Gaming Need help with a Mac

[Burt0]

Hey guys,

I have a macbook here that i'm trying to fix for a friend.

The problem is it keeps shutting down about 3-4 minutes after it boots up.

I checked the sleep settings and set them to "never", checked the battery and reset the PMU, then I ran the hardware test from the mac osx disc that came with it and the results said everything was fine. So now it has to be a software problem and I want to format and reinstall snow leopard but when I try to backup his photo's and documents to an external hdd, the computer turns itself off after a few minutes.

When I ran the hardware test the machine stayed on for an hour plus so there's definitely a corrupt file or something wrong within the OS.

My question is how can I backup his data without booting into the OS? Is there something like a bootable file manager I can load from a cd? If not, can I take the HDD out and put it in my windows pc and backup from there?

All help and comments are appreciated

Thanks very much.

 

[yesjohn]

My question is how can I backup his data without booting into the OS? Is there something like a bootable file manager I can load from a cd? If not, can I take the HDD out and put it in my windows pc and backup from there?

Windows doesn't see the hdd.

call apple when you have warranty

 

[Dialexio]

Just go for it and try reinstalling Snow Leopard. There's nothing to lose; it will not reformat and wipe out his stuff, provided he doesn't save his pictures in funny places (like /System or /usr).

 

[nitrostemp]

but you can boot a live linux cd and copy them if you want

 

[Burt0]

Thanks guys,

I should have used the linux live cd but I ended up pulling the hdd out and putting it in my windows pc.

I used a program called "macdrive" that allows windows to view mac drives.

 

[nitrostemp]

yea there is no such thing as not being able to read a drive format on windows