1st post so bear with me. 2009 27" iMac, High Sierra, begins boot (post Apple logo) but never completes even after 24hrs. Assuming the internal drive has a problem I have an external SSD with High Sierra & can boot from it but I'd like to recover files from the internal drive & I am trying to find an old, not new, data recovery programme from the 2010 era. I'm not after any 'critical' data, just the basics, photos, music, videos etc. Is there an online archive anywhere with old software to download or is that expecting too much?
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Recovery issue HS external drive
- Thread starter Strugglin'
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Boot from external and open Disk Utility. Make sure to Show All Devices. Do you see the internal drive device at all? There is difference between internal drive device and disk that mounts. If you don’t even see the internal disk device, no recovery software can help you. It has catastrophically failed.
Bigwaff. Thanks for replying & I am more than aware of all you said but your advice has answered a question I never asked. All I am hoping for is that someone knows where I could download an immediately installable & usable data recovery programme that will function from an external drive (High Sierra) to recover files from the internal drive, also High Sierra. That's all I need. The internal drive has not catastrophically failed. It gets to about 90% through booting & just hangs there doing nothing...but the data is still there. I know this because a modern programme has scanned & foubd the files but won't let me have them unless I cough up $90 & the files aren't worth that expense.
MarineBand5524. Yes...& no. I have 2 other 2015 iMacs running on Monterey & of the many cables I have, I don't have Thunderbolt ports on both. I haven't tried T.D.M. but I'll look into it. As for the do I have another machine, there are 4 in the garage. One won't power up at all. The 2nd is another problem. The 3rd is what I'm working on. The 4th, a 2015 model 27" has heat issues & shuts down. No. 5 is in the house & works fine & No.6 is about to be delivered on Friday!! I live in the boonies & I need 2 working units & this attempt at reviving a a 2009 unit is just about there. All I would like to do is recover files before I open it up & remove the internal drive & pop in an SSD. Thanks for your suggestion. I will investigate to discover if the 2009 can be connected to a 2015.
I’m having trouble recalling the names of data/disk recovery utilities of yesteryear. And Internet searching of today is a **** show. Nonetheless, here’s what I am able to come up with.
www.prosofteng.com
Trial:
There’s also:
www.cleverfiles.com
… But ...
Prosoft Engineering, Inc.
Prosoft Engineering Inc, offers software to undelete your important files, detect malware, monitor your computer, and create backups.
Trial:
- Scan and Preview lost files
- Free Data recovery up to 1GB (New Users Only)
There’s also:
Disk Drill - Best Data Recovery Software for Mac & Windows. Free Try!
Recover lost data with ease! Get the top-rated data recovery software for Mac & Windows. Pro results without pro skills needed. Download now and get your files back!
www.cleverfiles.com
… But ...
MacCheetah3. 1GB free is useless... I can do it 200 times to get what I'd like...but that's not me putting you down. I know I can do that but with nearly 200GB to recover........ As for Disk Drill, I've got it & used it & it's found the files & then wants $90 to to restore them. I know I'm between a rock & a hard place here, combined with trying to shove 3 tons of horse manure up a 70 degree slope! I'd just hate to throw $90 at this & discover I actually had $89.99's worth of stuff I don't need.
I get it. I couldn’t find a completely free utility. And, again, I can’t recall what all was available back then, big name or otherwise.
MacCheetah3. Hey, don't talk to me about what you can't recall (LMAO). I've been dealing with PCs from the early days of when they were powered by steam & just like you....I can't remember what available back in 2010 but I do almost remember Windows 3.1. I also remember when there was no such thing as a mobile phone & TV was 2 channels of black & white! After all of everything, here I am, in my 70th year trying to revive a 2009 iMac as if I'm working in an ICU department in a hospital! Take care while I continue with iMac CPR! I'm only a few steps away from open heart surgery & replacing the internal hard drives...but that's another can 'o worms.
my experience with failed hard drives falls into two categories : if it is the external controller then an external controller ( say a usb hard drive enclosure ) will allow recover of the contents, if its the on disk controller you have an expensive problem (an engineering recovery problem) good luck
This would be the easiest way to do what you are trying to accomplish, no extra software required.
Replace the drive. Buy $25 SATA>USB adapter to use with the suspect drive.
if you suspect os corruption (say power outage during shutdown damaging one of may plists in the os) then a single user boot and running fsck (unix file system check) when asked will give you everything utilities first aid will tell you, you might get away with a simple system install - upon completion back up everything to another disk and don't tempt the hardware gods (they are a vindictive bloodthirsty lot)
Been mentioned here before but I want to stress that I have very good experiences with disk drill. It completely saved the day for me a few years back when I accidentally destroyed a RAID system by connecting it to a qnap NAS.
If the hard drive is formatted in APFS, DiskWarrior won't be able to fix it - it can only fix HFS+ volumes.
Try booting from the external High Sierra SSD and copy data out of the internal hard drive if it appears in Disk Utility.
If the hard drive doesn't appear in the external High Sierra's Disk Utility, there may be something wrong with either the hard drive or the SATA controller on the logic board. You'll have to open up the iMac and pull the hard drive out (this may not be possible at home, but these are the steps, roughly):
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+27-Inch+EMC+2309+and+2374+Hard+Drive+Replacement/1634
Then you can use an external SATA to USB adapter or drive enclosure to connect to a working Mac and check if the hard drive is accessible.
Try booting from the external High Sierra SSD and copy data out of the internal hard drive if it appears in Disk Utility.
If the hard drive doesn't appear in the external High Sierra's Disk Utility, there may be something wrong with either the hard drive or the SATA controller on the logic board. You'll have to open up the iMac and pull the hard drive out (this may not be possible at home, but these are the steps, roughly):
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+27-Inch+EMC+2309+and+2374+Hard+Drive+Replacement/1634
Then you can use an external SATA to USB adapter or drive enclosure to connect to a working Mac and check if the hard drive is accessible.