Basic Tips for MAC Users in a case of HD Failure

The flashing question mark appears during startup.

• Use the System Installer CD-ROM to start up the Macintosh and look for the missing hard disk icon on the desktop.
  - If the disk appears, run Apple's Disk First Aid program to check it.
  - If no problems are found, backup your critical files and reinstall the system software.
  
• If the hard disk does not appear on the desktop, you can also try resetting the Macintosh's Parameter RAM (PRAM) to its factory defaults to help the computer locate the Startup Disk.
  - Hold down the Command, Option, P and R keys during start up.
  - The Macintosh should chime at least twice before you release the keys.
  
• As a last resort, you can attempt to rewrite the device driver using a hard disk formatting program.
  - You must completely remove any security programs such as DiskLock, Empower, or FolderBolt before updating/installing a new driver.
  - For Apple hard disks, use the Drive Setup program on the System Installer CD-ROM.
  - If you have a non-Apple hard disk, you must use the software that came with the drive or a third-party formatter such as FWB's Hard Disk ToolKit or LaCie Silverlining.
  - Use the "Update" or "Install driver" command in the formatting software, being careful not to press the "Initialize" or "Format" buttons.
  

The Sad Mac icon appears during start up.

• If the device driver software is damaged, you can attempt to rewrite/update the driver with the software that was used to format the disk.
  
• You must completely remove any security programs such as DiskLock, Empower, or FolderBolt before updating/installing a new driver.
  
• For Apple hard disks, use the Drive Setup program on the System Installer CD-ROM.
  
• If you have a non-Apple hard disk, you must use the software that came with the drive or a third-party formatter such as FWB's Hard Disk ToolKit or LaCie Silverlining.
  
• Use the "Update" or "Install driver" command in the formatting software, being careful not to press the "Initialize" or "Format" buttons.
  

The error message "The disk is damaged do you want to initialize?" or "-127 error disk could not used/found" appears.

• The UnErase program in Symantec's Norton Utilities can be used to recover drives producing these error messages.
  - It is important that you recover the data to a completely different drive, NOT the crashed disk or one of its partitions.
  
• CAUTION: Do not attempt to repair directory damage using a commercial disk utility. They are excellent tools for preventative maintenance, but are also capable of "fixing" problems that render your data unrecoverable in the case of severe corruption.
  

A removable cartridge (zip, jaz, syquest, or magneto-optical) doesn't mount on the desktop.

• Try another cartridge - one that is known to be good and does not hold irreplaceable data. This will help you identify if the problem is with the cartridge or the drive mechanism.
  
• If the problem is specific to a single cartridge, you can rewrite the device driver with the software that was used to format the disk.
  
• If you do not have formatting software, you can use a commercial formatter such as FWB's Hard Disk ToolKit or LaCie's Silverlining program to replace or update a damaged device driver.