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war eagle

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 24, 2008
649
7
My girlfriend is getting a new MacBook Air her display and logic board crapped out on her but she wants her pictures off her old one. I took the hard drive out of it yesterday but how can I get her pictures and stuff off that hard drive and into the new one?
 

cmwade77

macrumors 65816
Nov 18, 2008
1,071
1,200
I would recommend getting a SATA external enclosure (3.5 inch), they are usually about $20 at Fry's. Virtually any of them should work, but to be safe you could look for one that says it's Mac compatible.

Then you simply install the drive in it and plug it in as an external USB drive. (Note: Depending on the model of enclosure and size of the drive, you may need to use both USB ports to properly power it)

Alternatively there are simple adapters that cost slightly less called SATA to USB adapters, I recommend the enclosure, because then you can reuse the hard drive at least.
 

Aboo

macrumors 65816
Jul 7, 2008
1,014
106
I would recommend getting a SATA external enclosure (3.5 inch), they are usually about $20 at Fry's. Virtually any of them should work, but to be safe you could look for one that says it's Mac compatible.

Then you simply install the drive in it and plug it in as an external USB drive. (Note: Depending on the model of enclosure and size of the drive, you may need to use both USB ports to properly power it)

Alternatively there are simple adapters that cost slightly less called SATA to USB adapters, I recommend the enclosure, because then you can reuse the hard drive at least.

Don't the macbook airs use a 1.8" drive with a ZIF connector? In that case, I don't think they will fit in a regular SATA enclosure would they?
 

jdechko

macrumors 601
Jul 1, 2004
4,230
325
cmwade77, unfortunately, it's not that simple for the Air.

Don't the macbook airs use a 1.8" drive with a ZIF connector? In that case, I don't think they will fit in a regular SATA enclosure would they?

The original model uses a PATA-ZIF connector, but the Rev B & C use SATA-LIF connector. You'd need some sort of adapter (or 2 or 3). A quick google search yields a few results that you might check out.

EDIT: This site seems to have several adapters, although to make a better recommendation as to which specific adapter, can you tell us which model your GF had?

EDIT 2: Also, if she's getting a new Air to replace her old Air, assuming they're the same model/spec, why not install the old drive into the new computer and then you don't have to restore anything. (Just get an external drive for backups in the future).
 

halledise

macrumors 68000
My girlfriend is getting a new MacBook Air her display and logic board crapped out on her but she wants her pictures off her old one. I took the hard drive out of it yesterday but how can I get her pictures and stuff off that hard drive and into the new one?

Apple Store is your friend here. :D
if you are purchasing thru them, take the expired machine into them and they'll do it for you.
they may want to charge you a small fee, but seeing as they're selling your GF a new one they should do it for gratis
 

war eagle

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 24, 2008
649
7
cmwade77, unfortunately, it's not that simple for the Air.



The original model uses a PATA-ZIF connector, but the Rev B & C use SATA-LIF connector. You'd need some sort of adapter (or 2 or 3). A quick google search yields a few results that you might check out.

EDIT: This site seems to have several adapters, although to make a better recommendation as to which specific adapter, can you tell us which model your GF had?

EDIT 2: Also, if she's getting a new Air to replace her old Air, assuming they're the same model/spec, why not install the old drive into the new computer and then you don't have to restore anything. (Just get an external drive for backups in the future).

I would do that but I'm kinda scared to go in the new machine and take the hard drive out. I took it out the old one because it was broke so I wasn't worried any breaking anything. It's not hard but it's really that audio cord in it that scares me.
Also she has the REV A 1.6 ghz
 

wakka092

macrumors 6502
Jun 20, 2007
344
0
I had to install Mac OS X on an external hard drive and boot from it to get data off an unbootable drive, but since your logic board is dead, here's an adapter - $13. :)

ZIF to SATA adapter
 
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