Put failed Hard Drive in External Case to retrieve data?

If Apple was not able to retrieve any files, what makes you think you can?

Allan

If the Apple Store couldn't get files off of the drive, it is unlikely that you will be able to. If you have Time Machine backups, those would be the best way to go. You could also try booting up the computer and holding down T to boot into Target Disk Mode. Plug the broken computer into another one with FireWire and see if it works. If you can see it, try booting up the broken computer while holding down Option. Choose Recovery HD from the menu, then choose to Reinstall OS X.

It is unlikely that this will work, because I'm pretty sure that the Apple Store would have tried this. You could try using expensive software to get files off the drive, but it would be risky and the results might not be any good.

StyleSupport wrote:

...Can she put the failed HD in a External Case and try to see if the files are visible via USB?

If she really needs the files, it couldn't hurt since we don't know how hard the Apple Store techs tried. Inaccessible HD's can have hardware or software issues (or both). If, in the external enclosure, the HD appears in Disk Utility (i.e., it does mount), perhaps there are serious directory problems which are beyond Disk Utility's ability to repair but might still be fixable with other software such as Disk Warrior. However, keep in mind that many external HD enclosures, especially those for laptop HD's (i.e, 2.5" rather than 3.5" HDs) are bus powered, meaning the USB connection provides the power to run the HD, not just read it, and the available USB power may be insufficient to operate the drive. An external enclosure with its own power supply can get around that potential issue.

Enclosures are generic. It matters not if the HDD is formatted for a PC or a Mac.. If a 2.5" SATA drive fits in the enclosure it will work.

Ciao.

StyleSupport wrote:

Thank you FatMac\>MacPro

I believe we will try the external enclosure for the 2.5" with it's own power supply.

Now, do you have a Make and Model # of some external enclosure that would fill the need?

I'm kinda hoping you say to go to any PC Repair Store for and inexpensive box, but, at this time I'm not sure a MacBook HD will work on a PC designed box w/ power.

Actually, the coolest suggestion I could make is this since it's powered, not limited to 2.5" drives, and unless you're planning to continue to use the drive as an external, is the easiest I've used to set up. Moreover, it comes from a vendor which stands behind its products and knows the Mac inside and out. And, it's on sale. 😉 Watch the video linked in the middle of the page to see how it works. Note that while it can make a USB 3.0 connection, it will work plugged into the USB 2.0 port on your family member's MBP, just slower.

HD enclosures only allow ACCESS to data,

if the HD is a DUD and twitching an enclosure wont help a single thing when it comes to data retrieval.

😊

StyleSupport wrote:

...The Apple Store said they could not retrieve any files off the old HD.

Can she put the failed HD in a External Case and try to see if the files are visible via USB?

If she can get that HD to mount, whether it's in an external enclosure or the Universal Drive Adapter I suggested, its directory may be too corrupted for Apple's Disk Utility to fix, which is why I suggested DiskWarrior. If she's only concerned with recovering some important files rather than most of what's on that HD, one of the remarkable features of DiskWarrior is that after it rebuilds the directory but before it actually replaces the directory on the HD, you have the option of comparing the HD with both the old and rebuilt directories applied and both versions are mounted and accessible. If she can find the files she needs on the HD with the rebuilt directory, she can drag-copy them to her new internal HD even before the rebuilt directory is installed.

I would try it. There is always a chance you could get your files back.

What's your problem, not backing up your data or overwriting your hard drive?
No matter what your problem is, it seems that you have to use a recovery utility to take a chance!
Actually, I have ever experienced recovery problem and know that the rewritten data cannot be recovered. Therefore, I hope your data has not been completely overwritten.
Moreover, at that time, I also tries a hard drive recovery tool that works well. Impressively, it has recovered 90% of my lost data: 80 pictures, 154songs and 789 files.

You should try it here: -http://gg.gg/19chq

Good luck!