If my MacBook won't start, is there a way to access my data without replacing the battery? Someone mentioned removing the hard drive?

Question

I'm assuming that my MacBook won't start because it's been spilled on... It's happened once before and when I brought it in, all that was needed was a battery replacement. I have a brand new MacBook Pro and all I really want is my pictures, videos, music & other documents from my old MacBook.. Is there a way of getting all of that without buying a new battery, and then using Mavericks to switch over everything? A friend suggested that I just get all of it from the hard drive, but I don't really know much about that. Help?

Answer 1

If you can take the computer to somewhere or someone who has a known-good battery, and if the MacBook is dry, you could tell in quick order if a replacement battery would be worth it. Likely, you won't have been as fortunate more than once; electricity and water don't mix well, and short circuited or fried electronics result.
{There used to be a way to access one Mac from another if you could get the bad one to boot into Target Disk mode, but Intel-based macs didn't always work; they both needed FireWire ports & correct cable. If In an enclosure, you may be able to use a migration assistant utility.}
An authorized service tech with Apple certification in portable computers should be able to remove the internal hard disk drive, install it into an external enclosure, & test it, for a fee; once in an enclosure it may be accessed to see if the hard drive's data files on the drive, or at least sees them. Labor + parts?
Once the hard disk drive is removed, your user files would still have whatever account password protection needed to access them, but there are ways to migrate data from drives into another computer; in some cases the information on this may be tilted toward using a device you don't have, such as a Time Machine. If the data had been backed up on a Time Machine, it may have been possible to get it from that device using a method available in a Support article and put directly into another Mac.
If the computer has failed due to contact with moisture or a drink pouring over it, more than once, it may require more than a new battery to see if it'd work well enough to run and get data from its hard disk drive. You may pay quite a bit of money to have someone do anything at all.
How long ago did the MacBook get wet again? If several weeks ago, it may be dry inside. But may be damaged and the main logic board short-circuited or toast. So, it may not work even with the MagSafe attached due to other damages beyond a new battery. That could be a waste of money to buy one.
There are repair guides at http://ifixit.com which may help you determine if you can extract the HDD from the failed MacBook, but even then you'd have to install it into a suitable USB enclosure to gain access to data. Some drive enclosures already have a hard disk drive inside, so try and get one that would work with the MacBook's SATA hard disk drive, and with no HDD installed. One less thing to do.
So I know only enough about it to be dangerous.
And to troubleshoot the old MacBook may not
be worth the cost, if logicboard now is toasted.
Maybe someone else can say it direct w/ less words? LOL
Good luck & happy computing!