How do I transfer files from a bad hard drive?

Hello,

Long-term lurker, first time poster. Hopefully you guys can help me out.

I had a MacBook Pro that unfortunately went bad on me. The Genius Bar people said it was the hard drive. Rather than spending a few hundred bucks on an hold computer, I just decided to buy new. So, my MacBook Air arrived today. I have a couple documents from the old computer that I'd really, really like to retrieve. Is that at all possible for me to do with a bad hard drive though? There's a wealth of info out there, but I thought I'd consult you guys to see what my best course of action would be.

Thanks in advance!

Since you didn't tell us anything about the bad hard drive, it depends....

Can you "see" the bad drive and your data from the Finder or by using Disk Utility? Can the drive be accessed at all?

Sorry, I guess more details would be helpful

The problem is that when I turn the computer on, it only goes to the gray screen and then the little loading circle just constantly spins. I can't get past that part. Does that make sense? Please let me know if not, and if there's any other info I can provide.

I'm not a tech guy, so this is all foreign to me... I don't know if file transfers happen from the desktop on the old computer or if I can do it without getting there, or how it works.

It sounds like the hard drive can not be accessed. Since the guys at the Apple store told you the drive was bad, it might mean your data can not be retrieved. However, you can try this:

Buy an external SATA USB hard drive carrier. Remove the hard drive from your old MacBook Pro and place it in the carrier and then attach it to your new MacBook Air. If you're lucky, you may be able to see the drive and extract the data from it that you need. No guaranty that this will work though especially if the drive is mechanically defective.

Thanks for the suggestion! Considering I just spent over a grand on a new Mac, I was looking for a way to do it without spending additional money. For instance, the instruction booklet talked about a way to do it when you first open your new Mac - I wasn't sure if the old Mac needed to be able to get to the Desktop, etc or how it works.