disk verify or disk repair not working

Hi guys N gals

Got a new iMac as my G4 has gone to the computer heaven. Only had this mac 5 weeks and the problem I'm having is Disk utility will not verify or repair the hard drive I only became aware of this when i tried to partition my hard drive.....

i am using OS X 10.5.2 what i want to know is it possible to run disk repair from the DVD never ran the install disk so don't want to get so far and realise i've just nuked all my data. so what i'm really asking is can this be done without doing a fresh install as i get the following Error message:

Invalid volume file count
(It should be 685091 instead of 685092)
Invalid volume directory count
(It should be 172308 instead of 172307)
The volume Macintosh HD needs to be repaired.

Error: Filesystem verify or repair failed.

As I've already said i have tried to partition my drive but it won't do that, as i could have done a full install to the new partition and copied everything actross

Put in the leopard disk. It boots up something similar to the Mac desktop. At the top you will find 'Utilities'. You can then select the disk utility. As everything is tunning off a disk you should have more luck with it.

The installation happens in the main window. If you are paying attention you are at no risk of nuking everything.

As Perad advises boot from the install DVD and run Repair Disk from there. You cannot really repair the drive if you are booted from it hence using the install DVD. When finished, boot and run Repair Permissions from the hard drive as this was modified under the X.5.2 update and is different to the DVD.

The best drive maintenance/repair program is DiskWarrior 4.1 for Leopard. Well worth the investment.

Many Thanks for the replies guys

started up from DVD followed prompts and selected utilities from menu at top I think i actually missed the menu at the top before, as perad pointed out or maybe it was that i didn't let it go far enough fearing i would nuke the hard drive. Invested in diskwarrior 4.1 harry, having read a few reviews thanks for the tip. I've also invested in a 160Gb external drive too.

lost that much date when my G4 died i don't want to do it again. Once again thanks for your replies

Do not install DiskWarrior on your drive, Towbar. Just use as a boot CD and run the various programs from there. If the G4 is a MDD go to the Apple web site and download Apple Hardware Test version 1.2.6 and burn on to a CD and is also an invaluable diagnosis tool.

Here is the link to download AHT:-

http://www.info.apple.com/support/aht.html