My Powerbook G4 won't start properly

[sleung]

Hi, I tried to start my powerbook G4 and the start up stops at the grey apple screen. There is nothing else on the screen besides the apple. I waited for as long as half an hour and the start up still won't complete. I brought the powerbook to Apple service provider and they were able to start the computer from an external hard drive. The technician told me that he cannot see my powerbook's hard drive. He sugguested that either the hard drive went bad or the operation system may be corrupted. Here are my questions before I decide how to proceed:

Q1. How can I get my data backed up?

Q2. Do I need to buy the hard drive from Apple? It is a lot cheaper to get one from other computer stores.

Thanks a lot in advance for any help anyone can offer!

- Stephanie

 

[barhar]

'... brought the powerbook to Apple service provider ... The technician told me that he cannot see my powerbook's hard drive. He sugguested that either the hard drive went bad or the operation system may be corrupted.', a corrupted OS will not prevent file and folders (directories) from being seen and / or accessed. Damaged low level files (volume bit maps, for example) and / or a damaged hard disk drive, hdd, may prevent the hdd's contents from being seen and / or accessed.

Go to where you can connect your (unknown model [unknown MacOS X version]) PowerBook to another MacOS X based Mac - via a FireWire cable. Follow these instructions, and determine if you can indeed see and thus access (and therefore backup, if possible, to the 'other' Mac) any contents of your PowerBook.

Yes, you can purchase a hdd from non-Apple sources. What you seek is a 2.5 inch (63.5 mm) hdd.

 

[ksv]

(void)