Deleted photos on a Mac

[swannymere]

I've just managed to delete all my photos from my Mac thinking i'd saved them on my AppleTV, to make things worse i did it using Secure Empty Trash so i think they're unrecoverable.
However when i click on photos i get up each folder and when i click on thhe folder to get the individual photos up a small icon appears with a photo in it, my question is there any way to get my photos back?

 

[Spinal]

Sorry to hear of this - the prognosis isn't good...

The icons are a separate image saved/generated by your mac - very low resolution so not really an avenue here.

As you used secure delete, free/consumer grade recovery tools won't work for you.

There's always a way to recover it, it's just down to how much are you willing to spend?

First step is turn off the machine and don't use it.

Then, unplug the HDD (or start the computer hold 'T" down to put it in target disk mode) you can try (from another computer) to recover the images using a tool like Data Rescue for mac.

I wouldn't have high hopes due to the secure delete.

The more expensive option is to find an organisation willing to do a multi-pass analysis... this will cost a fortune (I seem to remember someone throwing about a price of £1000 per GB). Essentially they take the drive apart, and image the platters with microscopes. The images are then recombined to recover data that has been written over. (the heads don't overlap perfectly on each pass).

That said, the forensic side is not the way here I fear.

Do you have the images elsewhere? timemachine, on SD cards? You can use data recovery tools on memory cards as well...

M.

 

[davidsw]

Read this it may help
How to Recover Files Deleted or Emptied from Trash on Mac OS X

 

[Sp!ke]

Read this it may help
How to Recover Files Deleted or Emptied from Trash on Mac OS X

It is a paid for utility which will most unlikely restore anything that has been secure deleted.

 

[Parrotman]

Time Machine ?

 

[bolide]

Restore from backup is the only way to be sure. If you have an external HD it's easy to setup an automated backup using Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner

Nick Froome

 

[brucemillar]

I did this some time ago.

You will need to buy stellarphoenix photo recovery app. Google it. You will also need to have an external hard drive. The app recovers yours photos but assumes that you want them moved to a new destination (very smart that) so it will not allow you to recover to the drive your are rescuing from. I think it cost about £30 and took 24 hours to recover all my pics. Saved me a divorce and my kids never talking to me again.

Good luck.

 

[219]

I've used Data Rescue in the past , it seems to be the best of the various file recovery programs I've tried , although it does cost .

As above , recover to a drive other than the one you are scanning .

 

[bolide]

If you need to recover to a second drive you could use a USB stick

Nick Froome

 

[swannymere]

Thanks for all the advice chaps, it looks like i did something catastrophic as my iCloud and Apple TV copies were deleted as well. I've tried the programme suggested above and it looks like it hasn't worked, my IT friend is coming over to check things out tomorrow so fingers crossed.

 

[markjay]

If the various software recovery methods fail, the people who perform hardware recovery as per spinal's post are (among others):

http://www.krollontrack.co.uk/

However as said the expenditure is not insignificant. You can however obtain a quote online from their website.

 

[brucemillar]

Thanks for all the advice chaps, it looks like i did something catastrophic as my iCloud and Apple TV copies were deleted as well. I've tried the programme suggested above and it looks like it hasn't worked, my IT friend is coming over to check things out tomorrow so fingers crossed.

When you say looks like it has not worked? is it doing anything? memory tells me it takes a long time doing a kind of "discovery" action where nothing appears to happen but the program is running. Have you checked "activity monitor"

Apologies if you know all of this already. Good luck.

 

[swannymere]

It did recover files but not any photos, i ran it in various modes yesterday but i think secured trash is pretty much unrecoverable without a massive outlay.