I think my mac crashed? help please

Question

I was in the process of having just downloaded some songs from itunes and the computer started pinwheeling/glitched like it does from time to time and so I restarted the computer manually. When it booted up, there is a question mark folder flashing. My brother usually does all the computer stuff at my house but he has moved away. I talked to him on the phone and he said it sounds like it has crashed. I inserted the OS disk1 and it recognized it and went to the installation, asking to pick your language. So it looks like I may be able to reinstall everything, but if I do this I will for certain lose all files/songs, etc. I am not going to reinstall unless this is my last resort. I really don't want to lose all of my stuff. anything else I can try first? so that I can recover my files? thanks
Message was edited by: FM/AR

Answer 1

Normally you can recover your files. See my backup FAQ*:
http://www.macmaps.com/backup.html
Once you have recovered sufficiently enough, make another duplicate of what is available.
Once you are backed up to your comfort level, you can attempt to repair the directory*:
http://www.macmaps.com/directoryfaq.html
If you still can't make your Mac bootable, see if you can empty unnecessary files*:
http://www.macmaps.com/diskfull.html
Or possibly zap the PRAM to solve problems:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=2238
Only then, if nothing else works, run the hardware test that came with your Mac:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303081 - for 4 USB port Mac Minis.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86287 - for 2 USB port Mac Minis.
If nothing there is detectable, come back and tell us what you've tried.
- * Links to my pages may give me compensation.
Message was edited by: a brody