Apple stands apart from other computer manufacturers; as do its users, who are referred to as Apple fanboys (or girls). Many people consider Apple’s operating system (OS) to be the best in industry. The best from one industry deserves the best from another, which is why we employ the best data recovery specialists to restore files to your Apple Mac.
Although Apple technology is fairly resistant to viruses, there is still some risk that your Mac will be attacked. Our data recovery gurus keep up-to-date with all emerging Apple technology, so that they can successfully recover data should your drive crash or your system be hacked.
You can rest assured that our high-tech labs are more than capable of recovering data from the different types of hard disk drives in Apple Macs.
Apple Mac’s Unique Data Recovery Needs
Apple uses the Hierarchical File System (HFS), which is the standard file system for computers that run a Mac OS. Apple’s HFS includes features like Directory Support, UNIX-style security permissions, Local Sockets Support, Extended Attributes, Data Conversion, Absolute and Relative Pathnames, and Save and Restore Support. Files are grouped into directories (or folders), which are, in turn, grouped into directories.
Apple Disk Space Management
HFS divides the total space on a volume into equal-sized chunks called allocation blocks. It uses 16-bit fields to identify a particular allocation block requiring less than 216 (65,536) allocation blocks on the HFS volume. Any non-empty fork must occupy an integral number of allocation blocks, so, as the data increases, the amount of allocated but unused space also grows.
HFS Plus (HFS+) is the enhanced generation of HFS, developed to provide the primary file system used on Apple computers. HFS Plus is also referred to as Mac OS Extended. HFS Plus supports larger files from 32-bit block addresses instead of HFS’s 16-bit and uses Unicode for naming.
HFS and HFS+ file systems as employed by Apple operating systems work very differently from Microsoft file systems. This means that a unique approach to data recovery is required for Apple Mac file systems.
We solved the problem by developing proprietary data recovery tools that comply with Apple’s warranty requirements.
Common error messages that can indicate an impending Apple hard disk drive crash include:
- Internal file system error.
- This disk is unreadable by this computer. Do you want to initialize the disk?
- Cannot access because a disk error occurred.
- The disk cannot be accessed because a disk error occurred.
- No such volume.
- Directory not found.
- Not an HFS volume.
- Segment Loader Error.
- Bad file name.
- Not a Macintosh disk.
- Bad master directory block.
- Drive not installed.
- R/W (Read / Write) requested for an off-line drive.
Data Recovery After a Power Failure
Power failures are a common cause of data loss. When data is not buffered, the file system structures and directories, etc. will be monitored and repaired by the HFS on each mount of a file system. However, a sudden power outage can physically damage the drive and corrupt critical file system data. In this event, stop using the drive immediately and contact us so we can evaluate the unit.
Whatever file system or configuration your Mac uses, do not be tempted to repair the problem yourself or use any DIY recovery software. You may only have one chance to access the data on the failed drive; if you poke around you could lose your data permanently. Don’t leave anything to chance, rather shut down the drive and contact us immediately.
Data Detect supports all versions of Apple Operating System.