Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

That1Guy7474

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 17, 2016
3
0
Ok Kinda still new to this tech game.

I have a Mid 2010 Mac Book Pro 13inch Screen

2.5 GHz Intel Core15
4 GB Memory
Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5 (11G63)

I recently had to replace the hard drive cuz for whatever reason it crashed. I Previously had several pictures in iPhoto before the crash. That data is now on a USB stick. I reinstalled Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5 and am trying to save my photos.

To no avail I can't get iPhoto back from my purchased section in the app store and do not have a time machine back up.

DO I HAVE ANY CHANCE OF GETTING THESE PICS BACK?? and How?

Also do I need to download a new OS?? I need a fix and recommendations for going forward.
Primarily use the computer for the internet and photos. Especially with a new GoPRO Hero 4.
 
Don't panic yet.

So long as you keep the USB drive in a safe place, your pics should remain intact and re-loadable.

Your priority now is to get a "good system with iPhoto" on the computer (and worry about importing the photos a little later on).

If you have a platter-based HDD in the MBPro (I also have a mid-2010 MBPro 13"), I would recommend 10.8.5 as perhaps "the optimum" OS for the Macbook.

BUT -- so long as you have 10.7.5 up-and-running, and so long as it's running ok (even without iPhoto), you might consider keeping it for now.

If you can't get iPhoto using your Apple Store account, there are other ways to get it.

For example, you could buy an iLife '09 commercial install DVD from ebay, where they sell for around $20.

iLife has iPhoto (which you can install separately by clicking "customize" in the install app), along with the other iLife applications.

Although it's not iPhoto, I also suggest that you download (free) and try google's "Picasa" photo application. You can find it here:
https://picasa.google.com

Granted, it's not iPhoto, and it works a little differently, but it's still a highly usable photo viewing/editing application and you can be up-and-running with it today.
 
If you can't for any reason get iPhoto again, but still have the iPhoto Library intact on the USB drive, you can always use the new Photos app. It will read the old Library and convert it into the new Photos Library, then you can use the app to do all of the same things that iPhoto used to do.

If you don't want to do that, you can always manually recover your photos from the iPhotos Library file. All you have to do is right-click on the file and select "Open Package Contents" and navigate to the Originals folder. All of your photos will be inside, separated by date, so you just have to dig a little to get to them.
 
Last edited:
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
It's just the trial, which was.

It's also the only way I know of to reassign an Apple ID on a Mac, which is what I use it for.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.