Hard drive crash

I believe my hard drive crashed tonight. I've never experienced this before so I may be wrong.

Computer froze earlier this evening. I tried to close the program and restart but it was locked up completely. Manually shut if off and restarted it. I get a clicking sound coming from the front left corner and a grey screen. After a minute or two I get a flashing folder. Searching the forum and other sites, I believe this is a HD crash.

I've read that I should insert my startup disk. I've done so and it brings me to where I can reinstall the OS. A couple of questions, by doing this will it erase all of my files I am trying to recover?

I was able to get into disc utility from the reinstall screen. However, the HD doesn't show up here, does this mean the HD has completely crashed and no data can be recovered?

Lastly, if reinstalling the OS does not delete the files I am trying to recover but I am unsuccessful in doing so, is there another way to get them (recovery service) and if so, what is the ballpark figure to do so?

I'll try to answer your questions.

You've already done some trouble shooting with your install media and stated the drive can not be seen from Disk Utility. You also stated you heard a clicking sound. Both are signs of a damaged hard drive. Possibly a head crash or other defect.

If you have no backup, it's unlikely you will be able to recover data even with sophisticated software. Since the drive appears damaged and can not be accessed, special software probably isn't going to work. Sending the drive out to a recovery service can cost anywhere from $500 on up.

The decision is yours. If you would like to try the software approach, I recommend "Stellar Data Recovery". You can download a trial copy to test on the drive. If it can't "see" the drive it won't work.

Data Recovery services vary in price. Here's one you can call and get an estimate from. They have an 800 number you can call for free.

Regards.

I have an external case, what's the possibilites that it will be read on another computer if it won't show up on my MBP?

I called that number and they gave me several options of their services that range from $189 - $1500, I still don't understand what determines the price (amount of date being recovered, etc.) Going to pull the drive out tonight and try it in the external case on another computer. I was also told that I can install linux and try to use it to recover the files while still attached to the MBP. It just doesn't seem like it will be recogonized on another machine if it's not being recogonized on the MBP. Can someone explain this to me?

Can someone explain what placing the HD in an external case will do to might help me retrieve my data that it's not doing while sitting in my MBP? I'm looking to better understand the situation in helping me figure out what might be wrong.

[email protected] said:

Can someone explain what placing the HD in an external case will do to might help me retrieve my data that it's not doing while sitting in my MBP? I'm looking to better understand the situation in helping me figure out what might be wrong.

Click to expand...

The difference is that you are not booting from the drive when accessing it externally. You can certainly try that method as external USB carriers are inexpensive and easy to use. Give it a try.

However, as I explained to you in my previous post, if the drive is damaged and can't be "seen", that means it can't be accessed by normal methods. That's why data recovery services are so expensive. They use special techniques to get the data off the damaged drive. They also base their fee on the size of the drive.

Regards.