Hard Drive Failed

[VanDavies]

Hi

My MacBook Pro hard drive failed. Luckily, my local repair shop managed to recover all of my data and they've installed a new hard drive.

I've just started my laptop for the first time since this and I don't have any of the programmes that were on my MBP originally i.e. garageband, imovie, iphoto, etc.

Also, there is a folder on my desktop, which presumably contains all of the info from my last hard drive. There are folders in there marked 'Desktop', 'Music', 'Pictures', etc. However, when I click on them, they say "Cannot be accessed because you don't have permission."

This may be a silly question, but how do I make my MBP the way it was??!

Thanks in advance.

 

[MacForScience]

For your applications you will want to re-install them. For the file of all your recovered data, before doing anything back it up. You then need to take ownership of the files. You may be able to do this with Get Info, and certainly with the terminal (chown).

Once you have access to your files you need to find your data and move it back, where you want it. I would not move preferences, or any system files into your new OS, just your user data iTunes media etc.


Cheers

 

[Carlanga]

some apps could work if you just move them to the application folder, others won't because you might need files in other parts of the OS. Just re-download or reinstall them IMO.

Pictures, music, movies and documents you should be fine if you just drag and drop them accordingly.

 

[VanDavies]

This is a great start, thank you. I have successfully moved the media and other folders onto the new hard drive (although there are still some folders that say "...can’t be opened because you don’t have permission to see its contents." when I click on them; any suggestions?)

Secondly, I used to have Garageband, iMovie, etc. on my MBP, but I can't seem to find these anywhere. Neither am I able to locate the projects; these were the main things I was afraid that I'd lost when the Hard Drive failed.

Any further help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[blueroom]

You'll need the iLife CD that came with your MacBook to reinstall those.

 

[VanDavies]

You'll need the iLife CD that came with your MacBook to reinstall those.

Ah crumbs. I bought the MBP second-hand; it didn't come with any discs. Am I able to download this via from the Apple store?

Also, have I lost my previous projects from these applications?

 

[blueroom]

You can buy them all on the App store.

Depends on where you saved your projects, plus I'd recommend a backup solution when you get it up and running. Time Machine is very good, even DropBox is pretty handy for documents.

 

[VanDavies]

You can buy them all on the App store.

Depends on where you saved your projects, plus I'd recommend a backup solution when you get it up and running. Time Machine is very good, even DropBox is pretty handy for documents.

They were just saved in the normal way i.e. save project. So I'm guessing this is somewhere in the directory, but can't seem to find them. I'm sorry, I must sound like a total noob!

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They were just saved in the normal way i.e. save project. So I'm guessing this is somewhere in the directory, but can't seem to find them. I'm sorry, I must sound like a total noob!

OK, I think I've found them!!

Right, my main problem now is accessing files; some files have a 'no entry' sign on them and when I click to try open them, it says:

"...can’t be opened because you don’t have permission to see its contents."


Any suggestions?

 

[aristobrat]

Right, my main problem now is accessing files; some files have a 'no entry' sign on them and when I click to try open them, it says:

"...can’t be opened because you don’t have permission to see its contents."


Any suggestions?

Try right-clicking on the file > Get Info.
In the Get Info window, scroll down to the bottom area (Sharing & Permissions). Change the Privileges around so that you have permission.

Also, if you got your Mac second-hand and don't have the iLife reinstall DVDs, you can try making a Genius Bar appointment (if you have an Apple Store nearby) and seeing if they'll reinstall them for you. If not, AppleCare used to sell the replacement DVDs.

Going forward, I'd realllllllly recommend that you buy an inexpensive external USB drive and use Time Machine to keep backups of your stuff. Once you set it up, it will run automatically (assuming you plug the USB drive in from time to time). You could have completely restored everything to its original place if you had a Time Machine backup (vs. having lost iLife and having to manually put your files back where they go).

 

[VanDavies]

Try right-clicking on the file > Get Info.
In the Get Info window, scroll down to the bottom area (Sharing & Permissions). Change the Privileges around so that you have permission.

Also, if you got your Mac second-hand and don't have the iLife reinstall DVDs, you can try making a Genius Bar appointment (if you have an Apple Store nearby) and seeing if they'll reinstall them for you. If not, AppleCare used to sell the replacement DVDs.

Going forward, I'd realllllllly recommend that you buy an inexpensive external USB drive and use Time Machine to keep backups of your stuff. Once you set it up, it will run automatically (assuming you plug the USB drive in from time to time). You could have completely restored everything to its original place if you had a Time Machine backup (vs. having lost iLife and having to manually put your files back where they go).

Thanks for the assistance; the most horrendous thing about my Hard Drive failure was that I'd just bought a 1TB SeaGate external HD and was about to copy everything across. I couldn't believe the timing when it happened!

I think I might have now made a mistake when putting everything back; I dragged and dropped the 'Library' folder from my recovered data folder into the Library folder on the new OS. I know seem to have duplicate folders all over the place. What should I do?