Macs aren’t immune from hard disk corruption and failures. They’re just as common on Macs as they are PCs. Although most Macs have solid-state drives, even these systems can have problems. Apple’s built-in utilities and some third-party programs will get you up and running.
I am considering adding an extra drive to my Mac Mini (possibly a tower-size one like mentioned here) and keeping it permanently plugged-in, for extra space and to leave the main Macintosh HD for essential files - system apps, my Adobe apps etc. I have a 500GB hard drive, with currently 204.68GB remaining on it, but was considering using the additional drive for the other files I create. Mar 15, 2018 Rather than use a Mac-formatted drive, you should get the important files off of it and use exFAT-formatted drives for moving data between Macs and PCs. To format the drive in Windows, right-click it in the File Explorer window and select “Format.” Choose the.
Symptoms of a Hard Disk Problem
The worst noise you’ll hear from a mechanical hard disk is a clicking or grinding noise. That means the drive is failing. At that point, the drive isn’t repairable. It’s time to back up your data and then replace the drive. You already have a backup though, right?
Not all drives exhibit symptoms in this way. Sometimes you’ll get the prohibitory no symbol at startup or a flashing folder with a question mark. After turning off your Mac and turning it back on, the system boots just fine. Other times you’ll get the spinning rainbow wheel, letting you know your Mac is waiting on something. That could be because your Mac is waiting on the hard drive.no symbol at startup or a flashing folder with a question mark. After turning off your Mac and turning it back on, the system boots just fine. Other times you’ll get the spinning rainbow wheel, letting you know your Mac is waiting on something. That could be because your Mac is waiting on the hard drive.
Diagnosing the Problem
If you suspect your hard disk is failing, it is time to make a backup. Now. Again, you should already have a backup of your Mac. Don’t proceed before you try to make a backup. Apple’s
When you reboot, you’ll see the
Some Macs have a built-in hardware diagnostic. Reboot your Mac holding down the D key. That runs a full hardware test on your Mac. The diagnostic will report any problems, including the hard drive.
Does your Mac Support Apple Diagnostics? Apple explains which models support this here.Your Might Have a Confused Hard Drive
The Mac’s journaled file system usually keeps things in order. Glitches and improper shutdowns might leave things scrambled. If
You’ll need to boot your Mac off a Disk Warrior flash drive to do testing and repair. The program creates a Recovery flash drive. During its diagnostic process it will repair and optimize the drive. If it detects a hard drive error, the program warns you.
Sometimes it isn’t the Hard Disk
If you’ve tried all this and are still having problems, there could be something wrong with your Mac other than the hard drive. If you have a MacBook Pro, the ribbon cable that connects the hard drive to the rest of the computer can go bad. The Mac exhibits all the same symptoms as a failed hard drive. The best way to figure this out is to remove your hard drive and try it in another Mac. If the hard drive works on another computer, then it isn’t your hard drive.
Check to see if the repair is free: Check your serial number with Apple. Your Mac may still be under warranty.The other typical problem is operating system errors. A system update or upgrade was interrupted leaving your Mac in a confused state. You can reinstall your operating system from the recovery mode. That won’t erase any data on your Mac.
Rarely the problem is in the Mac’s System Management Controller (SMC) . Before you give up hope, try Apple’s procedure for resetting the SMC.
What if You Have a Solid State Drive?
Solid State Drives (SSDs) don’t make the typical noises of a mechanical hard drive. After all,they have no moving parts. The testing procedures are the same. You won’t be able to easily remove the hard drive to test it in another machine. Programs like Disk Warrior are smart enough to change the optimization procedure for an SSD drive.
Some Macs have easy hard drives to replace. Some Mac models hard drives aren’t replaceable by end users. Most Mac-savvy retailers know the difference and can guide you towards the right repair. Replacing your hard drive with an SSD will give you the best performance, but may limit your storage space. We cover the differences here.
ALSO READ:DaisyDisk: The Best, Most Intuitive App to Find Large Files on Your Mac’s Hard Drive
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At times data stored in Mac’s internal hard drive suffers from data corruption and damage. To rid of such issues, you need to take help from professional disk repair software. In this blog, there is an earnest attempt to list the top five disk repair software for Mac users.
You might have used the Disk Utility functionality of Mac to diagnose and resolve problems encountered in your computer. Disk Utility is an in-built macOS diagnostic tool to rid of basic issues such as hard disk drive directory structure damage, file system permission problem, and so forth. But, the utility lacks comprehensive storage drive management features, repair functionality, and other advanced diagnostic & tech tools that are essential for you to run Mac smoothly. Therefore, you need to use a third-party tool to augment advanced utilities catering to repair, diagnosis, and disk management. The following list of top five Mac disk repair software is an earnest attempt to showcase other enhanced options and use Mac to its fullest.
Best Tools for Mac External Hard Disk Repair
The top 5 list is as follows:
1. Stellar Data Recovery Technician for Mac (supports macOS Catalina 10.15)
This is the world’s first and only software that recovers corrupt Mac hard disk’s data & repairs your video & photos files. Moreover, the software recovers lost APFS partitions, external hard disks, SSD’s, Time Machine, password-enabled drive and Fusion drives. The latest version of the software creates recovery drive and performs file recovery from non-booting Mac systems.
Leverage this Mac Technician data recovery tool if the storage disk drive has logical corruption and the external drive is unmounted or not showing up on Mac. Stellar Data Recovery Technician for Mac scans the Mac storage disk drive to recover permanently deleted files as well.
You can connect an external hard drive and perform formatted recovery, partition recovery and restore lost data conveniently. The software has a built-in Drive Monitoring utility that monitors the health and S.M.A.R.T. status of your start-up drive. With the Technician version, you can run a Surface Scan to find out the bad-blocks on Mac’s storage disk. Apart from data recovery capabilities, this software also has ‘Video & Photo Repair’ features that fix corrupt or damaged digital files like your favourite video or photos in a few simple clicks.
You can free try this software on your Mac system without the need of an expert.
Explore the Mac data recovery options and download the brochure of Stellar Data Recovery Technician software for detailed information.
2. DiskWarrior
This is a useful disk repair utility for Mac with quite a different repairing functionality, unlike other disk repair tool. The software creates a replacement data basis the original data instead of rebuilding damaged data. Subsequently, the software ensures there is no inaccuracy in creating the new data structure from the original one. The software can also be used as a preventive maintenance utility for Mac storage device. When you execute the software, it rebuilds and optimizes the directory, thereby removing any kind of data structure damage and improving drive performance.
3. Drive Genius:
This is a really beneficial disk utility tool for your Macintosh computer. The tool can be used to repair hard disk drive even if your Mac does not boot; supplementary bootable DVD comes handy to boot your computer from it and launch the tool. Some of the important features of the tool include directory repair, repartitioning, cloning, surface scanning, defragmenting, executing bench tests, performing integrity checks, and above all shredding data (which is generally not a consolidated feature of a repair utility).
4. OnyX
This is a personalization, optimization, and maintenance utility for Mac OS X. The software has advanced features to execute system maintenance, run storage drive diagnostics, configure system hidden features, and delete caches. Its repair utility helps you to repair hard disk drive for errors and inaccessibility. The software is great for up keeping your Mac so that it functions without any glitch.
5. TechTool Protogo
This is quite a good holistic Mac utility that is laden with advanced features. The volume rebuild tool examines, rebuilds, and repairs corrupted directories of hard drives. The utility can help you to create a bootable Mac repair toolbox on your flash drive or external hard disk drive, which can be used in the situation when your Mac does not boot. The software can be used to run diagnostics, repair and recover data, optimize hard disk drive’s performance, defragment the drive, and delete data securely.
Mac Hard Drive Analyzer
To Sum Up
Now you are aware that the inbuilt Disk Utility tool of your Mac computer is not sufficient to meet your advanced troubleshooting needs. Functionality beyond Disk Utility is a must to get your Mac up and running. The top five Mac disk repair software presented in this blog can be used to repair your hard disk drive for errors, inaccessibility, or system corruption. This 5 software is either free or can be availed as a trial. So, download the trial version of any repair software to recover your hard disk drive. And above, do not forget to give Stellar Data Recovery Technician for Mac a considerate try, as its latest release excels in disk repair capability, appealing GUI, advanced features, and excellent technical support.
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Moreover, the software has a price advantage over the other disk repair utilities. Stellar Data Recovery Technician for Mac is 100% Safe & Secure and has a 30-day money-back guarantee if you are not satisfied.