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I accidentally erased my mac HD icon using Disk utility. Can't log on my desktop help
- Thread starter h4mZt3r
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When i boot up my mac the only startup-disk i get is the mac installer disk and if i eject it it seems that there is no disk but when i access the installer disk it refuses to install mac and if i go to disk utility using the disk as a startup my usual startup is still there with all the files i have in it but i can't find a way to make it my startup again
and the steps are: disk utility-> Macintosh HD (volume) -> erase-> went down to eat-> forgot what i was doing and click erase-> released my own stupidity but to late-> checked the options and luckily it was set on don't erase data but the harm is done and I can't access it as a startup-disk
Unfortunately, you did erase your disk. The wording Apple uses is confusing, but your option now is to use a data recovery program or restore from backup. Don't do anything else with the disk until you try recovery.
A company called Prosoft sells a package called Data Rescue that may work but you'll need a second disk to install your operating system and the program to, as well as to serve as a recovery destination.
A company called Prosoft sells a package called Data Rescue that may work but you'll need a second disk to install your operating system and the program to, as well as to serve as a recovery destination.
All the steps are contained within the Data Rescue III box. I would recommend that you go to the nearest Apple or other tech store that sells Apple gear and get Data Rescue III and an external hard drive at least as big as your internal hard drive. Then bring them home, plug in the external drive and erase it using Disk Utility (same process you described doing on your internal drive). Restart, holding down Option and the mouse button (which will boot your computer to a bootloader screen and eject the install disk at the same time). Insert the Data Rescue III disk, click on it when it appears on the screen, and follow the directions from there to scan and recover the files on your disk.
Note that since you erased the directory, chances are you won't get back the file structure or file names. Data Rescue will just place the files in folders grouped by file type, and you'll have to sort through it all yourself. No way around that as far as I know.
jW
Note that since you erased the directory, chances are you won't get back the file structure or file names. Data Rescue will just place the files in folders grouped by file type, and you'll have to sort through it all yourself. No way around that as far as I know.
jW
"can you guide me step by step though the recovery proses"
First, repeat this word 3 times:
BACKUP.
You have learned the hard way, what many others (including ME) have learned before you.
If you try to reinstall software from your system DVDs, you MUST know in advance that you are probably going to "overwrite" the older data on your internal drive and it will be "gone for good".
There are data recovery apps like DataRescue3 and Stellar Phoenix Data Recovery that can help, but they require a drive that can be booted from. You probably can't run them from a System DVD.
There is another newcomer to the data recovery field called "DiskDrill" that is currently "in beta" and is FREE for the time being:
http://www.cleverfiles.com/
This might be the ticket.
Seems to me that if you REALLY want the erased data back, you're going to have to do this (in order):
FIRST: this is going to take TIME and its going to take MONEY!
1. Buy an external drive or (better yet) get a "drive docking station" and a bare drive that is somewhat larger than your current internal drive
2. Initialize the NEW drive with Disk Utility, and then PARTITION it into TWO partitions. One partition should be roughly equal to the size of the (erased) internal drive. The other should be that size or roughly close to it (it will have to hold the recovered data from the old drive).
3. Use your system DVDs to do a FRESH INSTALL of the system to one of the partitions on the NEW drive. Get that partition up and running, put a new account on it, you will need to use this as your "new boot partition" so you can get at the old internal drive.
4. Once you can boot from the NEW partition, get some data recovery software. I think the free DiskDrill (see above) might be a good choice for now.
5. Boot from the NEW partition, open DiskDrill, and see if it can "see" your OLD drive. You are going to have to "read up" on what DiskDrill can do, and how it works.
6. If DiskDrill can "see" the data on the OLD drive, set it up to do its recovery to the "other partition" on the NEW drive (NOT the boot partition, use the other partition you created).
7. It may take considerable time for the program to do its thing. Since all the directory information was wiped out by the re-initialization, DD (and the other recovery apps like DataRescue and Stellar Phoenix) go _directly_ to the data sectors on the drive, and "scavenge" the old data. Then they "re-assemble" it on a "fresh" drive (this is why you need a "clean drive" to which to recover).
8. Be aware that you're probably going to lose previous "folder hierarchies" in the recovery process. This means you'll have to spend time sorting through the recovered data to figure out where it goes, and then "put it back where it belongs" manually in the future.
9. It's not likely you'll get everything back. I wouldn't recommend trying to "restore" from the recovered data. Instead, you might consider using CarbonCopyCloner to "clone" your NEW boot partition to the old internal drive, and then start rebuilding manually.
10. Again, it's going to take time.
It's _possible_ that DiskDrill may have the option to "recover" the old drive from a re-initialization. It _might_ work. You'll have to give it a try.
You CANNOT hope to do any of this UNLESS you get ANOTHER drive to boot from and to work from.
I recommend you get something like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Syba-Connecla...?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1253062702&sr=1-22
This will become a VERY useful thing to have around in the future!
Then buy either from amazon or newegg.com a "bare" hard drive of your choice. I suggest Seagate and I also suggest that it be twice the capacity of your current internal drive.
Then, get to work, as per above.
First, repeat this word 3 times:
BACKUP.
You have learned the hard way, what many others (including ME) have learned before you.
If you try to reinstall software from your system DVDs, you MUST know in advance that you are probably going to "overwrite" the older data on your internal drive and it will be "gone for good".
There are data recovery apps like DataRescue3 and Stellar Phoenix Data Recovery that can help, but they require a drive that can be booted from. You probably can't run them from a System DVD.
There is another newcomer to the data recovery field called "DiskDrill" that is currently "in beta" and is FREE for the time being:
http://www.cleverfiles.com/
This might be the ticket.
Seems to me that if you REALLY want the erased data back, you're going to have to do this (in order):
FIRST: this is going to take TIME and its going to take MONEY!
1. Buy an external drive or (better yet) get a "drive docking station" and a bare drive that is somewhat larger than your current internal drive
2. Initialize the NEW drive with Disk Utility, and then PARTITION it into TWO partitions. One partition should be roughly equal to the size of the (erased) internal drive. The other should be that size or roughly close to it (it will have to hold the recovered data from the old drive).
3. Use your system DVDs to do a FRESH INSTALL of the system to one of the partitions on the NEW drive. Get that partition up and running, put a new account on it, you will need to use this as your "new boot partition" so you can get at the old internal drive.
4. Once you can boot from the NEW partition, get some data recovery software. I think the free DiskDrill (see above) might be a good choice for now.
5. Boot from the NEW partition, open DiskDrill, and see if it can "see" your OLD drive. You are going to have to "read up" on what DiskDrill can do, and how it works.
6. If DiskDrill can "see" the data on the OLD drive, set it up to do its recovery to the "other partition" on the NEW drive (NOT the boot partition, use the other partition you created).
7. It may take considerable time for the program to do its thing. Since all the directory information was wiped out by the re-initialization, DD (and the other recovery apps like DataRescue and Stellar Phoenix) go _directly_ to the data sectors on the drive, and "scavenge" the old data. Then they "re-assemble" it on a "fresh" drive (this is why you need a "clean drive" to which to recover).
8. Be aware that you're probably going to lose previous "folder hierarchies" in the recovery process. This means you'll have to spend time sorting through the recovered data to figure out where it goes, and then "put it back where it belongs" manually in the future.
9. It's not likely you'll get everything back. I wouldn't recommend trying to "restore" from the recovered data. Instead, you might consider using CarbonCopyCloner to "clone" your NEW boot partition to the old internal drive, and then start rebuilding manually.
10. Again, it's going to take time.
It's _possible_ that DiskDrill may have the option to "recover" the old drive from a re-initialization. It _might_ work. You'll have to give it a try.
You CANNOT hope to do any of this UNLESS you get ANOTHER drive to boot from and to work from.
I recommend you get something like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Syba-Connecla...?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1253062702&sr=1-22
This will become a VERY useful thing to have around in the future!
Then buy either from amazon or newegg.com a "bare" hard drive of your choice. I suggest Seagate and I also suggest that it be twice the capacity of your current internal drive.
Then, get to work, as per above.
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You'll notice that in my post (just before yours), I outlined the steps for using the bootable DVD that is in the Data Rescue III box to do exactly what he needs to do. It's an easier set of steps than yours too, plus I've done it more than enough times to know that it works well (I used to work as a tech).
jW