Who can recover the data from my busted mac in London?

June 19, 2018 4:31 AM

Who do you trust to recover the data from the hard drive of my busted 2014 Macbook Pro in London? It won't boot up. I'm concerned about three things: 1. how quick/convenient is it? 2. will they snoop around my data? 3. cost.
posted by the list of suspects is just you to Computers & Internet (8 answers total)

Do you have much of a sense of what’s wrong with it? Unless the hard drive itself was failing, you should be able to take the hard drive out, put it into a USB enclosure (which essentially makes it into an external hard drive), and connect it to another computer to get the data off yourself.

If cost & privacy are big concerns that seems like a good option because hard drive enclosures are pretty cheap (~$10USD online.).
posted by needs more cowbell at 4:45 AM on June 19, 2018 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: That's not a bad idea, needs more cowbell! After searching around a bit, I've found this guide to removing the SSD from the mac:

iFixit: MacBook Pro 15" Retina Display Mid 2014 SSD Replacement

Is this $100 OWC Envoy Pro the correct case?
posted by the list of suspects is just you at 5:21 AM on June 19, 2018

Yeah, but there's no need to spend so much. There's dozens for 15 or 20 bucks on newegg.
posted by humboldt32 at 8:29 AM on June 19, 2018 [1 favorite]

You don't even need an enclosure. This cable will work. SATA to USB.
posted by cjorgensen at 8:40 AM on June 19, 2018 [2 favorites]

Yeah, you don't need to spend that much. I think that case is for if you wanted to keep using the drive as an external hard drive and keep it handy in your pocket or bag. If you just want to plug it into a computer to get your files off you don't need something attractive or durable. Last time I had to do this I bought something for ~$15 and I don't think I even closed the box all the way, basically just used it as a cable adapter (not unlike what cjorgensen links above).
posted by mskyle at 8:43 AM on June 19, 2018

Oh, and get backup software. There are so many options out there anymore that you really need to have something if you value your data. I use Arq to BackBlaze in addition to Time Machine (one local, one cloud). "Data that does not exist in two places does not exist," as a friend of mine is fond of saying, and you are currently experiencing.

If my Mac gave up the ghost I would be back up and running in less than an hour. It's such a nice feeling to have. Of course, I had to learn my lesson the hard way.
posted by cjorgensen at 8:43 AM on June 19, 2018 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: I'm confused because everywhere that I look, I'm reading that Apple uses a special PCIe connector so you need a custom enclosure for compatibility with their SSDs.

I have no desire to continue using the drive once I transfer my files off of it. So if I just purchase that cable, I'm good huh? Well, it's cheaper than everything else, so I'll order it tonight when I get home.

Argh, also it looks like it's the absolute worst time to purchase a macbook. Great.

Thank you everyone for your detailed responses. I have backed up 90% of my things, but will sort out that last 10% so I don't ever have to go through this again.
posted by the list of suspects is just you at 8:51 AM on June 19, 2018

Ugh. I ws thinking that model still used the standard SSDs.

I no longer have access to the Apple tear downs, so was going from memory. If it does indeed have that kind of drive you will need a different enclosure.
posted by cjorgensen at 10:45 AM on June 19, 2018