Getting data off a (very) old hard drive

I'm a personal assistant and have just been handed a closet full of old Apple IIci with instructions to get everything off the drives and then junk them.
I am at a loss. I was just going to grab a box of floppies from one of the local computer stores but after being giggled at a few times when I called to ask if anybody carried them I'm wondering if there's another way to do this. I think he also wants to be able to see what is ON them and doesn't have a floppy drive which puts a bit of a damper on the convenience of that idea.
Any and all suggestions welcome!

First of all, in order to avoid any confusion with the older Apple II series, please confirm that you are referring to the Macintosh IIci.
Are the Macintosh IIci computers fully functional (complete with monitors)? Could you perhaps give us some details about the operating system(s) used? Information about file types, programs et cetera could be useful, too.
One can use standard 1.44 MB HD diskettes with the IIci. It is also possible to carry out transfers via one of the serial ports. If at least one of the IIci machines has an Ethernet card installed, a connection to an Ethernet-based network could be another option.
Do you have access to a semi-old Mac, a modern Mac, or possibly only a PC? One could per se connect an external USB floppy drive to a modern computer, but there may be other limitations that will have to be taken into account.
Jan

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Can I get files off of my old hard drive?

So, I've been going through a whole lot of trouble lately with my late 2011 Macbook Pro. A little over a week ago it wouldn't start up, and after attempting the recovery process I learned that I had a corrupted hard drive. The problem was I had a partially written 50000 word novel on there which I hadn't backed up. I'm aware that that was incredibly stupid of me, and I usually always back my work up, but I guess because I'd just purchased this macbook in July I didn't expect to have a problem so soon. Anyway, I took it to the apple store and by hooking it up to genius bar OS instead of my own they were able to get into my hard drive and they let me extract the files I needed, and then proceeded to replace my hard drive which took about four days. I just went back to look at the novel after getting the computer back today, and I realized it somehow only got half of it; maybe it was in two documents or something that I missed, I'm not sure what happened, but it's missing a hundred pages.
So, long story short, I need to get back on my hard drive again. They gave the old one to me, but the last thing I want to do is go through the whole entire process of switching drives again, because I need this computer to work on and it would undoubtedly take forever to do. What I'm asking is, does anyone know if there's another way to retrieve these files? Would the apple store be willing to let me load it onto a different computer so I can still keep my own to work on? I know it's probably a long shot, but I'm about ready to give up and this is my only hope.
I'll be returning there tomorrow afternoon, because apparently on top of all of this they did something to my battery while replacing the hard drive, and now it's coming up as not available and it relies entirely on the power adapter to function. So they've got to fix that too. Just my luck, isn't it?
Thanks.

There are several ways to get data off an old drive, some of which have already been mentioned:
USB drive adapter cable (best choice if you only need to do this rarely, too fragile for frequent use)
External enclosure (choose the 0GB empty case)
Drive dock (I keep one of these around to read old drives that are in the closet, so I no longer need the other accessories. Super handy accessory, much more reliable than the USB adapter cable.)
There are also write-protected forensic drive docks intended to examine and rescue data from drives without altering the contents, but that's probably more than what you need. They're mostly for data recovery shops.

How to get data off Quadra 650's hard drive

My brother has an old Quadra 650 that has some old design projects on it that he would like to get off. The hard drive won't boot and he is frustrated with the task of trying to figure out why. I am hoping to help him get to his old design files another way.
I have an old Sawtooth G4 450 that has the Classic environment still on it inside OS X 10.2 and can be booted to OS 9. Also have old Adobe software and fonts on the machine, from using the machine for freelance design before getting my Mac Pro. So, what I'm hoping is that I can take the drive from his Quadra 650 (SCSI-based) and connect it to something I have and get the data off of it. With the 650's drive being old and SCSI, I'm not sure what options I have.
Any advice?

There are several difficult ways to transfer the files, once you establish that the drive is alive and the files are there.
AppleTalk-
This requires a Mac with a built-in serial port running 9 or earlier, OR an AppleTalk-over-Ethernet adapter such as AsanteTalk or Farallon EtherMac iPrint LT.
Ethernet-
This requires your Ethernet capable Quarda 650 to have a cheap Transceiver to convert its built-in AAUI-15 Ethernet port to the now-ubiquitous RJ45 twisted-pair Ethernet cable. Luckily, these are readily available on the used market:
eBay search for: (apple,mac) (AAUI,transceiver, RJ45,twisted) -(usb,coax,bnc,RAID,fibre,10base2,thinet,AppleTalk)
Dialup-
If you have a modem connection to the Internet, you could email the files to yourself.
SCSI on another Mac-
Getting a SCSI card, drive enclosure, cable, Terminator, and getting it all to work may be too daunting for a one-off data transfer, but is doable.
Floppy disk-
You would need a USB diskette drive on another Mac. These USB drives are capable of reading 1.4MB Mac-formatted floppies only (not 800K diskettes).
USB thumb drive-
USB support probably requires 8.6, which you may not have and your Mac may or may not run, plus you need a PCI-slot card.
FireWire-
Firewire support probably requires 8.6, which you may not have and your Mac may or may not run, plus you need a PCI-slot card. Your Mac does not support Firewire Target Disk mode.

How do I get my Firefox bookmarks off of my old hard drive (now installed on my new computer as the 2nd hard drive) and into my new installation of Firefox on my new computer?

I had a lovely computer, about 8 years old, running Windows XP; the mother board died; the hard drive was fine.
I now have a new computer, running Windows 7, and I have the old hard drive as my 2nd hard drive.
How do I get my old Firefox bookmarks off the old hard drive and into my new Firefox installation?

You can find your current profile using about:support pasted into the location bar then click on "Open Containing folder. That is where you will want to replace your old files into.
Next find your old profile on your old HD, see
:https://support.mozilla.com/questions/886839
With Firefox down replace the profile files you decide to replace.
You might get a better idea of what you are doing or might want from also looking at
* http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder
* http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox

Is there a way to get data to and from the hard drive of a Powerbook 180 without having to use the floppy drive?

Howdy folks!
I have an 20 year old Powerbook 180 with what I think is an unreliable floppy drive. Sometimes while accessing a diskette the screen flickers and usually power to the whole computer drops out.
I'm not familiar with Mac connectivity. Is there a way to access the hard drive--to get data off of, and install files, etc onto, the hard drive? 3.5 inch drives are 20th century.
But... I am happy because my old Powerbook still boots up just fine and I can look at my old files installed on the HD ok.
Thanks,
Hayward Matt

Hi Hayward,
This may be a power supply issue, not necessarily a problem with the floppy drive itself. Any change if you try removing the battery?
Would it be correct to assume that it is a plain PowerBook 180 (not 180c)? Which power adapter are you using? It must have a 7.5 DC output, but is it capable of supplying at least 2.0 A?
Unfortunately it is difficult to remove and connect the (2.5" SCSI) hard drive to a modern computer. Had it been 2.5" IDE, things would have been much easier.
It is possible to set up a serial null-modem connection from a PowerBook 180 to another computer. See the following discussion for details:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4974860
If the PB 180 has an internal modem (or an external modem connected to the modem port), you could send files to another modem-equipped computer over the phone lines. With the proper software installed, the PB 180 can even use a dial-up Internet connection.
Alternatively, another semi-old (pre-1998) Macintosh computer with built-in Ethernet could be used as an intermediary, You could use LocalTalk (or a plain Mac printer cable) for file sharing between the PB 180 and the semi-old Mac (the latter could then forward files over a local network or via the Internet). It is also possible to connect the PB 180 to the semi-old Mac in SCSI disk mode (see the user guide below for additional information).
manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/0302674APB160180UG.pdf
Jan

How can I import my IE8 bookmarks/favorites into Safari if I only have access to the data stored on my old hard drive? I can't run Windows to export them to an html file.

My old PC died and I replaced it with a MacBook Pro. Although I was able to copy the data from the PC's hard drive, I am unable to export my previous bookmarks/favorites to an html file because that PC won't boot. Is there any other way to import them into Safari using the raw data stored on that drive or convert them somehow to a format I can import?

You can only use a JSON backup to restore all bookmarks in Firefox.<br />
If you need to import Firefox bookmarks in Safari then you need to (re)install Firefox and export the bookmarks to an HTML file.
*http://kb.mozillazine.org/Backing_up_and_restoring_bookmarks_-_Firefox

How can I get my data off my MacBook Pro hard drive?

So initially, water was spilled on my MacBook Pro keyboard. I promptly shut it down, turned it upside down, mopped up the water and let it dry out for a day near a heater. The next day it worked fine and continued to do so for about 2 more days until it decided it would no longer start up. Right now it can't make it to the login screen at start up, it just shuts down, the same thing happens in safe mode as well. So, since I haven't backed up my data recently, I was wondering if there was a way I could rescue my data from the hard drive. I did take it in to the Genius Bar, but they couldn't help me since it wouldn't start up in safe mode. Is there a way around this like hooking up an alternate monitor or am I just screwed?

Here is a Video to remove drive:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HS6ELFwD3A
Here is a video to install drive you took out to a new enclosure - to make your files accesible to other Macs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLNv8RMzfjo
Once you do look for home folder and copy everything to the other mac or another external drive.

How do I get data from a pc external hard drive to my mac

I am about to purchase an Air. I have an external hard drive I have used for years with my PC. It has countless pictures and music. How can I get that data from my PC external drive to my new Air and also to the Time Machine?

Thank you for your reply. It is a Western Digital external USB 3.0 formatted for PC. It includes pics, videos, music, documents, power point, etc. would it still just be a drag and drop?
Thanks!

How can I get information off my old hard drive?

Recently my old mac book died. The genius bar said that it would be 750$ for repairs and since it had been 5 years since I'd gotten the laptop, I opted to buy a new MacBook Pro. The problem is I have stuff on my old hard drive that I want to keep (mostly the pictures from my iphoto), so the genius bar took the hard drive out for me. So now I have the hard drive from my old laptop and I'm not sure how I get the information off of it.
I tried to look it up online and saw something about a hard drive caddy? I have no idea what these are/ how they work. Do you just put the hard drive inside of it and connect it with a usb chord? Are all of these compatible with the macbook hard drives and will it work with my new macbook pro?
Or could/should I just go to best buy or something to see if they could put it on a CD for me?
What are my options/how can I go about getting the information from the old hard drive onto my new laptop?
Thanks!

You want to buy an enclosure that will accept a 2.5" IDE hard drive(I think that is what your computer probably had). Once you put the old hard drive into the enclosure, just connect it to your new computer using USB or Firewire(if the enclosure has Firewire ports) and copy your stuff over.
Now is a GOOD time for you to buy another external hard drive and back up your new computer to it often. This will save you the trouble of recovering your information in the future. It is always recommended that you back up your important files to several places.

Have Old Hard drive and want to move old data onto new hard drive in imac.

I am trying to get my files off of an old hard drive. I have it hooked up through a sata drive. I am able to access all the programs but for whatever reason I am unable to access any of the files, i.e- 1,00's of pictures, videos, music, and documents. Is there something else I need to do in order to get the files, or is it possible that all the programs could still be on it but the files are just missing? In the current Sata it only has two plugs but on my hard drive it looks like there is another place to plug something in.

Hello again Shadow,
The way I do this is to:
1) Install your new hard drive into your iBook
2) Get your iBook reassembeled
3) Place your old hard drive in your firewire enclosure
4) Insert your install DVD into your iBook and restart with the C key held down. When the installer launches, select your language in the first pane, click 'continue' and in the upper dropdown menu in the next page select Utilities > Disk Utility. After DU is open, select your hard drive from the list of volumes on the left (the very top one), and then click the 'Partition' tab to the right. Then select 1 partition (normal) and make sure that you have 'Mac OS Extended (journled)' selected in the lower section. Then click 'partition'
5)Quit disc utility, which brings you back to the installer. continue with your installation of OS X. In one of the first steps you will see a button on the lower left which says 'options' click on that and make sure that the option 'Installs OS X for the first time' is selected. It will normally be selected by default with a new drive.
6) After the installation, the Migration Assistant will ask if you would like to transfer your information from another mac. click yes then follow the instructions. but instead of using another mac, connect a firewire cable from your enclosure with your old hard drive installed. The installer will think that this is another mac and will transfer all of your account information and user files (everything!)from your old drive to your iBook's new drive. Just diconnect when it says to and complete the installation sequence.
You're done!
Check back again if anything is unclear.
Randy
Message was edited by: DesertSage

I have a new Win 7 machine, new FF 3.6.3, old hard drive, now external, can't get bookmarks from it to new installation

I got a new computer, Win 7, 64 bit OS, bought an external drive housing where my old hard drive now exists as an external drive. I downloaded a new copy of Firefox, 3.6.3, and would like to get my bookmarks from the old hard drive into the new one but have not found a way to do so. The organize bookmarks/import thing didn't work. I can SEE all of them on the other drive but can't find a way to import them to my new Firefox bookmarks without doing it one by one and there are a couple hundred. I'd like to be able to get them all and have them merge into identically named folders, only a few of which I've created so far in the new machine.

Ok, let me try to explain step-by-step:
#The bookmarks are '''not''' in HTML file. This is OK. Firefox does not store the bookmarks in HTML format.
#Even if you boot the old Firefox, it will show the new bookmarks. This is also OK. You can't really do much about that.
#Uninstalling and re-installing Firefox will '''not''' solve your problem. Firefox will '''not''' see the bookmarks in the external hard drive. Please '''do not''' try this approach.
Now, to make things as simple as possible, let's try to bring all of your old bookmarks and settings into the new computer.
#Make sure that you have closed Firefox completely. This can be done by selecting '''File''' menu and then clicking on '''Exit'''.
#You said you were able to locate the Profile folder on the '''external hard drive''', right? Just to confirm, the name of this folder is something like xxxxxxxx.default (for example, my Profile folder is named 9qnmvkea.default. Yours will be something similar).
#Double click on this folder to open it.
#Select the '''Edit''' menu and click on '''Select All'''. Select the '''Edit''' menu again and then click on '''Copy'''.
#Now, open Firefox from your new computer and follow the instructions given in this article to locate your new Profile folder: [https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Backing+up+your+information#Locate_your_profile_folder Locate your profile folder]. Again, this folder would be named like xxxxxxxx.default
#Once this is done, again close Firefox by selecting '''File''' menu and then clicking on '''Exit'''.
#Double click on your new Profile folder to open it.
#Select the '''Edit''' menu and click on '''Paste'''. Windows will ask you if you want to replace existing files with same name. Select '''replace'''. Wait till all the files have been replaced.
#Open Firefox again from the new computer. Hopefully, you should see your old bookmarks now.

How to transfer history from old hard drive to new computer

So my motherboard on my old PC died. I therefore pulled the hard-drive from my old computer and patiently waited on my new toy to come in. Problem is, I didn't have a chance to do my weekly synch before my old system crashed. I'd like to get the history/favorites off of my old hard-drive, but I'm not sure how to go about it. The OS are also different - old PC was Windows 7, new is 8.1.
Suggestions?

You need the places.sqlite file to restore history.
Note that this file stores the bookmarks as well, so you will lose bookmarks that you already have created.
The file structure in Windows 8 is the same as in Windows 7 and Windows Vista.
*C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<profile>\
The "AppData" folder in Windows Vista and later Window 7+ versions and the "Application Data" folder in XP/Win2K are hidden folders.
*http://kb.mozillazine.org/Show_hidden_files_and_folders
See also:
*https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Recovering+important+data+from+an+old+profile
*http://kb.mozillazine.org/Transferring_data_to_a_new_profile_-_Firefox

My hard drive crashed on my macbook pro and I had a new one installed and they were unable to get my pictures off of it. Is there anyone who could help? I'm going to lose all my memories of my kids! I got my old hard drive

My hard drive crashed on my macbook pro so i had a new one installed and they couldn't get my pictures off. I dont want to lose all my memories! They gave me back my old hard drive. Is there anyone that could help me?

I think how you understand the value of having backups. All you can do is:
General File Recovery
If you stop using the drive it's possible to recover deleted files that have not been overwritten by using recovery software such as MAC Data Recovery, Data Rescue II, File Salvage or TechTool Pro. Each of the preceding come on bootable CDs to enable usage without risk of writing more data to the hard drive. Two free alternatives are Disk Drill and TestDisk. Look for them and demos at MacUpdate or CNET Downloads. Recovery software usually provide trial versions that enable you to determine if the software would help before actually paying for it. Beyond this or if the drive has completely failed, then you would need to send the drive to a recovery service which is very expensive.
The longer the hard drive remains in use and data are written to it, the greater the risk your deleted files will be overwritten.
Also visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on Data Recovery.
You will need an external enclosure for the old drive so you can connect it to the computer in order to try the recovery software before you buy it. But if they don't work then you will need to send the drive to a recovery service such as Drive Savers.

I need to replace my laptop Hard drive. How do I get my iTunes off the old hard drive to an external so I can put it back on the new hard drive?

I need to replace my laptop Hard drive. How do I get my iTunes off the old hard drive to an external so I can put it back on the new hard drive?

Type move itunes library into the google serach bar.
It has always been very basic to always maintain abackup copy of your computer. Do you not have a backup copy?

I had to install a new hard drive because my old hard drives boot files became corrupted, and i want to get all of my music files off the old hard drive and regain all my play counts/ratings/playlists

Greetings everyone
as the title says, ive had to install a new hard drive and i want to transfer my old itunes library onto the new drive, maintaining all playlists/play counts/ratings etc, album artwork if possible. The old hard drive is installed as a slave drive and is completely acessible, but due to the boot files being corrupted i cannot use it as the main drive and therefore operate my old itunes. Also, my ipod no longer contains my music library as itunes synced without my permission and wiped it.
The only thing i have tried is copying all of my old music files from the old drive by selecting 'add folder to library' and then the old drive, then replacing the new itunes library.itl file with the one from my old itunes. This restores all my playlists and playcounts but when i try to play any of the songs it says that the files could not be found, and i dont fancy locating 8500 music files individually!
Thankyou for taking the time to read my post, any help will be greatly appreciated.

Ah, my reply was based on the assumption that you had a default installation of iTunes.
i.e you had all your music in the iTunes media folder inside your iTunes folder.
If your iTunes folder is so small compared to the amount of music you have, you must have a different arrangement.
This complicates you situation considerably.
iTunes can cope with moving around as long as all the music is in the iTunes media folder, not not if it isn't.
Your first step should be to get iTunes working on the old drive. This will involve editing the xml library file so that the drive letter is correct and then rebuilding the library from the xml file.
Then you will need to consolidate your library which moves everything into the iTunes media fodler. After that you will be able to use my first suggestion.
Step 1
Find the iTunes folder on the old drive and copy the two library files somewhere else so you can find them again. That's iTunes Library.itl and iTunes Library.xml.
Now open the copy of iTunes Library.xml with WordPad.
Look for lines starting:
Location
These contain the paths to tracks.
You will need to use a find/replace to change the drive letter so that it is correct.
Make sure that you include enough in the "find" so that you only change the right thing.
Maybe /c:/ and replace with /d:/ or whatever.
After that, tell iTunes to use the library on the old drive with a shift key start.
Hold down the shift key and start iTunes, keep holding the shift key until you are prompted to choose a library. Navigate to the iTunes folder on the old drive and choose iTunes Library.itl.
Then use the method in the following article to rebuild your library;
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1451
Unfortunately the date added will be today for all tracks.
If iTunes works correctly after this, consolidate your library
File>>Library>>Organize>>consolidate
This copies all tracks into to iTunes media folder and could create a problem if you do not have disk space so don't do it if you are unsure about free disk space.
Check that iTunes works OK and then use the first method.
Message was edited by: polydorus

Getting data off a (very) old hard drive

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