HELP!!! and i swear if i cry and scream any loader you be able to hear me from where ever you are

this was my diagnosis. Her Directory on Her HDD is hosed. it won't mount, and really the only option for her is to use a tool that does data recovery and directory repair. these would be things like:
Techtool Pro,
and Disk Warrior
I would not use Norton as that has screwed up computers with OS X in the past.

BTW: For reference, this goes in the PPC Macs forum

after reading through your entry, i would recommend to give it to coius (as i think you won't be able to solve it on your own using the tools coius mentioned). regarding to his previous threads on this page, he seems to be able to manage your problem and maybe get some of your data saved.

it's always better to invest some money into a professionals work than saving money but not being happy with the result...

this was my diagnosis. Her Directory on Her HDD is hosed. it won't mount, and really the only option for her is to use a tool that does data recovery and directory repair. these would be things like:
Techtool Pro,
and Disk Warrior
I would not use Norton as that has screwed up computers with OS X in the past.

Go with coius; I've seen directory problems like this, and TTP & Disk Warrior are the best tools to deal with it, but only in experienced hands. But keep your expectations realistic; don't expect to have everything back 100% as it was before. If you do get 100% of your drive contents back, it's a bonus. TTP & DW are great tools, but they have their limitations. It all depends on the how badly the directory structure is hosed.

At any rate, your level of success will be much higher if you stay away from the Apple guys on this one.

I have to agree with everyone here, go with coius. At the very least, you know that you are getting charged a fair price. Apple will charge you a premium for the repair. And if you go with him, you have a chance of recovering some of your data. Good Luck!

I've seen directory problems like this, and TTP & Disk Warrior are the best tools to deal with it, but only in experienced hands.

So I dug back to this thread (missed it altogether...) to find what the problem is...
And, not only do I disagree about "experienced hands," (Disk Warrior is one of the easiest to use pieces of software I've ever seen... TTP is easy also, just a little confusing), there is another problem. Unless these tools are already installed on the HD, I don't see how they can help... and by installing them, you may loose data. Yes, you can boot off the CD, but they both now check to see if 1) the software is installed & 2)the software is serialized (unless I am gravely mistaken, you could only run them from another booted drive where they are installed).

So... Here's my suggestion:
the cheap:

• Using another computer (a friend's computer, or I bet even the Apple Store, if you have access to one, will let you do this), boot your computer into firewire target mode:
  (connect a firewire cable from your laptop to the other computer and hold down T when booting)
  
• see if you can access the drive, and copy your home directory folder (or Documents, and/or Pictures, Movies, whatever... the data you want to save) to the other computer. Run Disk Utility on it, repair disk, verify disk, repair permissions, verify permissions. See if it boots.
  
• If it doesn't boot, but you recovered the data, just reformat your drive and reinstall a new System, and copy your data back to it
  

If you don't have access to another mac, and there are no Apple Stores or Mac dealers near you, try this:

• Boot to single user mode:
  hold down s when booting

• when the prompt comes up, (pay attention to the mounting instructions just before the prompt... write them down) type:

  fsck /

  After it finishes... do it again...

  fsck /

  if it doesn't give you the message "filesystem marked clean," skip ahead to "the expensive" below.

  If you get a "filesystem marked clean" message, type

  diskutil verifyDisk /

  and if it gives errors... try

  diskutil repairDisk /

  if it fails, you can try fsck again... but its likely you'll need to skip to "the expensive" instructions.
  

• buy a firewire drive ($50 firewire drive)
  
• boot from your original install CD and install a new system on the firewire drive
  
• boot from the firewire drive
  
• see if you can copy your original home directory to the fw drive (or Documents, or Pictures, or whatever data you wanted to save. If you can get the data off, you've succeeded. Reformat the internal drive, reinstall the System, and copy your data back to it once installed.)
  
• run /Utilities/Disk Utility from the firewire drive on the internal drive, first repairing the disk, then verifying the disk, then repairing permissions, then verifying permissions.
  
• repeat step 4
  
• if that doesn't work, buy, or borrow, a copy of Disk Warrior, and Tech Tool Pro, and install both of them on the firewire drive
  
• run DiskWarror off the firewire drive on the internal drive
  
• repeat step 4
  
• see if your internal HD boots, if not, run TTP off the firewire drive... but not the whole suite... just what is under Tests, and Volumes.
  
• repeat step 4