I'm one of the unlucky people who had my Yosemite update go very, very bad. After repeat efforts w/ tech help, it was agreed that I needed to erase the drive and do a clean install.
But I found a way to salvage my data!
My last back up was 21 days ago, so I had quite a bit of data that was going to be lost. But here's what I did:
1. Restart your computer in safe mode.
2. You'll be asked to enter your name and password as if you're registering a new account.
3. The screen might give off a weird wobbly effect, but don't worry about it.
4. Set up iCloud if you need to. I didn't have my account set up, but I was able to do it in safe mode. Of course, you need to have iCloud set up on a second computer or phone. Otherwise this won't help you.
5. Add the files you want to salvage to iCloud. Don't forget little things like your bookmark plist or your iTunes library files for play counts and playlists.
6. It's okay if your files exceed iCloud's storage capacity. I had to move stuff off of iCloud to my Mac Air to get everything I wanted transferred. As you move files out of iCloud and into you 2nd device, new space opens up on iCloud.
7. Monitor you uploads on your 2nd device. The upload speed might be a little slower than normal. Don't assume your files have transferred until you've confirmed it.
8 And your done! (Except for erasing the hard drive).
9. BTW, I tried transferring data to Dropbox first, but Dropbox couldn't communicate with my computer in safe mode.
But I found a way to salvage my data!
My last back up was 21 days ago, so I had quite a bit of data that was going to be lost. But here's what I did:
1. Restart your computer in safe mode.
2. You'll be asked to enter your name and password as if you're registering a new account.
3. The screen might give off a weird wobbly effect, but don't worry about it.
4. Set up iCloud if you need to. I didn't have my account set up, but I was able to do it in safe mode. Of course, you need to have iCloud set up on a second computer or phone. Otherwise this won't help you.
5. Add the files you want to salvage to iCloud. Don't forget little things like your bookmark plist or your iTunes library files for play counts and playlists.
6. It's okay if your files exceed iCloud's storage capacity. I had to move stuff off of iCloud to my Mac Air to get everything I wanted transferred. As you move files out of iCloud and into you 2nd device, new space opens up on iCloud.
7. Monitor you uploads on your 2nd device. The upload speed might be a little slower than normal. Don't assume your files have transferred until you've confirmed it.
8 And your done! (Except for erasing the hard drive).
9. BTW, I tried transferring data to Dropbox first, but Dropbox couldn't communicate with my computer in safe mode.