Read HDD off Busted iMac (logic board)

[stevejobbers]

anyone know a way (or if it's even possible) to read data off a hard drive inside a busted imac? i've been told by apple repair i have a broken logic board and they want hundreds of dollars to fix it. i don't plan on repairing it...

i will go back to get my machine though, and i was wondering if there is any way, after i take it apart, to read the data off the HDD (which had been functioning perfectly).

thx!!

 

[rgarjr]

Just take out the hard drive off the machine and stick it in a USB enclosure and dump your data out.

 

[stevejobbers]

does anyone know what size HDD (2.5 inch or 3.5 inch) my iMac uses (20" model oct 2007)? also, what interface would i need for the hard drive enclosure (IDE? SATA? eSATA?)

thanks!!!

 

[stevejobbers]

anyone?

 

[iLog.Genius]

The 2007 iMac uses a 3.5" SATA HDD.

 

[stevejobbers]

thx! i just placed an order for one. now i just need to figure out how to disassemble my imac... hopefully there are steps online somewhere.

 

[stevejobbers]

once i assemble the external drive with my imac's drive is there anything else special i would need to do to access the files? other than just connecting it via USB to a computer?

 

[rgarjr]

No nothing special about it. The fun part would be tearing open your machine to gain access to the disk.

 

[indg]

you can also stick your hdd into one of these hard drive docks. handy to have around since you can swap hdd's in/out like they're floppies.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/NewerTech/Voyager/Hard_Drive_Dock

 

[DDavis020]

same issue

I have the same issue with a failed logic board. I want to know the same thing, if I can take the hard drive out of her 3rd gen Imac and place it in a 2nd gen Imac and if it will work. Her current Imac is a G5, not Intel, so I think it would be ok, but I'm not %100 sure.

 

[Roller]

Are both of you with dead iMacs sure that the logic board is gone? Take a look at my post from yesterday. Before you remove the hard drive, it might be a good idea to see if replacing the battery works, though you'll have to take the computer apart in any case. Just a thought.

 

[DDavis020]

Are both of you with dead iMacs sure that the logic board is gone? Take a look at my post from yesterday. Before you remove the hard drive, it might be a good idea to see if replacing the battery works, though you'll have to take the computer apart in any case. Just a thought.

I did try this initially, because upon inspection of the logic board there were two bulging capacitors, but they were not burst, and I had read others tried this successfully, so I did replace the battery at first, but it made no difference, thanks for the suggestion though.