Mac mini shut down when start

Hi all,

My Mac mini doesn't want to start anymore ... I have run the Apple Hardware Test from the CD and all seems ok (all test are ok) but when I try to start on the hard drive, the mac mini suddenly shut down
Where it can comes from ? hard drive failure ? how can I diagnostic the issue ?
I am afraid to reinstall Mac OS X from the CD because I don't want to lose my date

Thanks in advance for your help and advices
Victor

G'day Victor and welcome to the Forums. First off try this:-

Pop in the install DVD an boot from that holding down 'C'. If any joy go to Utilities and run Repair Disk and see what is reported. Does not sound good and hope you have got a backup on an external drive.

Thanks for the answer, I will try this (I have only tried to hold down 'D' to reinstall the OS X)

Hi,

I have tried to repair the disk with the Disk Utility tool from the CD, but when I try to verify the disk, after the "Catalog file", I have error messages "Invalid sibling link" and "Volume check failed".
Also when I try the verify disk permissions, I have the error message "Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit".

Do you where my problem can come from ? what is the "sibling link" ?

Thanks
Victor