Since Mac OS X Leopard, all MacBook Pro users can use what’s arguably the most user-friendly backup and versioning software for macOS: Time Machine.

Download, install, and launch Disk Drill on the working Mac and recover your data just like you would normally (see the next chapter for step-by-step instructions).

You can also activate Target Disk Mode by going to Apple menu > System Preferences > Startup Disk > Target Disk Mode.

Turn off your Mac and start it up while pressing and holding the T key.

Connect your Mac with another Mac using a FireWire or Thunderbolt cable.

Disk Drill is a great choice because a single Disk Drill activation code works on up to three computers.įollow these steps to retrieve your data using Target Disk Mode: This means that you can retrieve lost data from an unbootable Mac using data recovery software running on a different Mac. Simply put, Target Disk Mode can turn your Mac into an external storage device that you can access from another Mac using Thunderbolt or FireWire.

That’s bad news for those who would like to recover data from a MacBook Pro that doesn’t want to boot but don’t feel confident enough to take it apart.įortunately, Apple has a solution, and it’s called Target Disk Mode. For example, iFixit gave the latest MacBook Pro a repairability rating of just 1 out of 10 (10 is easiest to repair), stating that Apple still has a long way to go when it comes to designing serviceable devices. Truth be told, not all MacBooks are easy to take apart and service. Way 3: Retrieve Mac Data by Using Target Disk Mode If you’re using macOS Big Sur, use previously described method. While you can defragment the disk using the GUI disk defragment tool, I find knowing the command line tools to do the same make automation easier down the road.⚠️ Please remember that this method works only on macOS Catalina and older. The Windows defrag tool is intelligent enough to know it is running inside a VM, and will attempt to move all off the free space to the end of the disk, enabling it to be compacted most effectively. We do this by using the Windows defrag tool to move all free space to the end of the disk, and then use sdelete from sysinternals to zero out the free space. To reclaim the most space from a dynamic disk, you will want to perform a few optimizations within the virtual machine first. I have now documented it here in case you run into this as well.

However, having not managed Hyper-V virtual machines before, compacting the disk was a new process for me. This being both the blessing and the curse of using dynamic, or thin provisioned, disks, it was not unexpected.

This morning I awoke to the Windows 10 VM I use for work having used almost all of my hard drive. Windows 10 Guest OS Dynamic Disk Compaction

Os x defragment disk