Ran a 12 year old hard drive through the freezer trick and it actually booted long enough to pull the wedding photos

Robin Mason · 2026-09-29T05:55:06.26389+00:00

A client dropped off a 2009 iMac on Tuesday, said it clicked and wouldn't boot, and she just wanted the photos off it. Standard drive death, so I gave her the usual speech about recovery shops and $800 quotes. Then I remembered the old freezer trick, the one everybody says is a myth. I put the drive in a ziplock, squeezed the air out, and left it in my garage freezer for about 6 hours while I worked on other tickets. Pulled it out, wrapped it in a towel so no condensation hit the board, plugged it in fast, and it spun up clean. I got a full 14GB of photos off it in one shot, 8 years of her kids basically. It died again on the second power cycle, which is exactly what the old forums say happens, so the clock is ticking once it works. Anyone here ever had one stay alive longer than a single session, or do you just always treat it as a one shot deal?

💡Thought Shares

Loading…

Ran a 12 year old hard drive through the freezer trick and it actually booted long enough to pull the wedding photos | Computer Technicians - Thought Shares