[shueytexas]

Okay, so my hard drive suddenly disappeared. When I restarted via DVD, the hard drive clicked repeatedly. My hard drive is dead. RIP.

I got my PB in June '04. It's a 1.5ghz. I got the three-year CompUSA warranty.

So I drove my PB the 120 miles to the CompUSA where I bought it. They said they'd call me when they look at it.

So here are my questions. I'd appreciate any answers you many have.

1. My hard drive just quit out of nowhere. I noticed it when trying to wake my PB from sleep. It became inaccessible via Tiger Installer and Disk Utility. Then, like I said, it began clicking after a restart. Does this indicate a mechanical failure, and if so, is there a good chance that the data is recoverable?

2. Has anyone had CompUSA do a data recovery? They offer it for $99. If my hard drive allows it, is this my best option?

3. When CompUSA installs a new hard drive under warranty, will it be the same kind? Or is there any chance I'll get an upgrade in capacity or RPM?

Thanks to anyone who has had a similar experience and can maybe answer these.

[bighead]

1. Yes, it indicates mechanical failure. Yes, there is a good chance data is recoverable, but not from the techs at CompUSA. You would need to ship the drive to a data recovery company like OnTrack or DriveSavers.

2. No, I have not. $99 for actual data recovery of the type you need is quite low, so I doubt your drive qualifies. Count on spending about $1500-2000 for complete recovery services.

3. It depends on what CompUSA's warranty terms are. I would imagine they could not replace it with a smaller, slower drive, however the terms of the warranty may allow them to do so. I doubt they are under obligation to use Apple service parts when there are others available, so you can take that as a "who the hell knows."