[Niq1]

So f&*king around with the dog, I tripped over the cord on my i Book (too bad it's not like the new magnetic Mac Book power cable)
Computer fell off coffee table, and now won't boot.
1. So does anyone know of a good (cheap?) data recovery service?
2. How hard is it to put in a new drive? Has anyone done it on an i Book?

 

[LordOpie]

Harddrive removal and install should be easy, especially with Macs, but I haven't opened an iBook.

Try putting the harddrive in the freezer for a couple hours, get an external harddrive to copy data to if you get it working. Put the laptop HD in a ziplock bag, use a straw if available to suck out as much air (and moisture) as possible before freezing.

 

[pinkshirtphotos]

what does freezing it do

 

[H8R]

So f&*king around with the dog, I tripped over the cord on my i Book (too bad it's not like the new magnetic Mac Book power cable)
Computer fell off coffee table, and now won't boot.
1. So does anyone know of a good (cheap?) data recovery service?
2. How hard is it to put in a new drive? Has anyone done it on an i Book?

1. There is no such thing as a cheap data recovery service. At least not a good one.

2. Are you sure the HD is totaled and not the iBook itself? Have you pulled the HD and tried to get it to work in another machine?

3. Good luck and take it one step at a time. Don't put it in the freezer, that only works sometimes when you know the drive is tanked.

 

[H8R]

what does freezing it do

I dunno exactly what it does, but if there is a drive making that horrible clackity sound, (I think it's the read arm thing) if you freeze it then tap it lightly once on a table you can get it working again. This helped me pull data off of a failed drive. It was only a temp fix - later on the drive made the same horrible sound so I chucked it.

 

[binary visions]

The theory with a crashed drive is because the tolerances are so tight in a drive, the read head can get stuck during the seek process. Once that head is stuck, it generally won't unstick itself.

Freezing it causes everything to contract enough that the head may unstick itself and will run until the drive warms back up again. That's also why tapping it can help if freezing it isn't enough. I've heard of people putting their drive in an enclosure and actually leaving it in their freezer during the recovery process as well to buy some extra time.

That's the theory, anyway. I don't know how true it is, but the number of anecdotes that have claimed it works is pretty overwhelming.

Regardless, H8R is right. Don't do anything weird with the drive until you figure out if your data is really gone.

 

[H8R]

Regardless, H8R is right.

That's tattoo material right there folks.

 

[Silver]

I've had the freezer thing work for me as well. But yeah, last resort there.

Good lesson for the future: Backups!