[cameronk]

I'm writing this posting from a computer about to experience a catastrophic hard drive crash. I know this not because of some psychic ability but because my 12" Powerbook is bahaving in a fashion similar to the many other media failures it has had during its short life. In any event, I am trying to salvage my email file which, as is typical, cannot be copied to my iPod or a CD due to "bad media". I have checked permissions and run Disk Warrior. I cannot use disc copy because my computer will not start up off a CD or DVD. Any suggestions about a way to copy my mail directory onto some backup media before I do another reformat?

thanks,

Cam

PS: I am saving up for a new hard drive, and no, AppleCare will not repair the drive shipped with the Powerbook. Grr.

[Big Mac]

I'm sorry you're having those problems, cameronk. You said you've had multiple drive failures in a short period of time? I imagine that the left wrist-rest, which is above your drive, routinely gets very hot, does it not? I believe it's likely a flaw with the 12" PB series; I've read that excessive heat can shorten the life of a drive. I don't know how to tell you to recover your files, but maybe a command-line tool like ditto would be able to. That's what some others are using to get data off drives bitten by Panther.