# Solved: Erased harddrive recovery?



## lijewi (Aug 18, 2008)

I'm sorry if this post is in the wrong section -- I don't really know enough about computers to know where this should be. 

I recently got a new computer -- a MacBook-- and I bought a firewire today so that I could transfer the files from my older computer -- a PowerBook G4 -- to my new one. I used Migration Assistant for this. On my new computer, an icon that said Macintosh HD appeared. I looked through it, and it didn't seem to be the files that I wanted transferring -- it was all folders with names like "Library" and "Home," but it didn't seem to have any of my actual documents on it. As such, I deleted the folders that I didn't want on my new computer, which was all of them, and emptied the trash. Now, however, when I turn on my older computer, all I get is a gray screen with a folder icon with an alternating mac symbol and question mark. 

Does this mean I erased my old computer's harddrive completely by deleting the folder on my new MacBook? How can I undo this and recover all the documents and files I had on my older computer?

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated, especially since Apple Support is not in working hours and is unavailable to help me.


----------



## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Hi and welcome. I'm going to move you to the MAC forum, you'll get better assistance there.


----------



## Serge_N_Gin (Sep 7, 2004)

You shouldn't have erased your PB G4s internal drive if all you used was Migration Assistant + an Ext HD ... anyway, there are a couple of things to try:

Hold down the Option key on startup and this will give you and alternate startup mode that allows you to choose between any available Systems.

It may take a little while but if your internal drive appears then click it to highlight it, then click on the right pointing arrow (the straight one) to continue.

If your computer starts correctly, open System Preferences and use the Startup Disk prefPane to set your startup disk back to the original disk......restart to finish.

If that doesn't help then boot up in Single User Mode and then run a Command Line Utility:

On start, hold down the Command and S keys to get a black screen with white letters and a command line prompt --

Once you are there, type in:

fsck -yf

(note the space between the fsck and the "dash"yf).....once you hit return, it should do some disk-level checks and tell you it either found errors (in which case you want to run the same command again) or that the disk was "OK".

Once it tells you the disk is "OK", then type:

reboot

and when you push the return key, it should try to start normally.

Finally there's this:

_Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM_.

Please let us know how it goes ....
______________


----------



## lijewi (Aug 18, 2008)

Okay, so I tried all the methods you suggested and none of them worked. 
With the first, I get the screen with the two arrow buttons, but no internal drive shows up. All I get are the arrows, and clicking the right-pointing one doesn't do anything. 
I tried rebooting with holding the command and S keys, but I could not get the black screen with white letters -- it just takes me to the gray screen with question mark folder I get when I normally turn the computer on now. 
The same happens when I follow the directions in the linked article. I can get it to reboot by holding down the opt, command, R, and P keys, but it still takes me to the grey screen. 
I'm glad to hear that my actions probably didn't erase the harddrive -- is there anything else I can try?


----------



## Serge_N_Gin (Sep 7, 2004)

You probably have Leopard on your new Mac but what OS version is running on the PB?

Have a read through this info:

_How to use FireWire target disk mode_

Following the instructions you can connect your PB to the MB, with the PB as the "Target" and the MB as the "Host". Your PBs internal drive will mount on the MBs desktop as any external HD will and you can navigate to the System Preferences of your PB and go into the Startup Disc section and set your PBs internal drive as the main startup disc.

Hopefully this will work for you ... my fingers are x-d


----------



## lijewi (Aug 18, 2008)

The PB is running Leopard as well. 
Alright, so, I can connect my PB to my MB, and the harddrive does appear as you said, but none of the files within has anything to do with the start-up disc. There are only two files on the harddrive, entitled "System" -- which doesn't contain anything but an empty file -- and "Library" -- which consists mostly of ".plist" files...


----------



## DavisMcCarn (Aug 17, 2005)

Here is your best hope; but, it is $89 and you would still be advised to redo the PB from scratch after it rescues your files: http://www.subrosasoft.com/OSXSoftware/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1


----------

