Static noise then shut down

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Sep 8, 2008
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My late 2002 powerbook G4 (Titanium, I think) running 10.4.11 started emitting a loud static/fuzz noise then shutting down within seconds to minutes of booting up. Sometimes there is a tone between the static noise and shut down, but not always, and the length varies. A couple of times it booted partially or fully then froze. I've tried swapping out the RAM and it doesn't change anything. DiskUtility doesn't show any problems. The computer has been running very hot recently, I'm wondering if this is possibly an overheating issue, though the speed with which it shuts off after booting up tells me it probably doesn't have enough time to get too hot.

I'm hoping it's not the harddrive failing, but I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case. If it is, what's the best/safest way to get the data off the drive?
 
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In a van down the river.
Your Mac's Specs
933 Mhz Powermac Quicksilver,1.5GB RAM, OSX 10.5, Tangerine 300MHz Clamshell, OS 9.2
I don't know if you're still checking your post to see if anyone has replied. I was away on the 8th because it was my birthday lol...However I am back and I believe I can help you. You say the powerbook gets "very hot". Titanium powerbooks were not notorious for overheating so this one is a doozy. If you can still boot up to tiger and see everything like you're just on there to do whatever it is you do as if there were no problems with your laptop, plug in a jump or thumb drive, wait for the computer to recognize it, and quickly transfer all of your data to it ASAP. It is possible your hard drive is on the way out. Remember this is a titanium so it's at least 4 years old.
 

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