Help with data recovery on failed MBP HD Please

Question

Hello
My MacBook Pro 160 GB froze the other night and I had to hard reset it. Ever since I have not been able to turn it on and log into the OS (Mountain Lion). All I could do was get the Apple logo when you turn the MacBook on or a folder with a question mark (a couple times).
I took it to the Apple store even though I was out of warranty and they still helped (got to love Apple customer service!). The genious plugged in a cable and did his diagnosis and it froze tyring to load the into the hard drive but said that the OS was reconginzed in this diganostic machine so he said it was probably a harware issue and not software.
Long story short, they took it to the back and tried a new Hard drive cable, which was not the issue. They said that they were able to log into the HD in the back and that all my infomation was still on there but it was really slow to use and said I should replace the HD and transfer the data off of that failed drive onto the new one.
However, I dont now how to do this on a Mac. Do I get an enclosure or a "HD sled" as the genious recommended. Do I use software to recover, and is my data really safe? Please anyone, help me out. I have some pictures I really do not want to lose and form now on will make sure I buy an external HD to backup all my data via Time Machine.
Thank you so much.
Will make sure to give you 10 points if you can help me or 5 if you give input.

Answer 1

Buy an enclosure for your old drive, and you will need to buy a new drive to replace it.
How to replace or upgrade a drive in a laptop
Step One: Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger, Leopard or Snow Leopard.) After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list.  In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive.  If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
Step Two: Remove the old drive and install the new drive.  Place the old drive in an external USB enclosure.  You can buy one at OWC who is also a good vendor for drives.
Step Three: Boot from the external drive.  Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager appears.  Select the icon for the external drive then click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Step Four: New Hard Drive Preparation
  1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
  2. After DU loads select your new hard drive (this is the entry with the
      mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of
      the drive in DU's status area.  If it does not say "Verified" then the drive
      is failing or has failed and will need replacing.  Otherwise, click on the
      Partition tab in the DU main window.
  3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from
      the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended
      (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to
      GUID  then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and
      wait until the process has completed.
  4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the
      drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main
      window.
  5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the
      Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to
      return to the Erase window.
  6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several
      hours depending upon the drive size.
Step Five: Clone the old drive to the new drive
  1. Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
  2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.
  3. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
  4. Check the box labeled Erase destination.
  5. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the
      Destination entry field.
  6. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to the
      Source entry field.
  7. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Destination means the new internal drive. Source means the old external drive.
Step Six: Open the Startup Disk preferences and select the new internal volume.  Click on the Restart button.  You should boot from the new drive.  Eject the external drive and disconnect it from the computer.
The above takes you through the entire process that you need to follow. This assumes you have removed the old drive, installed the new drive in the computer, and installed the old drive in an external enclosure.
Enclosures for FireWire and USB are readily available.  You can find only FireWire enclosures, only USB enclosures, and enclosures that feature multiple ports.  I would stress getting enclosures that use the Oxford chipsets especially for Firewire drives (911, 921, 922, for example.)  You can find enclosures at places such as;
  1. Cool Drives
  2. OWC
  3. Firewire Direct
  4. California Drives
  5. NewEgg
All you need do is remove a case cover, mount the hard drive in the enclosure and connect the cables, then re-attach the case cover.  Usually the only tool required is a small or medium Phillips screwdriver.
The above sites also sell replacement hard drives. You are looking for 2.5" SATA Notebook-sized hard drives and enclosures. If you want good performance spend a little extra on the hard drive. Look for 7200 RPM drives with 16 MB cache. You are looking for a drive with SATA 3.0 Gb/s support with a capacity of around 500 GBs that is not more than 9.5 mm high.
Any cheap USB enclosure will be suitable for the data transfer. You should find one under $25.00.