Not sure if this is the correct place to put this type of post? Anyway, past 2 days my MACbook pro 13" laptop has been staggering and running slow. I think it's because maybe it was overheated or possibly to much RAM being used. i even tried to delete a bunch of files to clean it up without success. Anyways, last night I was so worried abot the condition of my Mac that I tried to quickly make a backup copy of a couple of my Garageband files that I've created. So I hooked up an external drive to my MAC, but of course i wasn't able to drag and drop them in the external drive. yeah, i get fustarted because i'm a software/techy dumbass. srrym, im not good with it. well, i was in a hurry that night so i shut off my laptop and went out.

To make a long story short, this morning, i turned on my MAC and it was taking forever to startup, then it took me to just an all blue screen - couldn't get to my desktop. Looks like i need to take it for repair. but i'm so worried i'm going to lose my Garageband.band files i created. Fortunately, i have them in mp3 format in ipod, so maybe i could replicate by ear in the future my compositions. but i spent so much time and effort into thse songs, and I'd hate for it to just go bye bye. I'm afriad once they repair, I will not only lose my garaband files, but also my logic pro 9 as well as my Sylenth1.

I will seriously gonna cry if that happens. for real. moving forward, i'm getting my ass to some serious freaking training and knowing everything and what to do, backups, do's and don'ts, software techy stuff and all that jazz. bad enuff i struggled how to get the task manager on MAC.

Am I SOL ? any possible scenarios or outlooks for my situation? a friend said if it's motherboard, u might be fine. but if it's the hard drive, i could kiss my files good bye.

Thanks

1) What files did you delete?
2) How long is "forever"?
3) How did you shut your computer off?
4) How many times have you tried to boot since then?

Try this: press the power button to turn the computer on, and immediately press & hold 'COMMAND + V'. Instead of the Apple logo, you should see a bunch of crazy stuff. Leave it alone for a few minutes and keep an eye on what it says on the bottom of the screen. That will tell you what the computer is trying to do when it boots up.

If all you care about is getting your files off of the drive, buy one of these: http://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-RX81U-ES-25A-External-Enclosu re-drive/dp/B004N8ZS4I/ref=pd_bxgy_pc_text_y

You'll need to open up your Mac, take out the hard drive and put it in that enclosure. Then, take it to another Mac and copy the files off of the hard drive. It's very easy to do, and here are clear instructions with pictures: http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook-Pro-13-Inch-Unibody-Mid- 2010-Hard-Drive-Replacement/4305/1 but if you don't feel comfortable with that, have someone else do it.

Another option would be to boot from an Ubuntu disc, but I'm not sure if Ubuntu can read HFS+, so it may be easier to work with the enclosure.

I had the same thing happen to my MAc Book Pro, and the repair shop was able to get my important files.

you might want to also try

http://www.grc.com/sr/spinrite.htm

after my fiasco, I got an account at carbonite, and don't worry about my important files anymore.

dw

Update - I took it to a place and they made backup copy of my files (e.g. like my garabgeband compositions) as well as other files on an external drive, it costs but was well worth it. So they have saved my files/songs/compositions on an external drive (wheW). i took my laptop in for repair now and they're going work on it, i may need a new hard drive, which means i lose everything of course. no biggie i have my files saved backup.. however, my worry is im thinking did the IT people save Sylenth1 on the external drive? I know they said they cant save programsl ike garageband or logic pro due to copyright purposes or whatever.. however, i bought them from apple store and have recepit so i could get it resolved once it's repaired..

It's just the Sylenth1 that scares me... Say if i do lose sylenth1 and have to rebuy it, will my garageband compositions files save the sylenth1 settings in each of the regions i have it set to? or is it gonna be all off cuz i need my licensed version of sylenth1 ? i don't know how this works, which is fustrating. i still have my email with license key password and stuff.

Any feedback? I'm trying to look all over google and stuff and can't find anything about sylenth1 backup, or re-installing, or losing it, etc...

Thanks much


.....Also, forgot to mention, i was able to run my mac in safe mode, or holding down the shift key and get my desktop but that's bout it. but it takes forever to load up. and when it did it took my right to a blue screen and that's all...

i had the same problem with a reinstall, i forgot to backup sylenth1, but if you have proof of purchase it wont be a problem, just email lennar digital and they'll help you out.. but i did have to struggle a little to convince them that i had bough the product.. i have logic and dont know garageband that well even though i used it a little before i started with logic... if i open a project in logic which used to have a plugin it still stays in the instrument slot as a used plugin but you wont be able to actually use it.. when i got it again i didnt have any problems with the settings, the dash symbol over the plugin name just went away and i was able to use the product again without problems, i dont remember if it saved the settings but i think it did