What to backup

Ouch, ... if the harddrive is dead, then that's it, you can't backup anymore.

There are data recovery companies, but this solution can cost you 500-2000$, depending.

Or, you can try and put the harddrive in an external enclosure (or have the shop do it), with some luck the drive is still ok and and some other parts in the MB are broken.

 

Sorry to hear that your HD died.

If the HD is dead, as in not spinning, then you could try sending your HD to a data retrieval center and they may be able to copy what was on the HD. They are an expensive service so it will depend on how valuable your data is to you.

If you want an install disc, you will need to purchase one.

For backing up your new HD, which let's say is 250GB, then I would recommend getting a high quality external HD case that can hold two 3.5 inch HDs. If you Mac supports FW800, then get a case that supports FW800. Get 2 x 250GB to put in the case.

Then use Carbon Copy Cloner on at least a weekly basis to alternately clone to the external HDs.

 

Well I would second the advice of sushi above- rather than worrying about specifically what to backup (in which case something will inevitably get missed), just clone the drive using Carbon Copy Cloner (or the paid version of SuperDuper so you wind up having incremental backup capabilities) to an external on a periodic basis.

First off the advantage to that is that nothing will wind up getting missed, but even more importantly the clone itself will be bootable. Should you have problems with your drive again down the line you can plug in the external and immediately boot from it and run just as if it were your internal drive. That is a real advantage in that you can still use the computer while you obtain a replacement internal drive- something that is not possible with a Time Machine backup which is not bootable.

 

Time Machine is one of the best back up methods out there. I would (and do) just use that. You don't even need to think about it.