RE: Help-Lost files

The little backup battery on my MacBook is clearly shot. My computer ran out of power and “blip” went dark.

That’s the main battery, and it sounds like it is at the end of its life and your Mac can’t tell when it is about to run out of power.

Losing a document that had been saved to disk already is odd. That’s a symptom of hard disk problems, which could be caused by your Mac shutting down unexpectedly. You could try using some file recovery software to try and find it - File Salvage from SubRosaSoft, Data Rescue from Prosoft, or Disk Warrior from Alsoft would be my recommendations. You should also use the Mac’s built-in disk checking and repair routines:
Reboot with Command and S held down.
When you see a black screen with white writing, release the keys.
When you see the white ‘block’ prompt, type:

/sbin/fsck -fy

(note the space between “fsck” and “-fy”)
And then hit Return.

It could take a few minutes. When it is done, if you see any message other than the disk ‘appears to be ok’, hit the Up Arrow key (to repeat your last instruction), hit return, and wait again.

When it is ok, type

reboot

and you’ll restart as normal.

k


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I just had a successful visit with my local apple genius - this is another reason to own a Mac! Need a new battery, he found my file, fixed some permissions issues, and I – hope I am back in business! And I (and other Freeway Talk folks) have learned a lot about backups. Thank you all for your comments.

Jan


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