Coolio Posted August 22, 2014 Posted August 22, 2014 So i've found out the hard way that a glass of white wine poured over my Macbook Air is not the best way to prove i'm unco. Took it to Apple this morning and they said that even though the flash drive appears ok, i cant get power to the laptop, so it will be cheaper to get a new one apparently then get the old one fixed. When i asked if it would be possible to transfer data from the dead macbook to a new one, he said i'd have to go to a data recovery centre, where it would be likely to cost an arm and a leg. Has anybody had a similar experience, or know of a solution to retrieve data that may not overly expensive? Bear in mind i live in Australia. We only got computers here about 5 years ago, so the options available to me may be more limited than if i were living in some other country!
Maplepie Posted August 22, 2014 Posted August 22, 2014 But seriously... This is one thing i hate about the Apple products. The fact that you can't just remove the harddrive like on most laptops and plug it into another reader. I'm pretty sure it won't cost both an arm AND a leg. Did you get a quote yet?
Upmann2009 Posted August 22, 2014 Posted August 22, 2014 Not familiar with Mac, but if for laptop, I would open it, remove the hard drive. Take it to any computer shop and ask for a removable hdd adaptor/case to put that in. Plug it to any PC/ Mac will able to get most of your data out. My to cents 1
Pedro2486 Posted August 22, 2014 Posted August 22, 2014 Not familiar with Mac, but if for laptop, I would open it, remove the hard drive. Take it to any computer shop and ask for a removable hdd adaptor/case to put that in. Plug it to any PC/ Mac will able to get most of your data out. My to cents Yeah, mac is probably glued together with a proprietary connector for the HDD. What would be a simple task on a normal laptop becomes expensive
Maplepie Posted August 22, 2014 Posted August 22, 2014 What would be a simple task on a normal laptop becomes expensive difficult AND dangerous to the information. also, with the lack of visible capacitors, there's a chance of being shocked as well...
Coolio Posted August 22, 2014 Author Posted August 22, 2014 Believe it or not i now have power to it. It's just the keyboard that doesn't work now. I might try to attach an external keyboard to it and see if i can log in that way. I can log in as a guest user as i don't have to type anything. There may be hope yet. Apple quoted $1342 to fix it. That was more than i paid for it! I'm happy paying the $300 excess insurance to get s new one, but i'd love to retrieve my data.
potpest Posted August 22, 2014 Posted August 22, 2014 Which macbook air model is it? The ssd drives are different The 2012 uses micro sata connector for the SSD, 2013 uses a PCI-e SSD You can get a guide on how to remove the drive off ifixit.com: Pretty straightforward If it's a pre 2013 you can get an adaptor to read the drive. Unfortunately looking about I don't think anyone has come up with a solution for the 2013 PCIe connection yet.
El Presidente Posted August 22, 2014 Posted August 22, 2014 Believe it or not i now have power to it. It's just the keyboard that doesn't work now. I might try to attach an external keyboard to it and see if i can log in that way. I can log in as a guest user as i don't have to type anything. There may be hope yet. Apple quoted $1342 to fix it. That was more than i paid for it! I'm happy paying the $300 excess insurance to get s new one, but i'd love to retrieve my data. I am a master of spilling wine on laptop keyboards....have lost 3 to date In my experience (non apple) you can use an external keyboard but the thing will continue to screw up. See if you can hook up and transfer what you can as fast as you can. Head off to purchase a new one
potpest Posted August 22, 2014 Posted August 22, 2014 Believe it or not i now have power to it. It's just the keyboard that doesn't work now. I might try to attach an external keyboard to it and see if i can log in that way. I can log in as a guest user as i don't have to type anything. There may be hope yet. Apple quoted $1342 to fix it. That was more than i paid for it! I'm happy paying the $300 excess insurance to get s new one, but i'd love to retrieve my data. I'll never buy an apple product because of this type of marketing which they thrive on.
canucks6024 Posted August 22, 2014 Posted August 22, 2014 Yes. There are people who can take data off hard drives. I don't think it'll cost an arm and a leg. I believe a collegue did it for $400 here in Canada. Ask around the business sector or some indie computer repair shop. Don't go through Apple to do it.
fabes Posted August 22, 2014 Posted August 22, 2014 Which macbook air model is it? The ssd drives are different The 2012 uses micro sata connector for the SSD, 2013 uses a PCI-e SSD You can get a guide on how to remove the drive off ifixit.com: Pretty straightforward If it's a pre 2013 you can get an adaptor to read the drive. Unfortunately looking about I don't think anyone has come up with a solution for the 2013 PCIe connection yet. This will work if you must.
fabes Posted August 22, 2014 Posted August 22, 2014 Believe it or not i now have power to it. It's just the keyboard that doesn't work now. I might try to attach an external keyboard to it and see if i can log in that way. I can log in as a guest user as i don't have to type anything. There may be hope yet. You cannot access your user data from a guest account. An external keyboard should work, then move your data to another drive. Other option if it powers up is to hold down T while it boots which puts it into target disk mode. Then you plug a firewire, ethernet, or thunderbolt cable from your mac to another and it will show up as a drive.
semifan1 Posted August 22, 2014 Posted August 22, 2014 I know you probably already know, but I do a backup once a month on my mac. I had a hard drive go out one time and lt sucked.
earthson Posted August 22, 2014 Posted August 22, 2014 If you cannot access the OS, you will have to pay someone to transfer the info - it's around $60-100 here in Merka... don't know what you'd find in Ausland. I did this with water to my wife's laptop last spring. Eventually, it began giving me a black screen with three beeps. If this happens, you can remove one RAM chip and it will boot normally. It'll just be twice as slow (or half as fast, depending on your outlook on life! ) Good luck!
Rushman Posted August 22, 2014 Posted August 22, 2014 Best of luck. Been there. If you retrieve your data and as soon as you invest in a new laptop, start using Dropbox or the like. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Coolio Posted August 22, 2014 Author Posted August 22, 2014 I am a master of spilling wine on laptop keyboards....have lost 3 to date In my experience (non apple) you can use an external keyboard but the thing will continue to screw up. See if you can hook up and transfer what you can as fast as you can. Head off to purchase a new one Rob i've seen you in action on your deck, cigar in one hand, glass of red in the other, while at the same time managing to compose an email. I don't know how you do it. I had both hands free and no excuses when i spilt my glass. So I've rifled through the wifes filing cabinet and found what i was looking for. Unfortunately for me, not a younger and improved version of said wife, but an apple wireless keyboard i thought i'd seen lying around last year! Have managed to hook them together (or 'pair' them as the screen says) and am now in the process of backing up my mac air drive onto a new portable drive. Luckily JB Hi Fi are around the corner (a 149 dollar, 5 minute excursion) and i could buy a new portable drive to get this over and done with. I've spent all day on this 'issue', starting with a visit to the Apple store at Westfield Germside at 9 am, and am now in need of a stogie! Interestingly, while i waited outside the Apple store at 0855 this morning, along with around 15 others, i couldn't help but wonder if working in an Apple store is a little like being a member of a cult or some evangelical type group. The 20 or 30 blue t-shirted Apple staff were huddled together receiving the message of the day from their leader. The doors opened on the dot at 0900 and a burst of cheering and clapping rang out as we walked in. I felt like a galah, and was wishing i'd just bought a pc from Harvey Norman!
Coolio Posted August 22, 2014 Author Posted August 22, 2014 Which macbook air model is it? The ssd drives are different The 2012 uses micro sata connector for the SSD, 2013 uses a PCI-e SSD You can get a guide on how to remove the drive off ifixit.com: Pretty straightforward If it's a pre 2013 you can get an adaptor to read the drive. Unfortunately looking about I don't think anyone has come up with a solution for the 2013 PCIe connection yet. I think i'm good now mate, but thanks for the info. It's a 2012 model btw.
Coolio Posted August 22, 2014 Author Posted August 22, 2014 I know you probably already know, but I do a backup once a month on my mac. I had a hard drive go out one time and lt sucked. I wasn't very consistent with my backups! I think the last one i did was 6 months ago. As soon as i get the data off and get a new mac, i'm going to get time machine set up.
PapaDisco Posted August 22, 2014 Posted August 22, 2014 I wasn't very consistent with my backups! I think the last one i did was 6 months ago. As soon as i get the data off and get a new mac, i'm going to get time machine set up. Right on. And you were lucky to be able to invent a data transfer. Let's face it, these things aren't designed to be waterproof to 30 ATM or any other depth! In an effort to make the laptop as light and as powerful as possible, a few things had to be sacrificed, including wine-proof-ness! The time machine backup is a great invention and works seamlessly in the background.
joeypots Posted August 22, 2014 Posted August 22, 2014 Having learned my lesson spilling coffee on my Mac Book Pro I got a mStand lap top stand stand and a very thin plastic keyboard protector. No issues since.
Guyman1966 Posted August 22, 2014 Posted August 22, 2014 At college my son spilled a glass of water on his MacBook. The thing when dead. Using google search, we found a company in Washington DC that specializes in repairing this type of damage. On the phone the guy told me they often fixed water/wine/beer situations. It was $600. That included round trip shipment and a one year guarantee on ALL the components in the computer... even what was not fixed by them. So, I see you are not in the USA. I"m sure you can find a company that can help you. And, my son's computer is now on year three since the repair. Working just perfectly.
PigFish Posted August 22, 2014 Posted August 22, 2014 Been running macs for decades, not a debate, just a fact! Try SuperDuper to backup you mac. Totally brainless to back up to an external via a smart backup system that will only back up changed items going forward. It is fast and creates a bootable back up. Kill your HDD and you can boot right off you backup and work and recover. Get yourself a Dropbox account and keep your daily work files on Dropbox. Dropbox stores locally and in the cloud. A small account is free. If you keep your work files there you can access them from any computer simply by sharing, or going to Dropbox on line. Best of luck! -Piggy
guideright Posted August 22, 2014 Posted August 22, 2014 Have only heard about this with phones but worth a try as cost is minimal and no harm done - put it in a sealed container with rice to absorb as much of the moisture as possible - leave it in the rice for a day or two - my $.02
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