*_* computer crash

[aimeekitty]

so Carmen II, my secondary (and most important) drive on my computer is somehow messed up. it won't mount. I was updating to OSX .2 (Jaguar) today, and all of the sudden... Carmen II stopped working during the install. I'm guessing that the install of Jaguar either made my computer so it can't read the secondary drive, OR it somehow messed up my drive. either that or my drive just randomly stopped working??

What's on Carmen II (and thus may be permanently lost):
-ALL of my best OSX programs, some of which I no longer have install discs for
-ALL of my collected artwork and photographs from my favorite websites, TONs and tons of stuff. most of which is probably no longer available from the original websites.
- pretty much anything worth anything on my computer
- all my artwork (PSD and TIF files)
- all my personal photos
- all my email

however, the computer still runs (in Jaguar and OS 9), probably still connect to the internet assuming I can reconfigure it, and all my OS 9 programs are intact.

I'm currently trying to run Norton on the drive to see if I can get it to respond.
UPDATE: I can't connect to the internet unless I totally redo my ethernet again, and I really dont want to have to because if I can get the drive back up, everything will work again, but I have to connect to the INTERNET to use liveupdate to get the update for norton, because norton, the peice of crap, is crashing when I try to "repair" carmen II.

and be cause the people who made norton are CRACKHEADS, and don't have the files on their site (ie that I could download from mitch's computer and then move to my other... to fix it)

so I'm stuck. I don't have time to redo the ethernet.

what am I going to do???

I guess I'll call norton tomorrow early before work (since they aren't open now)
and make them help me.

and bitch them out for their assinine way of running a software.

I mean lets see here. if your drive is utterly messed up or your computer utterly messed up, and then you need to somehow get an update, but the ONLY way to update is from THAT specific computer, and you cant download on other computers and then move it over, since its a proprietary download program...

how the heck am I supposed to fix my drive, Norton? HUH?

And didn't I just buy this program to PREVENT CRAP LIKE THIS FROM HAPPENING TO ME??!

I hadn't gotten a cdr drive yet to back up my computer, since I haven't had time. I was hoping that I would luck out. looks like I haven't.

I think either Apple or Norton should pay me emotional hardship damages. :P~

(and no one say "you should have backed up your computer" like I don't know that.)

I'm so upset. I still have hope though that the drive is recoverable, as it is saying there is a drive there and all, so it could be worse right?

:( suggestions welcome

Comments

[jenova-silver.livejournal.com]

First: Don't Panic!
Does the drive spin up at all? if so, boot off a os 9 CD or the jaguar Install disc 1 you should be able to try disc first aid, or disc warrior (which I prefer to norton) Or from jaguar run disc utility (I'm assuming it's not the Jag boot drive.) It is very possible to recover it with minimal loss. (disc first aid or disc utility should be your first stop)

If the drive doesn't spin up at all, disconnect it, and look into drive savers (it's spendy, buit they can get your data off of it. last resort they take the drive apart in a clean room and will retrieve as much as they can and put it onto CDs.)

(and at the end of this make sure you back up everything!)

[giles.livejournal.com]

I second the Diskwarrior recommendation. I've had drives where First Aid, Norton, Techtool and Drive 10 found nothing usable, and Diskwarrior got the thing booting again. Haven't tried the brand new OS X version yet, but the previous one was fantastic.

[gally99.livejournal.com]

I agree with what's been said already.
Last ditch effort, if you can't fix it yourself, is to take it to a Mac dealer/tech/specialist and see if they can recover at least the files off the disk for you (even if the HD itself is not recoverable). I read an article on it somewhere, and although it pertains to PCs, I think Macs would be just as (if not more?) resiliant.

[janabanana74.livejournal.com]

i wish i knew some advice to help.

i'm sorry this happened!

*hugs*

[kiyacat.livejournal.com]

Maybe your settings got messed up and your computer isn't reading the drive, but the drive could be fine. Have you tried putting it into another computer? (Can you do that with a Mac?) We've had the problem before, and we were able to copy all of the files onto a second computer, and then redo the problem computer. I also recommend a disk recovery service if the drive is messed up. Bill lost his animation drive once (you KNOW how hard it is to back up massive 3D files!) and we were able to get most files back. I hope that you can get your files back!

BTW, I think it is cute that you named your drive Carmen II :-)

[lberghol.livejournal.com]

GAH! that sucks! Comp problems bite >:P I wish I could offer some advice, 'cept try not to kick it, that usually does more harm than good....

[sewinggoddess.livejournal.com]

Normally, I would be loads of help on the MacGuru thing, but I have not encountered any trouble with my OSX-Jag yet, so I am not sure if I can offer anything but good *juju* & *hugs* girlie.

[leahkitty.livejournal.com]

Hm.. Norton.

I've heard from various techie friends that Norton actually screws up a lot of computers. I don't know much about other disk repair software, but be wary.

I'm assuming that when you say Carmen 2 is your secondary drive that it's not the master drive, and this it is a slave to Carmen 1. (And Carmen 1 boots your computer to begin with) Also, I'm coming at this with only knowledge of a PC, so I don;t know how much similarity there is in hardware and software.

As far as your other drive, try re-installing your operating system. You also might try to make it a slave of another drive, and attempt to access it that way. Another option is to just turn off the computer for a while. Sometimes computers need a cooldown time. I know that's a problem with people who leave their PCs on all day long. Also, you might try to install a different OS and attempt to access the drive that way. With a lot of PCs, when windows stops working, it's nice to be able to leave windows and go into DOS or Linux and check everything out. There could also be a software/hardware compatability issue. Is there any way you can load from a previous session?

Also, one the cables connecting your drive to the power supply, or the drive to the rest of the computer may have been knocked loose. Make sure everything is securely connected, including the jumpers - which designate slave from master. If you don't know what you're doing, don't follow the advice. I'm sure you realize that, but I've seen a lot of smart people do some really dumb things.

Good luck. I can empathize!!! It's a good thing you have a lot of your art on your website, though - so it's not a total loss, but those original PSD and TIF files... yikes.

[crzydemona.livejournal.com]

YIPES!

..and I am totally useless to you in this situation. (like I'm ever useful or something!) I say you bitch slap Carmen into shape!! :)

Jen

[leahkitty.livejournal.com]

Or you can do that.

Sounds like a good idea to me ;)

[aminamithri.livejournal.com]

I've heard a lot about Norton messing comps up too. Diskwarrior sounds good, I'd try that if none of the other suggestions work. If you know someone else with a mac, see if you can't install the drive on their comp, that usually works.
Just installing an update shouldn't scrap a drive like that, really. It's probably just not reading it. The model might just have bugs with Jaguar. Another thing you might want to try is to install the latest version (10.2.6) if you get your comp connected to the net. That's fixed the kinks that I had with fresh-out-of-the-box Jag.
All the helpful stuff I can think of. Hope you get your stuff back! :)

[leahkitty.livejournal.com]

My husband said that you can often send your disk to certain companies and they can get the data off of it for you.

Not all is lost. :)

[pegasusjf.livejournal.com]

There may also be services that can recover data and possibly repair your hard drive if it's a hardware or File Access Table (FAT) problem. I would check your yellow pages and look into it.

My 2 cents.

[s8venus.livejournal.com]

Hey Aimee..........This will blow your mind

I actually called you today......no...seriously....from work, at random.
http://www.livejournal.com/users/s8venus/488845.html?mode=reply

[aunrea.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry! I hope they can help you recover your things; I wish I had good advice for you. :(