Help restoring files :(

[richard.b]

Hi,

so stupidly while messing about on my mac, i ran the following script in single user mode on startup;

mount -uw /

rm -rf /library/preferences/

rm var/db/dslocal/nodes/default/users/USERNAME.plist - ofc replace USERNAME with your current username.

rm var/db/.applesetupdone

exit


now unfortunately i have lost my download files and my documents as well as my program cnfigurations.

However, my music files, pics and application are all still there that i had before as well as a lot of the system info,

I could also see some of my lost files in the 'recent documents' column, but could not open them.

Does anyone have any suggestion on what i could do to retrieve it?

Oh, i was not running time machine either.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

What did you want to accomplish with those "rm" commands in the first place?
And since the "rm" command does not put files into the Trash, data recovery software is needed:

To retrieve files, that have been deleted and also been emptied from the Trash, you can use

Data Rescue 3 (trial lets you scan the HDD and see, if data is recoverable, but to actually recover files, you need to buy the full version for 99 USD) or
FileSalvage (trial lets you scan the HDD and see, if data is recoverable, but to actually recover files, you need to buy the full version for 89.95 USD).
DiskDrill - lets you recover data from HFS/HFS+, FAT, NTFS & other file systems right on your Mac., for free.​

Also know, that you should immediately stop any writing processes to the actual HDD. If it is the same HDD as the one your operating system (OS) resides on, it is better to use an external HDD with Mac OS X on to boot from and install Data Rescue or FileSalvage onto to scan the HDD from which the data has been accidentally deleted.​

 

[richard.b]

I did run 'remo recovery' quite soon after it, but i dont recognize any of the file names it pulls up,

unfortunately, i dont have an external hard drive and have been using the same system quite a bit after the inncident due to trying to catch up on the work i have lost

 

[simsaladimbamba]

I did run 'remo recovery' quite soon after it, but i dont recognize any of the file names it pulls up,

unfortunately, i dont have an external hard drive and have been using the same system quite a bit after the inncident due to trying to catch up on the work i have lost

File names will be garbled, maybe even the extensions, that is the nature of file recovery. Did you restore some files using the software you mentioned?

 

[richard.b]

yes 46.62 GB worth

 

[simsaladimbamba]

yes 46.62 GB worth

Then you probably have to go file by file and see, what kind it is and rename them accordingly.

And if those files are important to you, invest in a backup solution.

I have one 500 GB HDD for my photographs (digital and analog) libraries and editing documents, one 500 GB HDD with my personal video footage in an editing friendly format.
Both 500 GB HDDs get backed up to one 1 TB HDD via CarbonCopyCloner.
And that 1 TB HDD gets backed up to another 1 TB HDD via CarbonCopyCloner.
Therefore I have three copies of my important data.

 

[richard.b]

so there is no straight solution to what i did?

i feel as though i removed a middle part to the profile, it was strange those files were still there in recent documents,

there is a whole huge section of .plist files that the recovery pulled, to put these back in the right places.. would that help?

i have looked at a number of the document files in the recovery but most have very strange data and just read

'.......O....................P......................<<'

or something similar

 

[simsaladimbamba]

so there is no straight solution to what i did?

i feel as though i removed a middle part to the profile, it was strange those files were still there in recent documents,

there is a whole huge section of .plist files that the recovery pulled, to put these back in the right places.. would that help?

i have looked at a of the document files in the recovery but most have very strange data and just read

'.......O....................P......................<<'

or something similar

PLIST files are just preference files and do not contain any of you actual data, and the Recent Documents section is also just a PLIST file.

As I only had to use data recovery once (everyone has to learn sometime) and it only recovered less than a hundred files, going through them was quite easy. Normally renaming them correctly helped.

 

[richard.b]

ok, thank you for the help,

will pop some ritalin and coffee and see how much of this i can get through