This morning my iMac was running a little buggy so I restarted. Ever since then it would not boot up. I put in the install disk and run disk utility to "verify disk". It's showing me some weird and potentially bad info. I'm fine with losing my hard drive and starting over but I really need to get my iPhoto library off before that happens. It just happens to be bad luck that I was working on setting up Time Capsule and hadn't yet backed up when this happened. Some of the info I've gotten so far says things like "Incorrect number of thread records", "Invalid leaf record count", "Invalid key length", and "Invalid directory item count". So am I hosed? Is there any hope of at least getting my iPhoto library out before my computer self-implodes? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
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Having some strange problems - need advice
- Thread starter wellsws
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I did but it said the drive was unmountable so I wasn't able to repair it. It's still verifying the disk. Taking a while to do it.
Okay, it sounds like it's broken. Get a new HD and put it in and buy SATA to USB adapter. Also if you have PC which has two or more HD bays with SATA, you can hook it there and try to get some data with recovery application. I don't remember the names of those apps but here is one I found Stellar Phoenix
That sucks. Do you think the drive is salvagable or is it not going work at all even if I wipe it and start over? I've got a 500 GB external drive that I can probably take apart to hook up the old drive and see if I can get to it. Is the basically the same as mounting a drive? I don't have an PC to hook it up to but I do have a Macbook.
I don't know. If you wipe it, you'll lose your pics. I would get that SATA to USB adapter and hook it to your MB and then try to get some files from your broken HD. If you have everything in your MacBook as well, just wipe it and try reinstalling.
Okay, not looking good. I took the hard drive out of the iMac and hooked it up to my Macbook using the external case I had. It reads it then quickly unmounts and gives me the "device removal" warning. Do you think if I take the drive into an Apple Store they might have better luck?
Did you try the app I linked to you? Of course, taking it to Apple store might help, or at least they can give you new one if you're still under warranty
No, Apple isn't magic (Bill Gates is).
Try putting the dead HDD in your freezer for a few hours and then connecting it.
I did. The trouble I ran into was that the drive won't even mount so the software can't see it. I think I'm going to try and see if the Apple Store would be able to help. I hope I can at least get my pictures. Everything else I can do without. Just goes to show you that even when you try backing up things can go horribly wrong. Thanks for your help. If anyone thinks of something else that might work, please let me know. I still have my iMac splayed open on the table...
Usually the heat kills the HD. When you put it to freezer it's cold for sometime and that's the moment when it may work before it warms up and dies again. Some people have reported that it really works. Wrap a towel or something on it so condensation water doesn't kill it
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Strange co-incidence. My 5 year old PC died on the day my iMac arrived (jealousy, I guess). Good thing I took my backups the previous day to migrate to the Mac.
I am hoping it's a power supply issue, and will get my PC up in a day or two. I would have been pretty sad if I didn't have my backups though - my migration and actual use of the iMac would have been delayed, and THAT can't be good!
I learned that lesson, and setup TimeMachine first thing in my iMac, and let it run overnight.
Hope your problem will be resolved, soon!
We'll see if it works. I put the hard drive in a ziplock bag and it's been in the freezer for about an hour. I'm going to wait another hour and see. I also made a Genius Bar appointment for tomorrow. Lesson learned already!
No news is good news, right? Not really. I took it to the Apple Store this morning and they didn't even try to figure it out. They gave me the names of 3 local data retrieval companies. I did try to freezer idea but it still wouldn't mount onto the computer as an external drive. It makes a clicking sound and then repeats the sound it makes when starting up. It still shows up for a brief second then gives me the error you get when you unplug a drive before dragging it to the trash.
So, I will now get estimates on getting the information and then figure out what my memories are worth.
Moral of the story is always, always, always back-up.
I'm sorry 
Data recover is expensive. What I remember when my dad's company's server's HDs died and there were VERY important (bookkeeping etc) in there and they sent 'em to Norway to get even some data out of there and it costed like 6000, though it was back in 2003 It's still expensive
Data recover is expensive. What I remember when my dad's company's server's HDs died and there were VERY important (bookkeeping etc) in there and they sent 'em to Norway to get even some data out of there and it costed like 6000, though it was back in 2003
It's still expensive
ouch, that is a rough way to learn the 'always back up' thing. no one likes to lose pictures.
if you decide the the 'pro' recovery is to much for what you lost, drop me a pm. i do recovery, have the hardware/software, and would be happy to help. this would be the step before you throw the drive in the metal recycle bin.
best of luck, hope it all works out.
if you decide the the 'pro' recovery is to much for what you lost, drop me a pm. i do recovery, have the hardware/software, and would be happy to help. this would be the step before you throw the drive in the metal recycle bin.
best of luck, hope it all works out.