Dear Chscag,

Thank you for your quick response! I really appreciate that.

I am not sure if the drive is OK or not. But this is what I know so far...when I clicked on Time Machine, it still can open the disk to access data stored up to 20.04.2012. Another thing: when I switched on my Mac, I got this message. It says: MAC OSX can't repair the disk 'LaCie'. You can still open or copy files but cannot change the files...'

What does it mean?

My drive is still under warranty. Say I need to have the drive replaced, how can I first save all the back-up data from the disk. Do you have any instructions on this or is there anywhere I can look up for saving back-up files? I am really new to this situation.

Thank you once again for your tips.
J