I have a Mac PowerBook G4 (15? Aluminum, circa 2004) that stopped working. I?m wondering what the problem is, and if it is worth repairing. The computer stopped working yesterday morning. When I went to boot it up, it stalled on a gray screen for several minutes, then gave me a flashing question mark inside of a folder icon. After starting it from the original 10.3 system disks, the Disk Utility application could find no hard drive whatsoever.

This is a backup computer in our house. I do not store any data on it, and use it only for surfing while watching TV, and connecting to my remote desktop for work. I have no interest in recovering anything that may have been on the drive.

Question 1: Is it safe to assume that the hard drive is completely fried? Is there any way to test this hypothesis without spending any money?

Question 2: What is the cheapest way to get this machine running again? Can I repair it myself for under $100-150? Is it worth it at this point?