My computerpocolypse

[derpytia]

So after four years of treating my mac with loving care it no longer boots. Going into DiskUtility the drive shows up but it says it isn't mounted and if I click for more info it says:
Repairable: Yes
Bootable: No

However when I try to repair it it fails. I've tried resetting the PRAM. I've tried fsck-ing (no this is not a cussword it's a literal thing). I've tried booting in safe mode. I only ever get as far as putting in the password to boot in and the little loading bar gets about halfway and then it shuts off...

Should I even bother to call Apple Support for further advice or should I just get a new computer? If I do I'm getting a PC because I can't afford another mac.

 

[NothingIsImpossible]

Honestly when a computer dies and all seems lost I totally panic and feel like my life has ended. Sounds silly I know but computers are our lives now. We browse on them, we talk to friends on them, we store important things on them. Its not easy dealing with the fact the can mess up and destroy everything. This is why I do backups all the time. And saved a backup of my most important files on three USB flash drives.

Since its an Apple I am not sure what to do. Maybe someone can transfer the files somehow to a new harddrive? Not sure how it works with Macs. One of my dead HDs I was able to get into DoS somehow and move a few files to another drive. But I think that was pure luck. Usually once a HD stops booting up you are out of luck.

I have heard of some weird things people do like sticking the drive in a ziploc and placing it in a freezer for an hour. Then booting it up and SOMETIMES it works. I don't recommend that because I forgot how the full process works. Some even gently bang the side of the drive itself to...well forgot what it does.

I know with my PC I have a program called Recuva. So after my HD stops working right I get a new HD and then my old HD becomes the secondary. So after I boot up my new HD I can use Recuva to search for any file on the old HD to save onto the new HD. Sometimes the new PC sees the old HD and lets me use it. Other times it doesn't.

 

[Wookiee]

There's a very good chance the hard drive is dying/dead. On a regular computer I'd give you tips on booting into a utility disk to run a thorough HDD test (which can repair faults), but Macs were always really funny about keyboard support and I never had much luck. In worst cases, I usually pulled the drive out and tested them in another computer.

The other thing you could try if you haven't already (depending on the age) is reinstalling MacOS using Internet recovery:
How to Re-Install OS X with Internet Recovery on a Mac

You will very likely lose your data doing this (and any hope of recovering it to begin with), but there's a chance it may at least fix it.

 

[derpytia]

Meh. I think I'm going to go with a new PC. Kinda done with Apple products and their accessibility...

 

[Wookiee]

Meh. I think I'm going to go with a new PC. Kinda done with Apple products and their accessibility...

Yeahhhhhhhhhh, pretty much. And apart from the fact they run MacOS they're internally the same as any other computer these days. The price difference between a Mac with identical hardware to a non-Apple computer is ridiculous.

 

[nonaeroterraqueous]

There's a very good chance the hard drive is dying/dead.

I have to agree with that. I know nothing about Macs, other than that they cost too much, but if it were my PC I'd give it a new hard drive and reinstall the operating system, or install some other operating system, if possible.

Hopefully the personal data was backed up.

 

[NothingIsImpossible]

I tried using macs three times in my life as far back as the late 80s. They were confusing and counter intuitive. Then again being a PC used maybe thats why. I also didn't like I can't really modify them like I can a PC. The support for them is terrible too and the amount of software that works on them is limited.

The only Apple product I owned that I liked was my Ipod Touch. Still have it. But IoS is terrible too. I love android.