A plea for data recovery help…

[Danorak81]

Hi all,

I come here in desperation. Through trying to fix one problem on my Mac (Sonoma 14.2.1), I’ve made a stupid, stupid school boy error. My Mac is only a few days old, and as such, I’m still ‘settling’ in. I have a license for Carbon Copy Cloner which I set to backup *every day* on my iMac, I just haven’t set it up yet… Enter the problem.

I had previously erased my external HD where I had stored loads of files that were coming from my iMac, inc. (and this is the laughable part), around 15 years worth of archived email .mbox files. On top of that, was my Music library file-you know, the one that basically contains your library info. I had set up my Mini and successfully imported all of those things, so erased the external HD to set it up how I wanted it. And then the following day, I erased my Mac Mini, *completely* forgetting I had wiped the external already.

I’ve downloaded a piece of software called Disk Drill-it found zero remnants on my Mini, it, at only half way through my external HD scan, it has found all of my archived .mbox files. Whilst I don’t need all of them, some I do. I’m hoping my Music library file turns up too, as my Music library houses around 34k tracks. Trouble with all these pieces of software is that they cost a lot of money (which is fair, I get it), but it’s money I just don’t have at the moment.

Can anybody recommend any software that might be able to help out that is totally free? I know it’s a long shot, but I have lost, not only an insane amount of years worth of Music organisation, but some really sentimental emails too.

Genuinely just a stupid oversight in my haste to try and rectify a problem (which worked), but a problem that I now know could have waited given the massive catastrophe I’ve created.

Here’s hoping,
Thanks,
Dan

 

[Bigwaff]

I had previously erased my external HD where I had stored loads of files that were coming from my iMac, inc. (and this is the laughable part), around 15 years worth of archived email .mbox files. On top of that, was my Music library file-you know, the one that basically contains your library info

What happen to the original files on your iMac? Are you not able to transfer the files again?

 

[Apple_Robert]

Unless you have some or all of the files still on the old iMac, I am afraid you are out of luck.

 

[casperes1996]

If you’re okay with the command line the tools in this video work well

 

[Danorak81]

What happen to the original files on your iMac? Are you not able to transfer the files again?

The iMac has been wiped.

If you’re okay with the command line the tools in this video work well

I had read that Terminal may be able to help out. I’ll have a look, thank you.

 

[chabig]

This is a terrible situation. I'm sorry it's happened to you. Without a backup, recovering any data is going to be a long shot. Whether you get anything back or not, please implement a backup regiment with your new computer.

 

[Fishrrman]

You've discovered why ONE backup drive IS NOT ENOUGH.
One needs at least two, three is better.

Go forth from this day and learn -- a sadder, but wiser, individual.

 

[Arctic Moose]

You've discovered why ONE backup drive IS NOT ENOUGH.
One needs at least two, three is better.

And backblaze.com on top of that.

 

[Danorak81]

You've discovered why ONE backup drive IS NOT ENOUGH.
One needs at least two, three is better.

Go forth from this day and learn -- a sadder, but wiser, individual.

That’s the annoying thing. My iMac had a 1TB Fusion, so a lot of ‘stuff’ was on that. I couldn’t afford a massive SSD in the Mini so went for the entry 256GB, knowing that I could reshuffle a few things around. On my iMac, I had two externals: one backing up my iMac, one with my iTunes Media. Everyday, Carbon Copy Cloner did a backup overnight of the internal drive. I also have 2 WD MyPassPorts: I had it set up so when they were attached, they would automatically backup the iMac, the other my iTunes library, which I did, on a Fri. evening, once a week.

About. A week before the new arrival, I had to hand over one of my Passport drives to our wedding photographer to get the RAW copies of my wedding earlier in the year. I wiped the clone. When my Mini arrived, I needed to reorganise and shuffle things around, so I wiped the other Passport with my media on, knowing that in a week or so’s time, I’d be re-back g both the Mini and my iTunes lib. back on to those two drives. And that’s where it went wrong. Too much shuffling. The only reason I wiped the Mini was because I manually manage my photos on my phone, and there’s a well known issue with the Sync (see one of my other posts), that prevents it working. Never had that issue before, so figured as everything was still quite new on my Mini, it’d make sense to reinstall the OS to see if the problem went away (as suggested in an Apple thread and by their online support). I wouldn’t say I did it in haste, but I just completely forgot that I didn’t have a working backup.

I’ve been backing up/double backing up for years, which is why this is such an ultra-piss off. Just a momentary lack of concentration. And by this point, everything had been running well (bar the Sync issue), so I wiped my iMac so I could sell it.

I’m fuming with myself really because it was such a stupid, simple oversight that’s cost me quite a lot.