After Hard Drive Crash Mac won't boot with defective HD in SCSI Chain

[Chris]

My PowerTower Pro 200 with G3 upgrade boot drive (a Seagate 18 gig narrow) crashed. Attempting to use other drives for booting results in near success. The computer will start all of the extensions and will lock up just when the SCSI number is reached. I've switched cables and addresses. I believe the problem is software, but I can't solve the problem if the computer won't boot with the defective drive on the chain. It was running fine the night before and shut down normally. Seagate is sending a replacement. Does anybody know how to access a this drive? Seagate suggested I contact either Ontrack.com or Drivesavers.com....does anybody know anything abut these companies or can you suggest others?
I'm going to lose around six installs/authorizations....I'm guessing they are worth about $125.00.
I'm using PT 5.0.1. I've been avoiding upgrades in general partly because of the new copy protection schemes making me dependent on those companies staying in business. At least with a Waves dongle or floppy authorizer disc I don't have to depend on software companies staying in business-but maybe its time for a change. I own D2, D3, D-verb, DINR, Autotune and Waves TDM bundle....Any comments?
What should I format my new hard drive with....I've been using FWB. I'm willing to upgrade anywhere...but when I do I'm not willing to wait for fixes or problems to be worked out. I want to buy it and be able to use it forever without communicating with anybody again!
Christopher Kimball
C.K.’s Musical Workshop
4090 W. Eaglerock Dr.
Wenatchee, WA 98801
509-667-0648
Fax: 509-665-8298
Email: [email protected]

[Extreme Mixing]

I'm no Tech expert, but I did have a drive go down recently. You have to start your computer with the SCSI drives off. Once the computer is up, you can try to mount the drive. It probably won't work and will freeze the computer. You can use some utilities to check the drive. A little program called DataRescue worked for me. I was able to see a directory, so I knew that I was backed up. You can also recover items with this program. I think it's Freeware, but don't know where you can get a copy. It takes a several hours to compile the directory. Sorry about your crash.

Steve