An issue with my PowerBook G4

That's a pretty old computer by now. It sounds like overheating, and it could either be the fan not doing its job or the internals just being too dusty by now for it to keep up. Even if you fried anything permanently, the hard drive should still be okay. You should be able to take it out and recover your files fine.

If anything is permanently damaged, it's probably not worth it to try to repair or replace anything. I doubt you'd be able to find any of the parts for it readily anymore. You could probably track them down, but it might be hard and expensive.

It shouldn't affect the logic board; there's a heat-switch which should trigger and shut it down.

The fan may be just worn out or clogged with crud. The fan is about 15.00 US with shipping in the U.S. and it's a simple replacement.

I would not spend much more than that on this box though; it's end-of-lifed, and the batteries are getting hard to find, even.

You'd be better of getting a newer used machine--one with Intel Dual Core, than investing in this one.

It's a good probability that your data is fine; there are multiple ways of getting it off, though if you do decide to replace this box, I'd go for removing the drive and putting it in an external drive case so you'd have an extra backup.

I'm sorry this happened to you Max.

maxmordon said:

What worries me, though, is the availability of Mac products here in I choose to either get a new used laptop or repair this one. There are only two Mac Stores in the entire country and a brand new Mac can be as expensive as a used car here, I don't know there.

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A used MacBook (anything Core 2 Duo) should still be a fairly significant upgrade for you.

maxmordon said:

I shall talk with dad and uncle about it since they are more savvy about this than me but I just wanted to be sure of my options and if there was a chance of recovering files.

Thank you you two!

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Don't despair about recovering files; you ought to be OK.

And yes, a used Intel Core 2 duo laptop should be fine.

I really wouldn't invest in the G4; it is already obsolete, as sad as that sounds. Five years is a good run.

maxmordon said:

So, it all ended up well: PowerBook is dead but its contents are saved and dad apparently is thinking on buying a more modern used computer in the US for me. In the meanwhile, I will have to use the family's PC.

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Are the files still on the PowerBook's hard drive?

If so, you won't be able to read them from a PC. The disk is formatted to HFS+, which Windows can't natively read.

Whenever you want to go recover them you'll either need a Mac or software like this if you want to do it from Windows.

Were I you, I'd encourage my dad to buy a used Intel Core 2 duo laptop.

And an external drive case for the previous Mac's internal drive.

That way, you'll have your files, and a backup drive.