Data recovery from a nonfictional Macbook Pro?

I have a 2010 Macbook Pro and earlier this evening, I think it might've given up. I closed the lid and opened it up a few minutes later and the screen wouldn't light up. So i restarted it and got this File with a question mark image on my screen. I did a bit of research and people mentioned it could be do to the MBP not finding the software it needs to boot up. So I restarted it, holding down Command + R and went through the OSX servers. I then went to repair disc permissions, repair disc, etc and everything checked out okay. It said it found nothing wrong and so I restarted it again and I was still left with the same problem.
Now before I decide to purchase an external HD case to move over data from my MBP to my iMac. I was wondering if there was any way I could possibly do it using an ethernet cable, wifi, bluetooth, or anything really, before I purchased said item.
Thank you.

If you stop using the drive it's possible to recover deleted files that have not been overwritten by using recovery software such as Data Rescue II, File Salvage or TechTool Pro. Each of the preceding come on bootable CDs to enable usage without risk of writing more data to the hard drive. Two free alternatives are Disk Drill and TestDisk. Look for them and demos at MacUpdateor CNET Downloads. Recovery software usually provide trial versions that enable you to determine if the software would help before actually paying for it. Beyond this or if the drive has completely failed, then you would need to send the drive to a recovery service which is very expensive.
The longer the hard drive remains in use and data are written to it, the greater the risk your deleted files will be overwritten.
Also visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on Data Recovery.

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Data Recovery from A reformatted MacBook Pro!

Hi,
I made a big mistake, by not taking back up for a few files (unfortunately they were extremely critical for me) from my MacBook Pro hard drive before I gave the laptop to Apple service centre, where they had to reformat my Mac.
Is there any way I could get back/recover those files? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks a ton in advance!
Thanks
Venu G

You could try the free demo of Data Rescue 3.
If it "sees" what you need and is reading it, you can purchase the full version.
DALE

I have a problem with Imovie. Just brought an macbook 15 retina , iLife install and Imovie was working. I than did a data migration from my old macbook pro and now it crashes on start up. I tried to re-install from app store but no option to re-install

I have a problem with Imovie. Just brought an macbook 15 retina , iLife install and Imovie was working. I than did a data migration from my old macbook pro and now it crashes on start up. I tried to re-install from app store but no option to re-install, just installed and it greyed out.

Well, my two-month-old MBP has no qualms about booting from a no-name external USB HD I put together...
Given that is is a common point of failure, I would imagine a large Apple Store should keep a stock of HD's on hand.
Now since you're a bit desperate and the genie pops up til Saturday and you seem to be the enterprising kind, let's try an experiment: if you have room enough in the external HD and assuming it isn't a Time Machine volume, why don't you plug it in, stick the Install CD and see if the installer lets you select the external drive as the install target. If you can install Leopard on it, on top of the backup without reformatting, and the Mac can boot from the drive afterwards, at least you would have some functionality restored and would be able to pull your stuff from the internal HD. Apple says booting from USB drives is not supported but that does not equate to not possible; some brands do work. Risks? Always. You can always lose your backup. Like I said, a challenge for an enterprising gal....
Next time around, consider having a bootable external clone at hand for rainy days. I keep three myself...
P.S. Since I'll be in the Dallas-FW area in late June, I can volunteer with the confetti....

Data Migration from iMac to MacBook Pro Issues

Hello!
I purchased a MacBook Pro and immediately began the data transfer through the Migration Assistant. Twelve hours later, it is at a screen saying "canceling migration", which it has been stuck on for five hours. I shut down my MacBook Pro and the iMac, and attempted to start the process over again. It appears that the data in fact did transfer, so I skipped the step asking me to transfer my data. Now I am at the screen to create my account, and it will not let me choose my full name or account name (due to that account information already being transfered over). That is the only account I would like to use, not any new account. I am unsure how to get around this step, any advice?
Thanks!

I just bought a MacBook Pro and am trying to use MA to migrate stuff from my iMac (Intel, OSX 10.4.11) to my MacBook Pro (Intel, OSX 10.6.3).
Problem is, every time I try ("from" iMac "to" MacBook Pro), my iMac IDs my MacBook Pro and asks for the passcode, I give it, it then asks for the passcode again, I give it again, then it churns away with the message that it's "looking for other computers". On and on and on and gets stuck in this mode.
I'm using ethernet between the two. Tried wireless also. Same issue. Downloaded the Migration & DVD/CD Sharing Update onto the iMac; it's already on the MacBook Pro. Same problem persists.
Any suggestions? (among the ten zillion firewire cables I have, none fits the MacBook Pro, so haven't tried firewire yet).
Thanks.

HT1296 I just bought a new MacBook Pro and moved data over from my old MacBook Pro. Everything seemed fine at first but Outlook 2011 for Mac will not run. It just flashes the Outlook logo briefly and then closes. Help!

Everything seemed to work fine after moving everything over from my old MacBook Pro at first but I cannot run Outlook 2011 for Mac. The logo displays briefly and then the app closes. It never really even gets anything loaded other than the little logo.

Try removing and reinstalling Outlook
Next try posting in a more appropriate forum. this is the iPod touch forum

Data Recovery from Late 2008 Macbook Hard drive?

I have a late 2008 Macbook. It was recently dropped by a child, resulting in it no longer turning on. (It worked one time when tried within about 12 hours after the fact and then wouldn't get past the Apple logo and spinning wheel on startup). I brought it to the Apple store and was told they were 99% sure it was just a failure in the hard drive cable. Unfortunately, I received a call sometime later saying it was not the cable, but the hard drive itself.
I am planning on having Apple replace the hard drive, but I am hesitant to pay them the requested $99 to retrieve data from the hard drive (which they say they believe they could do). I do not have an up-to-date version of Time Machine because I had been traveling for nearly a year with my Mac and had left my hard drive at home and, of course, this incident happened right after my arrival.
I was hoping I could do something like Firewire Target Disk Mode using my iMac ( http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661 ), but cannot do so because my Macbook does not have a Firewire port.
Does anyone have any solutions? If my only option is to pay Apple then I am resigned to that, but as I already have 95% of my data backed up & I only want a few files from a project I had invested quite some time into, I am hoping there is a way to recover the data myself.
Thanks in advance for your help.

I may have missed it ... late 2008 there were still the plastic-bodied macbooks and the aluminum-bodied macbook. I'm told the plastic macbooks have a max disk drive capacity of 500GB, and the aluminum-bodied macbooks are good upwards of 1TB. An important point to check is the drive height. Normal is 9.5mm (I believe all WD Scorpio Black drives are 9.5mm). Some are 12.5MM and some are less than 9.5mm. See what you have today, and likely it's 9.5mm, so replace with same. If you're in the US, you might confirm max capacity with OWC who also sell hard drives.
One other option .... a little more expensive, however, you could install a solid-state drive in your macbook. If you're able to use a smaller size, a 240GB drive is around $240 at OWC. Significant speed pickup for disk operations. If you consider this, remember for capacity you need to allow 10% or more for systems usage.
Going from Leopard to Mountain Lion, you may want to upgrade to current iLife programs. The only one no longer offered is iDVD, however. If you want a Snow Leopard level of iLife, Amazon or hardcoremac.com should still have the iLife package available.

Trapped at transferring data from my old macbook pro to iMac

I got a new iMac yesterday and was trying to transfer data from my old macbook pro to iMac through time machine...
However, I encountered HUGE problems....
Background info: I set up a new account before I transffered my data.
Here is what I did:
I used migration assistance to transfer data. I chose to transfer everything listed on migration assistance from time machine to my new iMac.
After this process was completed, I switched to the transferred account from my newly-set account. Then I realized all the old stuf, (including the software problems + old apps such as microsoft 2008, had been transferred to my new iMac. what I really wanted were all the documents, pictures and music! Therefore I decided to delete this account....
Question 1:
1) I deleted the transferred account, then there was a windown came up asking me if i wanted to keep the home folder, I chose no. then mac started cleaning up and BACKING UP. Since I already had a copy of everything, I stopped the backup process....then this transferred account was deleted. However, everything was still on my mac that I don't have access to (at least I don't know how...) when I checked my mac stroage!
Could anyone tell me how to delete all the files I transferred from time machine to my new iMac?
Question 2:
2) how can i only transfer documents+pictures+music from my old macbook pro to new iMac through time machine without creating a new account? I want all the files to be directly transferred to my newly-set account...
LSS:
Question 1
I tried to transfer everthing from my old macbook pro to new iMac but i realized there were something I didn't want that had been transferred as well. Therefore I deleted this transferred account. However, all the files are still in my mac even if I have deleted that account. Could anyone tell me how I can access to those content and delete them?
Question 2
I just want the documents, music and pictures (from iPhone library) to be directly transferred to the newly-set account on my iMac through time machine (instead to transferred the whole old account to my imac) How can I do it??
THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE OF GOING THROUGH THIS MESSAGE. I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE IF YOU COULD GIVE ME A HAND.
btw, you can totally see that i'm not a computer person at all....:( thanks for your help!!

I suggest starting over. Boot into Recovery mode, wipe the HD, reinstall the OS, and, on first boot, use the steps in Pondini's Setup New Mac guide to do the migration.'

HT3224 What cable can I use to transfer data from a 2008 MacBook Pro to a new MacBook Pro with thunderbolt?

What cable can I use to transfer data from a 2008 MacBook Pro to a new MacBook Pro with thunderbolt?

You should also ask this in the MacBook Pro forum. This is the forum for the 13” white and black plastic MacBooks that were discontinued in 2010. You should also post this question there to increase your chances of getting an answer.
https://discussions.apple.com/community/notebooks/macbook_pro

How do I remove old applications from my new Macbook Pro that came over when the data on my iMac was migrated to the new computer.

How do I remove old applications from my new Macbook Pro that were part of the data that was migrated over from my older iMac?
Thanks

If the applications were originally drag and drop installations you can simply drag them to the trash and empty. If they were installed by an installer there should be an uninstaller included. If you're not sure you should check with the software developer for instructions. In this case Google can be your friend.

How do I transfer files from my old MacBook Pro to my New MacBook Pro?

I am trying to transfer some files, not all, from my old MacBook Pro to my new MacBook Pro. I have tried to use Migration Assistant, but it doesn't let me choose what I want to transfer (only generic things like "users" and "files and folders"). I have tried to use Firewire. Now here is the funny thing. When I put my old mac in target mode it doesn't appear on my new mac anywhere. But, when I put my new mac in target mode, it pops right up on the dashboard and in finder. The problem is I have tried using my new mac as the target and just place the files into the icon, but the don't stay after I eject. I get a prompt that says downloading and when all files and apps are transferred I turn off my new mac then turn it back on and nothing. I've done search after search and repeated this process 3 times and nothing. Am I doing something wrong? Please help.

Time Machine will not "overwrite". New back ups are added to what is there, without erasing.
Connect the Time Machine back up, double click on the icon and navigate through its contents - the back ups are chronological, so you just select the date then go through the contents just like on any other drive. You can select any files you want and drag and drop on the new Mac's desktop (or anywhere else).

TS4088 I have a MacBook pro that has power issues and will not start but the hardrive is fine. I do not want to lose all of my files so I was wondering if it's possible to transfer my hardrive from a older Macbook pro to a new one if I were to purchase o

I have a MacBook pro that has power issues and will not start but the hardrive is fine. I do not want to lose all of my files so I was wondering if it's possible to transfer my hardrive from a older Macbook pro to a new one if I were to purchase a new one? Also, the software is not updated as the computer hasn't worked for about 2 months.
Also, if it is possible to transfer the hardrive, would my iTunes music transfer as well? It is not saved in the cloud.
Thanks for your help, it is much appreciated.

You computer is probably perfectly repairable, but if you want a new one anyway, it is perfectly possible to transfer the data from the faulty one.
But it would be a mistake to simply put the old HD in the new computer.
These are the steps:
Remove Hard drive from faulty computer. (very easy on Unibody MBPs, do-able but not so easy on older MBPs)
Put it in a cheap enclosure
Connect it the new computer
Boot up new computer.
If the new computer has never been run before the Setup Assistant will ask if you want to import your apps, data, settings etc from either another mac, another HD connected to the Mac or a Time Machine back up.
Obviously chose the second option (another HD connected to this Mac) and follow prompts.
If the new computer has already been run (so Setup Assistant doesn't run when you boot it up), you will need to use Migration Assistant...or run the installer again so that Setup Assistant runs again.
Message was edited by: Mike Boreham...added sec on line

How to migrate from my old MacBook Pro to a new one with less disk space and an external hard drive?

I have just bought a new MacBook Pro and an external hard drive.
Yet I have problems migrating data from my old MacBook Pro (more internal disk space with around 500 GB data) to my new one (internal disk space less than 500 GB).
I have connected all 3 devices but it seems the Migration Assistant does not have an option for us to select to migrate to an external hard drive.
Any other way to do it?
Kindly help me. Thanks.

For your situation, Target disk mode may be the most efficient method:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1661
Ciao.

How do I transfer CS5.5 from an old macbook pro to a new one via firewire?

My old MacBook Pro fried its graphics card and I need to transfer all of my data across to my new macBook Pro. I have everything backed up on a hard drive but when I try to open it it says that i can't because t is on a Time Machine Back-up. How do I get it to open? Do i need to get a new serial number? Not sure what to do from here.

You need to reinstall on your new MacBook Pro from your original media (if you purchased a DVD), or from the backup you made of the installation files.
You cannot successfully migrate CS5.5 using FireWire. That would not be successful. You can use the same serial number you had before. However, if you used all your two activations, you may have to Adobe to remove its listing of your old Mac so you don't lose one activation.

How can I tell if data was transferred to my MacBook Pro after the Migration Assistant process was stopped?

I began Migration Assistant and after about 4hrs into the transfer I decided to quit. How do I find out if any data was transferred to my Macbook Pro from my Windows 7 pc?

iMac Obsessed wrote:
I've had my MacBook Pro Retina since the 17th and am only now realising that my firewall was not on. I've already connected to a network via ethernet at my job so that I can have access to the internet. How can I tell if my personal info is safe?
As long as you are behind a router, you don't need to have your firewall turned on at all, in fact it probably slows your computer and/or internet connection down a bit. The only time you need it is to either protect yourself against intrusion from others on your local network or if you hook your computer directly to a cable / DSL modem. See Thomas Reed's Do I Need a Firewall?

How do I install windows from USB on Macbook pro 3,1

How do I install windows from USB on Macbook pro 3,1 ?
My Superdrive is far from super anymore, So I managed to make an extern drive with both Snow Leopard Partition, Lion Partition (Since I thought Boot Camp 4,1 would bypass my problem), and Time Machine partition, Since I got 1. USB drive that works.
- My general issue is that Boot camp Refuse to see the USB drive - (Many "how to"´s though show how they install windows perfectly through the USB port, but they use airbooks!, and somehow the Macbook will not ?)
I fix that issue with >> rEFIt <<, that suddenly makes it possible for the Mac to see the USB drive, and partitions.
Which was very strange since I could use an extern HD with the whole installation to start up wipe the whole disk, and then use my extern drive with partitions to install Snow Leopard and get everything as before with timemachine. Very smart with timemachine, but very lucky that I have a extern drive that runs the whole system and that I made the partitionsdrive before. DVD-drives are the past!
Point: So the original system could see the Snow Leopard installation USB disk, but boot camp cannot find the USB drive ?????????
After rEFIt I booted and then I got this error:
Starting bootmgr.efi
Error: Unsupported while loading bootmgr.efi
I read it could be a problem with the Windows software, so I purchased an extern DVD drive, Used Disk Utility to make an image (.DMG), then used another program to convert the .dmg to .ISO.
Then downloaded a trialversion of vmWare fusion, and installed windows from the iso. Everything worked brilliant, except and that is why I want to use boot camp, Running windows in another program while running the mac system is a little hacky and slow.
Point: Nothing is wrong with the windows software, and windows runs fine.
I then downloaded the Windows DVD / USB Tool, reformatted a USB drive as Master Boot Partition, MS-Dos Fat partition, then after lots of struggling got Vmware, windows to recognise the USB drive. And installed the windows software on the USB drive, as all the walkthroughs recommend.
Then I tried for "fun"! to just install windows form the extern USB drive, and with rEFIt it will see the drive and start to do something, but then when it starts to boot, the screen just turns into black and nothing happens, and you can see the drive does NOTHING. (I think it is because I only have 1 USB drive and the Extern DVD drive does not get enough power, but again the mac refuse to see the USB drive unless it is a Snow Leopard installation USB-drive!
Well trying to install Windows Ultimate 64 Bit, which worked great in vmware, because that program installed from the .ISO file that I had on the desktop, but trying with Boot Camp did not get anywhere, what kind of **** program is this boot camp anyway!?, but then I try the new USB disk with windows made from windows, thorugh rEFIt, it sees the disk and then starts and then I get this ERROR:
rEFIt - Booting Legacy OS
Starting legacy loader
Using load option ´USB´
Error: Not found returned from legacy loader
Error: Not found from LocateDevicePath
(x 9 times)
Error: Load Error while (re)opening our installation volume
The firmware refused to boot from the selected volume. Note that external hard drives are not well-supported by Apple´s firmware for legacy OS booting
(Hey Apple please send out a updated firmware that fix this issue?!)
So how do I do it ? - or is the only option to fix the partition running the system from the extern disk. Format the whole drive in 2 from the "bottom" and install windows and then afterwards install Mac on the other partition ? Or just run windows on the mac and forget about mac software ? What a stupid solution...

There are strings in the pliist file to add other Macs so that you can use some USB-DVD drives.
This is 5 page thread, so a little more 'meat' to it:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3410900?start=60&tstart=0
And on PC booting Windows from a USB DVD to do the install is usually a piece of cake, sometimes you just need to specify that USB in the BIOS boot order and sometimes select via F12 (or another Fkey) and that is it.
What you have here seems to be everything and everyone is excluded unless there is a mac-model device ID string that specifies yes. An unnecessary hurdle.

Data recovery from a nonfictional Macbook Pro?

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