Detect Directory Damage in Mac OS with Disk First Aid
If you experience frequent system crash or difficulty in copying and saving files
while using your Mac operating system, the first tool you are likely to consider is the Disk First Aid that comes with Mac operating system. Disk First Aid is a simple tool that helps you to detect and repair problems associated with directory structure, HFS and HFS + or volume. Disk First Aid comes as a part of Mac OS X, and in the older versions (Mac OS 9 and below) as a standalone application.
Using Disk First Aid
The tool located in Applications: Utilities: Disk Utility.app (in Mac OS X) and Applications: Utilities: Disk First Aid (older versions of Mac OS), can identify problems related to master directory block, boot blocks, partition map, device drivers, catalog file, extents file, catalog hierarchy, catalog B- tree, extent B-tree, volume bitmap and volume info. Disk First Aid analyzes the problems in each of these and reports whether it can be fixed or repaired by the tool. However, when it comes to repairing the damage, the tool is not very efficient.
When to use Disk First Aid?
You can use Disk First Aid if you find
difficulty in storing information
difficulty in copying files from one location to other
files disappearing from the directory
files changing size
frequent system crash and
if you get error messages
Though, you can use the Disk First Aid to detect the problem, it cannot repair the problem. Moreover, frequent system crash or difficulty in storing information can lead to data loss. Problems like inability to copy or move files are typically caused by virus and should be addressed with antivirus software. Depending on the extent of the problem you may even have to reformat and reinstall the operating system. However, the process could make your old data in accessible. Even if you have systematic back up, valuable information regarding your browser, favorite links, bookmarks, photos, videos, music files etc could be easily missed out.
Recovering inaccessible data from Mac OS
To access data from a formatted drive you can either use data recovery software or send the hard drive to a service lab. The former is easier and less expensive compared to the latter option. With a little care you can select good data recovery software capable of recovering data from Mac operating system. And also there is recovery software for lost photo using
Mac photo recovery software.
Tips for selecting data recovery software for Mac OS
Read Reviews- One of the reliable way to select the recovery software is to read reviews about the product. Look for authentic third party reviews. PC World, CNet and Tucows are some of the sites that give neutral reviews.
System requirements- Check whether the system requirements (operating system, free disk space, RAM, processor, etc) as specified by the recovery software match with that of your system.
Evaluate demo version- Check the capability of the software by evaluating the demo version.
Features- Match the features offered by the product with that of your data recovery requirement. Some of this includes versatility in recovering data lost due to various scenarios, different type of file formats, and various options to scan lost data.
Customer support- Make sure that the recovery software is backed with good customer support. Speak to the customer care team or chat with the team to check the quality of support offered by the company.
Payment Channel- Ensure that the company uses trusted payment processing channels that assure you confidentiality about the financial information exchanged with the site.
Recovery of lost data is possible only if you have not used the drive extensively after you have lost data from the drive. If you run Disk First Aid, the chances of recovering data is hampered as this could over write the lost data. Hence, the best way to use Disk First Aid is for regular maintenance (once in 6 months) of the drive and not for any specific problems.
Detect Directory Damage in Mac OS with Disk First Aid
By: Charlesburton
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