Recover data from an iMac hard drive

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Level 1

4 points

Recover data from an iMac hard drive

Hello,

my imac (24 inch late 2009) just gave up on me (screen problem). I would like to recover data from the hard drive which is not original. It was replaced 3 years ago and works normally: I hear it running normally and the disks were checked by the Mac OS utility yesterday. Do you know of a solution that would allow me to remove the hard drive and connect it via usb to another mac? I saw that there are adapters for IDE disks but not sure that they work with the specific connectors on imac hard disks. Thanks for your help.

iMac 27″, macOS 10.13

Posted on Mar 8, 2024 10:14 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

den.thed

Level 10

94,200 points

Mar 8, 2024 11:03 AM in response to Lilex

The Late 2009 24" iMac has a 3.5" SATA Hard Drive.

If you remove the drive from the iMac, you can use a SATA to USB adapter, Drive Dock or External Drive enclosure.

For some examples:

Drive Adapter > https://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/U3NV2SPATA/

Drive Dock > https://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/U3S3HD/?

Drive Enclosure > https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/ME3NH7T00U/?

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Answer 2

Mar 8, 2024 11:44 AM in response to Lilex

Since the computer is alive except for the screen, you can also try Target Disk Mode:

Transfer files between two Mac computers using target disk mode - Apple Support

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Answer 3

rkaufmann87

Level 10

148,872 points

Mar 11, 2024 4:02 AM in response to Lilex

It is also, pretty straight-forward to remove the HD from an early 2009 24" model. However in 2009 please know there were early 2009's (20" & 24") and also late 2009's (21.5" & 27". So before starting the work on removing be sure and measure the display to verify you have an early 2009! Below is a link that provides a video that shows the steps and necessary tools to do the work on early 2009 24" iMacs:

https://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/imac_24_0708e09_hd/iMac9-1-24/

If for some reason, you goofed and do not have an early 2009 model just click https://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos and you will be able locate the video for your model. If you need help doing that, just let us know.

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