Rescuing photos from a crashed iMac

Using advanced tools to read movies from a faulty disk

Oct. 15, 2020 - Willem L. Middelkoop

This week I received a message from someone with a iMac that crashed. It contained more than 50.000 photos, covering two decades of personal history. As there was no backup, it was up to me to attempt to safe as much as I could. Could I possibly recover the personal photos?

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Removing the glass panel using suction caps

Ultimately I was able to rescue all other photos!

The iMac’s innards are visible after removing the display

This chip is was originally part of a external USB disk drive - you might have one around that you can use for this

The hard disk inside the iMac - containing the personal photos

Some iMacs require a special cutting blade to cut through the adhesive tape holding the glass on to the Aluminium frame

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Articles (155)

2024-12-19 Data versus Feeling
2024-12-09 The Problem With Bitcoin
2024-11-11 Write your own words
2024-11-10 Go Viral on X
2024-10-20 Marathon
2024-09-10 I see dead people
2024-05-11 Developing a native iOS app
2024-03-24 Half Marathon
2024-03-05 No, I Won't Build That!
2024-02-16 Vision Pro
2024-01-16 Health and fitness data
2023-12-15 Backup Rotation Scheme
2023-11-10 Apple Watch as Phone
2023-11-01 And... there is light!
2023-10-14 Giving AI Training
2023-10-13 Hello, stranger
2023-08-23 The Same, Differently
2023-05-31 Impact of training
2023-05-08 Tablet as Tool
2023-05-03 Using AI to generate code
2023-05-01 Working Offline First
2023-04-20 Tips for Long-Distance Cycling
2023-04-05 Cutting Cloud Costs
2023-02-08 Back to the University
2022-12-22 Rolex DateJust 36
2022-11-01 Moving to the countryside
2022-10-23 MUSE in Carré
2022-09-15 The Ultimate Freedom Bike
2022-09-11 Computer says no
2022-07-30 CAPTCHA Alternative
2022-07-17 Offline Music
2022-04-18 Snake '97 High Scores
2022-01-14 Wearing WHOOP 4.0
2021-12-09 For the love of mini
2021-11-19 Escaping the flat tires
2021-10-25 Using Google Free Android
2021-09-30 Inspiration from a child
2021-08-31 Protecting VMware ESXi
2021-07-13 The birth of a child
2021-06-30 Migrating to the Cloud
2021-06-05 Wearing Grand Seiko
2021-05-31 Using the reMarkable paper tablet
2021-05-04 Hospitalised with MCADD
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2021-01-14 Abandoning my own tablet OS
2021-01-10 Commuter bike checkup
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2020-10-15 Rescuing photos from a crashed iMac
2020-09-29 Riding with Omata One
2020-09-28 Refining my tablet OS experience
2020-09-16 Syncing files seamlessly between smartphone and tablet
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2020-08-23 Cleaning a vintage watch
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2020-07-30 Upgrading a 27-inch iMac 5K to 14 terabytes
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2020-03-25 Designing and implementing a (micro) payment system
2020-03-09 Making my own tablet OS
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2020-02-28 Your own addressbook and calendar cloud
2020-02-13 The day I sold my car
2020-01-28 Measuring cholesterol levels in blood
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2019-12-31 Whoop strap review: 24/7 wearable sensor
2019-12-01 Realtime human pose recognition through computer vision
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2019-10-19 Flying in a C47-A (DC-3) classic plane
2019-10-07 Multi-Window support in your iPad app
2019-09-27 Visiting an international hackers conference
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2019-08-28 Riding with a power meter on your bike
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2019-07-16 Limitations of sleep tracking using a wearable
2019-07-15 Optical vs chest strap heart rate monitors
2019-06-25 Assembling a cargo bike
2019-06-24 Six months with MCADD
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2019-05-24 Dig for dummies
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2019-04-25 Search like a pro: Google search operators
2019-03-31 WordPress: 10 tips to secure your website
2019-03-20 Servicing a robot vacuum cleaner
2019-02-28 Understanding the security concerns in shared hosting
2019-02-27 One year on the ultimate commuter bike
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2019-01-24 My first weeks as dad
2018-12-22 Business in a bag
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2018-11-16 Around town in an electric car
2018-11-02 Is the Apple Watch the modern tool watch?
2018-10-16 Rescuing files from a broken harddisk
2018-10-09 Using a budget Android as main smartphone
2018-09-27 Swimming and cycling with Apple Watch
2018-09-26 Optimising images for the web and performance
2018-08-21 Space travelling from El Teide
2018-08-20 Google Analytics vs AWStats
2018-07-20 Helping people with free software
2018-07-10 Enjoy a festival without alcohol
2018-06-09 Removing paint from a bike frame
2018-06-02 Creating a minimal iPhone stand
2018-05-17 Listen to your body
2018-05-09 Lunch by plane
2018-04-30 Off the grid: Working on 100% renewable energy
2018-04-18 Outside the comfort zone: amateur acting
2018-03-10 Cyber security: 5 easy tips to protect your server against hackers
2018-03-07 Tablet as main computer
2018-02-24 Creating the ultimate commuter bike
2018-02-21 Updating Snake '97
2018-01-21 Something the smartwatch will never have: patina
2018-01-08 Lessons from a takeaway plastic bag
2017-12-02 Commuting by bike
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2017-10-23 From tree to table
2017-09-14 Saving a MacBook Air with exploded battery
2017-09-02 Climbing Mount Etna
2017-08-31 Clouds below my floor
2017-07-31 The day I killed my LAN
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2017-01-30 iPad Pro next to my primary machine
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