Can´t mount system disk (Ibook g3)

[JOSHYSHERLOCK]

Hi,friends. I am the proud owner of and old and trusty (´till now ) Ibook G3.My system disk do not mount, and it´s terrific because I have vital data inside. I can´t start using and external drive with Tiger on it. System on my Ibook is Tiger too.What can I do? I can not install OS because system disk appears in Disk Utility but can not be mounted... Please, help.Thanks a lot!

[ADKhikerVW]

I gather you have successfully booted from your installation disk and opened Disk Utility from there? If so, have you tried verifying the disk? Under the First Aid tab there is an option to Verify Disk. Try that and see if it comes back with any errors. If so, click Repair Disk and see if Disk Utility can repair the problem.

You do have a backup right? I ask because there is a possibility your hard drive is damaged and may not be repairable. There are ways to recover your data from a damaged drive, but they are not free, and there's never a guarantee that it will work.