How to back up files when disk utility can't repair volume?

[danmc00]

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I installed snow leopard on my backup hard drive to boot my iMac. I went to disk utility and tried to repair. Disk utility couldn't repair volume and told me to back up as many files as possible and reformat drive. How can I access these files to back them up?
I thought about buying disk warrior to try to repair but I'd like to try to get some photos off soon.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

To retrieve files, that have been deleted and also been emptied from the Trash or are on a volume, which you can't access, 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).

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.

 

[danmc00]

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Nothing was accidentally deleted. My Mac wouldn't boot from the internal HD due to disk utility not being able to repair it. I was told disk warrior could most likely repair it.

 

[danmc00]

I've been running disk warrior for 5 days now. Doesn't look like it is going to fix it.
Is there any other way to access data?

 

[monokakata]

Try Data Rescue 3. You can see whether it's going to work or not for free.

I used it successfully on a disk that Disk Warrior couldn't fix. Not that I'm complaining. It seems that there are disk problems that one can fix but not the other. I've used Disk Warrior successfully on other disks -- but it could do nothing for the one that Data Rescue 3 succeeded with.

 

[entropi]

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yeah, always try several apps! Yesterday I had a problem with the directory structures on my MBP - Tech Tool Pro couldn't repair it like it usually does, but Disk Utility could! I have made several HD recoveries for friends using Data Rescue, I can highly recommend that app. But have patience - disc recovery can take ages... (last recovery I did took five days for a 80 GB disk!)

 

[JFK2000]

using a windows PC

Quick post on the roundabout solution i used when my MBP drive died a month ago. I purchased and installed a new drive and set about getting the data off the old one.

Mounting it as an external drive all lion wanted to do was repair the drive. After trying it would fail and i was having no luck getting any files...

I then mounted the drive to a spare SATA cable on my windows desktop. It was recognized as a disk but it couldn't read the filesystem...

Next step was to download a program called Macdrive (which has a 5 day fully functional trial, perfect for this ). This allows the windows to read/write to a mac drive filesystem.

Copied all the drive data (minus a few corrupted files) to my windows machine. Then shared the data and put it back on my new lion install over the network.

All very much roundabout solution but it cost me nothing but time.

I do think i should say MacDrive looks like a great product and would recommend IT departments to consider it alongside the mac recovery tools mentioned in the above post.

Cheers,

~John