Accessing data on dead MacBook hard drive

Hello!

Several weeks ago, my twin daughters accidentally dumped tea on my 2009 MacBook Pro, didn't tell me about it, and it's dead. I replaced that unit with a new MacBook Pro yesterday (and my girls owe me about 200 years worth of allowance) but I'm wondering if my data can be retrieved off the old unit's hard drive.

Before you ask...I do have off-site backup thru Carbonite which is currently running on my new unit and restoring my files. They may not end up in the right place, like they would if I was using an external hard drive backup with time machine...but at least I've got them.

Anyway...is there anything I can do with the old hard drive to try to see if it still works and maybe get some files off of it? Can I use one of those hard drive enclosures and plug it in my new unit? I'm not a techie...so I am not sure what my next steps should be. Any advice for me?

I would get a 3.5@ enclosure and try that, chances are the tea damaged the motherboard (unless it was a full cup) and the hard drive is still OK

You'll actually need a SATA 2.5" enclosure. An inexpensive one will do fine as long as it connects to your new MBP via USB or FW. You can find inexpensive enclosures at Best Buy, Fry's, or other stores that sell computer accessories.

Very wise of you to have everything backed up before hand! Not too many folks that post here about spills have done that. Good for you.

thanks for correcting me chscag

Thanks y'all! Once I get the enclosure and hook it up to my new unit, what do I use to migrate the data over...is there a migrate utility?

Yes, use the Migration Assistant.app that's located in Applications, Utilities.
Good luck with the procedure and let us know how it went.