Data Recovery from Late 2008 Macbook Hard drive?

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Data Recovery from Late 2008 Macbook Hard drive?

I have a late 2008 Macbook. It was recently dropped by a child, resulting in it no longer turning on. (It worked one time when tried within about 12 hours after the fact and then wouldn't get past the Apple logo and spinning wheel on startup). I brought it to the Apple store and was told they were 99% sure it was just a failure in the hard drive cable. Unfortunately, I received a call sometime later saying it was not the cable, but the hard drive itself.

I am planning on having Apple replace the hard drive, but I am hesitant to pay them the requested $99 to retrieve data from the hard drive (which they say they believe they could do). I do not have an up-to-date version of Time Machine because I had been traveling for nearly a year with my Mac and had left my hard drive at home and, of course, this incident happened right after my arrival.

I was hoping I could do something like Firewire Target Disk Mode using my iMac ( http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661 ), but cannot do so because my Macbook does not have a Firewire port.

Does anyone have any solutions? If my only option is to pay Apple then I am resigned to that, but as I already have 95% of my data backed up & I only want a few files from a project I had invested quite some time into, I am hoping there is a way to recover the data myself.

Thanks in advance for your help.

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Aug 28, 2012 12:17 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

BGreg

Level 6

17,552 points

Aug 28, 2012 3:52 PM in response to mjfly

Be aware that if Apple replaces your hard drive, they normally keep the hard drive as a trade in on the new drive (which may be a refurbished hard drive). Because of personal data on the failing hard drive, some people have an issue with that.

If the drive is readable and not completely dead, you can pull the hard drive from the computer case, and hook it up with something like this. I've seen other solutions, same thought, for less on ebay.

And if you can pull the drive from the macbook yourself, you can also install a new drive yourself. There are instructions on ifixit.com and video's on OWC here.

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Answer 2

mjfly Author

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Aug 31, 2012 9:48 AM in response to BGreg

Thanks so much for your help.

I actually just stumbled across a flash drive onto which I had saved the majority of what I was missing from my Time Machine backup, so I really don't have anything I'd need Apple to do Data Recovery on.

In terms of replacing the hard drive though, would Apple still keep my hard drive even though I'd be paying full price for it as I'm out of warranty?

If I were to replace the hard drive myself, how would I know what hard drives are compatable with my Macbook? Are they rather universal? is there a capacity limit to the hard drive I could install? Apple quoted me a price of ~$200 to replace my existing (320 GB I believe) - would the price difference be significant?

Thanks again.

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Answer 3

BGreg

Level 6

17,552 points

Aug 31, 2012 12:20 PM in response to mjfly

Any 2.5" serial ATA (SATA) 9.5mm high hard drive will work in your macbook. You can buy a 320GB hard drive for between $50 and $100 with most in the $50 to $75 range. You can look over choices at Newegg. If it were me, I would get a Western Digital Scorpio Black drive, which come in a number of sizes up to 750GB. They come with a 5 year warranty versus others that have reduced recently to 2-3 years (I wouldn't install one with a one year warranty, which do exist).

To see how to install one, here's an installation video on a late 2008 macbook and a video on earlier macbooks. If you prefer written instructions, see this or this.

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Answer 4

mjfly Author

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Aug 31, 2012 8:21 PM in response to BGreg

Just to clarify, I could get a 500 GB hard drive (and even a 750 GB or 1 TB) and not have any issues with using that with my Macbook?

Also, one more problem: I have discarded the OS X Leopard install disk that came with my mac. Is there a way that I can install OS X without that particular disk? I was already planning on purchasing Snow Leopard so that I could upgrade to Mountain Lion - would this work in effectively the same way for me or would I then run into issues with repurchasing iLife etc. then as well?

Thanks again for all your help - you've been a lifesaver BGreg.

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Answer 5

BGreg

Level 6

17,552 points

Sep 1, 2012 3:21 PM in response to mjfly

I may have missed it ... late 2008 there were still the plastic-bodied macbooks and the aluminum-bodied macbook. I'm told the plastic macbooks have a max disk drive capacity of 500GB, and the aluminum-bodied macbooks are good upwards of 1TB. An important point to check is the drive height. Normal is 9.5mm (I believe all WD Scorpio Black drives are 9.5mm). Some are 12.5MM and some are less than 9.5mm. See what you have today, and likely it's 9.5mm, so replace with same. If you're in the US, you might confirm max capacity with OWC who also sell hard drives.

One other option .... a little more expensive, however, you could install a solid-state drive in your macbook. If you're able to use a smaller size, a 240GB drive is around $240 at OWC. Significant speed pickup for disk operations. If you consider this, remember for capacity you need to allow 10% or more for systems usage.

Going from Leopard to Mountain Lion, you may want to upgrade to current iLife programs. The only one no longer offered is iDVD, however. If you want a Snow Leopard level of iLife, Amazon or hardcoremac.com should still have the iLife package available.

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Answer 6

mjfly Author

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Sep 29, 2012 1:06 PM in response to BGreg

Wanted to make sure I thanked you - I'm on my Macbook now which is running Mountain Lion off of a Scorpio Black HD and everything is perfect.

Thanks so much for your help.

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Answer 7

BGreg

Level 6

17,552 points

Sep 29, 2012 2:15 PM in response to mjfly

Sounds like you're set for awhile with a nice setup. Thanks for letting me know you're all set!

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Answer 8

Jul 21, 2013 11:19 PM in response to mjfly

How was this hard disk corrupted?
Generally, a hard drive can be corrupted physically and logically. Physically corrupted drive often indicates the permanent data loss. However, the logically corrupted drive often can be fixed by formatting. The inner data also can be recovered at the aid of a recovery tool. What is your situation? If the drive is logically damaged, luckily, you can try a hard disk recovery software to get back your data and format this disk to see whether it can work as before. This software has offered four recovery options for you to choose. You can select anyone as you wish.

If this drive is physically damaged, you’d better send it to a data recovery company and pay some money to get back the data.
Note: You should keep your important data backed up on a separate drive in the future.
Beat wishes!

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Answer 9

Nov 9, 2014 10:34 AM in response to Floresmie

Hi Floresmie,

My MacBook 2008, alluminum is blocked after upgrading from Snow Leopard to Yosemite last friday. I didn't back up before upgrading (basic mistake, I know..) After taking my Mac to the Apple store, I have been told that the issue was the HD... and recomendend a data recovery service. My MacBook prompts OS X Installer so I cannot perform any other task on it.

In a PC I downloaded Wondershare software in an external HD but I dont know how to proceed after because the only opitions from OSX Installer are: "repair using Disk Utility, restore from a Time Machine backup, or perform others tasks using Utilities". From the Utilities menu (OS X Installer) the options are Firmware Password Utility, Disk Utility, Terminal and System Information.

Please advise me if I am missing something or if there is any other procedure to follow in order to recover data from my MacBook.

Thanks,

Cesar

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Answer 10

spudnuty

Level 5

7,116 points

Nov 9, 2014 11:46 AM in response to Cesar Aguilar

Cesar,

Please start a new post to address your issue.

If this were my machine I would proceed by pulling the hard drive and using an external dongle:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2036718/why-its-a-good-idea-to-own-a-usb-to-sata- adapter.html

to try to start it while plugged into another Mac. If it spins up you might be able to retrieve your data by using Data Rescue II or III. Often I have gotten it to spin up by quickly rotating it in the direction the platter would spin. If it spins I found you can usually retrieve all the data. Otherwise a data service.

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