MBP Hard Drive Backup/Recover...???

Taking out MBP HDD and hooking it up to another MBP...???

The graphics card just went out on my MBP and I don't want to spend the money to take it to Apple to repair it. I want to just sell it now and get as much as I can for it.

But before selling it...I want to backup the data that is on the HD and than delete the data so that it will be clean for whoever/retailer I sell it to. The HD is still working/functioning and I was a fool and did not backup my data before the graphics card went out. I was lucky that I did save some important documents to a Flash drive but there is a lot more data that I believe I can recover/backup from the HD.

I called Apple and they said that I would have to do a DATA RECOVERY/BACKUP through a third party computer repair. I called a couple places around me...COST $65 BUCKS & UP just for this service. Thats HELLA EXPENSIVE. I don't want to spend that much and I am thinking of other options. I am not a certified computer/Mac technician...BUT I do know how to take things apart and put them back together and am very hands-on/tech oriented when it comes to servicing/cleaning things.

I am lucky that there are 3 extra MBP users in my house and I thought of a last resort/idea that might just work:

Is it possible to take out the HD from the broken MBP and replace it inside one of the working/good MBP's and recover/backup my data that way...???

Has anyone tried this before? Did it work? Any other solutions/ways I can go about this without going to a computer repair shop? HELP?!?!?!?!?!?!

Thanks.

Decepticon_GTR said:

Is it possible to take out a perfectly fine working/functioning HD from a broken MBP and replace/put it inside a working MBP to recover/back up the data that is there...???

Anyone done this before? Did it work? How did you do it? HELP!?!?!?!?!?

Click to expand...

Yes, it will work, as long as the OS on the hard drive is compatible with the good MBP. For instance, if the hard drive had Snow Leopard or Lion installed and you put it in a MBP that shipped with Mountain Lion or Mavericks that would be a no no. Same as if you tried to boot Lion, Mountain Lion or Mavericks in a very early MBP (using a core duo processor) that could only take up to Snow Leopard.

You might find it easier buying a 2.5" USB case to put your hard drive in, or a caddy, then accessing on the good MBP. The cases are cheap.

You do not want to place it inside another Mac - it may or may not boot depending on multiple factors.

Buy something like this or this.
You can find similar at Amazon for possibly cheaper.

Then you just attach it externally, copy your data over and use Disk Utility to wipe the drive or keep it as a backup drive.

techiesteve said:

Yes, it will work, as long as the OS on the hard drive is compatible with the good MBP. For instance, if the hard drive had Snow Leopard or Lion installed and you put it in a MBP that shipped with Mountain Lion or Mavericks that would be a no no. Same as if you tried to boot Lion, Mountain Lion or Mavericks in a very early MBP (using a core duo processor) that could only take up to Snow Leopard.

You might find it easier buying a 2.5" USB case to put your hard drive in, or a caddy, then accessing on the good MBP. The cases are cheap.

Click to expand...

I found some 3.5" enclosures/caddy's on Craigslist. Will 2.5" HD fit in a 3.5" enclosure...or do I HAVE TO get 2.5"...????

I am probably gonna do the HD swap thing first and see if it will work. If it doesn't I will take it out, buy the enlcosure/caddy and put it in there and use it as a external HD.

Thanks for the info/help guys. Appreciate it.