How to backup data when hard drive is failing.

I think my hard drive is failing..
I booted using Install DVD, and got message in Disc Utility that "this drive has a hardware problem that can't be repaired." It mentioned I should backup data and consult apple representative..
I clicked on Macintosh HD under the red physical drive (500.11 GB Hitachi HTS) and did disc repair.
Strangely, the message went away on the physical drive when I finished. It turned back to black wording and gave green "verified/repaired" messages in the log.
I am still able to boot my macbook, although everything is running slowly... Desktop excel files take 15 mins to open.
Does this still sound like a failing hard drive?
I am trying to act fast and borrowed my sister's external harddrive/ "passport for mac", and it slowly prompted a time machine backup. It is slowly working through "8.34GB of 200.33GB"
I do not really understand what I am doing, but hoping this is the right move. Could someone explain what time machine will do or how it will help?
Is there any chance I will harm her external hd?
I am mostly worried about iPhoto and itunes library, iMovie projects,and important excel spreadsheets on my desktop. Is time machine looking after these concerns?
Any help greatly appreciated.

Where is you TM backup?
Where are your external data redundancies?
Now you will need to use very expensive data recovery experts to recover data when you could have had it safely on a $100 worth of 2 external HD.
Mechanical HD failure circumvents using recovery software.......so, now you backed yourself into a corner and needed expensive data expert recovery.
You took a wrong turn a long while back before reaching this cliff edge.
that wrong term was not having (preferably 2) external HD as a redundant data archive.

Similar Messages

How to recover data from hard drive of failed notebook

I have a broken F767NR laptop. Broke due to something other than the hard drive. What is the best method to extract the data from the notebook hard drive inside the laptop since the laptop won't turn on? Anyone with any specifics would be helpful!

http://cgi.ebay.com/2-5-HARD-DRIVE-SATA-EXTERNAL-ENCLOSURE-CASE-USB-2-0-New-/160526605521?pt=PCC_Dri...
Something like this would work. Pull out your hard drive and put it in the enclosure. Hook it up to a working computer and you should be able to see all your folders and files.
Did someone help you? Pay it forward. Help someone else.
NC4400, TC4400 Win 7 Ultimate, xp pro, both dual boot
a bunch of thinkpads

How to backup an external hard drive plugged into a time capsule using time machine

How to backup an external hard drive plugged into a time capsule using time machine.
I want to move my itunes library from the mac HD to an external plugged into the time capsule, but I want to be sure this drive will still be backed up by time machine. I currentlly see no way to do this.

There is no way. You can connect the drive to your Mac and remove it from the Time Machine exclusion list. Then it will be backed up, but that will stop when you reconnect it to the TC. While it's connected to the TC, you can copy it manually to another AirPort Disk by following the instructions here (with a slight modification):
Using AirPort Utility to make a copy of the Time Capsule disk

How to recovery data from hard drive with account protected in Yosemite?

I run in an accidentally away, a command in terminal that erase all my data in hard drive...
I try to backup all my data using a live CD from Ubuntu but no success... my data have the account protection...
Help me please!

try
mount -o remount,rw /
if that don't work you could be borked and you will need to restore the disk
If the data is gone you can try this.
Data Rescue for mac
http://www.prosofteng.com/datarescue4/

How to Backup & Partition Internal Hard Drive

I have a macbook pro 2.4ghz. I need to partition my hard drive to have a separate volume for photoshop scratch disk. How do I actually back up the drive prior to the reformatting? Do I create a bootable clone to restore the main volume.
Specific steps would be very helpful. Thanks

So, using Carbon Copy Cloner I first do a full copy of my internal drive (the one I will partition). This will copy any data files as well, correct? I then format the internal drive, creating the partition I need (making sure one is adequate to hold my back up/full copy). How do I then restore the full copy from the external drive to the internal partition? Does this include the OS or do I need to reinstall that and run for all of the updates, etc?
The basic thing to keep in mind is if you want to clone a complete, bootable copy of your drive, the +target partition+ (regardless of how big whole drive is) has to be at least as large as the items on the partition you are copying. With this mode of copying it is all or none but you need to use it to get the bootable option.
Cloning will copy your data files, OSX, OS9, updates, etc., everything. It makes a _complete, bootable duplicate_ of your internal drive when used in full copy mode. So you need to start off with the external firewire empty, or not care about anything on it because it will all get erased.
First, repair permissions on your internal and make sure it is in a healthy condition. Then use CCC as I instructed in an earlier post and clone your internal to the external. Run Disk Utility and verify the external drive just to make sure there weren't any problems while cloning. Then go into your System Preferences, Startup Drive, select OSX that should now appear on your external, and restart. This does double duty of making sure that your clone really is bootable, and you are now working off your external drive so you can work on your internal drive from the external drive (no need for startup disks). Things should look pretty much identical to how they looked when you were working off your internal except your external drive will probably be positioned in the upper right hand corner instead of your internal.
Oh, if you have like 90 GB of files this can take quite a while.
Once you have established the external drive is working you can start up Disk Utility and partition your internal drive. Unless you need me to I will have breakfast now instead of doing a blow-by-blow account of that. Just keep in mind that if a "get info" of your external drive says you have xx.xx GB of stuff then you need to make sure one of your internal partitions is at least that size. Oh, it is probably a good idea to make the first partition on your internal drive the one to which you will re-clone (if that is a word) your original drive contents; the one with the operating system.
Once you have partitioned, you run CarbonCopyCloner and again use full copy mode to copy the things on your external onto one of the internal partitions. Run verify on the internal partition just to make sure all looks good. Use Startup disk to choose the internal's copy of OSX as startup and reboot.
At this stage you have one bootable internal partition with everything that used to be on that drive, and an external drive that is bootable. I find the latter very handy because Disk Utility requires you be booted from a different drive that that which you are repairing and using startup disks is slow.
You also now have a backup of your internal drive. If you want to, in future you can use CCC in non-full mode to backup your main internal partition. It will just copy off modified files, but you can read the details in the CCC Readme.
Brian

How to get data from hard drive in dead iMac?

I have an old slot-loading iMac (350Mhz G3 blueberry) that just died, probably a dead power supply or something. Won't turn on at all. I don't care about restoring it, I just want to take the hard drive out and grab data from it. I've found instructions for removing the HD ... but any tips on the best/cheapest way to hook it up to get data from it? It's EIDE I believe from what I've read so far. Thanks for any help.

Hey Richard.....Thanks for the reply to my question about my wife's dead iMac.....
Her iMac had been acting up lately, mostly to do with her Outlook Express freezing up in OS9. I dunno if OS9 was freezing or if the application was failing. Regardless, I would have to quit OS9, restart Outlook which at the same time restarted OS9. All would be fine for a while, a day or two and then the scene would repeat itself. But I think that issue is separate from the iMac being "dead". Often we have power outages in the area, more than we should. I had the iMac plugged into a battery backup, some APS product I think it is. I believe it is only good for less than an hour as we have other devices drawing on it too. Most of our power outages are of short duration, just enough to be aggravating, sometimes having to reset clocks, etc...And a couple times, I would have to reset the time and date on the iMac so this told me that the PRAM battery was below minimum voltage. But the iMac would ALWAYS restart, even with the low battery. But the most recent outage, about one hour duration, did in the iMac, somehow or other. I do believe the battery backup basically fully discharged. So I removed the battery, could not find a new battery locally so I drove to the big city and paid the local Apple service dealer a visit. I got ripped big time price wise, embarrassed to say. So I get home, put the battery in the holder, depressed the CMU reset, the powerbutton illuminated as did a green LED by the memory modules for less than three seconds and then quit. I also heard the HD trying to spin up and a high voltage THUMP which I assume is the CRT trying to ignite. If I unplugged the iMac, removed the battery, plug in the power again and hit the power button, the iMac would repeat the same short on period and then quit. So it did not seem to make any difference if there was a battery in place. I read somewhere to pull the battery, pull the AC cord, hold down the power button to dump any current (?) and let the unit sit for 24hrs. After that length of time, I was supposed to replace the battery, depress the CMU reset, wait ten seconds and then feed it AC. Well, when I pressed the power button, I heard life for maybe five seconds, maybe a second longer, then a beep and then it shut down. I pulled the AC cord, pulled the battery, re-inserted the battery, depressed the CMU reset, waited a few seconds, plugged in the AC cord, depressed the power button and I am back at the under three seconds of "power-up" and then nothing, dead, no beep, nothing. I think maybe it is a waste of time trying to mess with this unit, looking for a newer iMac on eBay, the snowball series with the 17" LCD, might be time better spent. Hate throwing stuff away, that's why I am up to my ears in junk, maybe u know that scenario. The wife likes my 19" ACER LCD screen, hooked up to this old dual 800mhz, though she dislikes the noise and the tower. But we both agree the large LCD screen is much easier on our aging eyes than the old iMac CRT. Anyway, I appreciate your help, always GREAT to correspond with an Apple fan.....John Bauer

How to start up when hard drive is toast?

I've got the sick iMac of a friend at home. The hard disk on his intel based iMac (2008) crashed completely. I can start up the computer using my OS install CD (SL), but when I go to Disk Utiliy there's no hard disk there. Only the DVD drive, which does tell me enough.
Is there a way I could still start up my friend's iMac from either an external hard disk or my own iMac (2011 OS 10.7.2)?
I suppose I probably need Fireware to install the OS (SL) on an external drive using my friend's iMac. When I follow the instructions on the DVD to partition the external drive (GUID partition) and go back to the installation I keep on getting the message I need to partition. The external drive I've been using is USB connected and I have the feeling that SL doesn't support USB and I need Fireware.
When I try to use my own iMac to install the SL on the external drive I am of course being told I cannot start up from SL because I've got Lion installed. I know I could bypass this problem (holding down a certain key I presume), but do I want to take that risk, since my own computer is working smoothly and I don't want to jeopardize it.
Could I create some sort of network between my iMac and my friend's?
The main reason I would like to get the sick iMac to start up is to try to rescue some of the data my friend has on there. He has made a backup of his files when the hard disk started to "act strangely" (about 6 months ago - pity we don't have a "sighing" icon here), but he continued to just force the computer to start up until it gave up on him completely. Now he still has got stuff on there he feels sorry to lose.
I know I am probably asking the impossible, but any ideas will be warmly welcomed.
Thanks !

Hi Frank,
Thanks for taking a look at my friend's problem.
As you (and all the other experts in this community can tell I'm sure) I am far from an expert. I assumed (wrongly it seems) that since I can't see the internal drive when I use Disk Utility it doesn't necessarily mean a hard drive problem. I was going to try to start up the computer another way (by booting from my own? with the help of a bootable drive?) to maybe try to save some data on the sick iMac's hard drive.
Now it looks as if I could be totally wrong and it's not the hard drive at all causing the problem. My friend was telling me that for some months his computer had start up problems, making funny sounds as if it couldn't find it's hard drive. He thought the hard drive was giving up. Don't ask why he then and there didn't decide to make a proper back up. I fail to understand completely. But I am trying to help him, not judge him.
If you are correct he might be in bigger trouble than I thought. I could possible help him when it's only the hard drive that needs to be replaced, but if the disk logic is bad I suppose that's not something that can be solved easily. Or is it? As you can tell I don't know all that much about it and I haven't had time to investigate further right now. My apologies for having to rush. I should have left for work 5 minutes ago.
Thanks again for trying to help.

How to backup to new Hard Drive while backup says "in progress"

My mom's macbook recently had a S.M.A.R.T. status fail so I took it in to the apple store. i backup all my macs with time capsule. Apple was able to put a new hard drive on my walk in which was really convenient. So it was like new. Was ready to restore from a Time MAchine backup. Except it turned out the backup was in progress during the harddrive fail. So the backup is titled "2013-04-14-155923.inProgress". When I click it, it tells me "There is no application set to open the document “2013-04-14-155923.inProgress”." I'm really disappointed. Is all my stuff gone now? Is there a way to restore to a backup that was before the harddrive failure? cause it does backup quite often. If someone can help me out that would be great. Thank you so much.

I suppose that you have older backups than that, correct? Note that Time Machine makes hourly backups automatically.
To restore your backup, use Migration Assistant > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4889?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US I tell you this because I think you don't know how to restore a backup. Migration Assistant will probably allow you to choose the backup you want to use in order to restore to your Mac again. Also, read > http://pondini.org/OSX/MigrateLion.html
Note that Migration Assistant will create a new account with the migrated files

How to recover data from hard drive?

All my data was saved in an external hard drive and it got deleted, don't know how. Is there a data recovery program that you recommend me?

Try using one of those listed here. Don't write anything else to the drive until the files are recovered or you choose not to recover them.
(105479)

How to recall emails when hard drive crashes

My harddrive crashed and they could save my data and files on it, so they are transferring it to another harddrive. Is there a way to get my emails back.
I have backed up my hard drive about a month before the Harddrive crashed....would there be a file or some way I can recoup them?
Thank you

Thunderbird stores all its data in a [http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Thunderbird Profile folder]. You need to restore that folder from your backup to your new Thunderbird installation.
It looks like you posted your question from Windows 7. You will need to [https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-tb#w_where-is-my-profile-stored locate the Thunderbird profile folder in WIndows 7] first. You will find instructions for other operating systems there too.
Once you have located the backed-up profile folder, you can [https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-tb#w_restoring-a-profile-backup restore it to your new installation].

How to edit/deactivate when hard drive is gone

Hi,
I am a paying subscriber to MobileMe. I used to have 10.4.11, and I used iWeb to create and manage a resume webpage to help find myself a job in the profession for which I was trained.
I have now gotten a job, and I ought to edit/delete the iWeb resume page, but since I've had the job, my Mac's hard drive has been replaced, and I can't access the site other than to view it. I want to edit or delete the site, but still remain with MobileMe.
If I cancel my MobileMe account and begin a new one, would that delete the site? Are there any other options?
-James

If your resume is on MobileMe, then mount your iDisk (Command-Shift-I in the Finder) and go to the folder where the resume is.
If it's an iWeb site then go to iDisk > Web > Sites.
If you cancel MobileMe or let it expire everything will be deleted.

How to sync ipod when hard drive and external drive used for music?

The Ipod can hold all of my music. My laptop has some current music, the external drive has old music albums. How do I set up the music library / itunes library to sync with the ipod and not erase the music from the external drive when it is not connected.
I am used to adding mp3s to player, and they stay there until deleted. Now I sync the Ipod, and if I don't keep the external drive attached, the Ipod loses the old music.
I have searched all discussion lines and do not quite understand the how to of multiple libraries versus other options.
Thanks.

Easiest way is to make sure your exHD is plugged in before opening iTunes and syncing your iPod.

How do I determine if hard drive is failing?

I had to take macbook pro to the genius bar on Tuesday because I couldn't get the system to boot. After an hour and one half, everyhthing was working again.
I went to computer meeting last evening and had problems downloading items.
Today, I tried to reinstall my eyetv software. Now, I can use the PC partition but am once again,unab;e to load a mac desktop/ When I shut down the computer last night, I had 68+ gig available. I don't know what it shows today but am unable to load disc 1 of OS to reinstall an OS. Help what is going on?

If the Genius was able to get things running OK, and the Windows partition is loading OK, it sounds to me as if the hard disk is not a problem. Have you checked in System Preferences that the correct startup disk is selected?
As you start the computer, hold down the Option key. That will give you a selection of disk icons that you can move between (it is slow). Make sure that the OS X one is chosen.
To help confirm the integrity of the disk, open Disk Utility if you can get it up and running, click on the hard disk icon and check the SMART status.
In any case, if you have not already, and are able to, back up your data.
If you are not able to start up, it may be that there is some corruption in the OS X installation. You could begin by restarting with the (grey) installation disk in the drive and pressing the D key. This will let you do a hardware check which may set your mind at rest to an extent.
For the software side, again, using the installation disk, start up with the C key held down and, instead of reinstalling (you might want to start thinking about this if things really are wrong, but that is down the road apiece) access the menu (top left) and enter the disk utility so that you can run a repair of the disk. See what that comes up with. You might also try Repair permissions while in there.
If you have problems reported, the Utility might be able to repair them (run this a couple of times to make sure), but if not a stronger utility, such as Disk Warrior, or TechToolPro might be needed.
As I suggested above, if things are really damaged you might consider a reinstall (or Archive and Install) but this is a last alternative: try repairs first.
Get back to us later with any updates or further questions.

How can I force Time Machine to make a complete backup of my Hard Drive. I just installed a new external drive for Backup since my previous one failed. Now when I back up, Time Machine only backs up my data folder and the Users folder.

How can I force Time Machine to make a complete backup of my Hard Drive. I just installed a new external drive for Backup since my previous one failed. Now when I back up, Time Machine only backs up my data folder and the Users folder.
When I start a backup. Time Machine says "Oldest Backup: None; Latest Backup: None", so it seems like it should do a complete backup, but it only does a partial.

Hi I'd like to jump in here. Your app showed me this:
Time Machine:
          Skip System Files: NO
          Mobile backups: OFF
          Auto backup: YES
          Volumes being backed up:
                    Macintosh HD: Disk size: 749.3 GB Disk used: 453.81 GB
          Destinations:
                    Plastic Wrapper [Local] (Last used)
                    Total size: 999.86 GB
                    Total number of backups: 64
                    Oldest backup: 2013-07-24 23:25:11 +0000
                    Last backup: 2013-11-17 01:40:47 +0000
                    Size of backup disk: Too small
                              Backup size 999.86 GB < (Disk used 453.81 GB X 3)
          Time Machine details may not be accurate.
          All volumes being backed up may not be listed.
          /sbin excluded from backup!
          /usr excluded from backup!
          /System excluded from backup!
          /bin excluded from backup!
          /private excluded from backup!
          /Library excluded from backup!
          /Applications excluded from backup!
Aside from the size of my backup drive, which I will increase at some point, I'd really like to have time machine backing up all system folders, especially Applications. How to I reset this hidden exclusions?
Thanks,
Darcy

When I plug in my ipad it automatically tries to back up and download all the contents to the C drive - the PC is too full and I have iTunes on an external hard drive, how do I tell the system to do the backup to the hard drive please?

When I plug in my ipad it automatically tires to back up and download all the contents to the C drive - the PC is too full and I have iTunes on an external hard drive, how do I tell the system to do the backup to the hard drive please?

You can open a command prompt by hitting the start button and typing CMD<Enter> in the search box that opens up.
To move the current backup folder from C: to D: type in this command and press <Enter>
Move "C:\Users\<User>\AppData\Local\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup" "D:\Backup"
Where <User> is your Windows user name.
To make iTunes look for the data in the new location type in this command and press <Enter>
MkLink /J "C:\Users\<User>\AppData\Local\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup" "D:\Backup"
If your external drive has a different letter or you already have a folder called "Backup" then edit "D:\Backup" accordingly in both commands.
tt2

How to backup data when hard drive is failing.

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for