Help with hard drive recovery please

[Lynne326]

Hello. I have a macbook pro that the genius bar guy told me needs a new logic board. They can send it in and replace it and the repairs will include replacing anything that is not working correctly.

Trouble is, they will replace the hard drive if it is not working, (I think it's fine), but I don't have a very recent backup and need to retrieve my files before having them do the work, just in case.

I would be EXTREMELY appreciative if someone could point me in the right direction on how to do this. I know I can pull the hard drive and put in an enclosure, but that's all I know right now.

I need to know exactly the steps to follow and what I need in order to accomplish the retrieval. I know how to open up the macbook and get to and remove the HD, just need to know how to proceed after that. If you know of a site that shows the steps that would be great!

Thanks so much!

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Do you have access to another Mac?
If so, put the HDD inside some cheap USB enclosure (10€) and use CarbonCopyCloner to make a 1:1 copy (clone) to another HDD (external one).
Or do you need even more detailed instructions?

MacBook, MacBook Pro: Replacing the Hard Disk Drive, transferring data to the new HDD​

How to format a new HDD/SSD to install Mac OS X or make a bootable copy onto​

 

[MarkH356]

Buy an external USB drive and use Time Machine to backup your existing HD.
If they replace the HD with a new one, you can always use Migration Assistant to copy all of your settings, applications and documents back from the Time Machine archive to your new HD and you'll have your system back as it was, but on a new drive.

 

[Lynne326]

Mark, thank you for the suggestion, however, I can't boot up my Mac right now due to the logic board issue in order to use time machine.

simsaladimbamba, great information, thank you! I realized I didn't clarify a couple of things. No, I don't have access to another Mac, only an inferior PC,(although happy to have it right now )

What I was hoping to do was to just get the HD copied/cloned so I have my data just in case the repair dudes decide to replace my HD (I was told they may do this) when they test all components along with installing a new logic board.

So, I guess I want to take the HD out, put it in an enclosure and copy it to some type of external drive. Is this correct? I guess it would be the same as a data recovery.

How can I know all files have been copied and being a Mac, is there a special type of external drive I would need, if indeed, this is the way to go? Does it copy/clone everything? Emails, applications, etc.?

Thanks again!!!

 

[MarkH356]

Good point, forgot about the logic board being rather important.

I'd check your friends/relatives/local library or internet cafe to see if anyone has a Mac. If you have your old HD in an external enclosure, you could boot from it and then do a Time Machine backup to a second HD in another usb enclosure.

Not sure an old PC will be able to copy the Mac drive.