how do i retrieve files from old hard drive?

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how do i retrieve files from old hard drive?

I have just replaced my old HDD with a new one. Actually a friend did it for me. However, he did not save my files and apps onto any type of media before putting the new hdd in my macbook. So now I have my new hdd in my macbook, and all the apps and files I need in my old hdd which is now just in a anti static bag. How do I get my data from the old one to the new one? I'm new with Macs too so speak cromagnon for me please. and I have a 500 gig Mimedia shuttle drive, but when I plug it into my usb drive, I don't see it listed anywhere. Help 😝

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.4)

Posted on Jun 16, 2013 9:18 PM

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Answer 1

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Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Jun 16, 2013 9:24 PM in response to eyekilmee

Get and external USB enclosure for a 2.5" SATA notebook drive, and put your old drive into the enclosure so you can use it as an external drive. Here's an example:

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Answer 2

eyekilmee Author

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Jun 16, 2013 9:31 PM in response to Kappy

thanks for the help kappy... I do have a Mimedia Shutttle drive which is basically a sata enclosure and 500 gig hdd. I removed the hdd and put my old one in the chasis and plugged in the usb and I couldn't find it listed anywhere. Perhaps I'm not looking in the right place? I'm used to windows platform and the add hardware or looking in my computer and finding devices that way. I don't know how to look for devices or install them with mac OS X. any thoughts on why I don't see the mimedia drive pop up?

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Answer 3

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Jun 16, 2013 10:08 PM in response to eyekilmee

In order to use an external drive on both PC and Mac you need to format correctly. If you use NTFS then the Mac is only able to read from the drive, but it cannot write to the drive. If you format the drive FAT32 then you can read from and write to the drive from the Mac.

I do not know why the Mac did not recognize the drive without knowing more. Did the drive appear on your Desktop? Do you have the Desktop setup to display drives? Click on the Desktop, then select Preferences from the Finder menu:

Select Preferences, then check all the appropriate boxes in the next dialog:

See if your external drives is displayed on the Desktop. If you click on the Sidebar icon in the toolbar you can check the boxes for those items you want displayed in the Finder's sidebar.

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