How do I get back my files from an erased hard drive? (disk utility)

Under the advice of another Mac user, I used the Disk Utility application to 'erase' and reformat my MacBook Pro to 'Mac OS Extended (Journaled)' so that I could copy files that were on my MB to my hard drive and it erased everything on my hard drive.
I am now panicking. How do I get all my files, documents, videos and photos that were on my hard drive back? I saw that there was a 'restore' option iin Disk Utility but I have no idea what it is or how to use it... I reallly need some help!!!
Is there any way I can get my files back?
Thanks you

It won't help, but here is an explanation:
The Restore functions in Disk Utility (in Mac OS X 10.3 and later) let you create a clone of your disk. The system software can be replaced and therefore restored by a previously created disk image using this option. Normally, using disk images or Disk Utility's Restore functions will destroy data on a destination disk, by overwriting data from an original source disk.

Similar Messages

How do I copy backed-up files from an external hard drive back to my MBA, but under a different user than the one from which they were backed up?

On the advice of the Chicago Mac Genius Bar, in order to get better performance on my few years old MBA, I copied my Home folders (but not Library) to an external hard drive, created a new user, deleted the old user, and tried to copy the Home folder contents from the external hard drive back to the MBA under the new user. However, I get an error message and can't open most of the folders on the external hard drive (e.g. "The folder “Desktop” can’t be opened because you don’t have permission to see its contents.") Help! Thanks.

As captfred says, yes (as long as the drive is formatted for a Mac, not Windoze).
You might want to review the [Time Machine Tutorial|http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/#timemachinebasics] and perhaps browse [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).

I deleted my back up files from my external hard drive and my trash won't empty. I get an error code -22. Can anyone tell me how to fix this?

I deleted my back up files from my external hard drive and my trash won't empty. I get an error code -22. Can anyone tell me how to fix this?

JLCruz wrote:
I deleted my back up files from my external hard drive ...
If this is related to Time Machine Backups...
See here > Should I delete old backups? If so, How?
From Here > http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
If the TRASH still won’t Empty...
See Here > http://pondini.org/TM/E6.html

Hi,I have restored my iPhone 4s and i forgot to backup it before restore,so I haven't a backup.How can I get back my files from my iPhone??

Hi,I have restored my iPhone 4s and i forgot to backup it before restore,so I haven't a backup.How can I get back my files from my iPhone??

One day this was happened to me:I deleted some videos that i don't need and after about a month i went to a music concert and i recorded with my iPhone for about 25-30 min and my iphone froze and automacitly restarted after a restart when a went home and i wanted to watch what i had recorded and in my camera roll on my iphone i saw the videos that i deleted about a month ago!!! With this fact i think that the videos aren't deleted they are somewhere i would pay how much is needed to get the videos and photos back .So please someone who knows something about this HELP ME PLEASE !!!!

How do I extract my music files from a evternal hard drive and put them on my itunes?

how do I extract my music files from a evternal hard drive and put them on my itunes?

If you used the Finder to move the files, iMovie will have lost track of them. iMovie holds the locations of the Event files, and Project files contain references to those locations. If you move the files, iMovie has no way of knowing where they are.
If you can, first move all the files back to their original locations. Plug in the external drive. Open iMovie and move the files in iMovie's interface (help explains how, but basically, just drag and drop in the event pane).
Then you can connect the drive to the new computer, and iMovie will see them.

I have moved old Back Up files from my external hard drive to the trash and as the Trash previews the files, i.e. counts them (over 850,000 files) it then begins to delete but then stops. Is it possible to move the files out of the Trash file and then onl

I have moved old Back Up files from my external hard drive to the trash and as the Trash previews the files, i.e. counts them (over 850,000 files) it then begins to delete but then stops. Is it possible to move the files out of the Trash file and then only delete a small amount at one time?

See
Deleting backups via the Finder on Lion 10.7.x or later:
http://pondini.org/TM/12.html
Hold option (alt) while emptying the Trash.
See also
http://pondini.org/TM/E6.html
Message was edited by: WZZZ

How can i get back my purchased items after a hard drive and iphone failure?

My itunes was loaded on my parents computer and the hard drive crashed. I didnt get round to backing up to my laptop and then my iphone crashed and removed everything. How can i get back my purchased items?

Downloading past purchases from the App Store, iBookstore, and iTunes Store

How do I install programs and files from my backup hard drive?

I had my computer reset to original settings after I backed it up to an external hard drive and now I'm not sure how to reinstall everything from there.

Time Machine is not a application installer, it is a backup and restore app. If you erased or lost an App then open Time Machine, navigate to a time when you know you have the app and then restore it.
Have you done any backups using the Seagate drive or is it a brand new external HD? Remember we are not there to see what you are attempting to do so we are relying on you to be as descriptive as possible.

How to get back the emails from an old hard drive that has no more OS ?

Hello,
My computer crashed recently.
The problem came from Windows somehow. So the hard drive is fine.
since windows couldn't be repaired I just copied a disk image backup to a new hard drive.
The problem is that I lost all the emails that were recieved between the moment I did my backup and now.
I can still access the folder :
%USERPROFILE%\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\XXXXXXXX.default\Mail\
How can I use the files in that folder in order to get back my emails in Thunderbird ??
thanks for your help!

Thunderbird mail is stored in MBOX files. these will be locted in the mile folder (well sub folders) along with an MSF index of their contents with the same name.
This add-on https://addons.mozilla.org/thunderbird/addon/importexporttools/ will import MBOX files. Once installed it adds an entry to the bottom of the Tools menu.

How can i get back a file that was erased?

I made a video of my son, showed it after at my mother in law ands she deleted it by mistake
Is there any way i can get back the video?
I didn't do the back-up on pc nor the icloud nor itunes
Not as far as i know

Sorry, your video is gone.

How do I open my imovie files from an external hard drive on a new computer

I'm trying to open my files from an external harddrive and the I don't know how to open it on another computer...the "event" files are confusing and I can't open a file of imovie 08....thanks!

If you used the Finder to move the files, iMovie will have lost track of them. iMovie holds the locations of the Event files, and Project files contain references to those locations. If you move the files, iMovie has no way of knowing where they are.
If you can, first move all the files back to their original locations. Plug in the external drive. Open iMovie and move the files in iMovie's interface (help explains how, but basically, just drag and drop in the event pane).
Then you can connect the drive to the new computer, and iMovie will see them.

Can Time Machine Be Used to Back Up Files from An External Hard Drive?

Please let me provide a little more information to clarify the question.
The hard drive on my computer is not large enough for all my photo and video files so I am planning to purchase a new external hard drive and move my "Pictures" and "Movies" folders to the new external hard drive as a way of freeing up space on my computer. A different external hard drive is now used for backup of the computer's hard drive.
My question is about how backups will be handled if I upgrade to Snow Leopard.
I understand that Time Machine will take the place of the software now being used to back up the MacHD, but back up is still needed for the photo and video files which would be moved off of the MacHD. Will Time Machine back up those files too? That is, will Time Machine back up specified folders which are being stored on one external hard drive and place the backups on a different external hard drive? And, will Time Machine do that in addition to backing up the MacHD? If so, are separate partitions needed for the MacHD and the Photo/Video backups, or will Time Machine put everything in the same partition?
Any advice and/or suggestions for handling this in would be most appreciated.
Thanks for your help.

As captfred says, yes (as long as the drive is formatted for a Mac, not Windoze).
You might want to review the [Time Machine Tutorial|http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/#timemachinebasics] and perhaps browse [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).

How to restore files from an erased hard drive?

hi
I recently got infected with a trojan, and after updating my mac was told ive also picked up malware software.
I moved everything i needed to my hard drive and wiped and reloaded my mac. i then checked my time machine backups on my hard drive and found the malware files on the time machine backups too. so i took what i needed off my hard drive and wiped that, but without realising have deleted my uni work folder containing my essays.....
Is there anyway to recover the files? ive tried using a couple of programmes online but there only trials, so when i find the file i cant restore it.

Are there any free data recovery softwares availible? ive tried about 4 that say theyre free and that can find the files im looking for but i cant recover it without paying?
If not whats the cheapest that you can reccomend?
Also i dont think the file is availible on my Mac book anymore but i can find it on the hard drive i had it stored on. is the last section the one to use for recovering from hard drives?

How do I get all my music from new external hard drive into itunes????

Just loaded all my music on my new external and need to put into itunes, how do I do that??

There may be other ways but I think the easiest is to just reinstall iTunes. when you reinstall it gives you the option to search for all music, just make sure the external is pluged to the PC and on when u do it. An other thing is with your music on a external, anytime u turn it off or unplug it you will get abunch of ! beside all the songs in iTunes until u turn it on and plug it back in

My webhost had me delete my TBird account, and create a new account. How do I get my folders & files from my Hardrive back to TB? THANKS!

My webhost had me delete my ThunderBird POP3 account, and create a new ThunderBird IMAP account.
This took all my folders and files out of Thunderbird!!!
I know where all my folders and files are located on my hard drive.
How do I get my folders & files from my hard drive back to TB?
Any help will be much appreciated.
THANKS IN ADVANCE!
Jeff

When you delete a Pop mail account, it disappears from the Account Settings and Folder Pane, but fortunately it still exists in the Profile folder unless you had removed it.
Ideally, you should have moved all the emails into 'Local Folders' before removing the account.
You could use this addon tool to import messages into 'Local Folders' account.
'''ImportExportTools: '''
* https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/importexporttools/
Download the .xpi file and save to desktop or Downloads folder.
'''To install addon:'''
In Thunderbird
'Tools' > 'Addons' OR 'Menu icon' > 'Addons'
* click on the gear wheel icon and select 'Install addon from file'
* Locate and select the .xpi file you downloaded and click on 'Open'.
* After installing you will need to restart Thunderbird to activate.
In 'Local Folders' create some folders with suitable names.
Right click on folder > ImportExportTools
There are a couple of Options on importing
See image below as example aid.

How do I get back my files from an erased hard drive? (disk utility)

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for