Okay, so I have this Macbook Pro which was given to me for repair, but I can't seem to find a solution to it. I am a Windows expert, but newbie to the Mac world. Here's the case.
In the beginning when it was brought to me the problem was that it would be stuck at the "grey screen of death." I figured I can reinstall a fresh copy of it without losing the files and settings. So I went on and I did it. It downloaded the installation files through internet (Wi-Fi), but my sister turned it off unknowingly while the download/installation process was unfinished. (I was asleep so didn't know where it was stopped, but seemingly it didn't like it) The installation process then continued in a never ending loop. It would go as far as 19 minutes, and then restart and go back to 39 minutes, then back to 19 minutes, and so on.
I eventually discovered there had been created a lot of folders, seemingly from the failed installation loops:
The installation files did re-download as I waited 2-3 times for about 3 hours for the download to finish. So based on this it seems like the downloaded installation files might not be the issue as one of those times the download was fully completed, however that is just an assumption.
I have a Windows laptop for troubleshooting, and 2 USBs available (8GB and 16GB) to use for recovery stuff. I have tried putting recovery software / live cd in there like Paragon MAC OS X Rescue Kit with TransMac, and boot off of the USB, but they have not worked. They wouldn't boot on the Macbook Pro.
What I want to do is backup some particular files on the hard drive to my external hard drive, and THEN reinstall. I don't want to erase the hard drive. But on Recovery Mode of Mac I don't see a way of doing that.
So, what do you guys suggest I should do based on my description of the state I'm in, in order to 1. backup the files I want, and 2. install a fresh copy of MAC OS X (doesn't matter whether it's Lion, Yosemite, or anything else, as long as it get installed and works)? --- Any questions I'm ready to answer.
In the beginning when it was brought to me the problem was that it would be stuck at the "grey screen of death." I figured I can reinstall a fresh copy of it without losing the files and settings. So I went on and I did it. It downloaded the installation files through internet (Wi-Fi), but my sister turned it off unknowingly while the download/installation process was unfinished. (I was asleep so didn't know where it was stopped, but seemingly it didn't like it) The installation process then continued in a never ending loop. It would go as far as 19 minutes, and then restart and go back to 39 minutes, then back to 19 minutes, and so on.
I eventually discovered there had been created a lot of folders, seemingly from the failed installation loops:
The installation files did re-download as I waited 2-3 times for about 3 hours for the download to finish. So based on this it seems like the downloaded installation files might not be the issue as one of those times the download was fully completed, however that is just an assumption.
I have a Windows laptop for troubleshooting, and 2 USBs available (8GB and 16GB) to use for recovery stuff. I have tried putting recovery software / live cd in there like Paragon MAC OS X Rescue Kit with TransMac, and boot off of the USB, but they have not worked. They wouldn't boot on the Macbook Pro.
What I want to do is backup some particular files on the hard drive to my external hard drive, and THEN reinstall. I don't want to erase the hard drive. But on Recovery Mode of Mac I don't see a way of doing that.
So, what do you guys suggest I should do based on my description of the state I'm in, in order to 1. backup the files I want, and 2. install a fresh copy of MAC OS X (doesn't matter whether it's Lion, Yosemite, or anything else, as long as it get installed and works)? --- Any questions I'm ready to answer.
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