Comments on: How to revive a dead hard drive http://www.silvermac.com/2008/how-to-revive-a-dead-hard-drive/ Wed, 14 Jul 2010 10:07:05 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: KD http://www.silvermac.com/2008/how-to-revive-a-dead-hard-drive/comment-page-1/#comment-2594 KD Sun, 28 Sep 2008 10:18:44 +0000 http://www.silvermac.com/?p=975#comment-2594 ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION to freeing up your parked heads or non spinning drive. You might be able to save yourself some concern about warranty and some time if you try the following to free up a parked head or a non spinning drive. Turn off your Mac. Close the lid. Hold the mac with the Apple logo facing up, with both hands, each at kitty corner to the other. (one at back left and the other at front right. To help you do this more correctly, hold the Mac above your head looking up at it. What you need to do is quickly turn the Mac clockwise and then snap it back going counter clockwise. So carefully, but quickly turn it, as if to snap it using a spinning motion above your head and then back again. You don't want to bend the Mac case in any way or drop it, so be careful, because as with anything your doing this at your own risk and expense! ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION to freeing up your parked heads or non spinning drive.

You might be able to save yourself some concern about warranty and some time if you try the following to free up a parked head or a non spinning drive.

Turn off your Mac.
Close the lid.
Hold the mac with the Apple logo facing up, with both hands, each at kitty corner to the other. (one at back left and the other at front right.
To help you do this more correctly, hold the Mac above your head looking up at it.
What you need to do is quickly turn the Mac clockwise and then snap it back going counter clockwise.
So carefully, but quickly turn it, as if to snap it using a spinning motion above your head and then back again.
You don’t want to bend the Mac case in any way or drop it, so be careful, because as with anything your doing this at your own risk and expense!

]]> By: JP http://www.silvermac.com/2008/how-to-revive-a-dead-hard-drive/comment-page-1/#comment-2593 JP Sat, 27 Sep 2008 12:02:41 +0000 http://www.silvermac.com/?p=975#comment-2593 Hey Ivo, Well if it were the hard drive you would be getting the blinking question mark with folder when booting your computer. Have you installed any third party RAM lately? If you think it's the hard drive then you might want to check this article: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1417 You might also want to try this other article that explains how to reset the PRAM and the VRAM on your iMac just in case something is wrong there: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379 Lastly but not least you should try this if the above haven't resolved anything: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1767 If after all those steps you are still having the same problem, then you might want to boot from your install DVD and check the hard drive using Disk Utility. Good luck on this and hope your Mac works well again! Hey Ivo,

Well if it were the hard drive you would be getting the blinking question mark with folder when booting your computer. Have you installed any third party RAM lately?

If you think it’s the hard drive then you might want to check this article:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1417

You might also want to try this other article that explains how to reset the PRAM and the VRAM on your iMac just in case something is wrong there:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379

Lastly but not least you should try this if the above haven’t resolved anything:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1767

If after all those steps you are still having the same problem, then you might want to boot from your install DVD and check the hard drive using Disk Utility.

Good luck on this and hope your Mac works well again!

]]> By: Ivo http://www.silvermac.com/2008/how-to-revive-a-dead-hard-drive/comment-page-1/#comment-2592 Ivo Sat, 27 Sep 2008 03:30:14 +0000 http://www.silvermac.com/?p=975#comment-2592 My iMac G5 is not doing well. A couple of days ago, when I turned on, the only thing I got was the welcome sound....and dark screen (as if the computer was still off)...after a while the fan started spinning like there's no tomorrow. OK, my questions are: 1. is it a hard drive or 2. did the monitor went bad? The iMac is about 4 years old. I will appreciate any input/ideas. Thanks My iMac G5 is not doing well. A couple of days ago, when I turned on, the only thing I got was the welcome sound….and dark screen (as if the computer was still off)…after a while the fan started spinning like there’s no tomorrow. OK, my questions are: 1. is it a hard drive or 2. did the monitor went bad? The iMac is about 4 years old. I will appreciate any input/ideas. Thanks

]]> By: Foetus http://www.silvermac.com/2008/how-to-revive-a-dead-hard-drive/comment-page-1/#comment-2563 Foetus Mon, 25 Aug 2008 18:01:25 +0000 http://www.silvermac.com/?p=975#comment-2563 An "oldie-but-goodie" trick to "dead" hard drives: Take the drive and put it in a plastic ziplock, trying to get as much as out of it as possible. Put it in the freezer for about an hour. Take it out, hook it up, and you should have a working hard drive for about 30-45 minutes... long enough typically to get your data off of it. I have never seen a hard drive (that wasn't physically damaged) NOT boot up using this method. An “oldie-but-goodie” trick to “dead” hard drives: Take the drive and put it in a plastic ziplock, trying to get as much as out of it as possible. Put it in the freezer for about an hour. Take it out, hook it up, and you should have a working hard drive for about 30-45 minutes… long enough typically to get your data off of it. I have never seen a hard drive (that wasn’t physically damaged) NOT boot up using this method.

]]> By: Lisa Melnick http://www.silvermac.com/2008/how-to-revive-a-dead-hard-drive/comment-page-1/#comment-2551 Lisa Melnick Sun, 10 Aug 2008 15:03:18 +0000 http://www.silvermac.com/?p=975#comment-2551 Great advice. A future post with pics on how to remove the hard drive and replace it would be helpful to those of us who are a little intimidated to do so on our own. Great advice. A future post with pics on how to remove the hard drive and replace it would be helpful to those of us who are a little intimidated to do so on our own.

]]> By: Dale http://www.silvermac.com/2008/how-to-revive-a-dead-hard-drive/comment-page-1/#comment-2537 Dale Sun, 03 Aug 2008 21:17:59 +0000 http://www.silvermac.com/?p=975#comment-2537 Amen to backing up - its so easy now days to do it especially with the addition of time machine to all apples. And removable hard drives being extremely cheap. Amen to backing up – its so easy now days to do it especially with the addition of time machine to all apples. And removable hard drives being extremely cheap.

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