Recovering files from mac that won't boot?

The other night when I was reading on my Macbook Pro, it randomly started giving me the spinning-wheel-of-death.  I waited for about 15 minutes, but ended up shutting it down in the end because it was still frozen.  I tried restarting, but now it won't boot past the grey screen with the apple logo.  I tried multiple times, and eventually it would try to boot, get to the grey screen, and then just shut off.
I got it to bring up the OS X recovery page, and tried to verify the disk (the internal hard drive), but it told me I needed to repair it.  So, I tried to repair it, but it told me it had stopped and that I needed to remove my files from the drive, reformat the drive, and then put them back on.
I'm not sure what the next steps are here...  I've heard that there is a way to use a firewire 800 cable and another mac book to help remove files if my computer won't boot.  Is this a good option for trying to save my files, and if so, can anyone explain how to do this for me?
Is there anything else I can do that might bring my darling Macbook back to life?
Thank you so much for your time and your help!  I am feeling desperate!

Will the button not restart it or even from the menu bar? And what exactly is wrong, what are the symptoms? Will it not boot up or just not restart? But ya your best bet is to boot into target mood. If you cannot turn off your computer with any button (but it does turn it on) I would say let your battery die completely or remove it. Then hook it up via firewire to another mac, plug it in, and hold T as you turn it on, this will put it in target mode and allow you to retrieve your files (assuming the hard drive isn't dead which could be a near possibility from what you described. Good luck, if you have more info as exactly what is acting up, maybe we can find a better solution for you. Otherwise good luck.

Similar Messages

  • Recovering files from iPod that is apparently corrupted??

    I only use my 5th Gen 80GB ipod as a portable hard disc so it has a lot of crucial files on it.. suddenly its now saying its corrupted and needs to be restored, which i won't do until i can copy my files from it..
    anyone know how to do this?
    i'm using a PC laptop and Windows Vista. Disk cant be accessed thru itunes or Windows explorer.
    Cheers for any help.

    you can try testdisk but i think you will have to install arch again.
    http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk
    ezik

  • Reformatted hardrive, copied files from backup, but won't boot.

    Hi,
    I reformatted my hardrive to remove partitions and then copied back all folders from a backup of my files (including the OS X 10.3.9). When I restarted the computer (PB G3), I simply get the folder with ? flashing indicating it cannot find the System. The disc is fine and can mount through firewire. I tried repairing with DU via firewire to another PB, but no change.
    One important issue - when I intitially copied my files to a backup, a message came up saying some files could not be copied. Are these the issue?
    Is there any way to get the system to reboot or do I need to reinstall the OS?
    Thanks for any help.
    Ron
    PowerBook G3   Mac OS X (10.3.9)  

    Calu2006...
    "Not a trivial process - previously it was so simple!"
    You can say that again! : - (
    Do you recall if the Security Update 2006-004 (10.3.9 Client) got installed? (It was created Aug/01/06 so it would have been done recently)
    Another easy way to see is that the prior Finder version is 10.3.2 while the SU Aug. 1-06 installed Finder version 10.3.3
    That one kind of loused me up a bit when having my Home (folder) items copied over from a previous backup.
    The bottom line--- If Finder loads in rather smooth no problem, however if Finder responds slugishly you may need to run the update.
    ...Ron

  • CS5 Indesign file from mac not opening on a pc

    Greetings, I have an Indesign CS5 file from mac that i can't open on  a pc. I made a package on my mac first, and then send it through wetransfer to my email. when i open it on the pc with a same version  it says  i need to upgrade my version first, which i already did and still didn't work. Could somebody help me please?

    What version do you have on the PC? CS5 files should open in CS5, CS5.5 and CS6. Perhaps the file is really a CS5.5 or CS6 file? You can find out using Jongware's script at Adobe Forums: [Ann] Identify Your InDesign File

  • I have a 2012 Mini with a fusion drive that won't boot from a usb cloned drive. It came with 10.8.2 pre installed. I have zapped the PRAM and reset the SMC. Any thoughts?

    I have a 2012 Mini with a fusion drive that won't boot from a usb cloned drive. It came with 10.8.2 pre installed. I have zapped the PRAM and reset the SMC. Any thoughts?

    When I tried using a recently downloaded (from the App store) version of MtLion 10.8.2 (12C60) I could NOT get the new MacMini to install or boot from a USB I had previously made. I was however able to use the Recovery Mode of the MacMini to create a bootable SSD which I had installed. The problem arose when I went back into Recovery DU as it saw the seperate drives (SSD & HD) as a broken Fusion Drive. Interestingly DU from the boot volume had NO issues and reported NO faults. It was the Recovery DU that identified the faulty Fusion Drive configuration. At this point I am definately out of my depth but my speculation is that the Recovery Volume is being used in some fashion to form the method or pattern that DU assigns files to the drives, System Report sees the drives as seperate volumes with all their individual characteristics.
    Disk Utility did not make a bootable USB, I don't have or use CCC or Super Duper.
    Here is the longer version I've been compiling:
    Having bought a late 2012 Mac Mini(6,2) i7 2.66GHZ with the standard 1TB 5400 HD and 4GB of RAM (base model) I immediately decided to install a Mercury Elite 6g 240GB SSD and up the RAM to 16GB. I received both shipments on the same day and had all my new toys in front of me. After following the video advice on OWC’s website for the installation of the second drive I started the mini and formatted the SSD to accept the OS from Recovery on the original HD. This MacMini shipped with 10.8.2 (12C2034) as the OS, the normal build of 10.8.2 is (12C60). Having used Recovery Disk Utility to format the SSD it came back with an error that DU could’t Repair. I went ahead and installed the OS on the SSD and the Mini booted normally from both drives. The issue I encountered with this setup was that iMovie encountered an “unexpected error” and would not save a completed project. I therefore decided to figure the drive issue out because I suspect the new Fusion File Management software didn’t like my configuration with drives that Recovery DU saw as needing to be “fixed”. After spending some time on the phone with both OWC and Apple Support I took the plunge and used Internet Recovery Disk Utility and allowed both drives to be “fixed” after which DU created a Fusion Drive (Logical Drive) that I then ran Repair Disk on and it showed up as a single drive in DU. It works perfectly as described by Apple’s site:
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5446
    Having checked the Link Speed and Negotiated Speed they both show as 6g so I’m pleased not to have lost performance due to it being fuzed to a 3g 5400 drive. The biggest drawback is that Apple’s Fusion Management only allows for 1 additional partition and I would have preferred more than that.
    I have sourced some additional information here:
    http://blog.macsales.com/15619-special-note-for-adding-an-ssd-to-a-2012-mac-mini ?
    http://blog.macsales.com/15619-special-note-for-adding-an-ssd-to-a-2012-mac-mini ?
    http://blog.macsales.com/15619-special-note-for-adding-an-ssd-to-a-2012-mac-mini ?
    http://blog.fosketts.net/2011/08/05/undocumented-corestorage-commands/
    If anyone has a factory Fusion Drive could you please post the Link and Negotiated Speeds of both drives? This information can be found in Apple > About This Mac > More Info… > System Report >  Serial ATA and the drives should show up as discrete drives with their info listed separately.

  • HELP! How can i restore/recover files from Bootcamp with Boot Failure - Missing operating system error?

    Hi,
    I am having a few problems with bootcamp on my imac. When i tried to move the bootcamp partition on windows 7 into free space, it crashed and turned off. Ever since i have had the error 'Missing operating system' and it fails to boot. I have some very important files on the bootcamp partition. Is it possible to recover these files or even to restore the bootcamp partition to it's original state? I do not have a backup of my bootcamp partition. Another problem i have is that ever since i tried to expand my macintosh HD partition into free space, when i hold alt while booting up (to choose which partition to boot like i normally do), the bootcamp partition has stopped appearing. This means that i cannot even boot the windows 7 bootcamp partition anymore!
    So basically here are my 2 questions:
    How can i restore/recover files from Bootcamp with Boot Failure - Missing operating system error?
    How can i make the Bootcamp partition appear in Startup Disk and when i hold the option key while starting up my computer to allow me to boot windows 7?
    Any solutions are very much apreciated!
    Thanks!
    I know that bootcamp (disk0s4) hasn't been fully deleted since it appears in disk utility (i cant do anything to it though)
    And here is the error i see when i try to launch bootcamp (back when i was actually able to boot up bootcamp to the error screen)

    WinClone 3 is OS X and saves Windows image it makes for restore - that should work but you will have to try and you would need to make a new image unless it also works with a native Windows system restore image. It is now supported and has come a long way.
    http://www.twocanoes.com/
    Paragon Clone OS works and does disk-to-disk clone just like CCC you end up with two bootable drives. But does not work with your setup. It would let you clone and move your Windows install to an SSD or another disk drive though and be bootable.
    During its clone process it checks for errors which is very helpful and lets you know - something CCC and others should adopt more of.
    http://www.paragon-software.com/downloads/demo.html
    I wish for our/my sake you had re-read and rewritten the long 'story' and broken it into a brief list of facts we needed.
    OS X
    Windows
    Backup (though external is much safer) and you want bootable OS X clones as well as TimeMachine
    https://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427
    https://support.apple.com/kb/HT1553
    There are a number of things to do like chkdsk and others as well as Windows DVD to do automatic system repairs and find out why.
    AppleHFS - the abilty to mount and read HFS volumes can be notorious.
    I would rearrange and redo your storage setup and how you use the 4-5 internal hard drive bays.

  • How can i format my external hard drive to write files from Mac without loosing the files that i alredy have on my external hard when i used it with windows?

    How can i format my external hard drive to write files from Mac without loosing the files that i alredy have on my external hard when i used it with windows?
    I have been using Windows to write files to my 1TB WD external hard drive and I do not want to format to loose the files capacity of around 500GB
    Someone, Please help

    Hi Allen,
    Is there any way to store the back up to Mac and restore after formating?

  • How do I transfer files from mac with snow leopard to a new retina display mac

    What is the easiest way to transfer files from my old mac(2008) snow leopard to my new retina display mac book pro?

    Easiest? Well there is some sort of wireless transfer thing, but I hear it takes FOREVER like several days and it's glitchy.
    The Retina doesn't have a Firewire port I believe, so Target Disk Mode is out, unless you have a adapter and I don't know how well that will work out. Cost another $30 for the adpatper I bet.
    The likely most easiest?
    Run down to any computer or office store and pickup a powered external USB hard drive that's the same size or larger then the old Mac's boot drive.
    Boot the old Mac and download Carbon Copy Cloner.
    (or use the TimeMachine if it asks, but it takes a reallly long time and if there are problems, then it's harder to recover files from)
    Format the external drive in Disk Utility with Partition: option GUID and OS X Extended Journaled (default setting)
    Use CCC to clone OLD A boot drive to External Drive B, takes about a few hours depending how much stuff you have.
    Hook up drive to new Mac, (either clone or TimeMachine drive)
    Use the free Migration Assistant in your Application Utility folder to transfer over, but creates a new user account (you can later delete one)
    Or if you haven't set up the new Mac yet, when you do set it up during that process, you can transfer from the External Drive B and it won't have the account you set the machine up with naturally just uses the ones from the clone or TimeMachine drive.
    Once your fine and dandy on the new machine, then Disk Utility erase and use the external USB to create either a bootable clone with CCC or a TimeMachine drive for backup.
    Since you need a backup drive anyway, this method is better and happens to be reliable and easy.
    Most commonly used backup methods

  • How to access old G5 Beige Tower that won't boot?

    I own a couple of computers, a G5 Beige Tower and some early iMac I believe (come to think of it, now I can't picture what it looks like).
    The G5 won't boot up—I haven't given it a try in years, but I refused to throw it away. I think it shows a flashing question mark inside of a macintosh icon.
    I lugged that thing into an Apple store long ago and they managed to retrieve SOME files (they sure didn't try very hard, imo), so that tells me that I may still be able to access the hard drive, is this correct? Do I only need a boot drive somehow? I'm not sure if I even have one, floppy or CD.
    The second computer was fried in an EMP. Lightning must've struck somewhere nearby (there was a huge storm at the time) and the craziest pulse of energy went through my body, I'll never forget it. It was like exploding in slow-motion, every particle in my body pushing outward, and when it was over, I was fine (shaken), but my computer was dead along with other electronic gizmos. Any opinions on if I should give up on this?
    Would an Apple genius even know what to do if I took that computer in?
    Both are old but may have some files from college that I'd love to recover.

    Hi,
    You mentioned a "G5 Beige Tower". The last beige Macintosh tower computer was a G3 model (http://support.apple.com/kb/sp406). Could it be this one instead?
    If it is the G3 model in the technical specifications above, minimum Mac OS 8.0 would be needed for startup. This could be an appropriate/supported system CD. It could also be the Disk Tools PPC floppy that has been made available for download from Apple (you would then need a working older Mac with a built-in floppy drive and Disk Copy 6.3.3 in order to create a bootable floppy from the disk image):
    http://download.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/English -North_American/Macintosh/System/Mac_OS_8.1_Update/Disk_Tools_PPC.img.bin
    http://download.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/English -North_American/Macintosh/Utilities/Disk_Copy/Disk_Copy_6.3.3.smi.bin
    A bad logic board battery can sometimes cause startup problems. You may also want to try a PRAM reset:
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1379
    Another possibility would be to remove the internal hard drive (the same could be tried with the iMac). An IDE/ATA drive can be connected to an external USB adapter (such as the example below) and then read on a more modern Mac (or even a PC with the correct software).
    http://www.newertech.com/products/usb3_universaldriveadap.php
    If necessary, disassembly guides can be found, for example, at ifixit.com.
    Jan

  • Recovering files from dead MacBook

    I have a dead Macbook Pro. As in, it won't even turn on. This is key, as most discussions on this topic involve computers that will turn on, but won't totally boot. Is it possible for me to recover files from that computer if it won't turn on, and how? The hard drive is in working condition. The computer won't start, according to Apple, because a coffee spill (my fault) caused some damage to the area around the start up button. Everything else on the computer is in grand working condition as far as I'm aware.

    Welcome to Apple Support Communities
    What you can do is to take out the hard drive and make sure it's not water damaged. Then, buy a USB to SATA adapter, and connect it to any PC or Mac.
    You won't have any problem to recover your data if you connect it to a Mac, but you will have problems with PCs. The filesystem that OS X uses is not detected by Windows, so you will have to install an application like Paragon HFS to read the hard drive and recover your data

  • How to recover files from a deleted partition?

    Unfortunately, my OSX was not booting and I deleted my partition. Through the Internet Recovery mode I reinstalled the original OSX Mountain Lion it came with. I then upgraded to Maverick. I know that deleting a partition practically means all files are lost. I heard that files can be recovered on a Windows when a partition is deleted. Is there any way I can recover files from a partition that was deleted just a day ago?

    Hi,
    Yes, it is possible to recover deleted partition or volume on Mac. Previously I was able to recover all my data lost due to accidental deletion of partition on my Mac PC by using recover Mac data software. This tool is really helpful, here you can download this tool.

  • Recovering files from your ipod

    My computer got reconfigured, so is there a way ro recover files from your ipod to your computer? I have a windows XP not a mac,if that makes a difference.

    Connect your iPod to your computer. If it is set to update automatically you'll get a message that it is linked to a different library and asking if you want to link to this one and replace all your songs etc, press "Cancel". Pressing "Erase and Sync" will irretrievably remove all the songs from your iPod. Your iPod should appear in the iTunes source list from where you can change the update setting to manual and use your iPod without the risk of accidentally erasing it. Also when using most of the utilities listed below your iPod needs to be enabled for disc use, changing to manual update will do this by default. Check the "manually manage music and videos" box in Summary then press the Apply button: Managing content manually on iPod
    Once you are safely connected there are a few things you can do to restore your iTunes from the iPod. If you have any iTunes Music Store purchases the transfer of purchased content from the iPod to authorised computers was introduced with iTunes 7. A paragraph on it has been added to this article: Transfer iTunes Store purchases using iPod
    The transfer of content from other sources such as songs imported from CD is designed by default to be one way from iTunes to iPod. However there are a number of third party utilities that you can use to retrieve the music files and playlists from your iPod. You'll find that they have varying degrees of functionality and some will transfer movies, videos, photos, podcasts and games as well. Have a look at the web pages and documentation, this is just a small selection of what's available, they are generally quite straightforward. You can also read reviews of some of them here: Wired News - Rescue Your Stranded Tunes
    TuneJack Windows Only
    iPod2PC Windows Only
    iGadget Windows Only
    iDump Windows Only
    iRepo Windows Only
    iPodRip Mac & Windows
    YamiPod Mac and Windows Versions
    Music Rescue Mac & Windows
    iPodCopy Mac and Windows Versions
    There is also a manual method of accessing the iPod's hard drive and copying songs back to iTunes on Windows or a Mac. The procedure is a bit involved and won't recover playlists but if you're interested it's available at this link: Two-way Street: Moving Music Off the iPod
    Whichever of these retrieval methods you choose, keep your iPod in manual mode until you have reloaded your iTunes and you are happy with your playlists etc then it will be safe to return it auto-sync. I would also advise that you get yourself an external hard drive and back your stuff up, relying on an iPod as your sole backup is not a good idea and external drives are comparatively inexpensive these days, you can get loads of storage for a reasonable outlay.

  • Mac pro won't boot past grey screen because of bonehead move?

    Hey everyone,
    So today I wanted to free up Macintosh hd space to have room to install new software I purchased. During trashing certain files, I noticed there seemed to be a duplicate folder of library so I decided to trash that duplicate library folder. When I went to go empty the trash consisting of library and other various files, the trash button would not work. It would press in but nothing would happen. So I decided to reboot the Mac pro and when it turned on, I got the gray screen with the apple logo, folder with question mark flashing. Did I delete something I wasn't supposed to? What should be my next step in solving this issue?
    Thanks

    Before you do some heavy maintenance, clone your drive, maybe just get a larger drive and clone, then use the old original as backup.
    Restore everything from the trash of course for starters. But a new drive or two would also be a good idea. Then buy Disk Warrior and SuperDuper to handle maintenance and backups.
    If you had TimeMachine running you might also recover files.
    But you need to boot from another drive or DVD. Maybe install OS X to another drive (shrink volume so you have 30GB).
    Installing software in today's age of disk storage shouldn't require trashing files, unless you are working on old Raptor or small SSD.
    And instead of trash, move files to another drive, and always keep media files and libraries (not system libraries) off your system drive and onto a data drive.
    When in doubt, unsure what something is... don't!

  • I have an iMac that won't boot up.  I've read all posts on this subject to no avail.  When power is switched on, it chimes, Apple logo appears, spinning wheel, then loading bar starts to fill.  It gets to about 25% then switches off! Help please!

    iMac that won't boot up!   When power is switched on it chimes, Apple logo appears, then loading bar, then spinning wheel.  Bar seems to load up and gets to around 25%, then reverts to the start again, gets to about 20% on the bar and then switches itself off leaving a black screen.  Tried all the remedies on internet with no avail so would welcome some advice other than binning what is a relatively new computer.  Earliest appointment Apple could offer was Thursday 17th, really useful for a business user _ not impressed,

    You've probably tried this, but will it Safe Boot? Restart holding down the Shift key until you see the grey progress bar. You'll need to input your admin password during bootup. If it will boot you can then try to eject the disk using the various suggestions here that you haven't tried already:
    http://osxdaily.com/2009/08/28/eject-a-stuck-disk-from-your-mac-dvd-super-drive/
    Or this (not tried this myself, but if things are desperate): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7NYW9Dr448

  • Mac mini won't boot anymore

    My Mac mini won't boot anymore. It's been running fine for months.
    It's running Leopard Server 10.5.2 Build 9C31
    It starts to boot, I get the first spinning gear with the gray screen, then the blue desktop blinks, then a second spinning gear on a gray screen and it appears to hang (the gear stops spinning).
    I booted off the install DVD, ran disk utility, repaired the HD, repaired the permissions: the behavior is the same.
    Safe mode doesn't work (same hang as above).
    Single user mode does work.
    I can connect to it via Server Admin while it appears hung.
    The last few lines of the system log are:
    May 15 18:38:58 server emond[67]: SetUpLogs: uid = 0 gid = 0
    May 15 18:38:58 server emond[67]: SetUpLogs: opening /Library/Logs/EventMonitor/EventMonitor.error.log
    May 15 18:38:59 server kextd[23]: writing kernel link data to /var/run/mach.sym
    May 15 18:39:09 server KernelEventAgent[59]: tid 00000000 received unknown event (12)
    May 15 18:39:20 server kernel[0]: display: Not usable
    May 15 18:39:20 server com.apple.KerberosAutoConfig[126]: Kerberos configuration is up to date
    May 15 18:39:20 server com.apple.ATSServer[125]: FODBCheck: New annex file created
    May 15 18:39:21 server ARDAgent [130]: ******ARDAgent Launched******
    May 15 18:39:21 server com.apple.KerberosAutoConfig[132]: Kerberos configuration is up to date
    May 15 18:39:22 server ARDAgent [130]: call logout from LoginLogoutProxyCallBackFunction
    May 15 18:39:22 server com.apple.launchd[1] (com.apple.RemoteDesktop.agent): Throttling respawn: Will start in 9 seconds
    May 15 18:39:24 server loginwindow[58]: Login Window Started Security Agent
    May 15 18:39:29 server servermgrd[53]: servermgr_calendar: created default calendar virtual host
    May 15 18:39:31 server ARDAgent [146]: ******ARDAgent Launched******
    May 15 18:39:32 server ARDAgent [146]: ******ARDAgent Ready******
    May 15 18:39:33 server mdworker[109]: (Error) SyncInfo: Boot-cache avoidance timed out!
    May 15 18:39:54 server Python[47]: CGImageSourceCreateWithData data parameter is nil
    May 15 18:39:54 server com.apple.wikid[47]: Thu May 15 18:39:54 server.jeff.carpenter.name Python[47] <Error>: CGImageSourceCreateWithData data parameter is nil\n
    May 15 18:39:56 server kernel[0]: AppleYukon2 - bad packet received. length: 1440, packet status bits: MII error
    May 15 18:39:56 server kernel[0]: AppleYukon2: 00000000,00000001 sk98osx sky2 - - sk98osx_sky2::replaceOrCopyPacket tried N times
    May 15 18:49:54 server kernel[0]: serialnumberd 194 FSWRITEDATA SBF /dev/dtracehelper 13 (seatbelt)
    May 15 18:49:54 server kernel[0]: serialnumberd 194 FSREADDATA SBF /dev/autofs_nowait 13 (seatbelt)
    May 15 18:49:54 server kernel[0]: serialnumberd 194 FSREADDATA SBF /usr/sbin 13 (seatbelt)
    May 15 18:55:12 server kernel[0]: AppleYukon2 - bad packet received. length: 23, packet status bits: MII error
    Any ideas?

    Yes, it's been running Server since I purchased it.
    I doubt the serial number is in use elsewhere: I purchased the 10-user version at a retail store in a sealed package and I've only installed it once.

Maybe you are looking for