Recovering data from SSD in old MacBook Pro that's dead

Hi everyone,

I'm new here and have what I believe to be a simple task. I recently bought a MacBook Pro 2017 to replace my 2011 model. The old machine had issues with the power connection (not the cord) where it was difficult to get it to charge. Now I can't get it to charge at all.

The old machine has a SSD that I installed a year ago. What I'd like to do is to get the data from it. I have an Anker USB 3.0 2.5 inch External Enclosure Case and I put the SSD in it and tried to get it to show up on my new machine. That didn't work. I also tried to boot from it, but that didn't work either.

How would I go about getting the data from this disk? Thanks for any help!

Mike

Welcome to our forums.

Are you sure the case you're using is compatible with that SSD? It sounds like the case is either not compatible or defective. (assuming the SSD is ok) Which SSD is it?

How do you know it didn't show up on your new MBP? Did you look in Finder? Did you look in Disk Utility?

Foremost condition for data recovery is that your SSD/HDD should show up in the Disk Utility. Are you able to see your drive in the left panel of the DU interface? If its shows up then you can restore it to another location. If the SSD is unmounted then I guess you require a data recovery software.

julie.haynes said:

Foremost condition for data recovery is that your SSD/HDD should show up in the Disk Utility. Are you able to see your drive in the left panel of the DU interface? If its shows up then you can restore it to another location. If the SSD is unmounted then I guess you require a data recovery software.

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I just looked in the finder. I'll try Disk Utility. As for the enclosure for the SSD, I used it when installing it, so I know it's compatible. If the drive shows in DU, how do get the files from it? I just want to get some files from it, mostly music. I don't need the disk to be restored, just get some things from it. Can I selectively copy files from it?

You will need to use Finder to recover files. You can look in Finder > Preferences, also try “command+,” to open Finder Preferences. Check for Sidebar options to make sure Display > Hard drives, External drives, are checked.

All of those are checked but it still didn't show up. Would it have something to do with the fact that it is a bootable disk?

No, bootable or not it should show up in Finder or DU. Check you cable from the enclosure and or try a different input port. Surprisingly cables are often an issue.

Using Disk Utility, try to restore your SSD. Select the drive and go to Edit <<Restore. It will help you to copy all your data. Also, if the problem persists after using the Disk Utility option then I would recommend you to try data recovery software.