DiskWarrior built preview, but quits when backing up to external

[LABachlr]

My 1TB HD in my black Macbook just crashed and Disk Utility said that it could not repair it.

So I booted up DiskWarrior 4.4 and ran that. It was able to build a new directory with all my files, however it said "The new directory cannot replace the original because of a disk malfunction"

It went on to say that recovering my files from the Disk Warrior Preview is urgent and I must back up my data from the preview disk.

So I plugged my external into my Macbook and attempted to back up the files from the DiskWarrior Preview.

The first attempt, it was able to copy over 4.5GB (or a little more; I didn't see the exact amount) out of over 650GB of data before it just quit (the window that shows the preview and the external and that allows you to initiate the copying of the drive just closed out of the blue).

The second attempt backed up 5.7GB before it quit and the window just closed without warning. The first attempt may have backed up this much data as well. I don't know for sure since I wasn't looking when this happened.

Why doesn't DW tell you what happened? If I hadn't been there, I would not have known what happened.

Has anyone ever experienced this? What do I do? Is most of my HD toast and DW just can't handle it, or is there another strategy I can try?

I would be sick to lose MOST of my data, which accounts for years of work.

 

[DeltaMac]

Ah - no backup?
Not good - so, living without a backup MIGHT mean that you die (the hard drive dies anyway) without a backup.
Laptop hard drives, particularly can die quickly. Backups are not important - they are vital.

If you don't have a backup, make one:
Install your OS X system on an external hard drive. Copy the Disk Warrior app to that external hard drive. Boot to the external hard drive, and run Disk Warrior in Scavenge mode (hold the Option key, and you'll see the Rebuild button change), and rebuild your internal hard drive in that mode. (better yet, remove the internal hard drive, and put it in an external case that you can surround with ice packs (sealed), so the hard drive stays cool, giving it the best chance to copy off that drive.) Copy your data off the old internal drive, using the preview. I have had a similar scenario where I had to go into many folders, and copy the files one folder at a time, until most everything is copied off, or at least as much as you can get. You may run into areas of the hard drive that copy very smoothly, and others where you get a lot of errors, and the copying goes very slowly. I had one about five years ago where a customer wanted me to try everything possible. I put in WAY more hours than I could reasonably bill for. The setup was in "copy from the preview image" mode for nearly 10 days (two business weeks), and I had to manually manage the copy process, sometimes one file at a time. I ended up getting about 98%, as I recall.
(Just in case you wonder, the task didn't take all my energy - start a copy process, and come back from time to time to monitor progress, and re-do the copy. I keep track of the progress on a log sheet that I kept beside the system)
There were countless restarts, and time in the freezer for the bad hard drive. I would recommend that you avoid system files, and hidden folders. Library folders, too. That stuff will get there with an OS X install, so the primary importance is the user folder(s). There may be a fair amount of files, even in the Users folder, that you really don't need to save.
Bottom line - don't expect the process to be quick. You can also investigate OTHER options - some folks have great luck with Data Rescue from ProSoft - which lets you try before you buy. You get to have a clue that it might work, before you purchase.
Another would be Disk Drill, which I have not had to try yet... http://download.cnet.com/Disk-Drill-PRO/3000-2094_4-75307728.html?tag=mncol;1