Sorry to hear about your data loss. Without knowing the circumstances behind your computer’s crash I can only assume that the loss occurred while you were transferring the files.

In this case, (again, an assumption) it may be a particular file or files that became corrupted and unreadable, causing the transfer to get stuck.

If this is the cause, I’d recommend transferring the files folder by folder (not all at once) – for example, just the desktop, then just the documents, etc.

This way you begin the narrow down where the corruption is and you’ll have the completed transfers (and data) safely onto the external drive.

Other scenarios that may cause problems is the computer and external drive going into sleep/spin-down mode. Check your Energy Saver preferences and uncheck the “Put the hard disks to sleep when possible” checkbox. Also make sure you are using your power adapter if it’s a laptop and keep the machine from sleeping during the transfers.

Finally, if the drive became disconnected for any reason during the transfer, this may also cause problems.

Good Luck,
David

I was 3 days into copying all my data onto it when the computer crashed. All the data on the external drive was lost!

What am I supposed to do to prevent this happening again?

Once the drive is restored/fixed,
Log into it and connect the computer/drive with the data up to it.
Use Target Disk Mode if it’s on another computer.

Then from the restored/fixed computer, copy the appropriate files/folders back on.

If you get any permissions errors,
Click on the external drive/computer’s icon and Get Info.
(Apple I or File – Get Info from the Menu Bar)

Scroll down and make sure the Ignore Ownership/Permissions on this Drive checkbox is checked.

Good Luck,
David

i’m copying over the documents and folders as above, from my partner’s crashed macbook pro.

we’re taking it into the shop tomorrow to hopefully try to recover working order without any data lost.

if this doesn’t happen, could you explain or possibly direct me to another thread, about how to restore all this transferred data back onto the mac (with hard drive restored/wiped) or onto a new mac?

many thanks,

tom.