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GF's HDD Crashed..how do I migrate data off of there?

Jschultz

Jschultz

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 14, 2005
880
13
Chicago, IL
I work at Circuit City, and they can't even give me a price break on their data migration service ($60)...so I was wondering if I could do it myself. I've done FW transfers from mac to mac, but never anything else. What all do I need? And, what will it cost?

Thanks!
 
Jschultz said:
I work at Circuit City, and they can't even give me a price break on their data migration service ($60)...so I was wondering if I could do it myself. I've done FW transfers from mac to mac, but never anything else. What all do I need? And, what will it cost?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

How bad is it? What type of computer? Is it making bad noises?


There are things that can be done to get the data off but if you don't do them right you cause more problems.
 
I'm going to assume here it's an internal HDD inside a Mac.

It depends on how it "crashed", since that's pretty vague. Does it mount?

If it's just a corrupt OS X install (meaning the computer doesn't boot) but the rest of the data is still intact, then you should be able to connect it VIA Firewire to another Mac and get the data off it very simply, or even just reinstall OS X (Archive & Install will preserve all the data).

If it doesn't mount but there's nothing physically wrong with the drive, you'll probably have to pay for some data recovery or disk repair software (try searching MacUpdate or wherever).

If the drive is physically malfunctioning, it can be much more expensive.
 
pseudobrit said:
Is it too late to remind everyone to back up their data regularly?

(Sorry)
Click to expand...

No, it's always good to remind people to make regular backups part of their computing life. So, who do so many people from all platforms fail to do this simple thing? alas, I have not a clue. :confused:

.mac members may use Apple's backup application. It seems to work well.
Often, external drives are sold with a backup application included. Bounceback Express is popular, but I've never tried it out. Anyone ever use it?
 
Take the hard drive apart and move the platters to another (working) hard drive of the same type and specs. Just don't touch anything, and don't breathe while doing it. A clean working environment is a plus.

(Hey, I've done it...)
 
Ok, sorry I didn't update.

It was her PC (eMachines, no less) HDD. We're trying to get data off of it.

So what I went ahead and did was get an external enclosure, and I'm going to put her ailing HDD in there, and USB her precious files to my Powerbook. Seem like an OK choice?
 
Jschultz said:
Ok, sorry I didn't update.

It was her PC (eMachines, no less) HDD. We're trying to get data off of it.

So what I went ahead and did was get an external enclosure, and I'm going to put her ailing HDD in there, and USB her precious files to my Powerbook. Seem like an OK choice?
Click to expand...

That would be my solution.
 
Ok, new problem. I plug into the enclosure...etc..but it doesn't mount to my powerbook. Manual says it's because they're formatted differently (hers a PC, mine a mac...) what do I do now?

Thanks!
 
Jschultz said:
Ok, new problem. I plug into the enclosure...etc..but it doesn't mount to my powerbook. Manual says it's because they're formatted differently (hers a PC, mine a mac...) what do I do now?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

the pc hard drives are normally FAT 32 which macs can "read"
To bad CC doesn't carry macs or i would use my employe discount to get her a mac that actually works :)
 
We do carry macs now, but the employee discount sucks. I've tried getting her to switch, SOOO many times, but nothing.

Ok. So the drive isn't even being read for some reason. What the heck am I doing wrong?
 
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