Hard Drive Help

July 15, 2015 4:05 PM

I would like to get information off of a hard drive without installing it in a computer, possible?

My logic board failed in my macbook pro, so I bought a new laptop (was able to get an older mac on the cheap from a family friend). I would like to get some documents off of my hard drive, but I don't want to install the hard drive in this computer. I'm not good at DIY, I have bad vision so can't see screws too well, etc. I saw this on Amazon and I'm wondering if this will do the job. I also saw some without the power supply - do I need the power supply or not? The old drive is a 2.5'' SATA. If this won't work, is there another option?

Please don't tell me how simple installing a new hard drive is, I don't care. I do not want to do surgery. I also don't have funds to pay someone to do this for me.

Note: I've already removed the old hard drive.

posted by Aranquis to Computers & Internet (8 answers total)

All you need is a hard drive adapter. It's a base thing that lets you use a HDD as an external hard drive easy peasy. They're not super expensive ($40-50) but I bet somebody you know has one. If you're on facebook or twitter, send out a help message and see if anyone will let you borrow theirs for the weekend.
posted by phunniemee at 4:11 PM on July 15, 2015

Best answer: The $15 device you linked on Amazon should do what you want. I would get one with the power supply; you might be fine without one (most 2.5" laptop drives won't need it), but it's better to have one in the case that you need to use it.
posted by strangecargo at 4:18 PM on July 15, 2015

Best answer: I couldn't really reliably tell if either of the two models of adapter on your linked item actually came with a power adapter, but this one has a straight-up plugs into the wall power adapter. (The one you linked to probably does have power, but none of the pictures there showed anything with a SATA power connector on it, and that gave me a bit of pause.) The benefit to having a real power brick is that, since you've noted the replacement machine is older, it'll definitely have sufficient power to work the drive. Just don't set it on anything metallic and you'll be good to go.
posted by mrg at 4:26 PM on July 15, 2015

Best answer: I own the Amazon one you linked, and I love it. Use it several times a month. Get the power supplied version.
posted by deezil at 4:27 PM on July 15, 2015

Best answer: yeah, get the right bit of kit and it's easy peasy

roughly as easy as installing a new hard drive

O I WENT THERE

but actually it's significantly easier, as reinstalling a harddrive out to do file swaps is a huge pain in the ass, even if each individual process isn't complex.

And an adapter is actually a great tool to have around to deal with this kind of thing, I've used mine dozens of times.
posted by Sebmojo at 5:45 PM on July 15, 2015

External HD adapter, also known as external drive caddy, will let you use the drive as an external USB drive.

I have two for my existing computer.
posted by kschang at 11:18 PM on July 15, 2015

You can go cheaper and just get an adapter cable for $10 instead of a full caddy
posted by zippy at 6:22 PM on July 16, 2015

Response by poster: I found a deal on Amazon for only $10 for the adapter and power supply. Just tried it today and it worked perfectly so thanks everyone, I was able to get some really important pictures that mean a lot to me as well as school documents off of it
posted by Aranquis at 11:43 AM on July 22, 2015