How to get data off of Macbook Harddrive

[Le Big Mac]

My wife spilled coffee into her MacBook (late 2007 version). Yeah, nice work. Anyway, early assessment is the MB is a goner ($900 repair) but the hard drive may be okay.

In theory it's all backed up on my Time Capsule, but . . .

If I need to get the data off (assuming the drive works) can I put it in an enclosure? Any specific one? Or can I simply get a cable and connect it? What cable?

I realize a cable, if possible, is a one-time solution. Ideally I'd get an enclosure and repurpose the drive. But it may be that I can get only one or two uses out of it, with the coffee stains and such.

Also, could I use an existing enclosure? I have a couple of external drives from OWC . . .

Thanks!

 

[MacDawg]

Not sure of the MacBook model you have
If it has Firewire, you can use Target Disk mode and an ethernet cable
Otherwise, an external enclosure is your best bet

 

[robbieduncan]

Pretty much any SATA<->USB (or Firewire) enclosure or cable will work. The only think you need to ensure is that it's for laptop drives, not desktop ones.

 

[Le Big Mac]

Not sure of the MacBook model you have
If it has Firewire, you can use Target Disk mode and an ethernet cable
Otherwise, an external enclosure is your best bet

I don't think the Macbook is going to boot up even in target mode (I assume you mean FW cable)

It's the Rev. D MacBook from late 2007.

 

[ftaok]

I recommend the Macally PHR-S250CC. It sports both USB2 and FW connections to your SATA drive.

 

[polotska]

Yes, pull the drive and use a SATA to FW/USB enclosure.

 

[markfrautschi]

Instructions on pulling the drive

Please visit http://www.ifixit.com/ and get instructions for your version MBP.

Mark

 

[Le Big Mac]

Thanks everyone. So basically I can follow the hard drive removal instruction from ifixit (or wherever) and pop the drive into an enclosure like the Macally and then, assuming the drive is alive, plug it in by FW cable or USB, and recover data and, potentially, even boot from it.

Edit: Would this product also suit my needs? http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/ES2.5BPU2W/

I realize it doesn't have FW, so not a boot disk.

This seems less painful (I hope) that I expected it might be.

 

[Hmac]

I have one of these - just pop any 2.5 or 3.5 SATA drive in it like a piece of bread in a toaster and the drive shows up on your desktop ready for drag and drop.

 

[GfulDedFan]

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You can boot your MacBook via a bootable external drive connected by USB. Your options are described above (enclosure or cradle) and I saw another kind of device HERE. It looks interesting and versatile.

 

[Altemose]

I would get a cheap adapter and not even bother with repurposing it after you recover it. There is no exact answer as to what the coffee did, even if the drive looks okay. I would just write the drive off also and clone it ASAP.