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New to Forums - OSX Snow Leopard Crash-can't find files

T

Tmacg

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 28, 2010
8
0
Hi,
I'm new to forums, hope someone can help.

I was working on an assignment and my OSX Snow Leopard crashed after pressing C while starting up, the system showed no OS.

I reinstalled the OS. The system started up, slowly, but started and is stable.

I took the device to the Genius Bar, where the guy did a permissions scan and verify and repair and told me "you're a little technical, you've done half my job".

Pros: All applications - standard and third party - are in place and working.
Cons: For example Garage Band, I can't locate any of the patches or samples.
All of my uni and other documents can't be located.

Q1 - Is there a way to retrieve these painlessly. The guy at the Genius Bar suggested Data Rescue 3. It worked a treat and recovered hundreds of thousands of files and of course all the file names are changed?
Q2 - The system is sluggish compared to before the crash and I am wondering if it would not be better to reformat the entire HD and reinstall clean?
Q3 - Out of 250GB of memory, I have only 29GB left, should I reformat the hard drive?
Q4 - I have backed up the device, but if I restore from a backup wouldn't I be just putting back what I've just removed?

I love my mac, I wished I had backed up before it crashed - Note to self, back up regularly.

Hope someone can give me a New Year dream and suggest a solution, get as technical as you like and I'll find out what it means.

Hey, have a happy and safe New Year.

Tmacg:cool:
 
Tmacg said:
I was working on an assignment and my OSX Snow Leopard crashed after pressing C while starting up, the system showed no OS.

I reinstalled the OS. The system started up, slowly, but started and is stable.
Click to expand...

Lemme see if I can sort this out.

You were working on an assignment, using the program _______, when suddenly you decided it would be a good idea to Restart, and hold down the C key. This caused the computer to crash, so . . . you did something else and reinstalled the OS. (...regardless of the fact that starting up holding down the C key will boot from an install disc) Now your files are missing.

Did I get that right?
 
Gregg2 said:
Lemme see if I can sort this out.

You were working on an assignment, using the program _______, when suddenly you decided it would be a good idea to Restart, and hold down the C key. This caused the computer to crash, so . . . you did something else and reinstalled the OS. (...regardless of the fact that starting up holding down the C key will boot from an install disc) Now your files are missing.

Did I get that right?
Click to expand...

You did get it right, I did not provide enough info. I was using Gimp and attempting to create the layout at the following link:http://gimp-tutorials.net/Ornate-Typographic-Illustration-GIMP-Tutorial - the tutorial required that i download fonts and also a file named layersfx.scm. I followed the instructions and successfully installed the fonts and thought I had successfully installed the .scm file until I noticed that a whole lot of scripts were running/installed in the applications folder. I dragged the .scm file into cleanmymac and also the scripts that were added to the application folder. Thats when the trouble started: First the macintosh HD icon disappeared from the desktop, then the dock then it shut down. When I turned the device on again I was presented an image of the power button. I then searched the web for some idea's to find out what I had done. PowerOn C seemed the best option out of those presented which told me the OS had crashed at which point I reinstalled thinking I had found the GOLDEN solution. Hah!
 
Now that you've provided more info, you've lost me. :D

I have no idea what an .scm file is. You say you "installed" (or tried) it. Is that the right terminology, really?
 
Gregg2 said:
Now that you've provided more info, you've lost me. :D

I have no idea what an .scm file is. You say you "installed" (or tried) it. Is that the right terminology, really?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure if install is the right word, the .scm file is a graphics script for GIMP
 
Sounds like you may be yet another victim of CleanMyMac. Get that program off of your computer ASAP. It causes far more problems than it solves.

Search the forums if you don't believe me.

Data Rescue or a similar program is probably your only option as far as your missing files. Unfortunately the changed names is just a consequence of using such a utility. You're lucky to get the files back, and now you've got to sift through them and figure out what's what.

A clean format and install will probably help with sluggishness. Just make sure your files are backed up first.

If you only have 29GB out of 250GB of hard drive space left, you either need to clean out some unnecessary files, or consider upgrading your hard drive. You really should have at least 20% of your total hard drive space free. Things will get slow otherwise.
 
Darth.Titan said:
Sounds like you may be yet another victim of CleanMyMac. Get that program off of your computer ASAP. It causes far more problems than it solves.

Search the forums if you don't believe me.

Data Rescue or a similar program is probably your only option as far as your missing files. Unfortunately the changed names is just a consequence of using such a utility. You're lucky to get the files back, and now you've got to sift through them and figure out what's what.

A clean format and install will probably help with sluggishness. Just make sure your files are backed up first.

If you only have 29GB out of 250GB of hard drive space left, you either need to clean out some unnecessary files, or consider upgrading your hard drive. You really should have at least 20% of your total hard drive space free. Things will get slow otherwise.
Click to expand...

Clean My Mac... good grief! Thank you, I will take care of that now.

I'll do my sifting and save what I recognise and then clean up and reinstall.

Thanks
 
Gregg2 said:
Oh. In my school days, it meant someone who walks with a limp. Politically incorrect these days...

programme? I just noticed that, and didn't notice where you're from.
Click to expand...

I too remember that from my school days.. poobaah political correctness how many correct politicians do you know?

Yes, thanks, I was told at work recently that programme is on the way out and program is the way forward - one of those old school New Zealand things.
 
Out of curiosity when you did the reinstall did you do an "Archive and Install"? If so all of your previous files should be in a folder called "Previous System", I think on the base level of the Mac HD. That could account for why you have so little space.
 
Norouzi said:
Huh, I didn't realize that. Haven't had to do a fresh install of Snow Leopard yet. That's a shame, it was a handy feature.
Click to expand...

Actually, it's not really gone, it's just the only option (and they changed the behavior slightly). Now, when you simply run the installer normally, it performs the same task that an Archive and Install did, removing the old system and replacing it with a brand new fresh copy, but leaving the user files and preferences intact. The only thing that really changed is that it no longer keeps a copy of the old System folder, which is probably for the best anyways.

jW
 
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