Do I Need A Recovery Disk To Download Software On My Mac



Start up from macOS Recovery

My hard drive crashed on my Imac took it to computer repair they installed new hard drive, tried to recover data but could not, when we presented the imac to the apple store they told me i would have to buy back my old hd from them um hello no way, so thats why we went to another place that works on macs, so apple said i had lion on the mac, i couldnt remeber but now i remember i had leopard. The Problems with Hard Disk Recovery Software So Many Solutions, Not Enough Time. There are many data recovery tools and software available, each with different features and capabilities. Multiple vendors all claim to be the “#1 Data Recovery Software” and that they can salvage data from any drive. There’s even free data recovery software. The software supports inaccessible or damaged CD data recovery, DVD data recovery. It supports recovery of data from ISO 9660, Joliet, and UDF combined with ISO9660 file systems based discs. Download Mac CD and DVD Recovery now! It is Free to Try. This Mac CD and DVD Data Recovery can recover data after all the below circumstances. Internet Recovery basically downloads a recovery system image from Apple’s servers, and then starts up your Mac from it. It’s your only option in case you cannot enter the normal Recovery Mode or your Mac’s startup disk has become corrupted, damaged or replaced.

Determine whether you're using a Mac with Apple silicon, then follow the appropriate steps:

  • Apple silicon: Turn on your Mac and continue to press and hold the power button until you see the startup options window, which includes a gear icon labeled Options. Select Options, then click Continue.
  • Intel processor: Make sure that your Mac has a connection to the internet. Then turn on your Mac and immediately press and hold Command (⌘)-R until you see an Apple logo or other image.

If you're asked to select a user you know the password for, select the user, click Next, then enter their administrator password.

Reinstall macOS

Select Reinstall macOS from the utilities window in macOS Recovery, then click Continue and follow the installer's instructions.

Follow these guidelines during installation:

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  • Allow installation to complete without putting your Mac to sleep or closing its lid. Your Mac might restart and show a progress bar several times, and the screen might be empty for minutes at a time.
  • If the installer asks to unlock your disk, enter the password you use to log in to your Mac.
  • If the installer doesn't see your disk, or it says that it can't install on your computer or volume, you might need to erase your disk first.
  • If the installer is for a different version of macOS than you expected, learn about other installation options, below.
  • If the installer offers you the choice between installing on Macintosh HD or Macintosh HD - Data, choose Macintosh HD.

After installation is complete, your Mac might restart to a setup assistant. If you're selling, trading in, or giving away your Mac, press Command-Q to quit the assistant without completing setup. Then click Shut Down. When the new owner starts up the Mac, they can use their own information to complete setup.

Other macOS installation options

Mac

By default, macOS Recovery installs the latest macOS that was previously installed on your Mac.* You can get other macOS versions using one of these methods:

  • On an Intel-based Mac, you can use Option-Command-R at startup to upgrade to the latest macOS that is compatible with your Mac. Exceptions:
    • If macOS Sierra 10.12.4 or later was never previously installed, you will receive the macOS that came with your Mac, or the closest version still available.
    • If your Mac has the Apple T2 Security Chip and you never installed a macOS update, you will receive the latest macOS that was installed on your Mac.
  • On an Intel-based Mac that previously used macOS Sierra 10.12.4 or later, you can use Shift-Option-Command-R at startup to install the macOS that came with your Mac, or the closest version still available.
  • Reinstall macOS from the App Store instead of using macOS Recovery. If you can't install the latest macOS, you might be able to install an earlier macOS.
  • Create a bootable installer, then use it to install macOS on your Mac or another Mac.

* If you just had your Mac logic board replaced during a repair, macOS Recovery might offer only the latest macOS compatible with your Mac. If you erased your entire disk instead of just the startup volume on that disk, macOS Recovery might offer only the macOS that came with your Mac, or the closest version still available.

This page uncovers 5 best completely free data recovery software for macOS Catalina, macOS Mojave, older versions and morden Mac OS X, etc. All those Mac data recovery software share one commonality, they are free and useful for casual Mac users. Pick up one and let it take care of your Mac data now.

This article covers the top five completely free data recovery software for Mac, which varies in features, functions, and performance. However, they all have one thing in common: they are free.

Compare the five tools carefully, and select the one that fits your needs best.

PAGE CONTENT:
Top 5 Completely Free Data Recovery Software for Mac
1. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Free
2. Disk Drill
3. PhotoRec
4. TestDisk
5. Exif Untrasher
3-Step Tutorial of Free Mac Data Recovery
People Also Ask

Top 5 Completely Free Data Recovery Software for Mac

When you get data loss on your Mac due to accidental deletion, partition/hard drive formatting, system crash, macOS upgrade, file system or hard drive corruption, stay calm and pick up one of the recommended data recovery software below for help.

1. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Free

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Free is one of the free top and handy Mac data recovery software that enables you to recover data from the emptied trash bin, Mac notebooks, desktops, hard drives, USB drives, SD cards, memory cards, digital cameras, etc. It works on internal APFS/HFS+/HFS X drives, and FAT/FAT32/exFAT/NTFS file systems used in USB flash drives and external hard drives connected to Mac.

Highlighted Features:

# 1. All-in-one data recovery software

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Free is fully compatible with the latest macOS 11.0 (Big Sur), 10.15(Catalina), 10.14 (Mojave) and all the former versions. It enables all Mac users to perform a full recovery of lost valuable data in only 3 steps: Scan > Preview > Recover.

# 2. HFS+ Fusion Drive Recovery

The latest update of EaseUS Mac data recovery software has improved its support of Fusion Drive, which makes it work even better in retrieving files from Mac computers that are installed on fusion drives.

# 3. Encrypted Drive Recovery

Another great update in EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac is that it supports encrypted drive recovery by offering guidance to assist Mac users in decrypting and unlocking their drives with password.

# 4. Data Protection

Once the data protection feature is enabled, it will automatically back up the deleted files to a safe location. If you unexpectedly delete files and want to recover later, you can quickly restore the lost files from the created backup.

Pros:

  • Support to restore 200+ file types on Mac, including recovering lost Word/Excel/PPT documents, photos, videos, music files, emails, archived files, and more.
  • Quick Scan + Deep Scan technology greatly enhances recovery probability.
  • Real-time Preview allows you to preview found files while scanning and before proceeding with data recovery.
  • No quality-loss recovery brings your lost photos, videos perfectly back in its best performance.

Cons:

  • The completely free version is limited to a maximum of 2GB data recovery. (The outstanding Windows data recovery free version also provides 2GB free file recovery.)

2. Disk Drill

Disk Drill is a popular Mac data recovery application developed to recover lost partitions or files from Mac internal and external hard drives. Also, the Recovery Vault and Guaranteed Recovery options in the free trial version support to monitor the file deletion activity and retain metadata so as to quickly undelete files.

Highlighted Features:

# 1. Undelete Protected Data (Not Available in Free Version)

Being similar to the Data Protection feature in EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac, Disk Drill also contains an undelete protected data feature that requires Recovery Vault and Guaranteed Recovery features to be enabled in advance.

With these two features enabled, Mac users could quickly undelete files from a Trash Bin reference or shadow copy of each file to a user-specified folder.

# 2. Allocate Existing Files

When Finder fails to read data, Disk Utility reports the drive as unformatted, Disk Drill can scan the partition and retrieve data from Mac.

Pros:

  • Compatible with all the Mac OS X and macOS systems.
  • Recover 200+ file types.
  • It is packed with free and useful disk tools for all users.
  • An intuitive user interface to recover lost files effortlessly.

Cons:

  • The free version only allows a preview of data recovery.
  • Recovery Vault and Guaranteed Recovery are not available in the free version.

3. PhotoRec

PhotoRec is a free, open-source program that works very well in data recovery on older operating systems like OS X, Linux, Free BSD, Net BSD, Open BSD, and Windows.

It allows users to restore most common files, like photos, audios, documents, ZIP archives, and others from internal or external devices, such as digital cameras, memory cards, USB flash drives and partitions/hard disks.

Highlighted Features:

# 1. Advanced File Carving

PhotoRec first searches for the data block or cluster size. The program will quickly load value from superblock like ext2/ext3/ext4 or volume boot record like FAT/NTFS if the file system is not corrupted. When the file system corrupted, PhotoRec will check the device at a sector level, using the first 10 found files to calculate the block or cluster size so as to locate and find more lost files.

# 2. Block or Cluster Level Recovery

This program will read the Mac device block by block, cluster by cluster, checking against different file signatures so as to recuperate available files.

Pros:

  • Support data recovery cross-platforms, Mac OS X, Windows, Linux, etc.
  • 100% open-source program, not only the software but also the source code.
  • Nice tool to recover personal files.

Cons:

  • Not very user-friendly for ordinary computer users.
  • Technical skills required. It uses command lines to operate.

4. TestDisk

TestDisk, like PhotoRec, it's also an open-source, freeware product that allows for multiple file types recovery.

It mainly focuses on partition recovery. It enables users to find deleted or lost partitions by fixing the partition tables due to software crash, virus attack, mistaken formatting, etc.

Highlighted Features:

# 1. Partition Recovery

Do I Need A Recovery Disk To Download Software On My Mac

Do I Need A Recovery Disk To Download Software On My Macbook Pro

When a partition lost or disappeared on Mac due to corrupted partition tables, Mac users can apply TestDisk to rebuild and repair the corrupted partition table.

# 2. Rebuild Boot Sectors

When the Mac bootable drive fails to boot, it corrects problems in bootable drives that are failing to boot.

Pros:

  • Completely free and open.
  • Runs on several operating systems, including macOS and Mac OS X versions.
  • Recover lost partitions and rebuild the partition table.

Cons:

  • Use the command line to make data recovery.
  • Not user-friendly for regular computer users.

5. Exif Untrasher

Exif Untrasher is another completely free Mac data recovery tool that mainly restores deleted or JPEG files from digital cameras, external drive, USB stick, SD card, etc. You can easily download and install this software on your Mac running Mac OS X 10.10 and all the later versions.

Highlighted Features:

# 1. Highly Efficient in JEPG Recovery

Exif Untrasher is a tool that mainly designed to locate photos in JEPG formats on any kind of storage device like SD card, CF card, memory stick or Mac hard disk.

External storage device needs to be mounted as a volume on Mac for the utility to access and attempt a restore.

Pros:

Do I Need A Recovery Disk To Download Software On My Mac Download

  • Simple and quick to recover lost images from the memory card.
  • Free with no quantity limits.
  • It is updated by the developer regularly.

Cons:

  • It only works for JEGP file recovery. It doesn't support extra file formats.

3-Step Tutorial of Free Mac Data Recovery

To help more Mac users to bring their lost files are soon as possible, we are here to show you a 3-step tutorial of free Mac data recovery. If you are eager to bring your lost files back on Mac or external storage devices, apply the brief and innovative EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Free for help.

Remember to connect your USB, SD card, or external hard drive to Mac computer if your lost data were saved on it.

Step 1. Select the disk location (it can be an internal HDD/SSD or a removable storage device) where you lost data and files. Click the 'Scan' button.

Step 2. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac will immediately scan your selected disk volume and display the scanning results on the left pane.

Step 3. In the scan results, select the file(s) and click the 'Recover Now' button to have them back.

Conclusion

On this page, you are presented with the top 5 completely free Mac data recovery software - EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Free, Disk Drill, PhotoRec, TestDisk, Exif Untrasher. When you are facing unexpected data loss on Mac, the programs demonstrated above can help you recover lost files effectively.

What's more, if your lost data is less than 2GB, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Free is highly recommended as it provides the most user-friendly interface and most powerful data recovery function.

If you simply want to restore JEGP images, Exif Untrasher is worth to try.

People Also Ask

Some Mac users may still have doubts about Mac file recovery. Here we have collected the top frequently asked 4 questions and left brief answers below. Check out and find your own answers here.

1. Is Mac data recovery free?

Do I Need A Recovery Disk To Download Software On My Mac Computer

It depends. If you lost deleted files to Trash, you can restore them from the Trash for free.

When you lost files on a local Mac hard drive or an external storage device, if you apply free Mac data recovery software like EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Free for help, it's free.

If you take your computer to a local data recovery center, it will charge you a big bunch of money.

2. What is the best free data recovery software?

  • For Windows users, you may refer to Top 10 Free SD Card Data Recovery Software.

The Recommended software also works perfectly in Windows OS for data recovery and you can find out the most suitable for you to apply and restore lost files with ease.

  • For Mac users, as we recommended on this page, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Free, Disk Drill, PhotoRec, TestDisk, Exif Untrasher are all good to help.

3. Is there any free data recovery software?

Sure! Many data recovery software producers all have released their free data recovery software. Here we have collected some of them for you to pick up and apply to guard your own data.

10 Top Free Data Recovery Software for Windows Users:

  • 1). EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Free
  • 2). Recuva
  • 3). Stellar Data Recovery
  • 4). Disk Drill
  • 5). R-Studio
  • 6). Acronis Revive
  • 7). Remo Recover
  • 8). Recover My Files
  • 9). Puran Data Recovery
  • 10). TestDisk

5 Top Free Data Recovery Software for Mac Users: (We have uncovered on this page)

  • 1). EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Free
  • 2). Disk Drill
  • 3). PhotoRec
  • 4). TestDisk
  • 5). Exif Untrasher
Do I Need A Recovery Disk To Download Software On My Mac

4. How can I recover deleted files without software Mac free?

There are two ways for you to recover deleted files on Mac for free without using data recovery software.

  • One way is to undelete files from your Mac Trash bin.

When you mistakenly deleted files on Mac computer to the trash, and you didn't empty the trash, you can undelete them from your Trash for free.

  • The other way that you can try is to recover deleted files from your Mac Time Machine backup.

If you have the habit of backing up files on Mac computer using the Time Machine, congratulations. When you delete some of them, luckily, you can bring them back immediately from your Time Machine backup. You can follow to Recover Files from Time Machine Backup for a detailed guide.