Do i need a new hard-drive?

[HoboZig]

Hey guys just wondering if anyone knows the problem i'm experiencing.

Yesterday i was installing updates and after they had finished my Macbook 13" re-booted itself and got stuck at the screen where OSLeopard loads (the apple logo with the spinning wheel animation). This happened for several hours. I tried taking oiut the battery but same happened again. I came to realise that maybe i needed to re-install the OS. I re-started the mac again with my leopard disk in and holding C. The install walk-through opened and things looked good until it came to searching for a hard-disk to install the operating system. The mac searched for hard-disk for half an hour before i gave up and went to bed. I presumed at this point my HardDrive was completely broke.

This morning i managed to transfer all my files to a friends macbook (which i am using now) using FireWire by holding down T when OS starts. This confused me a little because if my hard-drive is broke then how am i accessing it's contents. Any advice or a diagnosis?

Also if i do need to replace my hard drive, is it really as simple as these video's on youtube make out?

Many Many Thanks
Zig

 

[SGilbert]

Very well could be directory issues or corruption of some sort.

I highly recommend Alsoft's DiskWarrior. Startup with it's DVD and repair your Mac. Always had excellent results with it.

 

[co19]

Startup and hold alt/option and see if your hard rive is appearing there. It probably isnt so put your OSX install disk in and after you choose a language, open disk utilities from the top menu. You should see your hard drive there, then do this, in order: Verify Disk Permission. If you get a red message that says failed or something bad, Repair Disk Permissions. If it says completed and everything is OK then you don't need to repair. Once that completes after a while, hit "Verify Disk" then "Repair Disk".

If that fails, as stated above, diskwarrior might be a good idea.