About 1.5 months ago, I had a boot failure on my PowerBook. I’ve tried recovering the hard drive with DiskWarrior several times. In fact, my most recent attempt has lasted over six weeks, which is probably a record for perseverance. But today I’m throwing in the towel. I’m going to the local Apple Store to pick up a replacement HD and start from scratch. 
Here’s what I should have done:
- Run DW’s S.M.A.R.T. diagnostics, instead of relying on Apple’s diagnostics.
- If the S.M.A.R.T. diagnostics indicate imminent disk failure, abandon DW and try using DataRescue instead.
- Finally, most obvious yet oft-forgotten — backups!
My only complaint about DiskWarrior is that I think it should automatically run the S.M.A.R.T. diagnostics and recommend against continuing with DW if the diagnostics indicate disk failure.
