Recovery assistance

My Thinkcenter Edge 72Z had Windows 8 Single language preinstalled. Due to problems, the C drive was reformatted and subsequently Windows 8 Pro is installed on the computer (apparently from wrong version RDVD). However, because the original preinstalled legal version is Windows 8 Single Language, the reinstalled version can not be validated. Except for the Widows validation, the computer is working fine.
Am now planning to purchase a Recovery DVD from Lenovo as I need to get my original Windows validated. I would like to have guidance for reinstallation (if necessary) and revalidation of Windows 8 Single Language from the RDVD. (My question is: as the C drive was formatted and wrong version was reinstalled, will I be able to reinstall the correct version from the RDVD that I will puchase from Lenovo, and do I need format the C drive again before using the RDVD for reinstallation and validation?)
Thanks for guidance please.

Good day and welcome to the community.
If you get the official Lenovo ThinkCentre recovery media, and it works the same way as ThinkPad media, then basically all you will need to do is boot your machine with the proper disk in the set and follow the directions. No need to format the target disk beforehand. My last ThinkPad recovery media disk set came with a short pamphlet explaining the process and recovery steps.
Hope this helps,
Regards.
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Is there any way to recover files on a corrupted drive if I can book to Lion Recovery Assistant?

Is there anyway to recover files from a corrupted drive if I can boot to the on-disk Lion Recovery Assistant? Unfortunately Apple replaced my screen in December and wiped my hard drive. I restored my files from Time Machine but have not done a backup since December because Time Machine sees the computer as new. I started trying to find a way to reconnect to the existing backup with hopes of not having to do a full back up all over again. There are a number of files that I need from the last 2 months.
My mid-2009 17" MacBook Pro froze last night and I had to press the power button to turn it off. When the computer restarted, it boot into Lion Recovery Assistant. Disk Utility reported errors like "invalid b-tree node size" and "invalid record count".
- I restarted and ran fsck overnight. This morning I looked at the computer and it said that the drive could not be repaired.
- Genius Bar did a quick scan and said I needed a new hard drive.
- I called Apple Care and they had me start in Lion Recovery Assistant and run Disk Utility. Disk Utility again reported that the drive cannot be repaired.
- I tried using target disk mode and connected the MacBook to my iMac. The iMac can see the drive in Disk Utility but cannot mount it.
- I tried DiskWarrior from the iMac and it cannot rebuild the drive. It does not even attempt.
- I tried the demo of Data Rescue and it could not read the drive (using target disk mode).
I realized that if I can boot the computer to the Lion Recovery Assistant then the drive is still functional (corrupted but still functional). Disk Utility shows the custom name I assigned to the partition (I changed it from Macintosh HD).
Any suggestions?

I was finally able to recover my data using DiskWarrior!
After taking my laptop to a data recovery company and quoted $449 to recover my data, I decided to try one more time. The technician did a free diagnosis and said the drive was still functional. I explained everything that I tried. He said that they normally use Data Rescue and recommended that I wait a few minutes after starting the application before attempting to scan.
Using another computer, I installed Lion to a 16GB flash drive and installed DiskWarrior, Data Rescue, and Remo Recover. Remo Recover ran the day before for more than 24 hours and although it "saw" the data, the it only presented a fraction of the data I needed. I booted my laptop from the flash drive and first tried Data Rescue Demo. It estimated 3500 hours to scan a 500GB drive. That worked out to be about 145 days. I cancelled and tried DiskWarrior hoping that since I had purchased it, I would get some value. This time DiskWarror did the scan and in less than 90 minutes it found pretty much everything! It seems that it does not run properly with highly corrupted drives using target disk mode. At the end of the scan, it mounted my internal drive so that I could preview the rebuilt directories and copy what I needed to an external drive!

Data recovery software that help recover lost partition due to using Disk Recovery Assistant on a 2TB HDD?

I Just use the Disk Recovery Assistant on my 2TB HDD and it wipe it clean. What are the best data recovery tool out there that allow me to recover the lost partition and see the file in folders view not files view like in some data recovery like Disk Drill?
using ML 10.8 something I tried appleXsoft but no luck.

My best suggestion is
Stellar Phoenix Mac Data Recovery
http://www.macintosh-data-recovery.com/
Download the free trial version of the software and use the option "Search Lost/Deleted Volumes", It will scan the drive and show you all lost partitions list on preview. Once you click on the selected partition it will show you again 3 options ,
Quick Recovery- This option is very effective on case of volume corruption
Advanced Recovery- This option recovers data from formatted volume and scans each and every block of volume for lost data.
Deleted File Recovery.- It scans unused blocks of volume to recover deleted data.
On successful recovery the software will show the files in folders view with the folder structure..In case you are unable to see the desired results you would need to go for Raw Recovery which will show results on file basis.This option is only required incase the previous option does not give you the desired results.
Cheers !!

Trying to select option in Lion Recovery Assistant

Hi There,
I'm trying to do a fresh install of Lion on my Mac Mini using the recovery assistant, however when I boot up using Option r into the 'Mac OS X Utilities' screen that has the 4 options to select from, I can highlight any of the options however it doesn't allow me to select them or press continue (using my keyboard or touchpad)? Any ideas how to fix this?
I'm the only user set up on my mac mini so am guessing it's not to do with not having sufficient permission?
Thanks,
Steve

Thanks for the help. I actually got things going after I realised that going into Lion recovery mode messed up my trackpad and keyboard settings. Once I sorted these out it all seemed to work fine.
I appreciate your help though.
Steve

Lion Recovery Assistant

I am a little confused by the new Lion Recovery Assistant. First of all, I did make a USB bootable drive using the installation image that was downloaded prior to installing Lion from the Mac App Store.
My understanding is that with one of these, I could reinstall Lion on my Macs anywhere in the world, with or without an Internet connection.
But then I heard about this Lion Recovery Assistant. I foolishly used that same USB stick to with the Assistant.
Do I have the same thing? A way to restore a crashed Mac without an Internet connection. It is annoying to me that Apple thinks that you will always be around WiFi. What if you are on a cruise ship with an exorbitant Internet fee?
Second question, since the USB stick is now hidden in finder and disk utility, is there anyway to restore it back and go with the full install?
Thanks in advance.
MS

From a slightly different perspective - I downloaded Lion from the App store last year and installed it on a 2010 MacBookPro. I now want to do a fresh install to hopefully rectify an issue identified in Repair Permissions, that it says cannot be repaired. When I use Command + R the only choice I get is Mountain Lion on Apple's Internet recovery which Apple says (correctly) I do not have and will not permit me to use it unless I presumably buy it.
While in this mode I can see in Disk Utilities that there is a partition with a recovery disk on it, however, when I am using the computer normally the partition doesn't show in Disk Utility. Can anyone throw any light on this?
I have an installer on a USB stick that I created using Lion Diskmaker. If I reinstall from this will it write over the top of the existing version or, as with earlier versions of OSX, not allow me to install it as there is already a later version installed?

Lion recovery assistant over TM?

I just read about the Lion Recovery assistant download (which I just downloaded) and I'm wondering if that would be a better way to do a restore (on a new computer or HD, etc) than Time Machine.. Or if that is used with Time Machine?
Can I plug my same external in which I have my TM backups on and set up the recovery assistant on it? I've been told to ONLY have my TM backups on the external.
Will I use the recovery assistant AND time machine if I ever want to do a full restore? Or just one or the other.
Thanks

If I'm reading you right you are talking about the Lion Recovery "DISK" Assistant.
Is that correct?
If so that file is just to create a copy of the Lion Recovery HD, which is on you internal hard drive, on a USB stick lso incase your internal drive fails you can boot off that and reinstall the OS to a New Hard Drive, and or do maintenance on the drive without booting to the internal drive.
It does not replace TM for doing backup or restoring the system other then allowing you to use TM to reload an already created backup.

OSX Recovery Assistant

I downloaded the Recovery Disk Assistant and installed it on a Western Digital My Passport Ultra external hard drive. The recovery disk assistant said that existing data on the WD external HDD would not be affected. However, now my external hard drive will not mount, and I can't access those files. I need some help. The files on the HDD is really important. I need access to them.
How do I uninstall?

Did you actually run the Recovery Disk Assistant and point to your external drive to create a Recovery HD on it? If so, your entire external drive has been used for a 650mb Recovery HD and you won't be able to get your files back. I believe the Recovery Disk Assistant informs you that your destination drive will be reformatted. If you simply copied the Recovery Disk Assistant program over to your external drive, your files should still be there.
From the link above.
How to use Recovery Disk Assistant
The Recovery Disk Assistant will erase all data on the external drive when creating the Recovery HD. You should either backup your data before running the Recovery Disk Assistant, or create a new partition on the external drive.
Also, see this Link with an image of the Recovery Disk Assistant prior to it running. See the text in RED.

Booting Lion Recovery Assistant From Thumb Drive

I'm wondering if I can boot the Lion "Recovery Disk Assitant" from a USB thumb drive with an early 2008 MacBook Pro with an installed but unformatted hard drive. I do have a Time Machine backup to finish the job. I'm not sure the laptop's firmware will allow a USB boot up with the thumb drive. Does anyone know if that should be a problem? I'm assuming the "Recovery Disk Assistant" would take care of the formatting and get me started. The old hard drive is working but I need more capacity. I want the new drive to have the recovery partition so I am concerned about losing it if I were to clone the old hard drive which also has a cloned bootcamp partition. I would rather be sure by letting the new Lion installation take care of partioning issues.

The OP has a 2008 MBP, which is not new enough for this.
Lion Internet recovery in the absence of a recovery partition on disk has to be done via the Mac's firmware. All new Macs have this capability, and there are EFI firmware updates available for a number 2010 and 2011 Macs, but there is no such EFI firmware update available for a 2008 MBP.
from
Computers that can be upgraded to use Lion Internet Recovery
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Early 2011)
MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2011)
MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2011)
iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2011)
iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011)
MacBook (13-inch, Mid 2010)
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2010)
Mac mini (Mid 2010)
MacBook Pro (15-inch and 17-inch, Mid 2010)
iMac (21.5-inch and 27-inch, Mid 2010)
MacBook Air (11-inch and 13-inch, Late 2010)

Recovery Assistant Manager not working

HP 2000-2d09WM Notebook PC
New computer
i bought it new last year
turned it on and played on it for about an hour to make sure it was working correctly.
repackaged and stored as I was keeping it as a spare.
Got it out last week
did all Windows updates etc
did the upgrade to windows 8.1
it is very unstable and unusable after the upgrade.
i did follow hp instructions from this website in doing the upgrade. i even printed them out
to follow them.
I tried to do System Recovery and it will not work at all.
I have tried through HP assistant manager. I click on button to go into Recovery and it does nothing
I have tried through start up and it will not do anything
I did do recovery disk when I started computer up new last week
I don't know how to get this computer to go back to windows 8 factory settings
thank you in advance.

HI @prdew
Thank you for your inquiry, I will do my best to help!
I understand that after upgrading to Windows 8.1 your system is very unstable and you are having a difficulty doing a recovery.
Have you tried testing for hardware failures to rule that possibility out? HP Notebook PCs - Testing for Hardware Failures (Windows 8)
As you stated you cannot access the recovery manager either from withing Windows or on start up here is a link to
Troubleshooting HP System Recovery Problems (Windows 8). You may need to do the recovery from the recovery disk you made.
Here is a link to assist you with that process. Performing an HP system recovery (Windows 8)
Best of Luck!
Sparkles1
I work on behalf of HP
Please click “Accept as Solution ” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.
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HT4848 what recovery assistant is recommended for the intel core 2 duo 2gb macbook?

After sending a flashdrives contents to the waste basket and emptying it, for some reason the file on the desktop containing identical files lost part of its content. Can I recover either the flash drive or the contents of the folder using some recovery app/software. I downloaded stellar phoenix but its behaviour is odd and unsuccessful , possibly due me. Is there a simple program you can recommend?
Thank You.

Go with the new model. You wouldn't notice much "real-world" difference between the two processors. With the new unit, you will get a much better screen, better trackpad and stronger graphics. It's a no brainer.
Dave M.
MacOSG Founder/Ambassador  An Apple User Group  iTunes: MacOSG Podcast
Creator of 'Mac611 - Mobile Mac Support' (designed exclusively for an iPhone/iPod touch)

Request Recovery Assistance 10gR2 Database on Solaris

A colleague of mine inadvertently removed all of the Oracle Database binaries for a Solaris Oracle 10gR2 installation. All I have left are:
- all database datafiles
- all control file copies
- the online redo logs (redo01.log, redo02.log, redo03.log)
This is what I did in an attempt to recover:
1.] Reinstalled 10gR2 with the option to create a new database instance (with the same name as the old instance).
2.] Created a pfile from the spfile for the new instance. (now I have a pfile I can use during recovery of the old database)
3.] Shutdown the new instance
Now to try to recover the old database. . .
4.] Renamed the directory .../oradata to .../oradata/<SID>_TEMP (to move all of the .dbf, .ctl, redo*.log files out of the way from the new instance created today)
5.] Renamed the directory containing the files I want to restore to ../oradata/<SID>
- This directory contains the .dbf's, .ctl files, and online redo logs from the instance I want to restore from.
6.] sqlplus / as sysdba
7.] startup mount;
ORACLE instance started.
SQL> recover database until cancel;
ORA-00279: change 53100530 generated at 02/19/2009 18:22:39 needed for thread 1
ORA-00289: suggestion :
+/usr3/app/oracle/product/10.2.0/Db_1/dbs/arch1_1876_602173188.dbf+
ORA-00280: change 53100530 for thread 1 is in sequence #1876
Specify log: {<RET>=suggested | filename | AUTO | CANCEL}
CANCEL
ORA-01547: warning: RECOVER succeeded but OPEN RESETLOGS would get error below
ORA-01194: file 1 needs more recovery to be consistent
ORA-01110: data file 1:
+'/usr3/app/oracle/product/10.2.0/oradata/TSDS/system01.dbf'+
ORA-01112: media recovery not started
I was hoping to issue 'alter database open resetlogs;' next, but I guess I can't because I don't have the archived log file that is missing.
Did this approach not work because the database was not in a consistent state when it was inadvertently removed (I believe I've seen this approach work before)?
Is there anything else I can try to recover this database?

When was your last backup (and set of archived redo logs prior to the ones that were lost)? That is the safest/most supported point in time you can recover to, up to that backup plus whatever SCN you can get to in the arch logs. There is an unsupported (or do it with support's guidance) way of opening a corrupted database.
If this is a production database, you really need to be working with support.
In the corruption case:
In most of the allowwhatever parameters (_allow_resetlogs_corruption, allowread_only_corruption, corruptblocks_on_stuck_recovery, etc.), you're looking at rebuilding the database via export/import.
If you want to live dangerously, you could also use bbed to edit the datafiles and set the scns to what you need, still followed by export/import to get the data out safely.
You could also try recovering to an SCN before what's suggested in the output (53100530). If you have the redo logs, the startup process would perform the roll forward/roll back two-phase recovery because then your situation is really no different than an instance failure, and your startup would be normal once you've restored the files you need.
What happens when you issue startup by itself? That is likely where you should wind up - recovery from an instance failure (again, assuming your files are not corrupted or that you really do not need a missing archived redo log).

Ze4900 (ze4907ea) bios recovery assistance needed

I think that i accidentally bricked the bios. The blue leds come on, the fan spins for a couple seconds and the screen stays black when the power key is pressed. I have read that there is a recovery mode when holding windows key + B at startup.
The laptop is able to enter the recovery mode as it keeps beeping very loudly after the keys are pressed, one long and two short beeps at a time and repeating . The problem is: it just keeps beeping if i left it on and i have no idea what to do.
So the main question is how to actually use the winkey + b recovery mode? I have searched a lot but didnt find any information how to use it. One thing that i have noticed, if a cd is inserted at any time the laptop starts spinning(reading?) it for a while. I know the laptop is old but it is very durable and important to me and im pretty sure that it is able to be recovered. Please take this seriously.

wiltzu wrote:
Are you sure that crisis recovery method will work on my laptop or might there be another method for my laptop (its very important to know)? I dont currently have an usb floppy drive. Must I get one or can I somehow use a usb stick or cd? I have tried creating crisis recovery usb stick using wincris.exe but the laptop doesnt seem to read anything from the usb stick. I have also read that some sticks dont work while some do , smaller size sticks being better? I dont own very many usb sticks but i have tried with 2 different sticks and 2 different memory cards, none of them worked(the laptop didnt read anything from them). Second thing that I have read is that some usb sticks can emulate an usb-fdd. I wonder if it is true? That could possibly solve the problem for me but I still havent found a tool that could format my usb memory to pretend being an 1.44M usb-fdd. This is so complicated when it comes to guessing things. It would be very helpful if someone had any exact information for the specific model.
Hi,
Your issue is a rather complex one. There are companies that specialize in recovering a bricked BIOS. Search for one locally on the internet. As far as being sure that it is possible to recover your bricked notebook... no one can guarantee that.
It is unfortunate, but you accepted the risk of bricking your notebook when you attempted to update the BIOS.
The Service and Maintenence manual for your notebook states that your notebook supports booting from an external device. The trick is to make your USB thumbdrive bootable. I believe you would find it far simpler to purchase and use a USB floppy diskdrive. I am fortunate to own one that came included with a Compaq notebook I bought years ago (1996) that still works.
I will supply a few links to help get you started on making a botable USB thumbdrive.
YUMI multiboot USB Creator
A tutorial from Windows Seven forums on how to make a bootable flash drive.
How to make a virtual floppy
There is a wealth of information on recovering bricked BIOSes at the MyDigitalLife forum.
Best regards,
erico
****Please click on Accept As Solution if a suggestion solves your problem. It helps others facing the same problem to find a solution easily****
2015 Microsoft MVP - Windows Experience Consumer

Time Machine backup not visible in Disk Utility, nor accessible through Recovery Assistant

Hi,
I want to recover from a Time Machine backup but the external HD where it was stored now shows empty (1TB available) and the name 'backup' has been replaced by 'untitled'. It was fine yesterday. How do I get my backup back? Is there external software I can use, something throught Terminal?
Thank you,

Yes, that's option B as she still has the IMac but I'm curious as to why the TM backup isn't working - just in case I need to do this on another machine down the road, it would be nice to know what's going wrong with the more convenient TM restore option.... Thanks!

Moving Aperture Library Recovery Assist Requested

Hello, I attempted to move an Aperture library to an external Hard drive per a post I found that said copy and paste into a new location and reset Aperture to find my photos there. I have since found that this was in error. I NEED to restore my library, move it to an external harddrive, since I am unable to load anymore photos, and consolidate the photos I do have in the new location. Any help would be appreciated in this endeavor. I have 47,000 files I need to recover.
Thank you all.

Some points to keep in mind when copying an Aperture library to an external drive:
1. The drive should be formatted as MacOS Extended. If it is formatted for Windows (FAT32) you will have trouble.
2. If multiple users open the library on the external drive (not simultaneously of course), you will get permissions issues. If you need to do this, set the Ignore Ownership flag in the Get Info dialog for the drive.

Recovery Disk Assistant created USB not a valid start-up disk

Booting from Recovery Disk Assistant created USB drive gives me a slashed circle with an eternally spinning grey wheel. Googling forums for the meaning of that symbol (and the fact that the machine never boots) leads me to believe that my recovery USB is somehow corrupted. This is repeatable -- erasing the USB key, repartitioning, re-downloading and re-installing using the Recovery Disk Assistant leads to the same error. I've verified that the USB drive is fully functional. I'm curious if there's anything obvious that I'm doing wrong here? Has anyone else experienced this?
The particulars are as follows.
- I followed the instructions here: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4848
- I have a 16 GB Corsair flash key, on which I have two GUID partitions: one 2 GB and one 14 GB
     * intially, the 2 GB partition (the to-be recovery partition, even though the recovery files are ~650 MB) is formatted as a non-encrypted, Mac OS Extended (journaled) format
     * the 14 GB partition is ExFat
- the Recovery Assistant finishes normally
- as expected, the recovery partition is not visible in Disk Utility, but exists:
$ diskutil list
...{snip}...
/dev/disk2
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *16.0 GB    disk2
   1:                        EFI                         209.7 MB   disk2s1
   2:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk2s2
   3:       Microsoft Basic Data Feigenbaum              13.7 GB    disk2s3
- to test the recovery disk, I reboot, holding `option' and choose to boot from the recovery partion on my USB drive
     * I'm using a non-retina, 2012 MBP with OS 10.8.5, if that matters
- normal start-up splash: apple icon
- boom: spinning wheel & slashed circle

Thanks for the suggestions! I didn't give this a go with a single partition, but I have resolved the problem.
Before finding the solution, I tried making a bootable clone of the MBP's recovery partition:
- enable Disk Utility's debug option from the terminal: defaults write com.apple.DiskUtility DUDebugMenuEnabled 1
- mounted the recovery partition in Disk Utility
- restored from the recovery partition to the desired partition on my USB drive
- made the partition bootable from the terminal: sudo bless --folder /Volume/{path}/System/Library//CoreServices
- rebooted from the new partition
I got the same result: slashed circle and a spinning wheel
Creating the USB recovery partition on my Mac Pro worked. I verified that it works on both machines before I saw R C-R's suggestion. What's really weird is that the MBP *will* start from its own recovery partition. Maybe the MBP's recovery partition is corrupted in a way that allows it to boot but not be copied? Maybe I've made an error elsewhere? Who knows. In any case, my problem is solved now and hopefully, this thread helps some other poor soul.
Thanks again for the suggestions! Much appreciated.

Recovery assistance

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