Powerbook G4 stopped working it cuts on but no spinning disc symbol..won't run I installed the start up disk and it starts up but disk first aid says there is something wrong can't repair it..what do I do now? Do I erase everything and start over?

Question

The G4 comes on but that is as far as it goes...I installed the startup disc it started  and I  tried disk first aid but it says it can't be repaired????If I erase everything will this fix the problem as well as make me lose everything?
The firsat aid  box says:
" REPAIRING DISK FOR "HARD DRIVE"
checking HFS Plus volume
Checking events Overflowfile
Checking catalog file
Invalid node structure ( this is in RED )
rebuilding catalog B-tree
The volume Hard drive can not be repaired  ( in red)
Error:    The underlying task reported failure on exit  (-9972_)  (in red)
REPAIR ATTEMPTED ON 1 VOLUME
0HFS volume repaired  ( in green)
1 volume could not be repaired (in red)
[email protected] feel free to send email thanks

Answer 1

Bryan,
Do you have a second hard drive?  If you can get the install disk to boot the computer then all is not lost.  Install a clean system on a second hard drive to get back in business.  If you have any backup copies of your software and files, use them to restore your computer to good working condition.
Then, install some form of data recovery software on your second drive.  The recovery software can look at a bit mapped version of your drive and extract data that may be scrambled but usable.  Think of the drive as a book.  If someone tore out a few pages from the table of contents or index from a book, the main volume would be there but the book would not be repairable.  Or, if the table of contents is OK but someone tore out a chapter or two, the other chapters would be there.  The book is not complete but all is not lost.
Here is a review to get you up to speed:
http://data-recovery-software-review.toptenreviews.com/mac-recovery-software/
Start by getting your computer working off a clean install on a second drive so the data recovery process will work faster and have a destination for the recovered data.
Jim~
btw, it is better to list your email as follows: sssail3 at aol dot com.  That format protects agains trolling for email addresses.