Getting files off a (possibly) dead hard drive

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My iBook died a couple nights ago. I've tried everything to get it working, and I'm pretty sure the hard drive is gone. The problem is, I can't afford to loose the data on it. What should I do?

This is Google's first hit. I don't know if it will work or not, because I've not been in that situation. Good luck in getting your files off.

I do not know much about Ibooks, is the disk inside an IDE disk.

If so and you have a second computer then you could try the following, which I find works with PCs.

1. Take the disk out of the computer
2. Place the disk in one of those boxes which allow any lap top hard drive to be used as a portable USB disk.
3. Then plug in the USB disk, and copy the files off the disk onto another disk.

Even if the disk is so bad that you can not boot off it, you might still be able to get some stuff off the disk. A lot will depend on what went wrong with the disk.

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Diagnosed under the DSM5 rules with autism spectrum disorder, under DSM4 psychologist said would have been AS (299.80) but I suspect that I am somewhere between 299.80 and 299.00 (Autism) under DSM4.

Depending on how bad the drive is (are the OS files corrupted, are there un-fixable errors on the disk, or is the whole harddrive dead?)


1.) I would turn your Ibook off and let it sit for a couple hours, and then try to get it going again. Who knows, maybe it has some extra life left in it.

2.) I would get one of those USB to IDE/SATA universal HD adapters. They are about the easiest way to get data off old hard-drives.

3.) If it's dead, or almost completely dead, you could try the freezer method to temporaraly fix it (I haven't tried this, and I don't know if this works, so I would reasearch this before you try it)

4.) Send it off to a data recovery place (very expensive).

it depends on your definition of 'I can't afford it'. Almost any HD can be recovered...as long as you have the smackaroonis to pay for it.

Depending on where the damage is, you can try the above. Haven't tried the freezer method (I'd be real careful to make sure no moisture gets into it).

There are companies like Ontrack that will recover data from a drive, but it will run you into the 4 figures to do it. I've used them at work a couple of times (only place I've ever heard someone say "I don't care what it costs"...

Have a person like a repairman plug your HD into a EIDE Cable and get all the data off. For small 2"5 inch hard drives there is a cable where you can hook it into a working laptop or desktop via a USB Cable.

Help this helps you out!! ! PM me if you have any questions.

I love the way people call P-ATA hard drives IDE. SATA/SCSI/ATA are all IDE.

Anyway, if the notebook powers up and can't boot or gets stuck before loading anything, but you can still see some visuals. Then the hard drive may be at fault. If there is nothing, there could be a problem with the board itself. Hard drives now and for quite a long time have SMART function as of ATA3 or 4 (from memory) This would let you know of any errors or even tell you the reliability of the disk. Could be a simple thing as the IDE is faulty. It does happen

SCSI and IDE (for those who don't know) are very different. You need different controllers for each to work.

Don't feel bad, but do find out which kind of drive you have. Computer internal cables are usually pretty cheap, so you might stop by a computer store and ask questions.

the Ubuntu liveCD way. No install needed.

http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntucat/rec ... ted-files/

Works with MAC as well. The tutorial contains instructions in the comments at the bottom.

Ubuntu: its good for everyone.