It will happen to all of us- a hard drive crash. Here are some steps to follow
1. You may be lucky and your drive is ok. The first thing to check is your drive's directory. The directory is like a map of all your data and where it is. If that map gets corrupted, the computer may not be able to find data. If this data is part of your operating system, the computer may not boot. The number of files on your drive is probably 75% operating system files. I am not talking about the space, as the operating system is usually under 10 gigs, but the number of files on your drive. Therefore, its likely the operating system would be affected. There are many utilities that we recommend, but there are two we really like. One is DiskWarrior by Alsoft and the other is TechToolPro by Micromat. You should have one or both of these with you on an external media like a flash drive, CD, DVD, or hard drive at all times. Boot from that device and run one of these. It will attempt to repair your drive. If it is successful try to boot. If it won't boot and it was successful in repairing, the OS is most likely corrupted. Proceed to step 2.
2. Sometimes its not the drive but the OS. You may reinstall the OS from the original disc that came with your mac and then make sure to run all the software updates. With OS X Lion and OS X Mountain Lion (Due summer 2012), you can use the recovery partition to restore the disc. Please note that this ONLY WORKS if you purchased Lion or Mountain Lion from your apple ID and you know your Apple ID and password. If reinstalling the OS fixes your problem then you are done, but if not proceed to step 3.
3. Now its time for the professionals. Mid Atlantic Consulting, Inc. (www.midatlanticconsulting.com) provides minor data recovery services as part of its Macintosh Support. Since they offer Onsite Macintosh Support in the Washington, DC area, they could pick up your computer. If you are outside the Washington, DC area then you would have to send your drive in. Data Recovery can take hours, to days, and even weeks depending on how bad the drive is. So you have to be patient and the entire job will not be possible onsite. About 75% of the time, Mid Atlantic Consulting, Inc. can get your data back. The key is we need to be able to access the drive somehow in conventional methods. If that is not possible, then you need to go to step 3. Average cost for data recovery from Mid Atlantic Consulting can be $100-$1000 dollars. If you want Mid Atlantic Consulting, Inc. to look at your drive, please email them by filling out this form http://midatlanticconsulting.com/contact.php
4. The last step are companies that specialize in one thing- DATA RECOVERY. HotMacNews and Mid Atlantic Consulting, Inc. have partnered with Drive Savers to bring you the following: 1. 10% off your repair 2. Free Estimate (normally about $500.00) 3. Once you approve the estimate which can range from $500-$5000 dollars (or more), then they will recover your data. You will provide them with a list of the files you need and no recovery-no fee. DriveSavers has been 100% with our customers so far. If you are interested in DriveSavers, you may contact them directly at www.drivesavers.com, but make sure and use discount code DS12858 to get your 10% off and the other deals.Â
We hope this helps. Please remember if you need Apple Authorized Macintosh OS X and Macintosh OS X Server Help, Consulting, Service, or support onsite in the Washington, DC Metro area and via remote screen sharing, phone, and email world-wide, to contact Mid Atlantic Consulting, Inc.
1. You may be lucky and your drive is ok. The first thing to check is your drive's directory. The directory is like a map of all your data and where it is. If that map gets corrupted, the computer may not be able to find data. If this data is part of your operating system, the computer may not boot. The number of files on your drive is probably 75% operating system files. I am not talking about the space, as the operating system is usually under 10 gigs, but the number of files on your drive. Therefore, its likely the operating system would be affected. There are many utilities that we recommend, but there are two we really like. One is DiskWarrior by Alsoft and the other is TechToolPro by Micromat. You should have one or both of these with you on an external media like a flash drive, CD, DVD, or hard drive at all times. Boot from that device and run one of these. It will attempt to repair your drive. If it is successful try to boot. If it won't boot and it was successful in repairing, the OS is most likely corrupted. Proceed to step 2.
2. Sometimes its not the drive but the OS. You may reinstall the OS from the original disc that came with your mac and then make sure to run all the software updates. With OS X Lion and OS X Mountain Lion (Due summer 2012), you can use the recovery partition to restore the disc. Please note that this ONLY WORKS if you purchased Lion or Mountain Lion from your apple ID and you know your Apple ID and password. If reinstalling the OS fixes your problem then you are done, but if not proceed to step 3.
3. Now its time for the professionals. Mid Atlantic Consulting, Inc. (www.midatlanticconsulting.com) provides minor data recovery services as part of its Macintosh Support. Since they offer Onsite Macintosh Support in the Washington, DC area, they could pick up your computer. If you are outside the Washington, DC area then you would have to send your drive in. Data Recovery can take hours, to days, and even weeks depending on how bad the drive is. So you have to be patient and the entire job will not be possible onsite. About 75% of the time, Mid Atlantic Consulting, Inc. can get your data back. The key is we need to be able to access the drive somehow in conventional methods. If that is not possible, then you need to go to step 3. Average cost for data recovery from Mid Atlantic Consulting can be $100-$1000 dollars. If you want Mid Atlantic Consulting, Inc. to look at your drive, please email them by filling out this form http://midatlanticconsulting.com/contact.php
4. The last step are companies that specialize in one thing- DATA RECOVERY. HotMacNews and Mid Atlantic Consulting, Inc. have partnered with Drive Savers to bring you the following: 1. 10% off your repair 2. Free Estimate (normally about $500.00) 3. Once you approve the estimate which can range from $500-$5000 dollars (or more), then they will recover your data. You will provide them with a list of the files you need and no recovery-no fee. DriveSavers has been 100% with our customers so far. If you are interested in DriveSavers, you may contact them directly at www.drivesavers.com, but make sure and use discount code DS12858 to get your 10% off and the other deals.Â
We hope this helps. Please remember if you need Apple Authorized Macintosh OS X and Macintosh OS X Server Help, Consulting, Service, or support onsite in the Washington, DC Metro area and via remote screen sharing, phone, and email world-wide, to contact Mid Atlantic Consulting, Inc.