Heartache. Bitter heartache. (1 Viewer)

[Jill Hives]

Yes, I’m an idiot no need to tell me this, I’m bitterly aware at this moment. Moreover, if you are going to make a PC vs Mac joke, you can go fuck yourself. I’m in no humor and will kick you square in the shins. Saturday afternoon I was typing away on my laptop when it froze all the applications I had open. I tried to force quit them but it wouldn’t even allow me. I had to force shut down. When I turned it back on, CLICK, CLICK, CLICK is all I heard from the hard drive and then the blue screen of death with a file folder adorning a big question mark. Hard drive fucked.

It’s under two years old (my last MAC lasted 8 even with a 5 foot drop onto concrete) and there was absolutely no warning. It wasn’t acting strange or running slow. I didn’t drop it nor was there water damage. It just stopped working. After that "what would you grab in a fire" thread a few weeks back I decided I should really get an external hard drive to back everything up. The kicker is I had picked one out and was going to buy it this week with my paycheck. Just one of those things I kept putting off because there was no problem yet and something else would come up (being as poor as I am) root canal, someone's birthday, and other unexpected bills that the money went for instead.

I know it may seem silly to some of you but my life was on there. I moved here with 4 bags and honestly if I left (apart from a few clothes) all my "must have" belongings would fit in a carry on bag. All my music ( I don’t even own cds anymore because they are too cumbersome to move), every photo I’ve pretty much ever taken (even stuff from art school that I no longer have copies of) and all my writing, which is hurting the most right now. I had about 150-160 pages of a book I was writing on there. Granted, it was probably crap but it was mine and I put my heart and soul into it. Needless to say, I am gutted. My apartment may have well burned down because it feels as if I lost everything.

My questions to you; has this happened to anyone recently and what was the outcome? Has anyone had anything fixed at the apple store here – do they fix things? Was there even a fraction of data recovery or was everything lost? How much did it cost you to fix it –if there was any fixing? My laptop was seriously the one thing that was keeping me relatively sane due to being so far away from home. I’m still on the verge of tears, so please, some helpful advice?

 

[Goodbye]

 

[Goodbye]

I know it's too late but I write too and I back up all my files to
https://mydisk.se/web/main.php?show=home
2gb of free storage. Mounts on your desktop like an iDisc does, but for free.

I've yet to figure out a scheduled backup with iCal, but apparently it can be done.

I could say goodbye to the apps, the music the everything else, but my itty bitty couple of kb's project files are worth the earth to me.


Sorry to hear your news.

Although, I read somewhere on here that Hugh managed to get a failed hard drive backed up recently enough. Send him a pm

 

[Jill Hives]

Thanks, I needed that. Any idea on the Apple store tech support or cost? Is there any hope for recovery?

 

[taubstumm]

the data can probably be rescued. someone like this will be able to help. it's expensive. all the same, heartbroken woe is not called for just yet. rage and irritation and disappointment, maybe. but with any luck, all is not lost.



edit: these people too

and plenty more from googling 'data recovery'

 

[Jill Hives]

the data can probably be rescued. someone like this will be able to help. it's expensive. all the same, heartbroken woe is not called for just yet. rage and irritation and disappointment, maybe. but with any luck, all is not lost.

Heartbroken woe, doesn't even cover it. I don't even have enough for bus fare in my wallet until Thursday. Even then it'll be a choice between eating or fixing it. Granted, I'd choose fixing it.

 

[the departed]

the newer mactops are seeming to have a very short lifespan..

theres now 2 of the newest ones in my family. fingers crossed.

 

[Jill Hives]

the newer mactops are seeming to have a very short lifespan..

theres now 2 of the newest ones in my family. fingers crossed.

But with no warning? Just poof. Gone! It doesn't make sense.

 

[the departed]

But with no warning? Just poof. Gone! It doesn't make sense.

yup. but still as much as you can look after them and stuff,
they still have a spinning hard disk in them which are as fragile as a few eggs sitting loosely in a bag.

the 'click click click' basically means the needle is jumping on the drive so its defo a drive problem.

itll only be when solid-state drives(no moving parts like a memory stick) are introduced to all machines that the days of hard drive failure will be over. unfortunately itll be a while as solid state memory is VERY expensive. but it is steadily dropping.

 

[wageslave]

this sucks. good luck, hope it can be sorted out.

 

[dudley]

definitely give cdr.ie a shout, they're a decent bunch.
they'll take the machine from you and and have a look at it for free. it tends to be an expensive job getting data recovered, but they'll also only charge you if they're successful.

most important thing for now is to NOT keep turning the machine on, if it's a physical problem you'll just keep making it worse.

thing is, often in these cases the actual disk plates in the drive are fine, especially in macs (i think they're pretty well safe guarded), so i think there's a good chance your data is ok. sadly, is is pricey to get fixed over here. maybe you could send it a friend in the US to get it done there?

 

[Jill Hives]

I did turn it off and on a few times (maybe 4) on Saturday then I let it sit. I tired it only once on Sunday. I thought if I let it sit for a while maybe it would magically work. I haven't touched it today. I've been trying to look for places to bring it. Is it really that much cheaper in the states? I am going for two weeks in less than a month. At this point I don't want to do anything until a professional can look at it. I want to get different prices because I seriously can't afford this right now. Any names of places would be helpful.

 

[dudley]

i imagine it would be a lot cheaper in the US, tech services tend to be

 

[Jill Hives]

This might be a stupid question but what happens? Do they fix the faulty hard drive? Or do I need to buy a new one and then they recover the data (if possible) and transfer it over? I am trying to get quotes (or at least a general idea) of the cost. Anyone want to wager a guess?

 

[dudley]

It's very unlikely they'll fix it. Usually they present you a list of what data they are able to see on the drive, and you choose what you want them to rescue (you most likely don't need program files etc). I think most people get it backed up to DVDs, but I supplied them with an external hard drive before, and they used that.

 

[Jill Hives]

It's very unlikely they'll fix it. Usually they present you a list of what data they are able to see on the drive, and you choose what you want them to rescue (you most likely don't need program files etc). I think most people get it backed up to DVDs, but I supplied them with an external hard drive before, and they used that.

Okay, so I give them an external hard drive for any files and then take the computer in to be fixed somewhere? Or a new hard drive put in? Could I not do the technique of starting it up holding down the T and trying to transfer myself to an external hard drive? Or am I just remembering incorrectly from years ago?

 

[Lefty Frizzell]

Have you tried booting from cd?

Put in a mac os disc and hold down the option button when you switch it on.

You might be able to get stuff of the hd if you can get the os loaded from cd.

 

[Goodbye]

Thats target mode. You dont want to do anything right now to start your disc spinning.
If it wont boot up its hardly going to mount on another computer via target mode.

Dont do that.

 

[Lefty Frizzell]

Its not just target mode. Theres also the option to load the os from cd.

 

[dudley]

your laptop manafacturer might offer a service to salvage the data while they repair the machine, but i imagine the costs are horrific.

the best route is let one of these data recovery specialists do their work, then send your machine off to get a new drive put in.

you definitely don't want to try and transfer anything yourself, it'll just further corrupt the disk