Can i take a HD from one macbook and place it in another

[saopem]

Awhile back i spilled water on my macbook, a friend of mine pulled the hard drive and let me know it was still intact. My problem is this... I want to take my old HD and put it in my friends macbook, use an external hard drive and take all my files out, then place the original HD back in my friends computer. Is this possible? Anything I should watch out for? Some feedback and help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

It will work, if the OS on your HDD is at least the OS the friend's MB came with. But you can also boot a Mac from an external HDD in a USB enclosure via System Preferences > Startup Disk.
You can also just connect the HDD and copy data via Finder. No need to boot from it.

 

[saopem]

It will work, if the OS on your HDD is at least the OS the friend's MB came with. But you can also boot a Mac from an external HDD in a USB enclosure via System Preferences > Startup Disk.
You can also just connect the HDD and copy data via Finder. No need to boot from it.

Thanks for your answer, but I am a noobie at all of this. Could you explain booting a mac from an external in a USB enclousure? Also how would i connect the HDD and copy data via finder? Im a little lost.

Thanks so much for your help

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Thanks for your answer, but I am a noobie at all of this. Could you explain booting a mac from an external in a USB enclousure? Also how would i connect the HDD and copy data via finder? Im a little lost.

Thanks so much for your help

To connect the HDD to a Mac you could get a enclosure for 2.5" S-ATA HDDs (around 10€) with a USB interface to connect the enclosure via USB to the Mac.
To boot from an external device either go via System Preferences > Startup Disk or hold down the OPTION/ALT key right after the startup chime sounds, which will get you to the boot selection screen.
Maybe this can help a bit:
MacBook, MacBook Pro: Replacing the Hard Disk Drive, transferring data to the new HDD

 

[saopem]

To connect the HDD to a Mac you could get a enclosure for 2.5" S-ATA HDDs (around 10€) with a USB interface to connect the enclosure via USB to the Mac.
To boot from an external device either go via System Preferences > Startup Disk or hold down the OPTION/ALT key right after the startup chime sounds, which will get you to the boot selection screen.
Maybe this can help a bit:
MacBook, MacBook Pro: Replacing the Hard Disk Drive, transferring data to the new HDD

Thanks for the help im going to first try just swapping if that doesnt work ill try the enclosure, i just found one online for abt 5 US dollars

 

[Fishrrman]

Get one of these:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=usb+sata+dock&x=0&y=0
(many items shown, pick one you like best, they're all essentially the same in function)

It will prove VERY useful to you, both now and in the future.
You can even boot from it (on an Intel-based Mac).