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Use old HDD as external harddrive

P

p.helwig

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 19, 2012
31
0
Hey there,

About a year ago dad accidentally spoiled tea over is macbook so it broke.
Now he asked me to open it up and see if he could maybe re-use some of the parts that were still functioning. So I opened it up and saw that the motherboard was partly covered in a mix of dryed dust and tea :rolleyes:

But the harddrive and RAM still looked perfect, probably because they are further away from the fan opening (thats where the tea came in). So I was thinking he could maybe use the HDD as an external harddrive. I've heard about people replacing there drives for bigger ones or SSD's and using the old one externally.

So my question is: Is there some way I can turn this HDD into an external one?
(maybe some sort of case with a usb cable coming out?)
He is now using a macbook pro.

Thanks for helping me out :)
 
Yes, that is possible.

Newegg and many other electronics retailers have USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 enclosures for 2.5" S-ATA HDDs, normally costing less than 30 USD.

See the following guide for links to HDD replacement guides (in order to remove the HDD) and for an example of such enclosure:

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

the guide includes:
  • 0. Identify your MacBook or MacBook Pro
  • 1. Getting a new HDD
  • 2. Guides to replace the internal HDD with a newer one
  • 3. Transferring data from the old HDD to the new HDD
  • 4. Using the optical disk drive (ODD) slot for placing an SSD or HDD inside the MB/P (OPTIBAY)
​
 
In case you want an easier guide here's a basic step by step:

1) Buy an external enclosure. Newegg.com is a great place for these. make sure it's for a 2.5" Harddrive as that's what's in the macbook.
2) Remove the harddrive and place it into the enclosure. It should be pretty snug. Should just push into the SATA connector on the inside.
3) Plug cable into the enclosure and into new computer. It should read it no problem.

You MIGHT need to re-format the drive but I doubt it. If you want to just use for for storage (as if it were a new blank drive) I'd suggest re-formatting it anyway just to make sure it's cleared off.
 
simsaladimbamba said:
Yes, that is possible.

Newegg and many other electronics retailers have USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 enclosures for 2.5" S-ATA HDDs, normally costing less than 30 USD.

See the following guide for links to HDD replacement guides (in order to remove the HDD) and for an example of such enclosure:

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

the guide includes:
  • 0. Identify your MacBook or MacBook Pro
  • 1. Getting a new HDD
  • 2. Guides to replace the internal HDD with a newer one
  • 3. Transferring data from the old HDD to the new HDD
  • 4. Using the optical disk drive (ODD) slot for placing an SSD or HDD inside the MB/P (OPTIBAY)
​
Click to expand...

Hey, Thanks for helping me out :)
I already got the HDD out of the macbook so all I really need to do is get the enclosure right?
I thought this maybe what you're talking about:

http://www.4allshop.nl/CMP-MOBSTOR13?ref=tweakers

I'm from the netherlands but I think the picture says enough.

What do you think?

----------
AcesHigh87 said:
In case you want an easier guide here's a basic step by step:

1) Buy an external enclosure. Newegg.com is a great place for these. make sure it's for a 2.5" Harddrive as that's what's in the macbook.
2) Remove the harddrive and place it into the enclosure. It should be pretty snug. Should just push into the SATA connector on the inside.
3) Plug cable into the enclosure and into new computer. It should read it no problem.

You MIGHT need to re-format the drive but I doubt it. If you want to just use for for storage (as if it were a new blank drive) I'd suggest re-formatting it anyway just to make sure it's cleared off.
Click to expand...

Thank you :) I love you guys
 
As you are from the Netherlands

As you are from the Netherlands that I have read has many excellent local businesses catering to maintaining Apple computers, I would see if the logic board and whatever else was damaged by liquid could be replaced for far less than the cost of the Macbook. In the United States I was able to take my mid 2007 Macbook to an Apple Retail Store which in turn through the Genius Bar sent the Macbook in for depot repair for a total cost of around $300 USD, with logic board and keyboard replaced. Then you would have a fully functional Macbook which I have found is perfectly usable even today.
 
Please excuse me if you've already tried this, but after brushing off the crud (static free) there's a chance that that this motherboard might work again. It's not impossible at least.
 
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