Extract wiki from failed hard drive

A Mac Mini Server failed with damage to the boot sector of the primary drive. I have extracted the data onto a USB device. Now I need to recover the OS X Wiki data by pulling it from the USB device. I have looked for articles and come up empty handed. I would be grateful is someone can point me to a guide or programmer article on how to tease out the data and files.

My hard drive failed completely and the Apple Store offered to "try" to recover it for $2000+. I went to a company called ProSoft http://www.prosofteng.com/ and they were very helpful. They sold me some software for around $100 to recover all of the data. It took over a week for the software to run correctly, but I got EVERYTHING back and ProSoft was so helpful with all of my questions.
Good Luck

Similar Messages

Recover data from failed hard drive?

Hi,
My hard drive failed recently and wouldn't boot up anymore.
Since then, I replaced the drive and bought an IDE to USB adapter to try and recover some of the data on the drive.
But when I plug in the adapter to my computer, a message comes up saying "Disk you inserted is not readable by this computer." It gives me the option of "Initialize" "Ignore" or "Eject." When I hit initialize, it goes to disk utility. The disk shows up, but is still not mounted to the computer. The option to repair the disk is grayed out.
Does this mean that the data is gone and the drive is toasted? Or is there a solution to get this data back?
Would making an image of the failed hard drive in disk utility and saving it to my new drive solve the problem?
Any suggestions, in a real bind here?
Thanks!

Hi,
My hard drive failed recently and wouldn't boot up anymore.
Since then, I replaced the drive and bought an IDE to USB adapter to try and recover some of the data on the drive.
But when I plug in the adapter to my computer, a message comes up saying "Disk you inserted is not readable by this computer." It gives me the option of "Initialize" "Ignore" or "Eject." When I hit initialize, it goes to disk utility. The disk shows up, but is still not mounted to the computer. The option to repair the disk is grayed out.
Does this mean that the data is gone and the drive is toasted? Or is there a solution to get this data back?
Would making an image of the failed hard drive in disk utility and saving it to my new drive solve the problem?
Any suggestions, in a real bind here?
Thanks!

Itunes recovery from failed hard drive

Hi all,
my hard drive failed recently. I've replaced it, reloaded windows (7), and have a copy of my itunes library on an external drive.
I'm guessing it's not as simple as re-installing itunes, and then copying over the file structure from the backup so I can access everything.
I'm also assuming that as my pod, phone and pad were all registered to the itunes on the old hard disk, this is no longer the case and they will need re-registering. How do I de-register them from the old drive (is it possible?), as from memory I can only register them some many times on a PC.
I'm also presuming that all purchased music, apps etc, would re-load to the new itunes ready for syncing - or again, is that far too easy?
Any help would be welcome.
Thanks.

FreddieFixit wrote:
I'm guessing it's not as simple as re-installing itunes, and then copying over the file structure from the backup so I can access everything.
It pretty much is, although restoring the files before installing iTunes is easier since there is no temporary empty library to worry about.
I'm also assuming that as my pod, phone and pad were all registered to the itunes on the old hard disk, this is no longer the case and they will need re-registering. How do I de-register them from the old drive (is it possible?), as from memory I can only register them some many times on a PC.
As long as you've recovered the whole library there should not be any issues. Your previous iOS device backups are lost but you can backup each iOS device as long as it is working and your library should not be treated as "new" with respect to the devices.
You will have lost one PC authorization. That can be reset if needed using the deauthorize all option.
tt2

Retrieve Data from Failing Hard Drive of iBook G4

I have a iBook G4 which crashed. The message on Disk Utility says *"S.M.A.R.T. Status - Failing"*.
My question is, how can I retrieve data that I hadn't gotten a chance to back up?

DD:
I think the drive should be fine. Here is a list of Seagate HDDs for your computer. If you see the drive you are looking at there, go for it, although I suggest you consider a larger HDD. The price difference is not that much.
If you plan to install this HDD yourself, you should know that it is a bit of a challenge, although very doable. The iBook is the most difficult Apple laptop in which to swap out a drive. You will find step by step directions at ifixit. Sorry, I don't know whether yours is the 12" or 14", so you can navigate to the correct directions for your computer.
Here are few tips you may find helpful:
• Print out the ifixit directions as well as the screw guide ahead of time.
• Be sure you have the right tools. You don't want to damage the screw heads or you may never get them out. And the Torx 8 screw driver is critical.
• I use small medicine cups one for the screws in each step. I nest them so that the last ones out and the first to go back in are on top. You can use an ice cube tray, egg carton, dixie cups etc. (Some users report cutting up the screw guide and placing the applicable section in each container.)
• Be very careful pulling out leads. Hold the lead as close to the plug as possible and wiggle (the plug ) to loosen its grip. Don’t hold the wires and pull as that can damage the cable, or worse, in some instances pull the wires out of the plug. Indeed, some users have pulled the socket off the logic board! Use needle nose pliers or tweezers if you can access the plug, or nudge the plug with a small instrument to help loosen its grip.
• Use force gently in removing parts. Separating upper and lower case takes some doing. Use a plastic tool (spudge) so as not to leave marks.
• Refer to the screw guide when reassembling computer. Putting longer screws in the wrong place can perforate the circuit board.
Please don't hesitate to post back with more questions.
Good luck.
cornelius

HT1751 My win8 pc hard drive failed. After the hard drive was replaced, I copied iTunes Media backupfiles from external hard drive (Karen's Replicator was used). ITunes does not recognize the back up files - help! (it does show cloud & recently burned m

My win8 pc hard drive failed. After the hard drive was replaced, I copied iTunes Media backupfiles from external hard drive (Karen's Replicator backup software was used). ITunes does not recognize these back up files even though the location is the same as cloud & recently burned music that does show- help! The backup files consist of 34,000+ songs; almost all burned from my own CD collection. I do have most of the songs on an ipod classic but hesitate to try to restore from that. Can someone tell me how to get these 34,000 songs to show up in iTunes? Thanks!!

This diagram shows how a typical iTunes library ought to be set out (click on it to enlarge)
The red outline highlights the media folder and its contents, the various subfolders are only created if that kind of content is in your library. The right-hand side shows the files that should be found in the iTunes library folder; sentinel is normally hidden so may not be visible. The core of your iTunes library is the file iTunes Library.itl, you need to restore this, the other library files and the Album Artwork folder, as well as the media folder, to restore your library.
tt2

The logic board on my MacBook Pro has failed. How do I retrieve all my data from the hard drive?

The logic board on my MacBook Pro has failed. How do I retrieve all my data from the hard drive?

Remove the drive and put it in an external enclosure. Backup the drive completely. Repartition and format the drive. Replace the drive into the computer. Take the computer in for the logicboard replacement.

I have to extract all files from a hard drive of a macbook pro that is no longer working. All I have to access the hard drive is a PC, is this possible, and if so how?

I have to extract all files from a hard drive of a macbook pro that is no longer working. All I have to access the hard drive is a PC, is this possible, and if so how?

You could try Paragon HFS+ for Windows. That would allow you to read and write files from a Mac-formatted drive.
Clinton

Can I save my files from a failing hard drive?

Sorry if this is kind of long. I booted up the system off the Mac OS X disc after getting startup errors. I ran the Disk Utility and it could not verify or repair the hard disk. S.M.A.R.T. status reads "failing" in red. My best guess it that the hard drive is on it's way out. Tried to save my files by making and image file of the hard disk and putting it on an external drive, but I got an error and it wouldn't save. Put the system in Target Disk mode and tried to access the files from another Mac connected via FireWire, but it wouldn't mount on the second Mac's desktop. I checked Disk Utility and it was creating multiple images of the first Mac's hard disk and failed to mount. Is there any other way to retrieve the files from the failing hard drive? I'd appreciate any assistance on this.

Maybe, but at this stage, I'd boot from a data recovery tool, such as those listed on my FAQ*:
http://www.macmaps.com/backup.html#RECOVER
If none of those work, you may want to consider a data recovery service, depending on the value of the said files.
Moral of the story, always backup your data*:
http://www.macmaps.com/backup.html
It is not a question of if data will be lost, but when.

How do I remove one failing hard drive from raid set and replace with new one

Last Friday apparently one of my raid drives started failing.
As I mentioned on this forum I started getting continous beeping.
I was finally able to get the raid working at a degraded level. I ordered a replacement hard drive which is arriving today.
(In the meantime I made twice daily backups of my work.....)
Below was the message I got from the browser based raid software:
Blahblah 09    1000.2GB   RaidSet Member SamSung HD103SJ
Blahblah 10    1000.2GB     Free                 SamSung HD103SJ
Blahblah 11    1000.2GB   RaidSet Member SamSung HD103SJ
Blahblah 12    1000.2GB   RaidSet Member SamSung HD103SJ
(See this earlier thread if you wish!)
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/727867?tstart=0
At one point when I did the checked the browser interface I saw the message Failed and Degraded
As I said, I was able to work over the weekend on the degraded system.
This morning I got the beeping again and did the rescue and now I am running a "full raid" without the notice that one raid was "Free".
In any case, the new hard drive is arriving today.
What steps should I take to incorporate the new drive into the raid system.
I have one OS drive
and 4 tb raid drives.   One needs to be replaced with the new one that I am getting today.
Thanks
Rowby

Harm,
Regarding your comment:
Re: How do I remove one failing hard drive from raid set and replace with new one
Please tell me how to read the serial number from an individual drive rather easily, without un-installing them:
If you select the proper drive to change out, you only need to remove one drive and look at its serial number...
Step 1: Identify bad drive serial number using Areca's tools
Step 2: Turn off the computer
Step 3: Remove what you think is the bad drive based on following your numbered cable method, marked hot-swap bays, whatever
Step 4: Verify that the serial number matches the "bad drive" serial number from step 1; if it does great, proceed; if it does not match, go back to step 3
Step 5: Change out the CORRECT drive - that's the bottom line for this whole procedure
Cheers,
Jim

Replaced failed hard drive - access is slow with spinning ball

Hi,
I recently replaced my failed hard drive and during the OS install, selected a backup from Time Machine.
All's well. My apps and docs are all there.
However, when I double click on the HD icon on the desktop, I get a spinning ball for about 3-5 seconds before I get a contents window.
Is there something I should NOT have copied over from Time Machine that has caused this behavior?
The new HD is a 7200 rpm(?) Western Digital Caviar, 1 TB. Details from System Profiler:
ST31000528AS:
Capacity: 1 TB (1,000,204,886,016 bytes)
Model: ST31000528AS
Revision: CC35
Serial Number: *****
Native Command Queuing: Yes
Queue Depth: 32
Removable Media: No
Detachable Drive: No
BSD Name: disk1
Rotational Rate: 7200
Bay Name: Bay 1
Partition Map Type: GPT (GUID Partition Table)
S.M.A.R.T. status: Verified
Volumes:
Main Drive:
Capacity: 999.86 GB (999,860,912,128 bytes)
Available: 539.26 GB (539,261,030,400 bytes)
Writable: Yes
File System: Journaled HFS+
BSD Name: disk1s2
Mount Point: /
Thank you for any help!
Greg
< Edited by Host >

Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the icon grid.
The title of the Console window should be All Messages. If it isn't, select
SYSTEM LOG QUERIES ▹ All Messages
from the log list on the left. If you don't see that list, select
View ▹ Show Log List
from the menu bar at the top of the screen. Click the Clear Display icon in the toolbar. Then take one of the actions that you're having trouble with. Select any messages that appear in the Console window. Copy them to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message by pressing command-V.
The log contains a vast amount of information, almost all of which is irrelevant to solving any particular problem. When posting a log extract, be selective. A few dozen lines are almost always more than enough.
Please don't indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.
Please don't post screenshots of log messages—post the text.
Some private information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.

If i delete a file from a smart folder is it deleted from the hard drive?

I've got a late 2011 17" MacBook Pro with a 750 GB harddrive. I'm trying to free up space by deleting movie files. I spoke with tech support about this, and they suggested creating a smart folder of all my movie files in order to find them and delte them. I did this and deleted many files, but when I open system information to check on the amount of hard drive space, I'm still seeing the same amount of hard drive space dedicated to movies.
If I make a smart folder and delete files in that, am I really deleting them from my hard drive or just from the smart folder?

What files are stored automatically by Time Machine? I thought Time Machine pretty much saved everything on my hard drive to my external hard drive. If that is the case, wouldn't my music files and picture files be on Time Machine (via my external hard drive)?
Time Machine does backup almost all files on your hard drive, unless you have chosen to exclude them. There are a few exceptions, but nothing you should worry about. Your music and photos should be there, but Time Machine will not backup your iPhoto library if iPhoto is open.
Also, are the photos from iPhoto automatically stored on my external hard drive via Time Machine? If so, can I delete the pictures from iPhoto without deleting them from the external hard drive?
Yes to both questions, with the above cavat that Time Machine won't backup the library if iPhoto is open.
I notice that it takes iPhoto quite a while to load, and if deleting those photos would allow it to load quicker I would delete them (providing they would remain on the external hard drive.
I only have a few pictures in iPhoto, compared to my wife's 3,500+, and my iPhoto doesn't load appreciably faster that her's does even though I have a faster computer. In my opinion, it isn't worth the effort it would take to delete them for such a small gain.
You should have at least 2 complete backups to try to make sure you won't lose any data. Hard drives do fail and/or files can become corrupted. Time Machine can back up to more than one external hard drive or you can use a cloning program.
Time Machine FAQ

I am attempting to replace a failed hard drive on a F500 Vista laptop. I have a home premium recover

I am attempting to replace a failed hard drive on a F500 Vista laptop. I have a home premium recovery DVD (1 of 1) and It runs the recovery after a while of loading, and it creates a 24GB partion and loads about 2.6Gb of information on it. the it ejects the disc and asks if I have any suplimental disks, which I don't have. Then it reboots it's self and cycles through reboots for 5 hours, yes I let it do this for 5 hours as the HP site says it could take several hours.
After this I finally shut down the computer and loaded the hard drive in an ext case and retrieved the above information. I also note that the 250GB drive is shown as a 24GB drive, so I guess it hasn't completed the partions?
I never get to a Vista window.
This hard drive does pass the laptop's Bios hard drive check (the former 80GB drive did NOT) and was used to store Old Time Radio shows, until I went to a larger drive.
The Laptop has a dual core Athlon TK-53 processor and the recovery disc is for 32 bit Vista (and the label in front and license on back don't state Vista 64, just Vista)
So, Do I need a Vista 64 recovery disc? Should I download the available driver on the HP site and slap in that disc when the Recovery disc finishes and asks for supplimental discs? Might thngs indicate other issues with the laptop?
I've loaded from scratch XP several times, but this is my 1st Vista experience. Thank you for any help!

Okay. So I was able to install, and format the new internal HD. Was able to install Lion then Mavericks. Next, is to try to retrieve my data from my failing old HD. I bought an enclosure (sled), and have my HD hooked up to my laptop, and it finally showed up in Finder. So. Now. What is next? I am seeing a screen that shows these folders: Applications (translate for the PC me = Programs), Library (I am assuming?? these are my various files such as docs, photos, music, etc.) System, opt, and Users. Should I just try to drag and drop some/all of the folders onto my desktop, then open up the folders and do something with the contents? Sorry to sound so vague and frankly, rather dumb-sounding, but the nomenclature with a Mac is a bit different than with a PC, and Finder is a little different looking to me than Windows Explorer. I am relieved to see that I was even able to get this failing drive to show up in the first place, so I feel a little like I could be on borrowed time with it. I think it may just be bad sectors, since I don't hear any clicking or other mechanical issues with the drive as it spins. But, any further help with retrieving the data would be VERY much appreciated!!

Replacing a failed hard drive on a mid-2007 white macbook

Replacing a SECOND failed hard drive on a mid-2007 white macbook (Intel core duo 2.16GHz), this time on my own
Need to purchase a serial ATA drive, but I keep reading that trying to format and/or partition the drive for use with the original Tiger install disk is unsuccessful and that I would have to update to a newer OS before I can do that.
I have Leopard as the current OS, and that is in my backup files from Time Machine, but I do not have a disk with Leopard.
Wondering the best course of action and/or if someone had success wit ha particular Serial ATA using the Tiger disks
Thanks!

All Intel Macs have always use SATA drives, so all Intel versions of OS X support them including Tiger. I don't know what you've been reading. However, since you have Leopard I don't see what the problem would be because you don't need to install Tiger unless your Leopard disk is strictly an updater disc.
How to replace or upgrade a drive in a laptop
Step One: Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger, Leopard or Snow Leopard.) After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
Step Two: Remove the old drive and install the new drive. Place the old drive in an external USB enclosure. You can buy one at OWC who is also a good vendor for drives.
Step Three: Boot from the external drive. Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager appears. Select the icon for the external drive then click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Step Four: New Hard Drive Preparation
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select your new hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
Step Five: Clone the old drive to the new drive
1. Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.
3. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
4. Check the box labeled Erase destination.
5. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
6. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
7. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Destination means the new internal drive. Source means the old external drive.
Step Six: Open the Startup Disk preferences and select the new internal volume. Click on the Restart button. You should boot from the new drive. Eject the external drive and disconnect it from the computer.

Could this be a failed hard drive?

My daughter bought a new 20 GB gen 3 iPod in August of 2004. Now, when she turns it on, she gets the sad face along with a triangle and exclamation point. She has followed the steps in the Apple KB article for this scenario here and I have tried to help her - but all is to no avail.
A reset does not fix the problem. We have tried to restore it. But when the iPod is put into disk mode and attached to her computer, the iPod does not show up anywhere. It is not recognized by iTunes or iPod Updater. When the iPod is removed from the computer, the computer gives a message saying that the device was not recognized and asks if we want to re-initialize. (Curiously, it does not ask that while the iPod is attached.)
After the last attempt at this, we could hear the hard drive of the iPod trying to repetitively spin up, about every 3 or 4 seconds. It wouild spin up and stop, spin up and stop, etc. At least, it sure sounded like the hard drive to me.
If anybody can shed some wisdom on this, I would appreciate it. My opinion is that there has probably been a hard drive failure. Has anyone experienced similar symptoms? And if so, what was the solution? If this is a hard drive problem, I am disappointed that it did not last more than 16 months. Are there any statistics anywhere about the lifetime of these devices?
Thanks,
Rich
EMAC G4 1.0 GHz Mac OS X (10.3.9)

You might try a PRAM reset and see if this does any good.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379?viewlocale=en_US
It sounds like the hard drive itself is toast based on how it looks in an enclosure. So you won't be able to boot from it. Possibly after a PRAM reset you could option boot to a disc or to your external drive.
I had the experience of a failed hard drive totally messing up my PowerMacG4, and it took some doing to get it going again. I finally got it going again, and it has been working ever since without issue.
The MBP is a different machine, but having experienced first hand what a dying hard drive could do, I think it's well worth doing any resets you can.
If no joy, make an appointment at the genius bar and ask them if they can run a hardware test from their store feed. If you do have other issues, they should show up then.
If you end up being able to boot to the optical drive, you could try running the extended version of the Apple Hardware test yourself.
Good luck!

Data recover from a hard drive error 301

Can anyone advise me of how to recover data from a hard drive error 301. I have a pavilion dv7-4177 and i received the hard drive error code 301 two weeks after the warranty expired. I back up my data so I though but when tried to reload that data on a new hard drive it would not take. The damage hard drive will not load the OS now even in safe mode. Is there any way to retrieve this data from that hard drive.

Hi,
One possible way to try and retrieve your files from a non-booting drive is to follow the process detailed in the link below. The Ubuntu operating system CD you create can run from the CD alone ( ie it doesn't have to install on the Hard Drive ) and I've often found it to be successful in retrieving data even from a failing Hard Drive. When you've created the CD, follow the instructions and see if you can back up your files.
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/use-ubuntu-live-cd-to-backup-files-from-your-dead-windo...
Regards,
DP-K
****Click the White thumb to say thanks****
****Please mark Accept As Solution if it solves your problem****
****I don't work for HP****
Microsoft MVP - Windows Experience

Extract wiki from failed hard drive

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