iMac (circa2000) Hard Drive CRASH...help

[sotied]

Hey, all.

My dad's iMac took a turn for the horrible recently when the hard drive ceased working. Even hooked up as a slave in a G4 and using Tech Tool Pro, it won't show up.

I found a physically burned chip on the drive which probably made the PFSsssssssssssT sound that my father heard.

Question 1 - What's the easiest way to recover the info on this drive?

Question 2 - If I find a data recovery place too pricey, is it viable to buy a new board that lives on top of this drive and just screw it into my crapped out drive?

Question 3 - Should I consult a psychic?

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[superfunkomatic]

sounds nasty. have you tried diskwarrior by alsoft? it's been a life saver for me several times. it will resurrect disks that tech tool can't (techtool isn't much of a recovery program). that's worth a try.

data recovery experts are expensive so hopefully that works for you.

 

[tomf87]

Re: iMac (circa2000) Hard Drive CRASH...help

Originally posted by sotied
Hey, all.

My dad's iMac took a turn for the horrible recently when the hard drive ceased working. Even hooked up as a slave in a G4 and using Tech Tool Pro, it won't show up.

I found a physically burned chip on the drive which probably made the PFSsssssssssssT sound that my father heard.

Question 1 - What's the easiest way to recover the info on this drive?

Question 2 - If I find a data recovery place too pricey, is it viable to buy a new board that lives on top of this drive and just screw it into my crapped out drive?

Question 3 - Should I consult a psychic?

Thanks,

Jeff

If the chip is physically burned on the drive, I doubt a software tool will help you at all, since the physical hardware of the drive is bad, not the software.

If you can find the exact model drive, you should be able to swap the controller, although that may be really risky, since there are cables that extend from the board to the internal part of the drive.

I think your time would be better spent buying a new drive and rebuilding, unless there is data on the drive that you just can't live without.

EDIT:

Keep in mind that you may also burn up the new controller since there may be something within the drive, like a motor, that caused the orignal controller to burn up.

Data recovery places usually run in excess of $1000. Compared to a new drive, that's pretty expensive.

 

[Gymnut]

That depends. Take a look at www.drivesavers.com and maybe they'll be able to offer you a price quote to recover your data.