My Mac G4 Powerbook's hard drive just crashed. I brought it to the Mac store and they told me the hard drive crashed, would not mount, but still was savable to get my data. Because my warranty is up I had to bring it to another computer repair place in hope of recovering all my data (which unfortunately I didn’t back up) but they charge $800, which is a complete rip off. I was wondering what other options I have to retrieving the data myself. Does anyone know of the best programs or options I have that aren’t going to cost me an arm or a leg to retrieve my data off my hard drive?
The charge of most data recovery is $100, not $800. There is a possibility some at the geek squad can help you. I would suggest bringing a new hard drive you purchased with your OS disks and your computer to a tech who should be able to put your data onto a CD for you and reload it onto your new HD and into your computer. Now you know why people like to use time machine and put all data into one folder to back it up. Below is information in how to install your hard drive yourself. Crap, let's be serious, $800 is sounds silly. I think they want you to go to somewhere ese because they are afraid of Macs. There should be some near you that can perform the service. Make sure you calculate the value of the information something simlar happened to me. I had all my information saved in one folder called data. I simply asked to get that info. reload it on the new drive with the OS. What they do it run both drives off your computer (master and slave), save the folder on a disk and then use the disc o put it onto your new drive. You may need o go to a Mac certified service place, just to get advise and a high estimate
Here is a website that may help
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/datarecovery.html
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The charge of most data recovery is $100, not $800. There is a possibility some at the geek squad can help you. I would suggest bringing a new hard drive you purchased with your OS disks and your computer to a tech who should be able to put your data onto a CD for you and reload it onto your new HD and into your computer. Now you know why people like to use time machine and put all data into one folder to back it up. Below is information in how to install your hard drive yourself. Crap, let's be serious, $800 is sounds silly. I think they want you to go to somewhere ese because they are afraid of Macs. There should be some near you that can perform the service. Make sure you calculate the value of the information something simlar happened to me. I had all my information saved in one folder called data. I simply asked to get that info. reload it on the new drive with the OS. What they do it run both drives off your computer (master and slave), save the folder on a disk and then use the disc o put it onto your new drive. You may need o go to a Mac certified service place, just to get advise and a high estimate
Here is a website that may help
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/datarecovery.html
References :
http://xlr8yourmac.com/systems/powerbookG4_12in_HD_upgrade/PowebookG4_12in_HD_upgrade.htm