Hard Drive Failure on my IMac

Last night my IMac locked up. It would not do anything. No spinning wheel nothing would close out the only thing it would do was move the mouse pointer around. I turned the IMac off and waited a minute and got the dreaded white screen with a flashing folder with a question mark. I read all the informations about what to look for and what things to do. I finally had to load the Snow Leopard disk and selected the disk utility from the CD. Internal Drive showed up as Media with 0 bites available. After using this excellent forum I know how to try to erase and restore the disk, if still operational, and reformat and partituon the hard drive using the Snow Leopard installation disk but here is my real question. I have updated the OS all the way to Mountain Lion and have been using Time Machine to back up my drive. If I use the Snow Leopard Disk to reformat my drive and use Time Machine to recover my data will I end up with Mountain Lion as my OS or will it be Snow Leopard?

rkaufmann87 wrote:
You didn't state what year your iMac is, if it's a 2009 or later the HD you ordered will not have fan sensors integrated into it like the HD'sApple uses. This will create a problem with the fans, IMHO if your machine is a 2009 or later take your machine to your local Apple Store or AASP to have the HD replaced, they can install the correct drive. Yes it may cost more but you will know it works too.
Easily corrected by using SSD Fan Control. And this will only create a problem with one fan, not fans, the HD fan.
http://exirion.net/ssdfanctrl/

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I had a hard drive failure on my iMac. I can restore my music, tv shows, and apps from the iTunes store. How do I restore my movies?

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Any easy way of finding out other than getting SATA/USB adaptor thingy?
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Hello,
I have a 21.5" Intel Core i7 iMac with a 1TB hard drive (custom ordered from Apple). Got it in July 2011 with the extended 3-year AppleCare warranty. The only thing I've ever put into it was 8GB of extra memory, shortly after I purchased it.
Yesterday. I started hearing random clicking from the computer... for 5-10 seconds... and it would go away. Later in the day, I started to hear it louder and longer. Each time it happened, the little loading pinwheel would pop up and my programs would start to lag out. I turned off the computer, let it rest a while, and got on again. Did something similar this morning, but did not last too, too long.
Later in the day, I decided to convert over a VHS tape to my computer using an EyeTV Tuner. The VHS tape was a 2-hour recording. I went to another room to watch something on cable and left it to do it's thing. When I came back, the fan in the computer was going "VVVRRRFFFF!!!!!!" very loudly (I heard it the next room over) and when I came back in, I heard "click, click, click, click, click, click," etc). I was able to move the mouse a little before the whole thing froze up, but nothing on screen moved and the higher lefthand corner of the screen was missing the menu icons.
I pretty much assume that the hard drive it failing me for whatever rason. I had this happen to my PowerMac G4 in 2000, so I'm not too unfamiliar with the signs. I turned it off for a bit, and then when I started it up, immediately started backing up what I needed and deleting space so I can do a final Time Machine update on it.
ANYWAY... I don't know what to do at this point other than contact my local Apple reps at my earliest convenience to see what can be done to fix it... but I'm curious to know if a replacement might be covered under the AppleCare warranty? My Applecare warranty runs out in late July of this year, so I'm hoping they can do something for it. Outside of that, I'm not sure what kind of service/product fee there might be for a replacement. Has anyone experienced this recenty to know what how this is generally handled?? I did some moving things around a few months ago with my documents and I'm not sure offhand where my Applecare papers are right now, but I know if I look the serial up on the website, it shows as still active. Would I need to present them with the paper directly? Does anyone know?
Thanks.

AppleCare will cover the total repair at no charge. Contact them immediately and make an appointment to take your machine into your local Apple Store or AASP.

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I have ordered a 800 firewire to 800 firewire cable and am hoping to use the target mode option to copy files from the MBP.
Is this possible?
Hope so!
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Thanks Ogelthorpe.
Just bought an enclosure to try that also.
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Hard Drive failure - various boot modes won't work, HELP!

Hello all,
First of all, sorry for the essay, but I didn't want to miss out on possible crucial details that could help!
A couple of weeks ago, my beloved 27" iMac had a hard drive failure. It won't boot, but instead goes to the grey 'no entry' sign when booting up. I tried holding Cmd + V on boot and this message repeated itself whilst failing to boot:
"rooting via boot-uuid from chosen/: D94DA2D5-DB38-3517-B05D-70A97AC6EE5B
Waiting on <dict ID="0"><key><IOProviderClass</key><string ID="1"> IOResorces</string><key>IOResourceMach</key><string ID= "2">boot-uuid-media</string></dict>
Got boot device = IOService:/AppleACPlatformExpert/PCI0@0/AppleACPIPCI/SATA@1F,2/AppleIntel5Serie sAHCI/PRT0@0/IOAHCIDiskDriver/IOAHCBlockStorageDevice/IOBLockStorageDriver/Hitac hi HDS722020ALA330 Media/IOGUIDPartitionScheme
BSD root: disk0s2, major 14, minor 2
jnl: unknown-dev: open: phys_blksz 4096 does not match journal header size 512, and journal is not empty!
hfs: late jnl init: failed to open/create the journal (retval 0)
cannot mount root, errno = 19"
I'm not sure how much of that is useful, but I thought I'd copy it all down anyway.
I googled error number = 19 and found articles on an invalid b-tree node and corrupt journals, leaving me to believe that because I recently deleted a Windows Vista partition and reformed the overall HD into a 2TB OSX volume, some windows data may have been left over and corrupted the journal?
So it fails to boot normaly, using Cmd V, and using the OSX install disk, as well as failing to boot from the DiskWarrior 4 DVD I purchased from my local Apple Reseller because I'd heard that it's very good at helping with issues such as what I think my HD is having. I tried Disk Utility whilst booting from the install disk, and tried to repair the drive, and each time I tried it said that invalid content was present in the journal but the disk repair had been successful.
Am I right in thinking that my data is on the drive, it's just that OSX won't register the drive's existence because of a corrupted journal? (the little I know of hard drives is shining brightly through at this point, I'm sure!)
I also tried to boot using target mode by connecting my iMac to a MacBook Pro also running Snow Leopard, but, whilst the iMac clearly went into target mode (bouncing firewire icon on screen), my HD never appeared on the desktop of the MacBook Pro, nor in Disk Utility.
Whilst I have AppleCare, I haven't tried taking it to a mac store yet because of two reasons; 1. The last time I did this I had HD failure on my old 2008 MBP and, whilst I told them to keep the data on it, the first thing they did was reformat the disk. Needless to say, it worked, but I lost all my valuable Data! The second reason is that it's bloody heavy, and I don't own a car!
Before people go on about the way I should have backed up my data, I did, and that's gone as well! D:
System Specs:
First generation of 27" iMacs
2.8Ghz Intel i7 quad core
2TB HD
ATi Radeon HD 4850 512mb VRAM
8GB DDR3 RAM
OS version: not the very latest snow leopard but the one before.
Thanks in advance, and once again sorry for the essay!
Westy

I'm not sure about the DW disk. Check that out at Alsoft's website. Apple doesn't provide data recovery services.
Apple has records of your iTunes purchases. However, the licensing for music only permits you to download it once. I'm surprised that you don't have backups.
If you get an external enclosure in which to put the drive then you might try accessing it from the MBP as an external drive. If you have an external drive you could try using recovery software:
General File Recovery
If you stop using the drive it's possible to recover deleted files that have not been overwritten by using recovery software such as Data Rescue II, File Salvage or TechTool Pro. Each of the preceding come on bootable CDs to enable usage without risk of writing more data to the hard drive. Two free alternatives are Disk Drill and TestDisk. Look for them and demos at MacUpdate or CNET Downloads.
The longer the hard drive remains in use and data are written to it, the greater the risk your deleted files will be overwritten.
Also visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on Data Recovery.
Beyond this you would need to send the drive off to a data recovery service which will be extremely expensive.

Hard drive failures after 10.6 installation, 2 library folders appear.

I have had to erase my intel imac hard drive 3 times and reinstall 10.6.
Each time the computer slowed to a standstill after a day or so, while using safari or mail.
It could not be repaired with disk utility.
After reinstalling 10.6 I have then retrieved the data from time machine. In all cases I had to update to OS 10.6.1 in order get my printer going (with the updated driver).
The odd thing is that when checking the hard drive trying to find out what is causing the problem
I noticed that it had
one library folder in the system folder
and another library folder outside the system folder
on the internal hard drive.
Is this the reason for the hard drive failures?
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Please help! I've been using only Mac since 1986 more or less without any trouble,
but now I am having the kind of problems with SL that I thought only Windows users had!

HI,
"*It could not be repaired with disk utility.*"
Insert Installer disk and Restart, holding down the "C" key until grey Apple appears.
Go to Installer menu (Panther and earlier) or Utilities menu (Tiger and later) and launch Disk Utility.
Select your HDD (manufacturer ID) in the left panel.
Select First Aid in the Main panel.
*(Check S.M.A.R.T Status of HDD at the bottom of right panel. It should say: Verified)*
Click Repair Disk on the bottom right.
If DU reports disk does not need repairs quit DU and restart.
*If DU reports errors Repair again and again until DU reports disk is repaired.*
When you are finished with DU, from the Menu Bar, select Utilities/Startup Manager.
Select your start up disk and click Restart
While you have the Disk Utility window open, look at the bottom of the window. *Where you see Capacity and Available. Make sure there is always 10% to 15% free disk space.*
There should be a Library folder in the System Folder.
Carolyn

Restoration after Hard Drive Failure

Hello all.
My Powerbook G4 suffered a hard drive failure a couple of months ago, and every bit of information was lost in no-man's land. After seeking help with Apple, I was sent to DriveSavers. Thankfully, they were able to recover 100% of my drive or that's what they tell me anyway. (No need to scold me, I have learned my lesson about backing up EVERYTHING -- especially when the bill arrived from DriveSavers!) The Powerbook was kaput, so I decided to purchase an new iMac. DriveSavers has put my entire Powerbook contents onto several DVD discs, but so far I have had very little luck with actually transferring and using any of it on the iMac. I have been able to copy document files from Appleworks, Photoshop, etc. onto the iMac, and I can open them and use them with no problem. Although, I did have to go back and re-install the actual Photoshop and Appleworks applications from their original software discs since I was unable to successfully copy the applications from the DriveSavers discs onto the iMac. Still, I am in desperate need of certain Apple applications from the Powerbook that just will not appear on the iMac -- things like Address Book, all of my Stickies , plus the other Stickies that were only located on Dashboard (i was a stickies freak), the emails and contacts saved in Mail, the appts. & scheduling in iCal, etc. I cannot successfully access these kinds of things. I am able to copy an entire disc from DriveSavers onto the iMac, but when I launch the Address Book application from that folder, it just opens up the empty, brand new Address Book from the iMac or the new, empty iCal. The same thing happens with other similar programs. (I think iTunes has been the only thing with which I have any kind of success.) I've even rifled through the DVD discs and gone through my old User folder to the Library folder, then the Caches folder, and finally to the .com.apple.AddressBook folder where I extracted just the Metadata folder which clearly contains all of my contacts. When I try to add just the contact cards to the iMac's Address Book application, I still doesn't work and remains empty. The only way I've been able to look at any of my contacts is to use TextEdit to open those contact cards, and then dig through all of the jargon and piece together the info. It's very frustrating and time-consuming. I would just like for my Powerbook to be reincarnated, if you will, here on this new iMac. Is this even possible? I am completely baffled, and beginning to fear that I may have paid thousands of dollars for DVDs that would serve me better if I were lost in the Sahara and needing to signal a plane flying overhead by reflecting them against the sun. If anyone has any advice or tips, I would be very grateful.
Cheers,
Maize
Intel-based iMac Mac OS X (10.4.6)
PowerbookG4 Mac OS X (10.4.6)
PowerbookG4 Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Hi,
Maybe this article can help :
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106941#2c
Take a look at the 'manual' backup and restore sections of the article.
Good luck!
iBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.7)

IPhone synch after hard drive failure

I have an iMac 7.1 and after a total hard drive failure I had a new drive installed. Everything was wiped out, but at least I have the iTunes library still on my iPhone Here starts the problem.
After reading posts for the better half of a day I tried all suggested approaches, however the descriptions for doing it within iTunes don't seem to work (they insist on erase and synch the new (empty) library. I authorized the iTunes account on the iMac - still the same.
There are programs out there that rip the content from the iPhone, something I think is the wrong approach. Apple has to provide a way for its customers that have done nothing wrong to get their data back from a legal copy on the iPhone. This right way will likely exist, I just can't find it.
Anyone can point me in the right direction?

Hi, what no back up? -- well lets be honest everything should be covered by Apple & iTunes but!!
I use SENUTI @ odd times & it's an excellent App...why you are so against 3rd party app's I'm not sure..
If you have friend with a Mac & has some music you like you can always set up SHARING & dragNdrop..
With my first mac (ibookG4) I lost all my music etc.. a lesson learned, always back up otherwise it's a long arduous task burning your cd's one by one..If you purchased your music thro' iTunes you can contact them, at times have allowed me to Re download purchased items....L

Second Hard drive failure in one year

I have a mid 2007 imac purchased on February 7th of 2008. 2.4GH, intel etc. I love how my apple product is working when it works. I am off to the apple store in Chicago, an 88 mile trip, for the second time in this first year with a hard drive failure. Each trip costs met from 35-40 dollars in tolls, parking and gas.
I wonder if I can ask for a replacement machine since there is clearly something wrong with this one. I do not have air flow problems as the machine is out in the open and does not seem to run hot. Each time I pull out my old dell to problem solve whats going on with this expensive one year old Mac I get a sick feeling.

Hi Bonawe!
Saw your post and I understand where you are at. Several months ago, both my PC desktop and laptop's motherboards died so I had to replace both. I was told Apple was best for graphics so I decided to get an iMac and a Dell for the laptop. I have to tell you, I love this iMac. The operating system is so easy and intuitive. If you have experience with computers, you will love how easy it is to begin using. So far, I have found it to be an amazingly stable operating system as well. In 3 months, I've had only one freeze up and I use this computer a lot.
I hate Vista - just don't like the operating system at all. I wanted the flexibility of having the apple and PC since some software I have would not work on the iMac. In retrospect, I would have gotten both laptop and desktop from apple. Seriously.
The support at apple is crazy good. I couldn't get the iMac to connect to the internet when I got home - from my unfamiliarity with this operating system. I actually had support on the phone after 3 rings and was on the internet in minutes. I about fell out of my chair. It's that good.
Like it's been said, people who are having no issues are not going to come to the forum. I come here to learn - the responses from experienced users have taught me so much about how this computer functions and how to prevent problems. So don't use these posts as a decision maker in your process. I've visited Vista forums that have so many more problems.
My daughter became an apple convert as well. She got the Macbook Pro for Christmas and loves it.
Sorry for the long post and hijacking this thread but I really wanted to let you know my experience to help you with your decision.

Imminent hard drive failure message

can i return my laptop to the store for a replacement.. it is less than 5 months old and i am getting an imminent hard drive failure message. totally unacceptable

HP will replace the hard drive under warranty. Not too many stores will permit a return after 5 mos. We can also assist with a hard drive replacement.

Data Recovery After Hard Drive Failure!

Ok, basically, I've got a 2 1/2 year old iBook G4 with a bombed hard drive, and unfortunately, the last time I backed up was around 3 months ago. Here's what happened right before the crash: some applications like Widgets and Safari were acting fluky, and it wouldn't let me open Word documents, so I restarted, because I thought it might have something to do with the fact that i had downloaded the new version of itunes not that long ago and hadn't restarted since. well, when i restarted, the gray screen with the wheel and the apple symbol went on for a really long time, and then the blue screen came up with the cursor, but nothing else happened, and the blue screen just stayed there. as far as i know, the hard drive wasn't making any unusual noises, just the usual occasional soft sounds that my hard drive has always made (there are usual sounds, right?) a piece of information that might be useful is that the hard drive was almost full (it only had about 5 GB left, which i understand is how much you should leave) could this have caused the failure maybe? anyway, i tried using the hard drive as a target and tried getting another computer to recognize it and pull the files off, but that didn't work. so, i brought it into the apple store, and they got it to boot up but using some external hard drive, i think. they tried disk utility, but that didn't see my hard drive. then the tried disk warrior, and that saw it and repaired it or something, but then it couldn't get the drive to mount. so, i'm assuming that because disk warrior didn't work and couldn't get it to mount, then other software like data rescue, etc... won't either. like all computer users, i've got some REALLY REALLY important data on there, and all the data recovery places i've gotten quotes from are pretty pricey. if the drive doesn't require physical data recovery, only non-physical, as i hope, the cheapest is still $350. even so, the person on the phone there didn't seem to know nearly as much as the people at the more pricier places. so, are there any other options besides expensive data recovery? i read something about using dd - a unix thing, but i don't know the first thing about it (http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20050302225659382) so i'm not sure i want to risk messing it up even more. and, if worse comes to worst, then i'll use a data recovery place... but can anyone tell me if they've used any of the data recovery companies below, and which ones are good?
(first three do evaluation for free, and then you decide if you want to continue based on more accurate price idea)
MacintoshDataRecovery.com
$500 non physical
$1100-1600 physical
Heroic Efforts
http://www.heroicdata.com/data_recovery
$350 non physical
ships to another (very expensive) place if physical
ACS Data Recovery
http://www.acsdata.com/index.htm
$600-700 non physical
DriveSavers.com
(recommended by Apple, probably the best, but the most steep, too)
could cost anywhere from $500-$2700 and $200 evaluation fee even if data is unrecoverable
Since this is our fourth hard drive failure in four different iBooks in 2 1/2 years, i am starting to become seriously disillusioned about the quality of the hardware Apple uses...not that i would ever get a dell or anything, but still....
THANK YOU in advance for any tips you might be able to offer, and also for reading this extremely long post!
katie
iBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.3)
iBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.3)

I have read good reports concerning Data Rescue although I have not used it myself.
Once you get your data back, focus on a regular (even daily) backup routine, because as you know only so well, the question is not if a drive will fail, it's when.
My condolences, by the way.

Hard Drive Failure on my IMac

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