recovering from backup, unfortunately, in not an option right now. Although if we get the computer working again we will certainly be using it on a regular basis!
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