Hard Drive on broken MacBook Pro

WillNicholls

WillNicholls

Suspended / Banned
Messages
2,004
Name
Will
Edit My Images
No
Hi,

So having broken my MacBook Pro (fried the connection between screen and motherboard/logic board apparently?) I need to get a presentation off the hard drive.
Is it possible to do this?

The hard drive is still working - the computer occasionally blinked on and everything was still there. However it's not doing so anymore.


Thanks
Will
 
Yes, the data should still be intact it is rare that a main-board failure destroys the disk - even then there are tools to recover the data. You will need access to another computer, ideally a mac, but any computer that can read the file system will do. Normally mac's come with support from the Apple chappies, they would be the first port of call I would think - assuming one is not too far away. Otherwise plug the disk (as a secondary disk) into another box and read it from there.
 
A young friend has had what appears to be a mainboard failure on her MBP this weekend. At first we thought it was the HDD because it wouldn't boot, but further investigation proved otherwise. If you want to recover the HDD yourself you will need tiny screwdrivers to remove the bottom casing - I suggest visiting Maplin and picking up one of the Rolson screwdriver bit sets for about £3.99 as they seem better quality and fit than some of the other cheap sets. There's 10 screws on the base, and once you're inside 2 more holding the drive in. The drive will fit a standard SATA caddy or you can connect it using conventional SATA cables.

As Paul says, if you want the machine sorted without fuss then you'll need to make an appointment with a 'genius' at your local Apple store. Hope you had it backed up.
 
Will, have you tried booting into target mode? If you have no luck with that, it's a 30 minute job if you DIY. It will be pointless to go to a genius if the Pro is knackered, although a new logic board will be around £500 inc vat, so you may want to think about a full repair job - don't get Apple to do it though as I believe the current fee is around £900!
 
Forgot to add, look on I fixit for videos and tutorials plus spare parts
 
Crucial for new drive. If it's an older mbp you can replace stuff. Newer ones you can't.
 
You will be able to boot of a Linux live CD or USB drive and access your files that way.
 
Can you not plug in an external monitor and use the computer that way?
 
BTW that apparent hard drive/motherboard failure in my friends MBP turned out to be a failed SATA cable, though why that should fail I have NO idea.
 
I've read that it is possible to connect the macbook to another machine to use as an external drive, that might be one way. Another is to remove the drive from the macbook and put it in one of those empty cases that you can get on ebay for a tenner that'll turn it into an external drive. I used one when installing a new hard drive into my old macbook and wanted to clone my existing data to the new one.
 
Hi Will,

How old is the laptop? do you know if the hard drive is a sata/ssd or one of the fancy new flash drives?

If you're having issues and they plan on charging you a lot of money send me an email or Facebook message and I'll help you out.

p.s. I hope you had a great trip, have you recovered yet and more importantly did your mam save you plenty of mince pies?
 
KayJay said:
I've read that it is possible to connect the macbook to another machine to use as an external drive, that might be one way. Another is to remove the drive from the macbook and put it in one of those empty cases that you can get on ebay for a tenner that'll turn it into an external drive. I used one when installing a new hard drive into my old macbook and wanted to clone my existing data to the new one.
Click to expand...
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH10725

you need firewire to firewire or thunderbolt to thunderbolt.

if the logic board is toast however that may not work.
 
Had the logic board replaced on my 2011 15inch MacBook Pro a month ago, was around £350, although through AppleCare , so I didn't have to pay it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top