I think my hard drive crashed....

Hi,
When I turn on my computer (a Power Mac G4 Tower)it sounds as if the disc has crashed. I have two hard drives running in it, and when I start up the computer holding the 'option' key, neither of them show up. When I turn it on without holding anything, it shows a folder with a question mark and the finder icon. Starting it up in single-user mode doesn't work, and I can't reboot from the startup disk. Also, when I attached my external hard drive and held down option, it wouldn't appear either.
Any idea on what is wrong?

Hello! It's highly unlikely that both of your drives would crash at the same time. As for your external is it firewire and did it have a "bootable" system on it? Try starting from the install cd holding down the "c" key and use the repair disk in disk utility. It may take a few minutes to boot from the install cd so hold down the "c" key until it's nearly booted. Tom

Similar Messages

I think my hard drive crashed.... can it be replaced?

My macbook just crashed two nights ago. I tried to reboot, but did not work. My firefox was open, my iMovie was opened... then I switched it off and on back. There was this image (a box/folder with a question mark on it). Then I tried to reinstall my OS, but it could not find the HD. But at least my DVD drive still works. So, I guess my Hard Drive just went kaputt!
I just found out how to replace the hard drive : http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/MacBook13inch_HardDriveDIY.pdf
Question :
1) Is it really my hard drive broken? Or something else?
2) If it is the hard drive, can I just get any HD for macbook on Ebay?
3) Has anyone tried the this DIY manual? Was it easy?
Thanks in advance

Yes, your hard drive is probably dead. You can use any drive, of course, but I would strongly recommend buying a new, boxed drive.
I have installed laptop drives, including Apple portable drives, and it is quite easy. Follow the instructions, and remember to ground yourself before touching the new hard drive to install it in the computer.

I think my hard drive crashed. How can I get data off via firewire before the HD completely goes? I was stuck on the BSoD and now I can't even use the install disk. Utility Disk said HD was okay. Please HELP ME

Safe mode did nothing.
Safe mode with verbose seemed to make it worse.
Before continuously trying new things, I could use the install disk to check the disk utility and clear
the hard drive from there but now the screen won't even load to that.
I really need the data on the hard drive especially if it can't be salvaged.
How can i transfer files?
Am I better off physically taking my HD out or will it damage itself without
leaving the system.
I tried command r
resetting the pram
safe mode
jumping out a window
nothing has helped.
I am stuck on the blue screen of death and it flickers.

No. In order to use FireWire Target Disk Mode you need to use a FireWire equipped Mac. Other than that the only other way I can think of to even attempt to access you files would be to remove your hard drive and install it in a case and connect it to another computer.
Have you run the Apple Hardware Test? http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1509

Hard drive crashed. How do I get OSX on my new drive?

I think my hard drive crashed, oh my. First, let me say that all my data is backed-up on a cloud drive or on my network drive. So, I am good there. The computer is now completely inoperable, can't start up, not even in safe mode. Just goes to Apple grey screen and then shuts down, that Issa far as I can get. Does not even play the start-up chime anymore.
Question I have is this: I did not make a bootable start-up drive (dumb), so when I get a new drive to replace this, how will I get the OS on it to start- up and get the new drive ready?

If you don't get a startup chime then you may have a worse problem. Just be prepared.
What year is your MBP? From 2011 onward you would use Internet Recovery. Earlier you would need to install the original software that came with the computer on software restore DVDs.
Internet Recovery
Install Mavericks, Lion/Mountain Lion Using Internet Recovery
Be sure you backup your files to an external drive or second internal drive because the following procedure will remove everything from the hard drive.
Boot to the Internet Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND-OPTION- R keys until a globe appears on the screen. Wait patiently - 15-20 minutes - until the Recovery main menu appears.
Partition and Format the hard drive:
1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.
2. After DU loads select your newly installed hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed. Quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion. Mavericks: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion, Mavericks and click on the Install button. Be sure to select the correct drive to use if you have more than one.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet
            if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.
This should restore the version of OS X originally pre-installed on the computer.
DVD Installation:
Clean Install of Snow Leopard
Be sure to make a backup first because the following procedure will erase
the drive and everything on it.
     1. Boot the computer using the Snow Leopard Installer Disc or the Disc 1 that came
         with your computer. Insert the disc into the optical drive and restart the computer.
         After the chime press and hold down the "C" key. Release the key when you see
         a small spinning gear appear below the dark gray Apple logo.
     2. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue
         button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
         After DU loads select the hard drive entry from the left side list (mfgr.'s ID and drive
         size.) Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window. Set the number of
         partitions to one (1) from the Partitions drop down menu, click on Options button
         and select GUID, click on OK, then set the format type to MacOS Extended
         (Journaled, if supported), then click on the Apply button.
     3. When the formatting has completed quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed
         with the OS X installation and follow the directions included with the installer.
     4. When the installation has completed your computer will Restart into the Setup
         Assistant. Be sure you configure your initial admin account with the exact same
         username and password that you used on your old drive. After you finish Setup
         Assistant will complete the installation after which you will be running a fresh
         install of OS X. You can now begin the update process by opening Software
         Update and installing all recommended updates to bring your installation current.
Download and install Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1.

Hard Drive Crashed - It thinks i am on someone elses computer

My hard drive crashed and i had to redo my hardrive and reload the itunes software. Once i did this i tried to sync my ipod up. It only allows me to load music from my ipod to itunes that i have purchased - which is fine. However i purchased a song and it will load to my itunes but not sync to my ipod. It's like it thinks i am on someone elses computer. How can i make the ipod and itunes recognise that this is my only computer. I can not disengage the old machine as it is fried and gone? I need to make this itunes know that this is my one and only itunes????

You will need to authorize the computer again.
See: Authorization and Deauthorization.
iTunes and the iPod are treating your newly reformatted hard drive as a new computer.

Hard Drive Crash - getting a Photo Book onto new computer

I just had a catastrophic hard drive crash on my G5 iMac (still using 10.4, so no Time Machine). Thankfully I actually got all my photos back - backed up 2 months ago, most of the rest are still on our memory card, and the few that aren't I could save using a disk recovery program.
However, I still have an iPhoto hard copy book on the dead drive, but hadn't ordered it yet, and would like to recover it. Even with the disk recovery program, the iPhoto library is in bad shape (I couldn't copy it to another drive - just got an error message). However, most of it appears intact. Here's what I'm hoping to do:
1) Restore (on a new drive) from my backup from 2 months ago
2) Copy back in the photos I either saved from the dead hard drive, or from my camera's card.
3) Somehow get back the iPhoto book I'd been working on. Here's my question - where in my old iPhoto library would I find the file or files that make up this book? If I find them, can I simply copy those files into my backed-up iPhoto library? Or is there some other way I can get my iPhoto book back?
Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

Welcome to the Apple Discussions. All books, calendars, cards, etc. are contained in the library's database file, Library6.iPhoto. If you can recover that file from your damaged drive put it in your recovered library and see if it will bring back the book. However, if the structure of the library package is not exactly like it was when it crashed it will not work.
Without a complete backup of the iPhoto LIbrary package it's neigh on to impossible to recover a book or calendar from bits and pieces of a recovered library. There are other ways a library can be damaged, primarily the database file, and a very easy way to recover from it is to have a *very current* backup copy of the database file. One way to achieve is it described in the tip at the end of my signature. It describes a way to have a backup copy that can be only minutes old if you run it properly.
Also, to protect your image files themselves get an external HD and use it to backup the full library and other important files.
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
I've created an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. It's compatible with iPhoto 08 libraries and Leopard. iPhoto does not have to be closed to run the application, just idle. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.

My hard drive crashed on my macbook pro and I had a new one installed and they were unable to get my pictures off of it. Is there anyone who could help? I'm going to lose all my memories of my kids! I got my old hard drive

My hard drive crashed on my macbook pro so i had a new one installed and they couldn't get my pictures off. I dont want to lose all my memories! They gave me back my old hard drive. Is there anyone that could help me?

I think how you understand the value of having backups. All you can do is:
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 MAC Data Recovery, 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. Recovery software usually provide trial versions that enable you to determine if the software would help before actually paying for it. Beyond this or if the drive has completely failed, then you would need to send the drive to a recovery service which is very expensive.
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.
You will need an external enclosure for the old drive so you can connect it to the computer in order to try the recovery software before you buy it. But if they don't work then you will need to send the drive to a recovery service such as Drive Savers.

How can I tell if my hard drive crashed

I've had my MacBook for slightly more than one year and for no reason that I can think of it will only boot up to a screen that looks like an apple with a problem. I took it to an Apple store and they told me that he hard driv crashed and it would cost $700 for a new one. I paid $1000 for it brand-new. Any suggestions to determine if it is the hard drive and how I might be able to salvage what's on it/get it going again? Please help!

Try this first:
Extended Hard Drive Preparation
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder. If you need to reformat your startup volume, then you must boot from your OS X Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger or Leopard.)
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID (only required for Intel Macs) then click on the OK button. Set the number of partitions from the dropdown menu (use 1 partition unless you wish to make more.) Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the volume(s) mount on the Desktop.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
This will erase any data stored on the drive, so I hope you have backups.
If the drive still cannot be made functional or the SMART status indicates the drive is failing, then you will need to replace it. It won't cost $700 and you can do it yourself: MacBook (13 inch) Hard Drive Replacement Instructions (Do it yourself Manual).
Replacement drives can run from $50 to $350 depending upon size, make, model, and speed. You can find replacement drives at OWC. Your computer can use any 2.5" notebook SATA drive up to 320 GBs. Only Samsung makes a 500 GB drive that will fit in a Macbook.

IPod hard drive crashing problems

Sorry this is going to be long, as I want to give some background, because I would love to hear opinions about this:
I had a 6th generation 160g iPod for just over 3 years. I was on vacation using it over a long weekend a week ago. I was listening to music and decided I was going to watch a Simpsons episode that I bought from the iTunes store and was in my "tv shows" section of my iPod.
As I went to switch to the episode, the iPod froze black. I had been having issues with it randomly resetting itself or pausing during songs, so I thought it might be on its way out. - Sure enough when I did the reset it never booted back up. I tried several times. So when I got back home 2 days later and plugged it into my computer, I was not surprised that it still would not reboot.
I was bummed. 3 years is not a long time when you spend that much money. I am broke right now and since I am a music fanatic, with a huge music library I was wondering how I was going to carry on. I cannot afford to buy a new iPod.
My dear father came to my rescue and showed up at my house with a brand new 7th generation 160g iPod on Saturday evening, just as a nice jesture. - I let it sync up, went to bed. Sunday afternoon, I was taking my daughter to the park and I brought my iPod into the car. I noticed that much of the artwork was not popping up as I looked through both coverflow and sampled some songs in playlists. And when I went to try a video again... BAM, the iPod locked up and wouldn't reset, just like the old one.
I thought... maybe this is a fluke, but how strange that a brand new iPod would crash again on legally purchased iTunes video. So after trying to get it to reset, I plugged it in and again, it would not reset and my computer would not recognize it. The hard-drive just wouldn't boot up.
Then I thought... even though it wasn't plugged into my computer either time and I had used the old one for a while without syncing, maybe it was something on my computer... so I plugged it into my wife's laptop and it said "found new hardware" and then there was a new message saying something along the lines of "there is a problem with your new hardware and it cannot be installed".
My dad had gotten the 2 year warranty, but since it wasn't even 24 hours, I went to Best Buy and brought them back the iPod. They checked it out and said "wow, it's rare that out of the box it would crash, but it's crashed" and they gave me a new one. - I asked them about the possibility of something corrupting it, but they said it was unlikely and they since it's a hard-drive, hard-drives crash.
So on Sunday evening, I did the same routine, I synced my iPod. This time, I tried a little bit of music and a little bit of video without syncing my library and it worked... Then that night I let the whole thing sync.
This morning (Monday) I took it to work and played some music while I dropped my daughter off, and all of a sudden all the artwork is gone again... I figured I deal with that later, because although it bothered me, at least it was playing song after song with no issue.
I'm at work now and I was letting a playlist play on shuffle. It was working just find and was so happy to have an iPod back.
Then I hit the menu button and it takes me back to "coverflow" (the last place I was browsing) and all of a sudden the sound starts buzzing and the whole thing locks up. It's stuck, so I go to reset it...
And low & behold, it won't reset, like the hard-drive crashed AGAIN. This is the 3rd iPod in a row. I plugged it into my work computer, just to see if it would recognize it. (I downloaded the latest iTunes on there) It won't. Again it just won't reboot.
Now the first one, I was having hard-drive troubles, and hadn't been synced in a while, so unfortunately I think the product just doesn't last very long.
But now with 2 new ones, it's making me think that there could be a problem with something in my computer. But I can't imagine what. Everything is either ripped directly into iTunes from a CD, bought from the iTunes store or were WAV files I put into iTunes and converted to aac files. I am a musicians and don't believe in illegally downloading music and don't use torrents. I can't imagine what could corrupt anything I'm syncing.
I have about 110g of music that I am trying to sync. And then some tv shows, which I don't always sync all of them. Most of them were purchased from iTunes, but I have a few that I took from DVD and converted and put into my iTunes.
I have called the apple help line, but they want me to call them back when I'm at my computer at home and we can trouble shoot, even though I know they won't be able to help me, because my iPod won't be able to be read.
I would love to get some opinions and help.
Thank you,
Paul.

Okay, by looking at my previous posting in this forum, it has apparently only been 2 1/2 years since I got my last iPod.

I have imported and processed photo's in Lightroom 2 and kept stored files on external hard drive. External hard drive crashed....how do I export photo's from Lightroom when it says 'file not found'?

Folders with photo files are lost due to external hard drive crashing. Processed photo's are still in LR. How can I export from LR to a file (any file) that no longer exists? Help!!!

Well, no backups, the technical term for that is "a problem". I think from this point forward, you need to commit yourself to making regular automated backups of all of your photos and catalog file to different physical disks, no excuses.
Your photos are not stored in Lightroom. However, Lightroom does create "previews", this is what you are seeing, but these are usually smaller and low-quality compared to the originals. There are plug-ins that can extract the previews from Lightroom. One such plug-in is here robcole.com - PreviewExporter

Can I sync from iPad to a Mac as hard drive crashed and data lost

My iMac hard drive crashed and the data cannot be recovered. Can I sync the iTunes data on my iPad or iPhone back onto the new hard drive?

You should be able to recover data that is in the backup. That does not included some items like music. See the following for what is in the backup:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4079
First in iTunes preferences check the box for prevent automatic syncing when a device is connected.
They connect your iPod to the computer and transfer iTunes purchases to the computer. See:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1848
Then right click on the iPad listed under Devices in the left hand side and click on "Back Up". After backup is complete I think you will have to restore the iPad from backup to complete the process of using your iPad to the "new" computer.

I recently had a hard drive crash and had to reinstall PS. Now it doesn't work right.

I recently had a hard drive crash. I replaced the C: drive with a solid state and now have 3 internal HDs. C: for the OS (Windows 7), D: for data and P: for program installation. Because I replaced the C: drive, I had to re-install all my programs. Now, PhotoShop will not let me place text, inserting the text tool causes the program to stop responding. In InDesign, if I try to place a MS Word document, it acts as if I never did that action and I can't get it placed.
I can copy and paste, but doing so makes the formatting get left behind. I suspect it may not have installed correctly. I've used Adobe products since 1991 and never had this happen before. I even used Aldus PageMaker before the Suites were available. Can anyone help? Is it a reinstallation issue?
I use PhotoTools from OnOne and if I uninstall it to reinstall CS4, I'm afraid it will no longer honor my product key.
I will not give up until this work like it used to. I'm too old to upgrade.

The faulty HD was replaced with a solid state one and that works fine. The fan that caused the errors on the old HD was removed. The system is probably not an issue since I had to reinstall my Windows 7 and it was the only thing installed on the C: drive. I have another drive that I run programs from and one other that I use only for data. Plus a backup drive. The BIOS was reset. The only remaining problems I have are trying to find the software for the web cam driver and I think I will just download it again and my problem with PhotoShop and InDesign. Those two are the sticky ones,I depend on those programs. They work, even my PhotoTools plugin works. The only problems seem to be using the type tool in PS and placing MS Word documents (.docs and .docxs) I think the program must not have installed correctly but I'm afraid if I reinstall it, it might be worse and then I might have to reinstall PhotoTools. That would require calling the company again because when I reinstalled it the last time, it said that it couldn't accept the product #, it had been used before. Yeah, by me. I called them and they gave me a new number, but I don't know if they will be happy if I do that again. So, my best bet is to see if I can fix those two functions. Thank you for your response. let me know if you have anything to add. I appreciate your time.

I would like to make one static copy of Firefox, so I can restore it if I have a hard drive crash, or if I want to upgrade my internal disk, or if I want to have a duplicate on another replacement computer.

''dupe of https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/918473''
I would like to make one static copy of Firefox, so I can restore it if I have a hard drive crash, or if I want to upgrade my internal disk, or if I want to have a duplicate on another replacement computer.

Hi tchmielewski,
You should look into [https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/what-firefox-sync Firefox Sync]. I think it will do everything that you are asking for. This will allow you to have all of your Firefox preferences and settings shared across multiple computers.
You could also create a backup on a USB drive in case of catastrophic failture. I would suggest that you back up your personal information and bookmarks using the article [[Backing up your information]].
Hopefully this helps!

All of my imovie events are stored on an external hard drive. How do I backup this external hard drive? If the external hard drive crashes, how do retrieve the imovie events?

I have all of my imovie events stored on an external hard drive in order to save space on my MacBook Pro's internal drive. I currently back up both my MacBook Pro and the external hard drive using a second external hard drive via Time Machine. I have a few questions:
1. How can I be sure that the external drive is actually being backed up.
2. How do I retrieve the imovie events if the 1st external hard drive crashes?
Thank for your help!

Let me give you some thoughts. I can tell you my plan, but ultimately you will need your own plan that makes sense for you.
I do not think that your idea of having two separate Time Machine destinations will work. You can have two external drives as Time Machine volumes, but they will both back up the same data set. You cannot dedicate one to iMovie and one to everything else. They will both have everything, so you may still have a space problem.
One way to overcome this is to back up the iMovie volume by using a tool like SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy Cloner. The good news is that your Event files should be pretty stable and there is no need to back them up every 15 minutes. So something like SuperDuper, which you can set to automatically backup once a day, for example, is probably fine. I am pretty sure that this would work if you kept the Projects on the same external drive. As long as Projects and Events are on the same drive, then the cloning stragy should work (but you should always test.)
Because projects change more often than events, and projects can become corrupted, I would definitely back up the Project Library to Time Machine. You can do this even though it is on an external drive. (And even though you may be periodically backing up the entire drive that contains the projects.)
Here are some thoughts on how I approach backup, copied from an earlier answer...
============================================================
Great question. I think the issue of backup is a important one, and one I always worry about since I have a lot of video footage that is irreplaceable.
For back-up, it is helpful to define the risk you are trying to protect from.
For example,
1) risk of corruption in iMovie --> I use Time Machine
2) risk of hard drive failure --> I use SuperDuper! nightly for bootable backup) and Time Machine all the time
3) Risk of theft or fire --> offsite backup
Here is what I do...
1) I back up my boot disk with SuperDuper automatically each night so I always have a bootable system.
2) I back up my original video files. For my Motion JPEG, VHS-->AIC, DV, and 8MM to DV, the EVENT is the copy I back up. (I keep the tapes, but I never want to have to import the tapes again.)
For my AVCHD high def video, I back up the camera archive of the AVCHD, but I am not currently backing up the Event files, because I would need from 4 to 8 TB to back up these events depending on whether I made one copy or two. I can always re-create the Event from the camera archive.
3) I use CrashPlan for my offsite backup. It costs less than $4 per month, and I seeded the initial backup to an external drive to minimize having to transfer video files over the Internet. I currently have over 2TB of data backed up to CrashPlan, which includes my entire boot drive, and the files described in #2.
4) All of the above is automated, so I don't have to think about it too much. If I have to manually do stuff, I tend to get behind.
You have to consider the value of total multiple redundancy vs. the likelihood that 2 or three unlikely events would all happen at once. For example, CrashPlan could lose my data. My hard disk could fail. I could lose everything in a fire. But it is unlikely that they would all happen at once, except in nuclear war, in which case, who cares?

Hard drive crashed. how to replace? how to recover data?

My 1st gen 12" aluminum PB with the 60gig hard drive crashed on me. Over the years it has been dropped twice from a 3ft high table onto a concret floor(KIDS!!).
Then one day while using excel the colored wheel appeared and never went away.
When I start it up I get the question mark for a second then just stuck on the apple screen.
Tried disk utilities, target disk mode, etc. I really beleive the disk is toast.
I just bought the new iMac G5 and the new iPod video so I have a replacement on the way.
I still want my PB and i really need some of the data off of the drive. A few files did not get backed up before it crashed.
Question 1: can you reccommend a place to get a new hard drive for it and a new battery? I have been looking on eBay already.
Question 2: How can i get the data off the old drive? I tried booting in Target Disk mode and hooking into my other laptop via firewire but the drive would not mount so i could not get the files I need off of it. I don't want to spend a fortune at one of those data recovery places.

I have a similar problem, but in a sense it was caused by a glitch in TechTool Pro 4.
disk utility had indicated that I had a couple of bad blocks in my start up disk and recommended that it be replaced. Since I already had a second internal hard drive with plenty of room on it, I simply installed OS 10.4 on the second hard drive and designated it as the startup drive.
Then I ran maintenance on the problem drive. After spending an hour or more grinding through every sector it appeared that the drive would pass master. However for some reason it hung up, stopped making progress and disabled my computer, i.e., I could move the cursor but could not click anything or select anything. Finally my only choice was to manually shut down and restart. Restart seemed to work fine except the disk on which I was performing maintenance did not show up on the desktop.
Finally I was able to locate it using disk utility and discovered that the mount point was missing and it was not mounted. Of course this is what I should have expected since techtool pro unmounts a drive while it performs maintenance and when I had to interrupt, it did not remount.
I spent three days trying to find a way to remount it, including downloading MountMe. Strangely when I ran MountMe it recognized the drive and gave me a successful remount message, but the drive was not actually remounted according to disk utility.
I have moved the drive to a different G-4 with no more success.
So, first I suggest you be cautious about the data rescue software or drive maintenance software.
Now for my greatest problem -- I had used Backup from .Mac but apparently was not careful enough about where the backup file was located. Generally I download to my desktop and then if I want to save a download I move it to an appropriate location. Unwisely I had done the same with backup which means of course that when the old startup drive crashed it took my desktop files with it.
Included among those backups were all of my financial records (Quicken) for the year. Three checking accounts, all of my credit card accounts, all of my business accounts, etc. I am talking about days of contacting credit card companies and banks for replacement of records for the year and, worse yet, they don't have the details in their files regarding the accounts to be charged nor do they have any info about inter account transfer, etc., etc., etc.
So, I am looking for a reasonably priced service provider to copy my defective hard drive for me. I don't think there is any problem with the data on the drive, I just can't get it remounted.
Maybe someone knows how to work around the mount point problem????
My main desktop computer is a G-4 quicksilver with dual 800, OS 10.4.3 and 1.4 GB of memory.
thanks,
John Cleek

I think my hard drive crashed....

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