Data recovery

[jmak]

A friend has a 2009 iMac which from what he says has a dead HDD. The Apple phone geniuses have got him up and running by getting the OS and applications running from an external HDD. He still doesn't have access to his data. I've never worked on a Mac - is there anything worth trying to help him out? For Windows I'd normally try mounting the drive from a Linux live CD. He's happy to trade his time as an electrician for my time as a techie (which I could definitely benefit from at the minute), but I really wouldn't want to make it worse. I'm happy to recommend he pays a data recovery specialist, but would also like to help out if I can.

[difinity]

Dead suggests it could be one of the TVS diodes that has failed. There's one of the 5v and one on the 12v line usually on the PCB. Removing the PCB and checking won't do anything to upset professional data recovery. You'll need a multimeter to check.

Whilst you have the PCB off, check the contacts for corrosion, a rub with a pencil eraser will clean them.

[Crete]

If your drive is physically damaged and not working, in that case you cannot recover data using data recovery software. You have to opt for professional data recovery services.