ypfhdxu

Q: Need help to avoid data loss on a corrupt and/or failing hard drive

i don't know what happened. One minute I'm surfing the web and listening to music on iTunes. Then out of nowhere there was a sudden power outage. Didn't last long at all but now when I try to turn on my computer, it begins normally but then shortly after the chime and the apple logo appear, so does a progress indicator bar that I've never seen before today. Before the progress bar is even the size of my pinky nail, the computer just turns itself off. I started it in recovery mode and ran disk utility verify and repair. Verify disk doesn't get far when it says something like - Disk cannot be verified completely. Disk needs to be repaired. So when I click on repair disk, it only runs for maybe a minute before it comes back saying - disk utility cannot repair this disk. Back up as of your many files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed up files. So obviously that's not good. What are my options and is there anything I can do to avoid losing data that isnt already backed up? I've got quite a few things that haven't been backed up and losing some of them would be pretty devastating. This is my primary goal; to lose as little data as possible. My computer is a late 2012 iMac running Mavericks 10.9.5.

 

Thank you.

iMac, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5), 21.5 inch late 2012 model

Posted on Jan 19, 2016 6:27 AM

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Q: Need help to avoid data loss on a corrupt and/or failing hard drive

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  • by KiltedTim,

    KiltedTim KiltedTim Jan 19, 2016 6:30 AM in response to ypfhdxu
    Level 9 (55,946 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 19, 2016 6:30 AM in response to ypfhdxu

    Do you not have a current backup? If not, your only real option may be to pay a data recovery firm and see if they can help you. That can be very expensive.

  • by rkaufmann87,

    rkaufmann87 rkaufmann87 Jan 19, 2016 6:32 AM in response to ypfhdxu
    Level 9 (58,746 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Jan 19, 2016 6:32 AM in response to ypfhdxu

    Can we assume you don't backup your computer using Time Machine? If you have been backing up then and your backup is in good shape you likely have nothing to worry about. If you don't use Time Machine to backup hourly you will lose some data.

     

    When it comes to backing up, it is very wise to have redundant backup plans. Time Machine should be the first line of defense and then with a second External Hard Disk you can create a bootable clone using either SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner.The reason for 2 External Hard Disks is they fail too and your backup should have a backup plan.

     

    Good luck.

  • by ypfhdxu,

    ypfhdxu ypfhdxu Jan 19, 2016 6:34 AM in response to KiltedTim
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 19, 2016 6:34 AM in response to KiltedTim

    I have backups but i had not backed up any of the work I'd done for the past several weeks. Starting from scratch would be a nightmare.

  • by rkaufmann87,

    rkaufmann87 rkaufmann87 Jan 19, 2016 6:35 AM in response to ypfhdxu
    Level 9 (58,746 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Jan 19, 2016 6:35 AM in response to ypfhdxu

    The data you have not backed up is gone unless you want to go to a data recovery service. Be prepared to spend $500-several thousand dollars to recover.

  • by ypfhdxu,

    ypfhdxu ypfhdxu Jan 19, 2016 6:45 AM in response to rkaufmann87
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 19, 2016 6:45 AM in response to rkaufmann87

    I don't have a thousand dollars to spend on data recovery. This may be a ridiculous question but, if the data I haven't backed up is gone unless... then my data isn't necessarily gone correct? Is there nothing I myself could do or at least attempt in order to recover some of this data without going to a data recovery service?

  • by KiltedTim,

    KiltedTim KiltedTim Jan 19, 2016 6:54 AM in response to ypfhdxu
    Level 9 (55,946 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 19, 2016 6:54 AM in response to ypfhdxu

    It's extremely unlikely that you would be able to recover anything yourself. You don't have the specialized tools needed to do so. There are some over-the-counter data recovery programs out there, but it's unlikely they would do you any good given the error messages you've reported.

     

    External USB hard drives are dirt cheap. In the future, I suggest you get one and turn on Time Machine to ensure you don't have this problem in the future.

  • by ypfhdxu,

    ypfhdxu ypfhdxu Jan 19, 2016 7:19 AM in response to KiltedTim
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 19, 2016 7:19 AM in response to KiltedTim

    Is there really nothing I can do? Maybe single user mode or possibly ssh from another computer to get at my files? I know I sound like a broken record but this all my work for several weeks. I know I should have been using time machine. I normally do. And I've even got redundant backups. Just not for the last few weeks. Really if there's anything at all you or anyone can think of that has even the slightest potential of recovering even a fraction of my data I'd really appreciate hearing it. I mean it doesn't sound like I have much to lose if I screw up.

  • by dialabrain,

    dialabrain dialabrain Jan 19, 2016 7:36 AM in response to ypfhdxu
    Level 5 (6,372 points)
    Mac App Store
    Jan 19, 2016 7:36 AM in response to ypfhdxu

    some things you could try…

    http://www.macworld.co.uk/how-to/mac/steps-take-when-your-mac-wont-start-3423817 /

     

    Your best bet may be to make an appointment with the Genius Bar and see what they think.

  • by rkaufmann87,

    rkaufmann87 rkaufmann87 Jan 19, 2016 8:26 AM in response to ypfhdxu
    Level 9 (58,746 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Jan 19, 2016 8:26 AM in response to ypfhdxu

    )V( wrote:

     

    Is there really nothing I can do? Maybe single user mode or possibly ssh from another computer to get at my files? I know I sound like a broken record but this all my work for several weeks. I know I should have been using time machine. I normally do. And I've even got redundant backups. Just not for the last few weeks. Really if there's anything at all you or anyone can think of that has even the slightest potential of recovering even a fraction of my data I'd really appreciate hearing it. I mean it doesn't sound like I have much to lose if I screw up.

    You can try what you like, however we hear similar stories to yours regularly and unfortunately the answer is always the same. Trying to recover data after the fact is like asking about the chickens after the fox has been in the coup.

     

    Try to look at this as a lesson learned and use it to formulate a solid backup plan. Personally on all my Macs (3) I have redundant backups, each has a Time Machine backup and each has another EHD and I use SuperDuper. I check each backup regularly to verify it's health. I had my TM drive crash a couple of weeks ago, while I was waiting for the replacement HD I used my SD drive to backup. A little stressful but it worked out.

     

    Good luck!

  • by dialabrain,

    dialabrain dialabrain Jan 19, 2016 8:54 AM in response to ypfhdxu
    Level 5 (6,372 points)
    Mac App Store
    Jan 19, 2016 8:54 AM in response to ypfhdxu

    I meant to mention, even if you had the funds to use a data recovery service, they don't charge by results. There is nothing stopping them from keeping your computer for a week or more then saying "Sorry, we couldn't recover anything", or "Here, we recovered 1 file". Charging hundreds+ of dollars for nothing.

     

    Personally I don't do redundant backups. My feeling is it's unlikely both my internal drive and backup drive will both fail at the same time. But that's me.

     

    What I don't understand is since you have Time Machine why it was not set up to do automatic backups. Then worst case scenario you would have lost only an hour's worth of work.

  • by woodmeister50,

    woodmeister50 woodmeister50 Jan 19, 2016 11:20 AM in response to ypfhdxu
    Level 5 (5,589 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 19, 2016 11:20 AM in response to ypfhdxu

    Corollary to Murphy's Law: One day, you find yourself in need of one

    more backup than what you have.

     

    For the OP's problem, if you have another Mac available that has a Thunderbolt

    interface, you could try booting the problem child into Target Disk mode and connect via

    Thunderbolt to another Mac (Share files between two computers with target disk mode - Apple Support).

    It may or may not mount and might be able to at least read the files you need.


    For me, since photos are pretty much irreplaceable, I maintain 4 copies of my libraries.

    One copy each on my iMac and my MacbookPro, one copy on an independent external hard drive

    and one copy on an external drive on my Mac Mini Server.


    Any work related data files, I backup to server, ext. hard drive, USB stick dedicated to the project, and

    spending on the project nature a back up on one of Dropbox, iCloud, or OneDrive.


    I also have clones of all my Macs (not a big fan of Time Machine after getting burned a couple times).


    External hard drives are cheap insurance.  Most have 3 year warranty which pretty much means

    they'll last 3 years, that comes to under $3 a month for a $100 hard drive.  Usually they last much longer

    when used as backups.

  • by rkaufmann87,

    rkaufmann87 rkaufmann87 Jan 19, 2016 11:08 AM in response to dialabrain
    Level 9 (58,746 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Jan 19, 2016 11:08 AM in response to dialabrain

    I do redundant backups because I have had the primary HD fail and a TM backup fail, I was very glad I had my bootable clone backup.

     

    The chances of that happening are low, however I don't like to tempt fate anymore than I need to.

  • by dialabrain,

    dialabrain dialabrain Jan 19, 2016 11:09 AM in response to woodmeister50
    Level 5 (6,372 points)
    Mac App Store
    Jan 19, 2016 11:09 AM in response to woodmeister50

    woodmeister50 wrote:

     

    Corollary to Murphy's Law: One day, you find yourself in need of one

    more backup than what you have.

    That could be the case even with a hundred backups. Just saying.

  • by dialabrain,

    dialabrain dialabrain Jan 19, 2016 11:11 AM in response to rkaufmann87
    Level 5 (6,372 points)
    Mac App Store
    Jan 19, 2016 11:11 AM in response to rkaufmann87

    rkaufmann87 wrote:

     

    I do redundant backups because I have had the primary HD fail and a TM backup fail, I was very glad I had my bootable clone backup.

     

    The chances of that happening are low, however I don't like to tempt fate anymore than I need to.

    I certainly think redundant backups are prudent and I didn't mean to imply one shouldn't use them.

     

    I just live dangerously. I've actually only had one external drive fail in 30+ years

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