How do I recover my iPhoto Library from a failing hard drive?

My older MacBook has begun shutting off in the middle of startup. I get a gray screen with an Apple and progress bar in the middle. When the startup progress hits about half way, the system shuts down. I have been able to start it up to Disk Utility but cannot repair the disk or create a new image from it to the external HD. I cannot reinstal Yosemite because the drive is locked. I have tried using Migration Assistant from my iMac with no luck. The only thing left that I need to get transferred is my iPhoto Library. Is there a way to get these files transferred?
Thanks

Connect it and another Mac with a FireWire or Thunderbolt cable, start it up with the T key held down, and try copying the library off.
(121369)

Similar Messages

  • How do I recover my iPhoto library from an external hard drive?

    I have an ancient iMac (2006!) that has housed my photos in iPhoto ever since.  I have the iPhoto library backed up (using Time Machine) on an external hard drive .  Well, my computer has finally given up the ghost and won't turn on.  The repair shop says it's not worth the money to repair it any longer, which I don't doubt.  Before I let them dispose of it, I want to make sure I can move my iPhoto library to my husband's (2013) laptop.  When I click on the iPhoto library that shows on the external hard drive menu, iPhoto opens but tells me that it cannot use a backup library as a main library.  What do I do?  How can I move the backup library onto another device?  OR do I need to retrieve the photos somehow from my kaput desktop computer?

    You can restore the library file from the Time Machine backup to a hard drive. Please visit Pondini's Time Machine FAQ for help with all things Time Machine where you will find out how that is done. Or you can simply copy your iPhoto Library file from the computer's /Home/Pictures/ folder to any external device in order to move it to another computer. Do not forget the preference file(s) located in the /Home/Library/Preferences/ folder: com.apple.iPhoto.plist. Also, from the same location copy: com.apple.iPhoto.LSSharedFileList.plist if it is there.

  • How do I move my iphoto library from one external hard drive to another?

    how do I move my iphoto library from one external hard drive to another?

    Drag it there in the Finder and then launch iPhoto with the Option key held down. Point it to the new instance of the library.
    (58012)

  • How do I backup my iphoto library from an external hard drive to an online storage service?

    I moved my iPhoto library from my iMac to an external hard drive because I was running low on memory on my computer.  I decided I wanted to backup my computer files with an online service since I no longer have the external hard drive as a backup.  I am using ZipCloud and have tagged my iPhoto library to be backed up (it is called "Rebuilt Library").  I can see "Rebuilt Library" on my online backup files but it doesn't contain my pictures, just a few folders and some random data files.  
    I started using ZipCloud before I deleted my iPhoto library from my hard drive so all of my pictures except the ones from the last month or two are backed up online under the files of my main hard drive; indeed they show up under "Rebuilt Library" there in nice folders separated by year and then event.   I would feel better if I could get the newer pictures on there as well.
    Does anyone know how I can get these files backed up to an online service?
    Thank you.

    What version of iPhoto are you using?  Is your library a package when on your Mac?  Does that package remain a package when backed up to ZipCloud or is it just a folder? How big is your library?  What's the library size as determined by the Finder?
    The photos will be stored in subfolders inside the Originals folder or Masters folder inside the library folder/package.  You are running a Managed library, right?
    I'm not familiar with ZipCloud but it might not handle OS X packages properly.
    OT

  • How do I move my old iPhoto library from my external hard drive to my new Mac?

    Hi guys!
    I recently bought a new MacBook Air as my MacBook Pro was on its last legs... I have my backup for my old MacBook Pro on an external hard drive and I'm trying to put a selection of albums from my old iPhoto onto my new MacBook Air iPhoto. I can't simply click and drag it over as I get an error message "The iPhoto library is a Time Machine backup, and so cannot be used as the main library...". I've tried to reopen iPhoto while holding option and selecting my old iPhoto library from my external hard drive to open... AND I get the same message.
    If anyone could help me out that would be amazing!
    FYI: The hard drive I am using is a G|Drive mobile with Thunderbolt 1 TB.
    Thank you very much in advance!
    Cheers,
    Kendall

    I may sound like a real rookie here, but on my new MacBook Air there isn't a "Pictures" folder under "Users/kendallwilson" like there used to be on my old MacBook Pro (Early 2011). I'm still working out the new software on my MB Air, so where exactly should I open this new window to start following the steps you just provided me.
    Thanks again!

  • How do I backup my iPhoto Library to an external hard drive and keep my photos grouped by their events?

    How can I backup my iPhoto Library to an external hard drive and keep my photos grouped by their events?

    I have attempted to make sure my iPhoto library has been backed up on the external hard drive and that it is safe to delete some events from my internal hard drive
    You need to think this through.
    Time Machine is a back up application. It keeps a rolling back up of the data. It's called rolling because it means you can revert to the data you had on a specific date and time. But that's not eternal, and as time goes by, and your drive fills up, older backups are deleted. So if you delete Events on your Mac they will - eventually - also be deleted from the Time Machine back up.
    If you wan tot archive data hendon't use Time Machine for that job. Here's how you might archive an iPhoto Library:
    Make sure the drive is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
    1. Quit iPhoto
    2. Copy the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to the External Disk.
    Now you have two full versions of the Library.
    3. On the Internal library, trash the Events you don't want there
    Now you have a full copy of the Library on the External and a smaller subset on the Internal
    Some Notes:
    As a general rule: when deleting photos do them in batches of about 100 at a time. iPhoto can baulk at trashing large numbers at one go.
    You can choose which Library to open: Hold down the option (or alt) key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library'
    You can keep the Library on the external updated with new imports using iPhoto Library Manager

  • How can i move my Iphoto library to an external hard drive?

    How do I move my Iphoto library to an external hard drive?

    Here's a worflow for that:
    Make sure the drive is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
    1. Quit iPhoto
    2. Copy the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to the External Disk.
    Now you have two full versions of the Library.
    3. On the Internal library, trash the Events you don't want there
    Now you have a full copy of the Library on the External and a smaller subset on the Internal
    Some Notes:
    As a general rule: when deleting photos do them in batches of about 100 at a time. iPhoto can baulk at trashing large numbers at one go.
    You can choose which Library to open: Hold down the option (or alt) key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library'
    You can keep the Library on the external updated with new imports using  iPhoto Library Manager

  • How do I save an IPhoto library onto a new hard drive while it's open? It is a miracle I got it open, and it has refused to be copied the usual way (by dragging its icon to destination drive).  i want to save those photos!

    How do I save an IPhoto library onto a new hard drive while library is open? It is a miracle I got it open, and it has refused to be copied the usual way (by dragging its icon to destination drive).  i want to save those photos!

    My external Lacie Hard drive that contains the IPhoto library is a "locked volume."  Wow, now it is suddenly letting me copy it. I dragged the library's icon to the new destination (a 3T hard drive) and it is working so far. 
    I have also had problems copying my IMovie events from this drive, whose data I'm trying to save.  It reaches a certain video and stops.  I will delete that video and try again.

  • I am not able to delete a backup copy of iphoto library from my external hard drive.

    I want to delete a copy of my iphoto library from an external hard drive. This drive is connected via my Apple extreme router. I drag the file to the trash but it just runs and does not seem to delete anything. 39 GB file. It is an older file and I want to clear up space on my external drive.

    I figured it out just now.
    I unplugged the drive from Airport Extreme and connected directly to the Imac via usb. Dragged the file to the trash and now it is gone.

  • How do you move your iphoto library to an external hard drive--step by step because I dont even know the basics--Help!

    I have no more space on my hard drive and my computer keeps freezing.  I would like to move my 10,000 photos from IPHOTO to an external hard drive but dont know how to do it.  I am reading answers to similiar questions but dont know how to do even the simplest instructions like "after you quit Iphoto how do you copy the iphoto library from our pictures folder to the external disk????"  Ugghhh I have no idea how to do this.  Please help a busy mom of three who sits here for an hour and just spins her wheels!!!

    Make sure the external drive is formatted Mac OS extended (journaled), quit iPhoto, drag the iPhoto library to the external drive, depress the option key, launch iPhoto and use the select library command to select the iPhoto library on the external drive
    Fully test the library. Once you are sure it is totally ok delete the old library - test one more time prior to emptying the trash
    Check and make sure that your backup system is backing up yor external drive
    LN

  • How do I move my iTunes library from my external hard drive back to my computer?

    Just wondering how do I move my entire iTunes library from my external hard drive back to my computer? It was moved to an external hard drive a few years ago, and now I'm wondering how to move it back to my iMac to increase performance.
    Where does it belong in the computer?
    Any suggestions?

    The library itself is the /Home/Music/iTunes/ folder in its entirety. Did you also change where preference files were stored? Normally, they would be in the /Home/Library/Preferences/ folder.

  • How do i transfer my IPhoto library from one troublesome external drive to a new one?

    My iPhoto library is on older external drive that I no longer trust.  How do I transfer it to a new drive?  If both are hooked up to iMac can I simply copy from one to the other?

    Be sure the new drive is formatted Mac OS extended (journaled) and drag the library intact from the old to the new drive - depress the oprion key and launch iPHoto and use the select library window to select the new location as the default - be sure to fully test the new location before trashing the old one if you plan to
    LN

  • Migration of Iphoto library from old portable hard drive

    Hello all,
    I have salvaged my old hard drive from a previous PPC imac which developed problems. The hard drive is now in an external portable casing.
    I would like to access my Iphoto library contained on the old hard drive , however the message "You can't open your current photo library using this version of iphoto" appears.
    Any ideas how I could transfer the iphoto library?
    Is paying for a copy of "iphoto Library manager" the only solution?
    Cheers
    John
    Message was edited by: JohnnoF

    Dennis
    To import your entire old library, open the new iPhoto and go to the menu bar and select File, then drop down and select Import to Library. Then navigate to the User Folder / iPhoto Library / Original Folder of the old hard drive and hit the Import button. If you only want part or parts of the old Library, do the same as above and just navigate a little deeper to the Year, Roll or even Individual photo's and Import only those.
    Just an FYI:
    If you import an old iPhoto Library you will lose all your previous organisation - Albums, titles, Keywords and so on, and end up with massive duplication. If you only import the Originals, you’ll get just that - the pics as downloaded from your camera, losing any editing you have done. If you then Import the edited versions, you will have duplication and lose the ability to revert to original.
    The best way to do this is simply to have iPhoto update the old library: Hold down the option (or alt) key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library'. When iPhoto has done this you will have the same library functioning correctly, with all your albums, titles, descriptions and keywords intact, the edited and Original versions still related to each other and so on.
    If you then want to merge a library to another one, the best way to do that is with iPhoto Library Manager.
    Regards
    TD

  • How do I move my itunes library from my external hard-drive back to my MacBook Pro?

    A couple of years ago I moved our itunes library to an external hard-drive to free up some space. I got a new MacBook Pro and would like to move the itunes library to it.  I don't remeber how I moved it from my old laptop to the external hard-drive and have no idea how to move it to my MacBook.

    See Restoring your iTunes Backup here...
    Backup iTunes to an External Drive
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1751

  • How do I move my iTunes library from an external hard drive to my new Time Capsule?

    I stored my 77GB of iTunes library on my six year old 1TB Time Capsule. I just bought a 2TB Time Capsule and moved the iTunes associated folders onto a WD My Passport HD. Now, I can't figure out how to get them onto my new Time Capsule. Can someone please help me?
    I have a MBP that doesn't have enough hard drive space to move them from the WD hard drive onto the MBP and then onto the Time Capsule.
    Isn't there a way to move the files directly from the external HD to the Time Capsule?
    Thanks.

    You could plug the WD drive straight into the TC but it will be much faster to do it with the WD drive plugged into the computer.. and just mount the TC hard disk in Finder.
    To move itunes library you must follow the Apple instructions.. http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1449
    You may need to reconnect itunes to the library before you try to move it.. !!

Maybe you are looking for