Need to Retrieve Data off of corrupted HD

[brobson]

Just updated to Yosemite 2 and 2 days later my daughter's screen went gray while backing up (message said the problem was file vault). Others in a forum said file vault was bad and to delete it. She deleted it, went back to back up overnight and a gray screen with a loading bar would appear, reach 25% it would power down and never load, then go black.

She needs her data so she bought a hd sled (NexStar) and took it to the Apple store along with my computer to transfer files and they said the files wouldn't mount onto a different computer. So HD is bad and she needs to see a data retrieval specialist. She is in college and cannot afford $300+. Can anyone recommend what she can possibly do to avoid this (or recommend someone in Dallas that's affordable?)
I am guessing she will need a new HD as well so we could use suggestions there too.

MACBOOK PRO '13
not sure of drive info, etc

 

[eyoungren]

If the file vault held her documents then you have one problem compounded by another.

First off, file vault is actually an encrypted disk image. So, even if the disk image still existed getting into it would involve breaking the encryption, assuming that using the user password does not allow the disk image to mount. That alone is a pro job and probably very unlikely given that Apple is trying to protect it's users from people breaking the encryption on encrypted disk images. If anyone could do that, it wouldn't be protection.

The compounding of the problem is if the file vault image has been deleted. So now, not only do you have to recover the actual file that's been deleted you still have to break into it if it's recovered and won't mount using the user password. And file recovery is very often fragmented and incomplete. The other part of the compounding problem is that the HD is bad.

I cannot recommend anything or anyone to you, but I can tell you that if the data was in a deleted file vault then commercial data recovery apps are not going to be of any help. I'm not even sure if the pros could do this.

Again…all assuming the data she needs is inside a deleted file vault disk image.

 

[brobson]

Why would the computer tell her to delete it?

 

[bradl]

Why would the computer tell her to delete it?

From the way you worded it in the original post, you stated that thers in a forum said file vault was bad and to delete it, not FileVault itself said to delete it. I've never seen FileVault recommend to delete anything; in fact, I haven't ever seen anything like this, even going back to Legacy FileVault (FileVault 1).

I'm still going through things to see what could be done.

BL.

 

[brobson]

She said the message that popped up (making the entire screen gray) and would not let her proceed. She cant remember word for word but it was something like "cannot proceed disable filevault" She Googled a forum, found out where FileVault was in the preferences, and then turned it off. (I thought she deleted it, sorry)

 

[brobson]

Would something like Data Rescue II work?

 

[bradl]

She said the message that popped up (making the entire screen gray) and would not let her proceed. She cant remember word for word but it was something like "cannot proceed disable filevault" She Googled a forum, found out where FileVault was in the preferences, and then turned it off. (I thought she deleted it, sorry)

Okay.. so she TURNED OFF FileVault.. different story, and there may be something that can be done here. If she turned off filevault, the disk should be decrypting. Can the Mac be booted normally? if not, can it be booted to Recovery mode? If so, you should still be able to access the drive. Could she give that a try?

BL.

 

[brobson]

She is rebooting now

 

[brobson]

She rebooted. We realized she can replace the hd and then try to get the info off from it right? Or still try to retrieve the info via computer? She bought a new HD and tried to install it but need a new OS apparently. I know we should just spend gobs of money and not try to decipher this ourselves but she just a had 1500 car repair bill.

 

[bradl]

She rebooted. We realized she can replace the hd and then try to get the info off from it right? Or still try to retrieve the info via computer? She bought a new HD and tried to install it but need a new OS apparently. I know we should just spend gobs of money and not try to decipher this ourselves but she just a had 1500 car repair bill.

If she rebooted, was she able to get logged into her Mac? If so, and there wasn't a problem with it, I'd hook up that external drive ASAP, go through Disk utility to get it formatted, turn on Time Machine, and get that mac backed up as fast as she can.

If not, as long as she's able to get it started up is a plus. At that point, and if she can't get onto it either normally or through the Recovery HD, set up a Personal setup or Genius Bar appointment at the Apple store ASAP. At the least, this is point, we still don't know if there is a genuine problem with the HD, or if it just needs a reformat and reinstall. Either way, it may require a clean reinstall of the OS, so the Genius Bar would be able to help with that. It may be no more than $100 for that, if anything at all, especially under AppleCare.

If she takes it to the apple store, have her bring along an 8GB or 16GB USB stick. The people there could put the Yosemite installer onto that, which then could be used to perform the install. Again, if a successful Time Machine backup was made, Migration Assistant would run during the Yosemite install that would restore all of her data.

But I'd definitely say that at this point, you're in a much better place than you were yesterday.

BL.