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Reinstalled Mac OS X now cannot access photos, itunes and documents from previous system. Help???

I am new to working on iMacs. My kids have an older iMac and have been using it for some years. I used it to store photo's and sync iTunes. They were having problems with Safari, it was shutting down immediately when you opened it. I thought I could just insert both the Mac OS X and reinstall safari. I was wrong. I have now archived my previos system and installed Max OS X 10.5.8. I now cannot access any of my photo's and iTunes from the previous system as well as the kids saved documents. WHat do I need to do to get access to those archived items? Do I need to purchase Snow Leopard to gain access?

imac

Posted on Dec 9, 2013 10:35 AM

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Dec 9, 2013 10:49 AM in response to 6panicas

Unfortunately without visually inspecting where everything is situated, it is difficult to say without putting you deeper in a hole. It is never a good idea to reinstall an older operating system on top of a new one. Your best bet to rescue your photos is to use an operating system independent file search tool. This tool may help, if you haven't overwritten the original files:


Download FindAnyFile v1.8.6 for older PowerPC Macs)


This program will search for files by their .jpg name and should be able to find old photos, if you know the number of the filename as it was in the Finder.


If you stored the files somewhere outside the main user, you may need help bringing over that user to your shared directory.


If you have overwritten the original files, only a data recovery tool would work. I would bring it in to service, since you attempted something that generally is not recommended unless you know what you are doing. Someone at a Mac usergroup could also attempt to help. http://www.apple.com/usergroups/

Reinstalled Mac OS X now cannot access photos, itunes and documents from previous system. Help???

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