How do I back up my data if my MacBook won't power on?

Question

Level 1

23 points

How do I back up my data if my MacBook won't power on?

I've spent a few hours trying over and over again to power my MacBook on. I get to the progress bar screen and it will only go a little less than half-way before it shuts down again. I've tried all of the suggestions for when the computer will not start, including starting in recovery mode, safe boot, F-S-C-K, and target disk mode. None of these remedies worked for me. I'm coming around to accepting the fact that my computer will need some major repairs that may involve restoring to factory specs, etc. But I need to back up or save my data before that happens. Only I'm not sure how if I can't turn on the computer. I've read that a can purchase a Thunderbolt or firewire cable to transfer data from my Mac to another Mac and that the Apple Store Genius bar might be able to do this since I don't have access to another Mac. I've also read that they won't do this because they don't want to be legally responsible for my data. If the Genius bar won't do it, how can I save my data without being able to power on my computer and without access to another Mac?

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.2)

Posted on Mar 25, 2016 5:29 AM

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Answer 1

Mar 25, 2016 7:54 AM in response to wordswork

You back up your data before the computer has problems such as yours is having. It is too late to do a back up after the computer dies.

If the cause of your computer problem is not the hard drive you can remove the hard drive and use an external inclosure to connect your hard drive to another computer. You can then get the data off the removed hard drive. If the cause of your computer's problems is a failed hard drive your data may be gone.

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Answer 2

wordswork Author

Level 1

23 points

Mar 25, 2016 9:29 AM in response to BobTheFisherman

would the remedy you mentioned involving the HD and an external enclosure be something that the genius bar could do?

Thanks for your answer.

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Answer 3

my ginger

Level 5

4,928 points

Mar 25, 2016 9:44 AM in response to wordswork

. When in single user the command is fsck -fy and hit return, doing it till you get OK. Target disk only works if connected to another Mac. Have you also tried a pram and SMC reset? And you should be able to use internet recovery. Which is Command Option R at startup This should give an option for reinstall or disk utilities to check the startup volume. If none of this works ,your hard drive is most likely bad. And if it will not mount in a external inclosure the likelihood of retrieving anything off it is remote. As far as what the genius bar will or can do. They will check the computer, but as far as doing any recovery. You would need to ask them.

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Answer 4

Mar 25, 2016 10:12 AM in response to wordswork

Your problem could be a bad hard drive or it could also be a bad SATA cable.

To test for a bad hard drive or SATA cable:

To test whether the problem is your hard drive or SATA cable:

You can remove your hard drive from Mac and install in an external enclosure OWC external case or using a USB to SATA adapter USB to SATA adapter and connect it to your MBP via USB. And then try to boot from it using Startup Manager. This will help to identify if your hard drive or SATA cable are at fault.

If it boots the MBP, most likely the problem will be the drive SATA cable needs to be replaced.

If you can not boot to your hard drive when mounted in external case, then your hard drive is bad.

Boot from the disk using Startup Manager: How to choose a startup disk on your Mac

Kim

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Answer 5

wordswork Author

Level 1

23 points

Mar 25, 2016 10:12 AM in response to my ginger

what could cause the hard drive to go bad. I know this MacBook is 7 years old, but I never expected it to just die suddenly and without reason. I'd had this same issue the night before, but after a few attempts, I was able to start it and it worked fine until the following night when I started having the same issue, but could not get past the half-way point on the progress bar.

What could have caused it?

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