Getting Data off 'Dead' MacBook Air

[lindahl22]

I need some help. The MacBook Air is stuck at the Apple startup screen after the 10.6.6 update. Is there anyway to boot the Air up so I can get the information off of it? Or do I have to erase and install and lose all the data.

 

[Intell]

Try starting it up while holding down the shift key, this boots it in safe mode.

 

[aristobrat]

Or do I have to erase and install and lose all the data.

Even if you end up having to reinstall the OS from the little USB drive that came with the Air, it shouldn't erase your data.

Starting with Snow Leopard (10.6), if you want to erase your HDD before doing an OS install, you manually have to go into Disk Utility and format the disk yourself.

Your other option is to try to install OS X on an external USB drive and boot off of that. Once rebooted, you should see your internal drive and be able to copy data off of it.

But like Intell said, booting in safe mode will probably fix the issue you're having. And if not, reinstalling the OS shouldn't wipe your user data, assuming you're installing Snow Leopard. If you have an older Air and are installing Leopard, you just have to be sure to check "Archive and Install" as your custom option. (Snow Leopard does that by default)

 

[Jaro65]

You may also consider in the future setting up a SuperDuper drive (or some other drive imaging s/w) if you don't already use a Time Machine.

 

[sdeleng]

Disk Warrier

You could also invest in Diskwarrior. It has saved my bacon on several occasions like this and is worth its weight in gold.