Where did my main features and applications go? Help please!

[thevans1]

Hey guys.. my hard drive broke last week (for like the third time now) so I have had to reinstall everying again using my OS X disk. I've done this several times before and everything was the same, however, this time a few applications haven't appeared - spotlight has gone as has the dashboard. Also, I used to be able to change screenshotted pdf files into a jpeg format by opening the file and going to save as where there would be a scroll down menu with all the various file formats and a dial allowing me to choose the quality.... when I go to 'save as' now the window looks totally different and I can't change the file format. Why is this?

Some help would be greatly appreciated so thanks in advance to any Mac genius' out there. :worship:

 

[GimmeSlack12]

What OS did you install? What computer do you have? Sounds like you reinstalled 10.3 and not 10.4 (Tiger), which introduced Spotlight and Dashboard.

 

[Wayfarer]

I'm not sure what to say, but if you're afraid of losing your personal files, I highly reccommend DataRescue. It did an excellent job of saving everything on my corrupt hardrive, including deleted files from three years ago. Just an idea.

 

[thevans1]

What OS did you install? What computer do you have? Sounds like you reinstalled 10.3 and not 10.4 (Tiger), which introduced Spotlight and Dashboard.

Hey... I have the disk right here and it just has Mac OS X Install disk on it... I'm sure it's the one I've used before. Do you think I selected the wrong option when the disk loaded? I have a Powerbook G4 15 inch BTW.

I'm not sure what to say, but if you're afraid of losing your personal files, I highly reccommend DataRescue. It did an excellent job of saving everything on my corrupt hardrive, including deleted files from three years ago. Just an idea.

Well some guy told me the harddrive had gone (it cost £55 for a new 80GB one + £95 for labour - is that expensive or not? ) he's tried to recover the files but said it's not going to well, that he hasn't managed to get anything off it. What exactly does datarescue do? Do I need addtional cables or something?

This is just so frustrating... so many things have gone wrong since I purchased this over 2 years ago now.

 

[GimmeSlack12]

Ok, to check what OS version you have go to:
Apple Menu>About this Mac. It will say the version of the OS in there. If you have 10.3 then nothing is wrong, rather you just installed older software.

As for the hard drive issue, the replacement drive sounds like a decent price but the labor sounds like a ripoff. Datarescue is just extra software that tries to retrieve lost data. I'm not sure how well it works, but I've heard it recommended before so it might be worth a shot.

Backing up should become a new word in your vocabulary. Did you buy your G4 used? That might explain the frustration.

 

[thevans1]

Ok, to check what OS version you have go to:
Apple Menu>About this Mac. It will say the version of the OS in there. If you have 10.3 then nothing is wrong, rather you just installed older software.

As for the hard drive issue, the replacement drive sounds like a decent price but the labor sounds like a ripoff. Datarescue is just extra software that tries to retrieve lost data. I'm not sure how well it works, but I've heard it recommended before so it might be worth a shot.

Backing up should become a new word in your vocabulary. Did you buy your G4 used? That might explain the frustration.

Wow, I am really retarded. For some reason they send me two older versions as well as the Tiger disk when I bought it... I just found the Tiger disk stuffed behind some boxes. [/embarrassing]

Well he said it takes ages to install stuff on the Powerbook's because you have to take apart the inside etc. It took around 2 hours aparently, you think it would be much quicker than that? He is a family friend and seems pretty trustworthy but £170 is a lot for a penniless student, lol.

I have an external harddrive! I, just, forget/can't be bothered to back up regularly. I managed to recover lots of my music but everything that's been added in the past six months has gone... luckily all my porfolio work was handed in a couple of weeks ago.

My Powerbook was brand new from the Apple store in Bham. Firstly the screen wouldn't turn on... I sent it off by post and it came back again working for a while. A couple of weeks later it wouldn't turn on at all so I sent it away again and they basically replaced everything costing close to £1000! Luckily, it was still under warranty, lol. Then the battery had to be replaced because the original one was explosive or something... and just a few months back my charging cable blew up on me - the end was out-of-shape. Sigh. I've had 2 replacement iPod mini's, too. I really love Apple but their products have just been so unreliable and caused so much inconvenience.