Apple iMac G4 Data Recovery – Coventry Data Recovery

Coventry Data Recovery is the UK’s leading expert in recovering data from legacy Apple systems including the iMac G4. With over 25 years of experience, our engineers specialise in hardware-level diagnostics and forensic data reconstruction from Apple file systems and drives that are no longer supported by modern repair shops or Apple service centres.

In this case, our client—a professional accountant—experienced a boot failure on their iMac G4 which displayed a sad face followed by a folder with a question mark icon, indicating that the system could not detect a valid boot volume. The client’s drive contained financial records for 52 clients, including Excel documents and Sage Accounts data, making recovery time-critical.

⚠ Symptom: Sad Face and Question Mark on Boot

The “sad Mac” icon followed by a folder with a question mark is typically associated with:

  • Corrupt HFS or HFS+ file system
  • Failing IDE/PATA hard disk
  • Missing or damaged macOS system files
  • Inaccessible startup volume due to directory structure corruption
  • Firmware-related drive detection failure

🔧 Technical Recovery Process: iMac G4 with Boot Failure

1. Drive Removal and Controlled Imaging

  • The iMac G4’s hard disk (commonly a PATA/IDE interface) is carefully extracted in a static-safe cleanroom environment.
  • We perform a sector-level clone of the failing drive using forensic imagers capable of bypassing unreadable sectors, ensuring a non-destructive recovery workflow.

2. Media-Level Assessment

  • The physical condition of the drive is assessed for:
    • Read/write head alignment issues
    • Surface-level degradation or bad sectors
    • Mechanical wear consistent with legacy drives
  • If required, we use donor heads in a Class 100 cleanroom to stabilise access to platters.

3. Volume Structure Reconstruction

  • Our data recovery tools are macOS-optimised to reconstruct HFS/HFS+ volume structures.
  • Damaged catalog B-trees and volume headers are rebuilt using raw data analysis and pattern recognition.
  • We map the logical structure to restore file paths, metadata, and time stamps.

4. File System Recovery and Validation

  • Files such as .xls, .xlsx, .csv, .zip, and proprietary Sage .001/.sdf/.mdb files are recovered using file carving techniques where directory entries are lost.
  • Data is checked for integrity and completeness using signature-based validation and internal consistency tests for account database files.

5. Data Extraction and Delivery

  • Recovered files are extracted from the forensic image and exported to a modern file system (e.g., exFAT) for compatibility.
  • Sensitive financial data is verified using checksums and manually validated for usability in current Sage and Excel versions.

💻 Supported Apple Systems

We recover data from all Apple Mac platforms including:

  • iMac G3, G4, G5 (PPC Architecture)
  • Intel-based iMacs
  • Fusion Drive and SSD configurations

🧠 Supported Apple File Systems

  • HFS (Hierarchical File System)
  • HFS+ (Mac OS Extended)
  • APFS (Apple File System – newer systems)

⚙️ Why Choose Coventry Data Recovery?

  • 25+ years of Apple-specific recovery experience
  • Hardware access to legacy IDE/PATA disks and Apple proprietary formats
  • Full forensic diagnostics and non-destructive recovery process
  • Specialists in Excel and Sage accounting data recovery
  • Secure handling of sensitive business records

🆘 Urgent Apple iMac G4 Recovery? Contact Us

If your Apple iMac G4 displays a sad face or flashing folder with a question mark, the internal drive is either corrupted or no longer accessible. Our engineers are highly trained in handling vintage Apple hardware and recovering irreplaceable business data, even when other companies cannot.

Coventry Data Recovery – The UK’s Leading Apple iMac Recovery Experts

📞 Contact us today for a free diagnostics and expert advice.