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Anonymous Posted on Nov 24, 2010

We just had our iMac's hard drive replaced. We had been using the 500gb external hard drive to back up our files. Now, we can no longer access any of the files. In fact, the drive is not even showing that they are there. My husband called tech support and they suggested that maybe somehow we were not actually backing up to the drive when we thought we were. I know this is wrong for two reasons 1) Before we ever used the drive, my brother downloaded some files on the drive for us to put on our computer. In other words, at the very least, those files should show up; 2) before replacing our hard drive iPhoto randomly removed some of our photos and we used the hard drive to import them into iPhoto. It should be noted that we have an upgraded operating system now. Suggestions? Please help!

  • 6 more comments 
  • Anonymous Nov 24, 2010

    Hi Nina,



    Thanks so much for getting back to me. Yes, we have viewed the files on the drive previously (before our computer's hard drive.



    I will borrow my sister's computer and get back to you.


  • Anonymous Nov 24, 2010

    Well, it didn't work. The only data showing is the files from the computer after we had the new hard drive installed. I am officially frustrated. I just don't understand where these could have gone. And, my husband did not initialize or format the drive (wouldn't it have asked him to do that?). The only thing he did was download the suggested software (he got the link from the support desk).

    Any other ideas? I am ready to throw this thing out of the window.

  • Anonymous Nov 24, 2010

    Well, it didn't work. I am so confused. My husband insists he did not do any kind of formatting or initializing - all that he did was download the software recommended by the support guy and that was it.

    GRRR!

    Any other ideas? :(

  • Anonymous Nov 25, 2010

    I'm sorry if I have postd this 3 times, but I keep switching computers and it is not showing up when I check back. No, it didn't work. I am so mad. My husband insists he didn't initialize or format anything. He only downloaded the recommended software so that he could access the drive from our computer.

    ANy other suggestions?

  • Anonymous Nov 25, 2010

    We are seeing the drive, but not the files that should be on there. It's almost like it is a different drive then what we had. There are not even the files my brother downloaded for us in the beginning. We have the 500 GB external drive.

  • Anonymous Nov 25, 2010

    500 GB external drive model number 09135040500601142

  • Anonymous Nov 25, 2010

    Nina, thanks so much for your help. We ended taking the gamble and buying the software. Even if it doesn't work with the drive, it may work with our iPods (which for some reason have reset themselves and we no longer have our music), and may just be a good thing to have around.

    The software has been working on the external drive all night and is still not done (I am hoping this is a good sign). I will keep you posted, but most likely will not know anything until late tonight or tomorrow.

  • Anonymous Nov 28, 2010

    Well, the software was easy enough to download and use, but it didn't really recover anything (I tried all the different options). The filed recovered are in strange formats that the iMac can't open:

    .anm, .cab, .cur, etc.

    Any ideas on how to open them?

    I am also going to use the software on my iPod touch, which randomly is not showing any music or photos (even though we did not try to re-sync it or anything). I think I may have a cursed electronics touch!

    Happy belated Thanksgiving to you, as well. :)

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  • Posted on Nov 24, 2010
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Hello.

Have you ever viewed the files on the external drive previously ?

But, I'd suggest to connect the drive to another Mac. Just be certain not to "initialize" or "format" the drive which will wipe any data you DO have.

In case you don't have the software drivers, all Hitachi (Simple Tech) drivers can be found here:

http://www.simpletech.com/support/support_downloads.php

Select your particular SimpleTech drive and Mac operating system and download and install the driver on the other computer.

Hope this resolves your problem.

  • 6 more comments 
  • Anonymous Nov 24, 2010

    Good. So you know that the files were there. Please let me know what happens with your sister's computer.

  • Anonymous Nov 25, 2010

    So, you are seeing the drive (letter) but there are no files or are you not seeing the drive at all ??

    If not seeing the drive, it's possible that the drive cable is faulty.

  • Anonymous Nov 25, 2010

    Which model of Simple Tech do you have ?

  • Anonymous Nov 25, 2010

    Well, I found some software that could help. I have never personally used it, though. It's $100 (USD), so I guess it depends how important these files are. Data recovery is never a guarantee. Here's the link:

    http://data-recovery.for-mac.com/

  • Anonymous Nov 25, 2010

    You are welcome. That's a great idea to use the software for your other devices as well. Hope it works for everything. Please let me know. I won't be online again for at least 24 hours, since I'll be celebrating Thanksgiving wit my family. If you celebrate as well, I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving.

  • Anonymous Nov 25, 2010

    wit = with

  • Anonymous Nov 28, 2010

    Well, didn't hear back from you, so I was anticipating that all was OK.

  • Anonymous Nov 29, 2010

    Hi, again.

    Sorry it didn't work as indicated. I think you should get your money back. The .cur extension is a Windows file !

    There is another product, File Salvage:

    http://www.subrosasoft.com/OSXSoftware/i...

    The requirement is Mac OS X 10.3 or later.

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