Mac OS X file recovery

[Dave2002]

I have previously used Recuva to successfully list and recover files on Windows systems. Does anyone recommend anything similar for OS X - preferably free. Someone has a camera card - presumably SDHC - and wants to try to recover photos.

A quick search suggests there are tools, but recommendations may help to avoid poor ones, or ones which dump malware onto one's system.

[Anastasius]

You might like to try Image Rescue 4. Make sure that you download it directly from their website and not from any site like CNET etc which guarantees to load your Mac with spyware and Adware.

[Dave2002]

You might like to try Image Rescue 4. Make sure that you download it directly from their website and not from any site like CNET etc which guarantees to load your Mac with spyware and Adware.

Thanks for the tip. I think that may have actually been what we used (not on my machine - on a PC, so I'm slightly less bothered about what bad stuff came down .... I know that's not very charitable, but what can I do? ....) and we were able to recover some, possibly all, of the files. For the Mac there's a program called EaseUS which also seems to do the job - slightly different, but does work. However, I do get really concerned about the way in which tools like this - some of which clearly are very useful - are presented.

1. They often pretend to be free - but in many cases it's only the download which is free. Actually using the software "for real" costs - sometimes quite a lot.
Some are less bad, in that they do offer a free but limited (but "perfect") service, while others mess about and don't provide a "perfect" output - e.g put watermarks on images, put noise on sound, otherwise distort the required output etc.

2. Often tools are bundled with other stuff one really doesn't want, or to have anywhere on one's machine.

I hit another one today, which I really want. I have used Soundflower for audio before, but it seems that I don't have it on the machine I'm currently using. There are several sites which claim to have the last/latest version, but it's clear that some are going to install downloaders and perhaps other junk before I can download that software. Maybe I should just migrate it from one of my other machines - though not sure if it would work as the OS versions are probably different.

If anyone can recommend a site where I can download a recent version of Soundflower without attracting all the junk I'd be grateful. Trying to get things done is beginning to seem like hacking through a jungle.

[Anastasius]

I don't really follow what you are complaining about. All the programs that I use clearly state whether or not it is a demo version and whether or not it has certain limitations with the free version. I don't have any difficulty with 'presentation'.

And so why would you object to paying for a fully-fledged version?

Try Rogue Amoeba for Soundflower

[Dave2002]

I don't really follow what you are complaining about. All the programs that I use clearly state whether or not it is a demo version and whether or not it has certain limitations with the free version. I don't have any difficulty with 'presentation'.

And so why would you object to paying for a fully-fledged version?

Try Rogue Amoeba for Soundflower

Reputation and Trust are significant factors in a lot of what we do now. It was always thus, but it seemed simpler years ago. If you go into Sainsbury's and buy a can of Heinz tomato soup you have expectations of taste, quality and safety. Go into Dodgy Den's little shop and buy a cheap can of tomato soup, and you might expect to get a less good product. However, Dodgy Den may be selling Heinz tomato soup - would you expect it to be as good as an apparently similar can bought from Sainsbury's?

In the UK we generally have good standards re products, but elsewhere things are not always what they might seem.

Now, would you trust Dodgy Den any more than Cheapo Bill's Money Saver Emporium? Rogue Amoeba sounds suspect, but if you say it's OK then I might try it!

Doing things online does seem to present potential problems which older methods of working didn't, though this may be illusory, and simply appears that way because it's possible to do more things, and do them faster.

Re paying "full price" - surely it depends what the product is.. There's no point in paying for an expensive product if it's not really necessary, or if a significantly cheaper one will do as well.

[Anastasius]

You're too paranoid for me!

You're moving goal posts. We were not talking about iffy software but the 'presentation' - as you put it. As I said, all the software that I use came with clear statements as to what you were getting with the free version etc.

Do you use Audio Hijack Pro (or is the title too dodgy for you to use?). If you do then who do you think wrote it?

[Dave2002]

I have seen and read about software which is "guaranteed to be virus free" etc., but which clearly isn't. You mentioned sites like CNET, but some of those claim to have checked out what they distribute - but strange things can happen when using them. I mentioned Dodgy Den, but he may in fact be selling perfectly good cans of soup, both cheap unbranded and also Heinz. Others, with more prestigious names, may actually be distributing poor quality goods.

In the UK for general goods there is mostly not a problem, but in some countries there can be big problems. A particularly worrying area is in fake drug production, where even if the original products are good, the distribution chain is corrupt, and products are diverted. A sadly not un typical example is of anti-malarial drugs, which get substituted with seemingly identical products which are ineffectve. As a result of that people get ill, and some may die.

There seem to be few levels to which some people will not sink in order to make a profit for themselves at the expense of others. I repeat - Reputation and Trust, and even Reputation doesn't always work, particularly if fake products are substituted. In software production and distribution the original software may be very good, but the distributors may bundle it with other junk, or modify it for reasons unwanted by the user. It is also the case that some software is not good, but without reliable and trustworthy sources of information, it can be hard to check it all out.

[Anastasius]

That's why right at the start I said only download from the original supplier. CNET uses or used to use something called Download which itself was an app and dumped some adware muck on your Mac without so much as a bye-your-leave.

If you can't download from the original site (maybe it was someone creating a program that was free) but it is no longer supported or available from there then either don't download it from any other source or if you do make sure you are running something like Sophos. If neither approach appeals then go and use a different program. It's really that easy.

Or just use programs from the App Store.

Simple.

Not sure of the relevance of counterfeit drugs to the discussion or unbranded baked beans.