Best way to transfer files to new iMac?

I'm trying to transfer files from my PowerPC iMac running Tiger purchased in 2005 to a new iMac running Snow Leopard. I've heard some reports that using migration assistant on a Tiger-to-Snow Leopard transer causes some problems. Is this problem widespread? This sounds like the easiest method for transfering files, especially since I have almost zero experience transferring libraries and user accounts manually. But I don't want to do it if there's a chance of files being corrupted. I'll also have to purchase a Firewire 800/400 cable, but that's no big deal since I'll probably need it for other hard drives anyway. Any advice?

See User Tip: A Basic Guide for Migrating to Intel-Macs

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Best way to transfer files from old Macbook Pro to new one?

I just got a new Macbook Pro from Apple...YEEEEAAAHHHH!
So....
What's the best way to transfer files from old Macbook Pro to new one? I know Migration assistant, but is there a recommended way? I don't want to put do a system restore or transfer everything from the old laptop, but I do want to move important things like photos, music, documents and such over. Any suggestions on best way to do this?
Another question, perhaps subquestion. If I have, say, an older version of iPhoto but a newer version of one on my new Macbook Pro, will it still transfer photos no problem?
Just looking for hints from the experts so this puppy is set up in the best way possible.

Just one comment on this:
‘If I have, say, an older version of iPhoto but a newer version of one on my new Macbook Pro, will it still transfer photos no problem?’
the problems are ALWAYS in the reverse way, when you have the newest (or a newer) version of a given app, and wish to transfer its library to an older version.
Otherwise, see the link to Pondini.
I have been using Martin Jahn’s iBackup, with which I have become accustomed and works fine. It also makes daily backups. Its advantage over other apps is that you may add whatever you wish to save, beside its default settings (which you may delete or cancel, of course, even if not recommended); it also has a friendly interface and easily customizable. Of course, this is a personal view, you may try other methods as well, or other backup apps. All are good if you are satisfied and correspond to your needs.

What is the best way to transfer files from a Power PC G4 that has NO power? Thanks.

What is the best way to transfer files from a Power PC G4 that has NO power? I have a newer iMac. Thanks.

Remove the hard drive and get one of these USB hard drive adapters. http://tinyurl.com/a5l2htj Then plug the adapter into your iMac to see/retrieve the files.
 Cheers, Tom

What's the easiest way to transfer files to new mac?

My first mac was a Macbook (purchased in August 2010) and I'm upgrading to the new 13" Macbook Pro with retina display. What is the easiest way to:
1) transfer files to the new laptop
2) delete files off my old macbook to share with a family member--possibly thinking of return to factory settings.
I have a 1TB external hard drive and I use the cloud on all of my devices (also have iPhone and iPad synched to the cloud).

Welcome to Apple Support Communities
1. The best way to transfer files from another computer is by using Migration Assistant > http://pondini.org/OSX/SetupLion.html Your new MacBook Pro will ask you to restore from another computer during its initial setup.
2. If you haven't got a lot of apps you installed, you can just create a new user and delete the old one, so you won't have to reinstall Mac OS X.
To do it, open System Preferences > Users and Groups (or Accounts), press the + button and create an admin user. Then, log in this user, go to System Preferences > Users & Groups, and remove the old account

Best way to transfer data to new internal hard drive

Hi,
I just got a new internal hard drive for my macbook and I'm trying to figure out the best way to transfer all the data from my old hd to the new one. Basically, I would just like to make an exact copy of my old hd and put it on the new larger one. Thanks for the help.

Will I simply be able to do a firewire transfer on the new internal HD is installed
Yes. Use Carbon Copy Cloner with the sopurce and destination volumes reversed after installing the new drive.
Additionally do I need a bootable copy of OSX on my external HD to do the transfer?
Yes; the clone can act as this copy. If you copy everything with Carbon Copy Cloner, you will be told whether the drive will be bootable or not prior to the clone.
(33676)

What is the best way to transfer files without iTunes?

Long story short, my computer died and I now do everything on my iPad. I am having trouble figuring out the best way of juggling files so I can print them though the school computers. I don't even know if I can email it as an attachment. Most of the files are from pages, keynote, or pictures. How do I store it so I can open it on another computer. I would like to use a flash drive but there is no USB port on the iPad.
Thanks for your help! I am new at this.

You can email the files. When you are in Pages - with the document open - tap the Wrench Icon (tools) in the upper right corner and tap on share and print - then tap email document in the next window. Your mail app will popup and you can email the file and save it to your school computer then open and print it. The process works the same in the photos app - select the photo - tap the arrow icon in the upper right - tap email photo. Keynote should work the same way - I don't have Keynote.
DropBox - as Rudegar explains would also work. You will have to download the app on the iPad and use it on the school computer as well - you can get a free account for up to 2GB from DropBox - but I don't know if the school will allow you to download the application on your computer. The application for the computer is free as well.

Best way to transfer files without using migration assistant

upgrading from snow leopard to mavericks goes ok, but migrating files hangs with "less than a minute to go". What is the best way to transfer user files without using migration assistant?

I keep backups of essential documents in Dropbox, and then the files can sync when I reinstall Dropbox.
For larger collections of files, for example, my Documents folder, or iTunes or iPhoto libraries, I transfer them from a Time Machine Backup- just by going into the backup manually and restoring the folders.
If you have files that can fit on a flash drive, then you can use that, which is very fast.

What's the best way to transfer files from dead MDD G4 PowerMac to new iMac desktop?

My Mirrored Drive Door 1 ghz G4 Power Mac recently stopped powering on. I have just purchased a new iMac with 2.5 ghz intel core i5. What is the best way for me to transfer the files to the new machine?
Someone on another thread recommended buying a converter cable like this one: http://www.newertech.com/products/usb2_adaptv2.php
Will I need to use transfer software too? I'd like to bring my playlists along to the new machine but don't need any of the software.
Thanks!

That will work. You could also remove the hard drive from the MDD and put it in an external enclosure so you would have it for backup.
You can use the utility, Carbon Copy Cloner, to transfer files - MacUpdate or CNET Downloads.

What is best way to transfer files from an older imac to a new one?

I have time machine on old intel imac. I have 700gb used on old and don't want to transfer everything (trying to use this "set up" process to also keep old unused stuff from transferring to the new imac). I can use firewire to transfer. I have read the Apple support article on migration but I'm not clear on the ability to drag and drop only what I want to transfer. Thanks

Thanks. Wonder if you can advise further:
As I noted, when I get around to starting this transfer next week, I want to carefully move files to the new imac almost "one at a time" or groups of files at a time (not literally.) Reason: 1. in order not to move some old files that I don't want on the new mac, but I'm reluctant to delete from old mac yet. And 2. I'm fairly certain there is a corrupted file somewhere in the old mac. This is Apple Store Genius bar tech's conclusion after several visits and attempte over the last 6 months to do iphone 4 OS updates on this old mac which resulted in failure to update - received error "device not eligible for rebuild." I was eventually able to perform the updates on my iphone 4 using my wife's newer Macbook, which she and my son use for their iphone 4s and with which they never encountered the same failure. And yes, the latest ios5 update also failed on the old imac(again did the update using the macbook.
(BTW, I did the update using the macbook, then return to the old imac to restore my iphone using the itunes on it.)
Also, FYI - this old imac is not a core 2 duo so it won't accept Lion.
So that was a long way of saying I don't want to chance moving a corrupted file to the new imac.
Therefore, can you direct me to instructions that would direct me to, as example, move this first, then this, then this, and so on.
I have several users on this old mac, although my user has the most files, many iphoto and imovie files and it is critical that my user files are moved successfully.
Also, I use time machine to back up on an external HD, and I use Carbonite too.
Any advise appreciated.

Got a new iMac, best way to transfer files/set up network?

I just got a new iMac. I have a MBP from which I would like to transfer all contents on to the iMac. I do have the MBP backing onto a Time Machine and I'm wondering if that could be used to easily transfer the latest backup version to the new computer? How would I do that and would this transfer ALL of the MBP's content or would I still have to install my programs like iWork from the install disks?
Also, I will be keeping the MBP as a secondary computer, would there be a way to easily connect the two computers so they could synch files wirelessly? I also have one more laptop running Windows7 in the house that I would love to get on the wireless network. Right now we only have it connected to the TimeMachine for internet, but being able to easily share files would be helpful.
Thanks

You can find the answers to those questions in Mac Help. Mac Help is located in the Help menu of the Finder. If you click Index in the upper right of the Mac Help window you can look up just about any topic for Mac OS X Snow Leopard.
You first question will have answers under Migration and the second under Network. There are answers with step-by-step instructions, not only for Macs but PCs with Windows as well.
Dah•veed

Getting New MBP tomorrow - best way to get files from old iMac?

Hi
I'm getting a new 15" MacBook Pro tomorrow...can't wait.
Anyways, I currently have a 20" iMac (Intel Core 2 Dual) and want to transfer everything (music, photos, emails, EVERYTHING) from this iMac to my new MBP.
What's the best way to do this? Will it ask me if I want to transfer files from another mac when I first start up my new MBP?
Thanks very much!

Yes, the Migration Assistant will ask you if you want to transfer your personal data and programs, and it will guide you through this. It should work with most recent Macs. If your iMac is too old it might not work.
You are not limited to FireWire. Newer versions of Migration Assistant let you do it using other protocols such as Ethernet, since some new Macs don't have FireWire anymore. If your iMac has Gigabit Ethernet that can potentially be faster than FireWire but I haven't tried it that way.

What is the best way to transfer files from Windows XP to a new MacBook Pro?

I am about to make the switch from PC to Mac, but I am not completely sure how I should transfer all of my old files (Word docs, PowerPoints, Excel Sheets, pictures, etc.) over to the new Mac. I read this article, http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4796, and it said to download Windows Migration Assistant. It says that a new user account will be created on the Mac containing all of the transferred material. I assume that I can just pull stuff from the newly created account and put it on the main or administrative account? Also, I assume that I can delete the created account after I get everything that I want off of it, but I am new to the whole Mac thing and assuming never gets anyone anywhere. One more thing, I do not want to transfer over my email accounts from Outlook because there is some kind of problem with the way they are set up. I want to just start them completely over in Mail. The article says that the program will automatically transfer over email accounts. Is there a way to avoid that or just transfer stuff manually? If anyone has transferred files this way before, I would really appreciate any insight you can give me. Thanks!

Best way would be NOT to use any sort of migration program, just copy the files over and place them in the same Music, Pictures, Documents folders on the Mac like it is on Windows.
All you need a external USB drive you can pick up at any office or computer store, I would advise powered and either the same size or larger (not too big) than your boot drive on the Mac. So later you can make a clone of OS X, as there is NO system restore on a Mac.
Most drives are formatted MBR with a FAT32 (named "MSDOS" in Apple's Disk Utility) and can be read on a Mac just as easily.
If for some reason your external drive has been already formatted by Windows into NTFS format, then a Mac can't read it without paying for more software and having to hassle with updates, it not working etc. So format the external drive FAT (FAT32) or even exFAT on the PC first (exFAT needs a free download from Microsoft on XP machines)
When you connect the drive, simply drag and drop your files right into the same folders, this way you can control what comes over and what stays.
If you want a free program that can open your Office files without having to pay for OfficeMac, then the free LibreOffice is available and works great.
https://discussions.apple.com/message/16276201#16276201

Best way to transfer files from a MacBook Pro with 10.9, to an iMac with 10.8, Best way to transfer files from a MacBook Pro with 10.9, to an iMac with 10.8, Best way to transfer files from a MacBook Pro with 10.9, to an iMac with 10.8

I have recently upgraded my MacBook Pro to 10.9.
I also used it to save a copy of files from my iMac that was being serviced (sytem reinstall).
I now want to transfer files back from my Macbook(10.9) to my iMac which was loaded with 10.8.5.
But they do not recognise each othert in the Mirgation Assistant program when they get to the looking for another computer segment.
Is there a simple workaround?
Or am I missing or misunderstanding something?

Reverse migration of data (from a newer system to an older one) isn't supported. You'll have to copy the files manually, and some, such as your Mail database, may be incompatible.

Best way to transfer from late 2009 iMac to new iMac

I have a new iMac, and want to transfer 750MB of data from my late 2009 iMac when I set it up. It seems like the options are:
Not Thunderbolt <-> Thunderbolt, since the late 2009 iMac has a MiniDP port, not a Thunderbolt port.
FireWire 800 <-> Thunderbolt using my Apple FW/TB adapter. Should give 800Mbps?
Direct Ethernet connection (just a cable, no router). Does this work? Should give 1000Mbps?
Ethernet through my new Time Capsule. Lets me access the internet during setup. How much speed loss compared to direct connection?
Any thoughts or suggestions about the best choice?
Thanks.

See User Tip: A Basic Guide for Migrating to Intel-Macs

Best Way To Transfer Data To New Mac

I know this question has been asked ad naseum, but I can't seem to find exactly what I'm looking for today...
My new iMac arrives today (w00t!) and I want to transfer all my data over to the new computer. But I'm coming from a Mac that is four years old (though still running Lion) and there's probably a lot of crap on the old machine like corrupt preferences and whatnot, and I don't really want all that baggage coming over with me. I obviously want to transfer over my documents, iTunes and iPhoto Libraries and all the iWeb stuff and whatnot. I'm not afraid to reinstall my apps, if that's the ideal scenario and I don't care if my settings and dock reverts to deault, if that's the best way to do this. So I'm trying to determine the best (and possibly fastest) way to load up the new Virgin machine. I have the ability to connect the two computers via Firewire and I also have an up-to-date Firewire Time Machine Backup of everything as well. Any and all advice is appreciated. And don't be afraid to tell me I'm crazy and that I shouldn't worry about corrupt stuff and I should just Set Up Assistant or Migration Assistant (though I hear Set Up is better?) Thanks!

If all you want to migrate is the data files then use Pondini's Setup Assistant guide as instructed. It will ask what you want migrated however if you only choose data it will migrate ALL of your data files. If you have some files you don't want to migrate then it may be best to start the old machine in Target mode after setting up the new machine then you can pick and choose what data files you want to copy over to the new machine.

Best way to transfer files to new iMac?

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