Cannot retrieve file after I forgot to properly eject the USB it was on--what can I do to get this file to open? Thanks for helping me out b/c it would take days to re-create this file! IMAC 10.5.8 Excel File using .xls extension.
Hi Sue,
Could be many things, we should start with this...
"Try Disk Utility
1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu at the top of the screen. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.
3. Click the First Aid tab.
4. Select your Mac OS X volume.
5. Click Repair. Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk."
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
Then Try a Repair on the External USB Drive.
Then try a Safe Boot, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, reboot when it completes.
(Safe boot may stay on the gray radian for a long time, let it go, it's trying to repair the Hard Drive.)
I did not receive a Mac OS X Install disc, everything came preloaded and I did not get any software disc or utility discs from Best Buy when I purchased it.
Any other ideas on how I can get this file to open? I have rebooted, relauched Finder, done several other things on the IMAC 10.5.8 support site. I desparately need this file. It will take weeks to recreate, and I do not have that kind of time to do this.
Please help me!!! And plus, I cannot afford to pay apple support to help me try to fix this either. My 3 year support ran out last March.
I greatly appreciate the time you spent trying to help and responding to my plea for help!!! You are a very generous person, and I thank you for that!!
At least do this part...
Safe Boot, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, reboot when it completes.
Is the file on the internal or external?
Then use Disk Utility to try to repair the External drive.
Start up your computer normally. Start Disk Utility in Applications > Utilities. Insert the USB drive. Try repairing the drive using Disk Utility's first aid repair function. This is more or less as instructed in BDAqua's first post except that was copied boilerplate for repairing an internal drive which this is not, so you don't need to boot from an installer disc.
Two things may have gone wrong by pulling out the drive. 1) The drive's directory may have been corrupted. This is the invisible file telling the computer what files are on the drive and where the bits and pieces are located. Disk Utility may be able to repair this. 2) The Excel file was not fully written to the drive, or was itself corrupted but left incomplete. Nothing can fix that.
Hi there.
Thank you so very much for taking time to respond to my post. I did as you instructed, and am so glad I know where the Disk Utility application is and how to use it. Never had to before and my previous computer was a PC. So I'm stilling learning MAC OS.
Unfortunately the repair did not work. What I do not understand is that the file has been in the same name since January, and I do updates on it about every 2 weeks. So I do not understand why it could not find the file or a previous version of it. Unless, like you said, I either ejected it before it had completed updating and writing to the file or just pulled the USB out without saving the changes. I just don't understand why it could not find the previous version.
Thanks again for trying to help save me weeks re-creating this document. I really appreciate the time you spent trying to help me.
Have a good evening.
Cannot retrieve file after I forgot to properly eject the USB it was on--what can I do to get this file to open?
