'Failing' hard drive -- what are my options?

[twite]

Hi there,

Good to be back in the realm of Techspot..

I've run into a situation with a Macbook Pro HD.

The drive had shown signs of failing and finally I got the "Pinwheel of Death".

I booted to an OSX disk and repaired it, and was able to log in okay once or twice.

The computer continued to freeze and I had no luck backing up the 15,000 images for my client.

I pulled the drive and plugged it in to another Mac with a SATA to USB adapter. The drive shows up in disk utility, I can copy a few small files over, but it quickly fails within 1 minutes of it spinning up.

So, what is there to be done with a 'failing' hard drive? Any software/tricks to stabilize it long enough to get the files that I need? (Spending $500 for mechanical repairs is currently not an option?)

Thank You for insight.

 

[SNGX1275]

Don't think you have many options unfortunately. There is a decent possibility as it heats up it fails, so if it is really dry where you live you may be able to find a way to put an ice pack on the drive to keep it cool. I'd get the drive cooled down with an ice pack or a fridge/freezer and then hook it up and keep an ice pack on it while copying the files over.

I would avoid doing this if there is enough humidity that you will run into a condensation issue. Currently there is 32% RH in my room and fighting static is much more of a problem than condensation on a beverage. So good luck, and hopefully it is dry there.