Unable to copy hard drive on to external device from Disk Utility. Getting error message "cannot allocate memory".

I am trying to retrieve the information on my hard drive after I spilled liquid on my keyboard . I can get to Disk Utility by using the boot up disk but when I try and copy the hard drive to an external device using "New Image" it tells me it is unable to create a copy because it "cannot allocate memory".

Were you able to get any help with this problem? My MacBook Pro out of the blue wouldn't boot up all the way and now I'm trying to get a copy of everything onto the new external drive using disc utility but am having the same errors as you! Thank you for sharing any tips!! -Norah

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Unable to copy hard drive to external drive???

Woke up this morning to a whit screen with folder/? Was able to follow instructions and get to disc utilities, but am trying to copy my files to an external hard drive before doing a install. I keep getting the error"cannot copy-input/output error" Any help would be appreciated. ThanksWoke up this morning to a whit screen with folder/? Was able to follow instructions and get to disc utilities, but am trying to copy my files to an external hard drive before doing a install. I keep getting the error"cannot copy-input/output error" Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

How do you knwo your internal HD hasn't crashed? If you have not been backing up then you may be in for a valuable albeit painful lesson on why backing up isn't some that you "should" do but something that MUST be done daily in order preserve your valuable data.
Run Apple Hardware Test in Extended Mode at least 2-3 times back to back, if you get error codes as I expect your next stop is your local Apple Store or AASP to have teh computer repaired. When you leave after getting the computer repaired make sure you buy an external HD and ask them for instructions on how to use Time Machine.

How can I completely restore my mac when I haven't made a backup and my hard drive can't be repaired with Disk Utility?

If I use FireWire target disk mode to copy the entire hard drive to another external drive can I then erase the damaged hard drive, reinstall Lion with it's handy recovery function and copy everything back as it was?
I have an iMac (using Time Machine) which contains much of what is on the damaged MacBook Pro but the laptop has music and photos that only exist there... So can I restore the laptop from the iMac's Time Machine backups?
Just wanted some advice before I take the plunge...
Thanks,
Joe

joefromthehill wrote:
If I use FireWire target disk mode to copy the entire hard drive to another external drive can I then erase the damaged hard drive, reinstall Lion with it's handy recovery function and copy everything back as it was?
Maybe. But you'd be better off to make a "bootable clone," via CarbonCopyCloner, SuperDuper, or the Restore tab of Disk Utility. Then you can start up from the clone (hold the Option key while starting and select it from the display you'll get after a few moments), and make sure everything's there (at least as well as on your internal HD).
I'd then strongly recommend also making a second backup, on a separate HD, "just in case" something goes wrong with the first one before you get this fixed. That doesn't happen often, but it does happen.
But . . . are you sure you have to erase the HD? If it's directory damage, you may be able to fix it. See #6 in Using Disk Utility, start with the yellow box there.
I have an iMac (using Time Machine) which contains much of what is on the damaged MacBook Pro but the laptop has music and photos that only exist there... So can I restore the laptop from the iMac's Time Machine backups?
Yes, you can do that, by erasing the internal HD, installing OSX, then using Setup Assistant when it first starts up, to set it up just like the iMac. See Using Setup Assistant on Lion.
But try to fix the problem first; if that doesn't work, try the "clone" method. If it works, you won't lose the stuff on the MBP.
I guess I don't need to remind you, once this is sorted out, to make regular backups of the MBP, do I?

Portable Hard Drive will not show up in Disk Utility

I purchased a Toshiba Canvio Slim 500 GB hard drive a few months ago before I updated my computer to Mac OSX Version 10.6.8. I was running out of Hard Drive Space since I bought my computer in 2009 and decided to use a portable hard drive to store some of my personal information. I was able to read and successfully transfer data to the hard drive, but then I updated my computer to 10.6.8 and now I can't access it at all. It won't even show up in Disk Utility. I read on a few forums that some people were having the same problem as I was and they bought a y-cable adapter to power the hard drive through two usb cables. I bought one and tried it out and I'm still not having any luck. I tried using my girlfriend's computer to see if I can access it from her computer and it shows up in disk utility, but I can't access it. The lights turn on and I can hear it working like it worked the first day I used it, but nothing is happening. Please help me fix the problem.

Evidence, as scant as it is from Disk Utility, suggests the Toshiba external
HDD is indeed without Partion Map Scheme, has no files on it, unformatted.
So I wonder if there isn't a wire or defective circuit inside the box (enclosure)
that may be hiding access to the actual HDD unit inside there. Those kinds
of enclosures generally use a laptop 2.5" HDD since they can run on USB
power from the port. Matching up the internal HDD from that case, with an
other one with correct life support (connections) is a way to test it.
However if the Toshiba HD is a 3.5" standard drive, a larger enclosure, or
an adapter that simply plugs into the connections of the bare hard drive,
would be a way to access that external drive. These 'drive adapters' can
work with both SATA and IDE hard drives; or just one of the two. They
run in the range of $40 or so, and essentially are a wire kit with a power
adapter to spin the drive, but some do not even have the adapter, so as
to still use USB power for smaller drives of slower disc RPM speed.
Most competent computer stores with a skilled staff would know of these.
However some of the smaller HDD enclosures may be hard to open up.
And if there were a Toshiba warranty, this action could void the same.
Adapters would be to 'test the idea of recovering any data,' if enclosure
the drive shipped in has somehow developed a defect. Though it may
be if there is a defect, it may have existed at a point in time to affect
the actual save-to-disk process. Or later. A wire could be not allowing
information to be received, if broken or circuit damages, by the Mac.
But by the look of the Disk Utility's partition map, along with the other
earlier image that shows the same info in the bottom of the image of
the status, in Disk Description, this does not bode well for recovery.
I'm not sure what else to suggest. When the dust settles, Toshiba may
have a residual warranty that could only replace that one with another.
Some older mailorder catalogs show these kinds of adapters, some use
USB port power, others also include an AC adapter so standard faster
HDDs can be used without an enclosure. This also helps if one wants
temporary access to a hard disk drive, but does not want to install it.
•USB drive cable adapter kit SATA and IDE HDD - google results:
https://www.google.com/#q=USB+drive+cable+adapter+kit+SATA+and+IDE+HDD
Companies also make hot-swap docks to allow fast swapping of HDDs
of either or both 2.5" and 3.5" size, these have their own adapter and
one simply puts drives inside from the top, like a bread toaster.
Hopefully you can take the Toshiba along to a computer store and ask
a somewhat skilled person there about getting the cable adapter kit or
another enclosure. The cable adapter would cost less & be quicker, yet
that would still involve opening up the failed HDD's enclosure for access.
Good luck & happy computing!

New hard drive but can't boot from disk?

So I dropped in a new Travelstar last night, reseated all the connections, closed everything up, popped in the software disk that came with the powerbook (OS9) and tried to boot from the disk by holding down the "C" when starting up. No dice. The Screen is black, the drive just spins the disk intermittently and I don't hear the hard disk spinning. I'm guessing that means it's not the hard disk that was the problem. The original problem was that it would lock up and when I restarted it would either get stuck on the gray screen or just a black screen and the hard drive wouldn't spin, just the disk drive would spin. This last time it was just the black screen. Any suggestions?

Hi, rickDJ. Have you tried resetting PRAM and NVRAM?
I'm guessing that means it's not the hard disk that was the problem.
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External hard drive not accessible, but visible in Disk Utility

Hello All,
I recently did a clean install on my iMac, and I cannot access my external hard drive through Finder. The system does detect the hard drive in Disk Utiliy, however Finder cannot see it. I also tried About this Mac > More info > Storage and it does not show up there. I checked my Finder settings per other threads and Finder is set to show all HD's.
The Disk Utility allows me to "Eject" the drive without any problems, but I cannot access anything on it.
When I plug this in Windows, I hear the Windows USB chime. I do not think that the HD went bad because it has not worked since I did a clean install on my iMac, and of course, all my documents are backed up to this drive.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.

There is recovery software such as FileSalvage which may be able to find something.
http://subrosasoft.com/software/filesalvage
You can download a demo copy which will tell you what it will recover if that appears worth while you must pay for to recover the files.
You are going to need another disk for FileSalvage to recover the files. If should be at least as large as the disk being recovered.
Allan

My external hard drive is no longer connecting. I was getting a message every time I plugged it in that it needed to be reformatted so I tried to do so and now when I plug it in the computer does not recognize it. It only shows up in utilities...

Hey guys, I need some serious help. I have an external hard drive, iomega which apears to no longer work; I am sure it is something I have done and I cant figure out what! I am certainly not a computer expert and am in Turkey so I dont have access to a MAC store for assistance or anything like it. Yesterday I plugged my external hard drive into my MacBook and got a message telling me to refotmat. I looked up how to do so and through disk utilities thought I did it right. Now when I plug in the hard drive my laptop does not pick it up; the only place it shows up is in utilities, the same place I tried to repair and reformat. When I am utilities it looks like I have 2 hard drives, one under the other. One tells me the description of the hard drive, the other doesnt really tell me anything. So I erased both of them and I think that is where my problem is. Any help on how I could fix this? I tried to "mount" the one that is not "mounted but it didnt work....I dont even know what that means!!! Help!

When you erased the disk did you select Mac OS Extended Journaled as the format option?

External Hard drive does not show up on Disk Utility

I have a External Hard Drive that I used to use on a PC.
Recently, I just bought a new Macbook Pro 13'' and want to transfer my documents from the old PC to the Macbook.
My External HD requires a password that you need to type in in order to access the files.
This password thing runs smoothly on my PC, which I can type in my password and get the files. But when I plugged it into the Mac, it didn't recognize it. It only shows the files .exe... and other that can be run by Windows.
So I formatted the HD (I already back up the data), and put it back to the Macbook, I still cannot open it. The system does recognize the connection but when I opened the Disk Utility while still connecting to the HD, the HD does not show on the left column of the Disk Utility.
Then I'm stuck.
Is there anyone here can tell me what I can/should do?
A girl who spends hours on the internet and still cannot figure out why this sh*t is happening to her.

A lot of external drives use firmware passwords as a protection scheme. To use them on a mac, you need to unlock the drive on a PC (I've done it in a virutal machine before). Once unlocked, you can format the drive for use on a mac. The firmware won't run properly on a mac so your ability to lock the drive from the mac will be gone. You can still lock it from a PC (I think, never tried to firmware lock a drive with a mac partition on it).

External Hard Drive not in finder, but in Disk Utility, info gone? recover?

My external hard drive shows up in disk utility, but not in finder. Usually, in disk utility, there will be visible the model/make of the hard drive (such as 232.8 GB MDT MD25...etc), and then below that, there be the actual name of the hard drive that I gave it (such as Jack's External Hard Drive). In disk utility, it only has the first one (the MDT... name) and not the other.
How do I fix this situation? Is my hard drive dead? I don't think it is dead because I can hear it spinning and it shows up partially in disk utility. Oh and by the way, it doesn't give me the option of repairing the disk.
Thanks

Alright, so I bought an external hard drive enclosure. The screeching noise is gone. Disk Utility sees the same "232.9 GB MDT MD25..." stuff, but now also "sees" "ROCK" which is the name I named the hard drive. But the lettering in "ROCK" is gray, not black. Also, its not showing up in finder. When I start up the computer with the ROCK hard drive on, finder says something like, "The disk you have connected was not readable by this computer." I try to verify disk in Disk Utility but it says "Disk Utility Stopped Verifying ROCK because the following error was encountered: Filesystem verify or repair failed."
So buying the enclosure, helped, but it seems the hard drive is damaged or the information is corrupt or something.
What is the problem I am having? (Is it not mounting or is the data bad or whats going on?)
Is there something I can do right now that can make this all better?
My last resort will be to try data recovering software (last resort because it costs around $100).
Thanks for all your help so far everyone.

External hard drive not recognized in Finder or Disk Utility

Two weeks ago, my 2007 black Macbook stopped recognizing the hard drive. I was told by some IT friends that the controller had likely failed and I needed to purchase a new laptop. I removed the hard drive and placed it into an enclosure (turning it into an external hard drive) and hooked it up to a new Macbook Pro which I purchased a couple days ago. The external hard drive did not show up in Finder or Disk Utility but the light on the enclosure was on and it was making a very soft whirring noise and got warm after a few minutes. I usually backed up the hard drive but, of course, hadn't done it in a couple of weeks before it died so everything I worked on in that time is lost to me at the moment. I'm trying to avoid paying tons of money for a data recovery service so any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

That whirring noise might be due to physical damage on the disk. I know data recovery services are costly but that remains only the solution for damaged HDD. You can get latest quotes on services from different dealers. Proceed only when your data is very important to be recovered.

External hard drive not visible in Finder or Disk Utility

Hi everyone,
My Wester Digital 2TB external hard drive has disappeared, so to speak, with all my photos. I work as a freelance photographer. Mostly on Lightroom 5.6
When I plug it in, with firewire, I can feel the disk rotating normally however it does not appear in finder or disk utility.
I've tried using a USB cable, restarting my mac, forced restart, changing firewire ports (HD has 2 ports), plugging the HD into a different laptop and nothing.
Ive also searched Finder prefrences and visibility is enabled.
I have no idea what could have caused this as I was using the HD the night before. I didnt pullout without properly ejecting. Maybe the HD is full or almost, but I dont think that would the cause of these troubles.
I'm using a late 2011 Macbook Pro OS X 10.9.4
Any suggestions??
Thanx

An update for anyone who can help me:
I have tried the external hard drive in other computers (mac and windows), each time I get the same problem above.
I have removed the HD from the enclosure and purchased a docking station for it (3.5" SATA). When I plug it in to the laptop it disconnects itself straight away before it is visible. With the windows computers it installs the drivers and says that the device is ready to use, then disconnects before it shows up.
As the HD is not visible there is no option to re-format or anything.
This is very frustrating as I was using the HD with no issues and it randomly disconnected and I have not been able to access since.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Bruce

External hard drive suddenly became "unreadable" and the disk utility offers not repair options. The drive is visible in disk utility but may not be mounted... any suggestions?

I have a WD My Passport 070A Media 2.0 TB external hard drive that has suddenly become unreadable on my laptop (MacBook Pro circa 2006 with 10.4.11) and I have tried on a MacBook Pro 2011 running 10.6.8 with the same results. I had tried opening disk utility to repair the drive, but on both machines the drive is visible in the left column, with no indentation below the drive. When I select the drive in the first aid portion the only options highlighted are info and eject... I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions to repair the drive. I am currently in Belize and am not home for 3 weeks yet. I'm hoping for a fix while I am down here, otherwise I may have to wait... I appreciate any assistance!
-Christina

Hi Christina,
It's quite possible the AC PSU has given out, if It's only Bus powered as it appears, that's the worst idea ever & asking for eventual problems.
What Format is it?
Did you install any WD SW?
Your best bet is DiskWarrio...
http://www.alsoft.com/DiskWarrior/
But others that may work…
Drive Genius…
http://www.prosofteng.com/products/drive_genius.php
TechTool Pro…
http://www.micromat.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=83

External hard drive not showing in finder or disk utility

1TB WD external hard drive is not showing in finder sidebar, destop, or disk utility. I have checked and all the preferences are ticked. The disk itself is showing a light and making a whirring sound during start up after being plugged into the power.

Three different external drives, on 2 different MacBook Pros (different ages). One drive with internal power, 2 through USB. Also have a new Solid State External Drive and it does work. The were all working before upgrade to Yosemite.
Have tried multiple USB Cords

Hard Drive Upgrade - Incorrect Capacity Shown In Disk Utility After Installation

I have an older model Macbook Version 2.1 that had an 80GB hard drive installed. I have just installed a Western Digital Scorpio Black 500GB internal hard drive upgrade and successfully cloned my data over using Carbon Copy Cloner. The problem I have encountered is that only 98.1GB of capacity is shown in Disk Utility for the new hard drive. After starting the computer using my bootable copy via an external USB drive, I formatted the newly installed 500GB drive with the appropriate Apple formatting (e.g. GUID and Mac OS Extended Journaled) but it only shows 98.1GB of space available on the new drive. I was able to successfully clone the information from my bootable back-up of the old drive to the new drive but I just don't have the full 500GB capacity available to me.
What should I do? Is this a problem with the new hard drive or is there something I need to change on my Macbook to "see" the whole capacity of my new drive?
Thanks for your advice,
Dave

Hi Andrew,
When I formatted the new drive did it with 1 partition and it displays a TOTAL of 98.1GB free space (both in Disk Utility and About This Drive). As far as I can tell, the Macbook is treating the new WD drive as if it is only a 98.1GB drive rather than the 500GB drive that it is.
Thoughts?
Dave

Unable to copy hard drive on to external device from Disk Utility. Getting error message "cannot allocate memory".

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