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imac2010 · Sep 3, 2010, 07:42 AM

Hi, I just joined this forum because I usually try to figure things out on my own, but not sure what to do about this one. I used Appdelete to sort through redundant files (as I have before with success) yesterday and accidently deleted multiple programs. Some of which I'm not sure were there, or what they are, but apps aren't running like they used to. Now everything is grouped together in files labeled as Appdelete, then whatever the program is, and they don't work. I last backed up on Lacie ext. drive on 8/28/10, and have copied the backup folder to my desktop, but now seem to have multiple files from the original HD and the backup. I don't even know the process to recover info from backup, or how to completely erase my current HD thats missing some files, and replace it with my backup. My whole dock disappeared, as those programs were Appdeleted. I can run programs from the backup that I copied from the ext. drive, but not from my original HD. Not all apps were deleted, but Textedit, Timemachine, all my Office programs, and other menial apps that came with Snowleopard. I just want my old computer back, and can't seem to find a good link to using my ext. hard drive. Any help is greatly appreciated.

P · Sep 3, 2010, 08:16 AM

If you used Time Machine for your backups, boot from your Snow Leopard installation disc and choose Utilities-> Restore system from backup.

imac2010 · Sep 3, 2010, 07:41 PM

Thanks for the info. There's an icon at the upper left of the screen that I would left click, then select "backup now". I think that's Timemachine. I'm also not sure how to boot from my snowleopard disk. Tried shutting down then restarting with the disc in. Messed around in Disc Utility a little. Can't figure it out though.

P · Sep 5, 2010, 02:20 PM

tme Machine menu is upper right, but otherwise correct. You boot from a CD by leaving it in the drive and holding the letter C or D when booting.

Big Mac · Sep 5, 2010, 09:13 PM

Don't let Time Machine overwrite your previous backups before you have a chance to restore.

imac2010 · Sep 6, 2010, 12:16 AM

Originally Posted by P

tme Machine menu is upper right, but otherwise correct. You boot from a CD by leaving it in the drive and holding the letter C or D when booting.

Your right. It's the upper right. I've tried pressing C or D to boot and neither one seems to work. After I tried to run BootCamp for some crazy reason, and repartitioned back to full HD, the comp. takes a very long time to start up. At least 2 mins. Used to be 30 secs. When I run the install CD from the desk top, it just tells me I can't run it from this volume. Not sure why I can get the C or D key to run the install though. The disc is in when I restart. I've also tried shutting down completely as well. I have 2 copies of my HD now which is taking 120 gigs or so of space. I press the C or D at the same time I would press Alt key to select a drive, so I'm sure I have the timing right.

Thank again for your help!

Maybe try a new install CD? I have a feeling something might be messed up with my startup process after all this BootCamp tinkering I did. I just start poking around and now I'm paying for it I suppose, lol.

P · Sep 6, 2010, 05:34 AM

Try holding down the option (alt) key. Press and hold it before you turn on the machine and hold it down until you see a menu of drives to boot from. If you see the CD, doubleclick it. If it doesn't work, boot normally and go to Startup disk in System Preferences. From there you should be able to select the disk directly and then reboot.

imac2010 · Sep 6, 2010, 10:18 AM

With the install CD in/out, I tried holding Alt. and only the HD volume is an option. Also with Sys. pref., I have Mac OS X and Network Setup as options. Nothing seems to let me boot off the CD drive. Other CDs run fine. The install CD verifies with no probs. Possibly I could erase my entire HD somehow, then bring up my backup as I did and run off that, without having to install Snow again, since it's already on the backup? I think I have up to 7 copies of various programs now! It's a mess. Appdelete grouped everything together in it's own files that it pulled from specific places off my HD, and now I have no idea how to manually put these files back where they belong for them to run properly. Last time I ran Appdelete it grabbed certain files that were left over from apps I deleted, but were left behind none the less. Not sure why i didn't catch whole programs getting erased this time?

imac2010 · Sep 11, 2010, 10:12 PM

I now can't find my original install cds for this imac. any idea how to find the correct replacement? Still trying to restore my old backup files.

P · Sep 12, 2010, 06:21 AM

A Snow Leopard upgrade disk is probably the cheapest way to get one.