Recover files from MacBook

[ross.32]

Ever since the bad Quicktime update a couple of weeks ago, my girlfriends MacBook won't boot. We have tired all of the other suggestions on the forums to no avail. I have been on vacation the entire time so I have not been able to help her. I had her put in the install disk to see if it would boot and it did.

My idea is to put in the install disk and then restart her computer in Target Disk Mode. Then I would connect to her HDD through a Firewire 400 cable and move her files over my my MBP. Then I would do a clean install of Leopard and then move her files back to her computer.

I have never used Target Disk Mode before and I am not familiar with how it works. Can anyone see any problems with this idea? or is there an easier way to do it? Extra hardware that I have available to move files if necessary is a 30GB 5.5G iPod and a 8GB 3G iPod Nano.

thanks
ross

 

[Makosuke]

What you're describing should work fine, although you won't need to use the install disc at all--just start it up with the "T" key held down and you should be in Target Disk Mode. Doesn't need to boot to get into that mode, just power up, so it'll work with a fried OSX install.

You may have decided against this already, but you could also do an Archive and Install, preserving users, to get up and running without the hassle of re-copying files. You'll probably still want to make a backup of the important stuff in case something goes wrong, but there's no reason this shouldn't restore the computer to a completely clean working state without removing the user info--it'd be the system files that are screwed up, not the user data.

 

[ross.32]

I am glad I asked on here. I knew someone could make it easier for me. Thank you!