Removing my old hard drive

my power mac g4 finally died after the better part of a decade. i had an older model with the tower and the huge monitor and one day it didnt turn on. i brought it 2 an apple store 2 try 2 have the contents of my hard drive transferred 2 my new computer. but when they tried my hard drive kept failing. they said it was a bad hard drive. now i want 2 sell the computer but i want 2 physically remove the hard drive 1st. you know 4 security reasons and such. could you please explain 2 me exactly where the hard drive is located in the tower and how 2 properly remove it (im on the art side not so much the technical side so as detailed an explanation as you can give me would be a great help). thanks

Hi! You can find an installation video HERE. Looking at it will familiarize you with the inside of your computer. A Sawtooth (early G4) has the HD mounted in the bottom of the case (other models may vary in HD location). One screw holds the carrier in place with its hard drive attached. Remove the ide cable and the power connector and then take the screw out and remove the carrier. Once the carrier is out you can remove the hard drive from the carrier. It's a 2 minute job. Tom

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My old pc died and i have not saved my bookmarks to a file, however i have the hard drive plugged into my new PC , how do i get my bookmarks off the old hard drive into the new version of firefox??

The old laptop died, and would not charge, beyond repair . Have removed the old hard drive from the PC and have connected it to my new PC. I have found the firefox folder but cannot see my bookmarks in it. How can i transfer my old bookmarks from the mozilla folder into the new version of firefox i have installed in my new PC??

See the great user tip: https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3141 for syncing to a new device.

From Old Hard Drive to New Hard Drive

We recently got a new computer. Before we ditched the old one, we removed the old hard drive and added it to the new computer as a third drive. Is there any way that I can get my library from the Itunes folder on the old drive to the new Itunes on my new computer? I really don't want to plug in my Ipod with the risk of erasing all my 2000 songs. I would lose my mind.

So the new drive is just drive "E" or something? Just copy the whole Music folder over (or MyMusic, isn;t it, on Windows?), or just the iTunes folder within that one if you want.

Can't get to old hard drive files

Well, I had a problem in which I couldn't get past the gray screen. I couldn't get to any of my files, but I could still see them through the disk utility using the start-up disk. Instead of writing over all of my files I just decided to buy a new hard drive. I bought the new hard drive and installed it, no problem. My laptop is working fine now. The problem is, I thought that removing the old hard drive and placing it into an enclosure would allow me to get to the files since it wouldn't need to boot up the OS. I bought an enclosure and installed the old hard drive into it. I plug it into my ibook and it doesn't register, at all. It doesn't show up on the desktop or in the disk utility. Is there anyway I can get to my files?
EDIT: I forgot to add that I plugged it into a windows computer and it noticed it but I still couldn't see it. I've tried it on other windows computers and now I'm getting nothing. The green light on the enclosure turns on and I can hear the drive working, but I can't get to it.
Message was edited by: Laura Fiscal

I just went back to look at the ebay listing and it's pretty much this one
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170293298831&trksid=e11051.m203&trkparms=algo%3DCRX%26itu%3DUCC%252BUCI%252BLM%252BLA%26otn%3D5&ssPageName=ADME: X:RTQ:US:1348
It says it's mac compatible, but then again, it was only 10 bucks.
Is there someone I can take the drive to? Maybe they can retrieve my lost files.

Can I disable my old hard drive in filename searches?

I just installed a new, larger hard drive into my '07 Mac Pro, and then cloned the old hard drive for a seamless transition...now the computer boots and works from the new drive. Everything worked just fine throughout that process...the only issue I need to iron out is that when I search for a file using command F in the finder (which I do all the time), I get duplicate hits because it's finding files on both the old and new hard drives, which is annoying to have to sift through. I don't want to have to remove the old hard drive in case something happens to the new one. So what can I do to "disable" the old drive so that it's still there if I need it, but doesn't get included in file searches?

I'm not siure, but I'd try it, Find & Spotlight are halfway tied together I believe.
A couple of other options for searching...
EasyFind...
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/11076
Here's a direct download link to EasyFind 4.0 which runs in 10.3.9 & up...
http://www.devon-technologies.com/files/legacy/macosx1039/EasyFind.dmg.zip
From this page,
http://www.devon-technologies.com/support/faqs.php?p=default&cat=19
Freeware applications:
    * EasyFind 4.0
    * PhotoStickies 5.6
    * ThumbsUp 4.3
    * XMenu 1.8
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/8707
Use it to search your whole drive for case insensitive & show invisibles...
.emlx
(dot ee em el ex)
Find Any File...
http://apps.tempel.org/FindAnyFile/
Hold Option or alt key when selecting Find to Find All.

I want to remove all of my photos out of iPhoto there are approximately 35000 some imported from an old hard drive and a SD Card from my Nikon D500 how do I do this

I want to remove all of my photos out of iPhoto there are approximately 35000 some imported from an old hard drive and a SD Card from my Nikon D500 how do I do this?
I have iPhoto version 9.1.5 (615)
Mac OS X version 10.6.8
I want to do this because when I imported from my old hard drive there was an error message stating that 12 photos were not imported as the programm did not recognise the format even though they were jpegs like the other photos in that particular album. The dates of the photo folders are wrong I have multiple copies of photos and every time I start iPhoto I get the following message 12 photos have been found in the iPhoto library that were not imported would you like to import them No or Yes
if you press Yes the same message comes back again and if you press Yes again the program flicks to last import for 2 seconds and then opens events.
if you press No the message The photos have been placed in the folder/user/judith/pictures/iphoto Library recovered photos then if you press OK the original message 12 photos have been found.............
if you press No at this point the message The photos have been placed in the folder/user /judith/pictures/iphoto Library recovered photos_11 the end number goes up by 1 every time you go through this process
Any help would be greatly appreciated

Did you import an iPhoto Library from the old Hard Drive? Do you still have that old Library?
The way to clear out a Library is to Export the photos - Apps like iPhoto2Disk or PhotoShare will help you export to a Folder tree matching your Events.
For the annoying start-up message:
Go to your Pictures Folder and find the iPhoto Library there. Right (or Control-) Click on the icon and select 'Show Package Contents'. A finder window will open with the Library exposed.
Look there for a Folder called 'Import' or 'Importing'.
Drag it to the Desktop. *Make no other changes*.
Start iPhoto. Does that help?
If it does then look inside that folder on your desktop. Does it contain anything you want? If not you can trash the folder.

My old computer died. I removed the hard drive and converted it to an external hard drive. I want to get the bookmarks from that hard drive onto the new hard drive. I have Firefox 3.6.1 right now. Where do I find the bookmarks on the old hard drive?

If I had to I could go to Internet Explorer Favorites on the old hard drive and find that file and bring those over to the new computer and into Firefox but those are outdated. Where would the favorites for Internet Explorer be found if you can't tell me where to find the Firefox Bookmarks file. I'd much prefer to find the Firefox Bookmarks, though.

See:
* [[Recovering important data from an old profile]]
* http://kb.mozillazine.org/Transferring_data_to_a_new_profile_-_Firefox

I have replaced my old hard drive with a new SSD drive. Can I restore a complete Time Machine backup

I have replaced my old hard drive on a MacBook Pro midyear 2010 with a new SSD drive. I have a complete system backup of my old drive in an external hard drive using Time Machine.
Questions that I would like to get answered.
1) Can I connect my external hard drive to the macbook pro and use that to boot up my machine by pressing and holding down the Options key? Once booted up successfully, can I use Disk Utility to format the new SSD and then restore the complete time machine backup?
2) If that is not possible, can I use my old drive which I can connect using a USB adapter and use that to boot up by following the same strategy as listed in Step#1 above?
3) If neither options are possible, do I need to use a bootable USB drive for Mavericks OS X to boot up the machine,
I have Mavericks OS X ( 10.9.6) and I do not have a DVD of the OS.
Any help is appreciated.

Let me first document the steps that did not work and then I will document the steps that worked.
1) Replaced the hard drive with SSD.
2) Connected the original hard drive using a USB adapter to the MacBook to make it behave like an external device.
3) Powered on the machine and on hearing the chime pressed Command-R to start in recovery mode.
4) Chose the Disk Utility option to erase and format the SSD. The format chosen was Mac OS Extended Journaled.
5) Once the formatting was done, then clicked on the "Restore" tab in Disk Utility
6) In the Source field, dragged my original hard drive from the left pane and placed it in the field
7) On the destination field, choose the new SSD drive. Clicked on "Restore". Gave me a warning, accepted the warning and the restore was under way.
8) I had 236 GB to restore so took 3.5 hours before it was done.
9) Disconnected the external hard drive ( my original internal HDD), shut down the machine and powered on again.
10) Heard the chime and after that it was a white screen with no Apple logo.
Was visibly upset and started thinking what my next move will be. Then tried these steps
1) Again powered off the machine.
2) Connected my internal HDD once more as an external drive
3) Powered on and on hearing the chime, pressed Command-R as before
4) Once the OS X utilities screen popped up, this time chose Install OS X
5) Erased the contents of SSD once more and reformatted it using Mac OS Extended Journaled.
6) Installed OS X by following the prompts.
7) Once the OS was installed, I was presented with an option on how to transfer data to this new Mac
8) Chose the option to move the data from my original HDD.
9) Took another 3 hours to move the data.
10) Removed the original HDD once the transfer was complete, powered down the machine and started it once more.
11) Booted successfully and all my content is now accessible on the new SSD.
Moral of the story - It is the spirit that counts.

What is the exact name of the cable I need to connect my old hard drive from my macbook pro (it has been taken out of the computer) to my new macbook pro? I need to transfer files from the old hard drive to the new computer.

What is the exact name of the cable I need to connect my old hard drive from my macbook pro, which has been removed from the computer, to my new macbook pro? I need to transfere files from the old hard drive to the new computer.

No eSATA to USB. Just a SATA/IDE to USB adapter. Google SATA/IDE to USB adapter and you will get tons of links to buy them. Most likely your local computer electronics store has them, although they might be more expensive buying locally than online.
I have several. You can get either USB 2, which what I recommend, or USB 3. USB is backward compatible so a USB 3 adapter will work on a USB 2 port and a USB 2 adapter will work on a USB 3 port. Backward compatible in both directions.
I suggest a USB 2 type because there have been some problems with certain USB 3 devices, the USB 3 interface used isn't all that good in those certain devices. USB 3 is still fairly new where as USB 2 has been around for over 10 years.
synghem wrote:
Thank you LowLuster,
At the apple store they said I needed an esata to usb wire. But looking at wires on line has been confusing. Is sata the same as esata? How do I know if I need a usb 3 or usb 2?

Old Hard Drive Fried! How To Add Photos and Music from iPod to iTunes

Hello! I'm in serious need of some help.
My old hard drive died without any warning, so I lost everything that was on it. Luckily, my iPod is full of very important photos and all of my music.
How do I transfer these images and mp3s into iTunes on my new computer?
I've lost everything else, so the last thing I want to do is lose the only photos I have left along with the gigs and gigs of music I spent months gathering and organizing.
Please let me know the surest way to transfer these images and music files from my iPod into iTunes.
Thank you so much for your help! This event has saddened and exhausted me completely.
All the best,
Sunshine
Toshiba Satellite Windows XP

If you have any iTMS purchases the transfer of purchased content from the iPod to authorised computers has been introduced with iTunes 7. A paragraph on it has been added to this article: Transfer iTunes Store purchases using iPod
The transfer of non iTMS content such as songs imported from CD is designed by default to be one way from iTunes to iPod. However there is a manual method of accessing the iPod's hard drive and copying songs back to iTunes on Windows. The procedure is a bit involved but if you're interested it's posted in this thread: MacMuse - iPod to iTunes
If you prefer something more automated then there are a number of third party utilities that you can use to retrieve the music files and playlists from your iPod. This is just a selection, you'll find that they have varying degrees of functionality and some will transfer movies, videos, photos and games as well. Have a look at the web pages and documentation, they are generally quite straightforward. You can also read reviews of some of them here: Wired News - Rescue Your Stranded Tunes
YamiPod Mac and Windows Versions
iGadget Windows Only
iPod Access Mac and Windows Versions
PodUtil Mac and Windows Versions
iPodCopy Mac and Windows Versions
PodPlayer Windows Only
CopyPod Windows Only
If your iPod is set to update automatically take care when connecting back to your computer and an empty iTunes. You will get a message that your iPod is linked to a different library and asking if you want to link to this one and replace all your songs etc, press "Cancel". Pressing "Erase and Sync" will irretrievably remove all songs from your iPod. Your iPod should appear in the iTunes source list from where you can change the update setting to manual and use your iPod without the risk of accidentally erasing it. Check the "manually manage music and videos" box in Summary then press the Apply button. Don't uncheck Sync Music it will be unchecked by default when you choose the manual setting: Managing content manually on iPod
Whichever of these retrieval methods you choose, keep your iPod in manual mode until you have reloaded your iTunes and you are happy with your playlists etc then it will be safe to return it auto-sync again. I would also advise that you get yourself an external hard drive and back your stuff up in case you have problems again. External drives are comparatively inexpensive these days and you can get loads of storage for a reasonable outlay.
For some additional ways to retrieve photos from an iPod try:
iPodPhotoCopy Windows only
CopyPodPhoto Windows only
iPod Photo Liberator Mac & Windows
Use Disk Mode to copy photos from iPod

Moving Data from old hard drive to new hard drive

I'm posting this question in this category , I hope it's the right place. Here's my situation and general information. I have a Toshiba L35 S2161 laptop, it's about 5 yrs old, running WinXP Service Pack 3. just got the blue screen, wouldn't boot, tried everything and I only have the factory provided "recovery" disc that will wipe my drive and lose all my data if I use it. I hadn't been doing regular backups, so I want to save as much if not all of my data as I can. I don't want to spend time here going over everything I've tried (boot disc like Knoppix, etc) which didn't work, just need to get to the bottom line and make sure I'm doing the next steps correctly.
Here's my plan:
l. Remove old hard drive from laptop
2. purchase new hard drive - I've been told any drive will work, it doesn't have to be designed for a Toshiba. I've been looking at best prices, etc. mainly Western Digital. I may purchase a larger drive to at least get more memory , although I really didn't have that much on my old drive, but had a lot of apparent memory-related problems, freezes, etc.
3. Install new blank drive into laptop, using the Toshiba factory recovery disc to reformat the disc and get it ready to receive the data.
4. Insert the recovery disc into the drive, turn on the computer and HOPE that it boots it up and installs a fresh install on the new drive. Not sure what the screen willl show at this point - I've never installed a new drive in a laptop, so will be somewhat nervous at this point to see what happens.
5. Assuming the new drive is recognized by the recovery disc and installs a clean version of WIN XP (I'm assuming that's what's on the recovery disc that came with my computer, because it had WIN XP pre-installed), I will now be ready to transfer data from the old drive.
6. This is the step I'm not sure what or how to do next. I would like to clone my entire old drive onto the new drive but I'm afraid if I do that it might load damaged files that would mess up my new install. I purchased a disc enclosure with a USB cable (haven't received it yet), and was going to use that somehow. I presume I will plug it in and it will show up as an external drive and I can access that drive and transfer my priority files or data first and then try to transfer as much more as I can....
I need further help and information about this last step...the critical data transfer method. There are cloning kits that are plug and play and would transfer my entire system as it was before the blue screen, but again, I'm concerned about transferring everything onto a clean install and finding myself with a computer that won't boot again because it transferred a bad file. Also, would it overwrite or interfere with the clean install on the new drive? I'm stuck at this point....hopefully someone out there can walk me through this final step with the best option for transfer. I'm trying to avoid purchasing pricey software like Acronis (which I looked at online and it seemed difficult to use, to figure out what to transfer).
My laptop is obviously out of warranty, being five years old, and I am not interested in taking it in to repair tech, I want to do this myself and I think I can with a few helpful tips. Thanks for any help asap...

Hi!
The error message I received on the blue screen was "unmountable boot volume" which leads me to believe i have a corrupted MBR. This fiasco happened when I turned off my computer when it was running a program (I know, bad thing to do).
I'm waiting on a new hard drive with a 120 GB (my old drive was 80GB). I was told not to go above 120 or I'd have partition problems.
The SATA drive enclosure powers up the old drive (I can hear the disc spinning) so the disc isn't dead. If I''d have the full retail vesion of WinXP I would of course have used the recovery console, but I only had the toshiba recovery disc that came with my system. Also, I couldn't burn a CD boot disc...didn't have access to another computer nor would a tech friend do it for me as he apparently made a disc for someone and their system crashed so I had no choice but to buy a new drive and try to transfer the data via the SATA external drive/usb cable.
My big question now is: Will the Toshiba recovery disc actually reformat my new drive? Someone on another forum with a Toshiba laptop had purchased a new drive, used the recovery disc and the cd just went into a constant loop and never went into a full install. I'm thinking that maybe on a new drive there isn't enough knowledge base there for the recovery disc to install and reformat a new disc. That would be a bummer because then I'd have no choice but to purchase a retail version of WinXP which I was hoping not to have to do. Thats' getting into some $$ when added to all the other thing I've tried to get this laptop up and running . (A Knoppix live CD boot disc didn't work either).
I don't know what service pack was on the old disc...possibly SP2, but if it was only SP1, I fear it's not going to have the ability to format a new disc. The disc does have drivers, etc. but the question is, are they able to install the OS. I was running XP3 when it crashed, so I know i would have to download that again. I just want to get the darned system back up and running with my new drive and restore disc. IF I can do that, then I'll try to transfer the data from the old drive via the external drive enclosure.
I also decided against the clone....I was afraid I'd be cloning a bad disc or errors onto a new drive, and didnt' want to stress a possibly wonky drive even more than it possibly is.
So, that's where I'm at now! Thanks so much for any further insight into this....something tells me the recovery disc isn't going to format my new drive but fingers crossed...more thoughts/feedback appreciated!

How do I transfer applications & data from my old hard-drive to my new one?

My old hard drive started to crash, it was on it's way out and making funny noises. I have brought a new hard drive and connected it to the same leeds as the old one. I have put the opperating system on to the new hard drive and it is all up and running..... but.
I want to transfer all my old applications like garage sale and limewire without having to pay for them again and transfer all my music and photos from the old hard drive to the new.
So:
1: How do i get the old hard drive out of the position it's in it seems glued in and i can't see any screws?
2: How do i connect both hard drives and transfer everything from the old to the new? Do i need to buy another set of leeds or should they be in the computer
Your help would be most appreciated.....
power mac G4 466MHz Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Hi
You should be able to have both drives installed at the same time in the rear U shaped bracket. One needs to be mounted in the bottom of the bracket, have it's jumpers set to master and be connected to the end connector of the ribbon cable. The other needs to mounted above it, have it's jumpers set to slave and be connected to the middle connector of the ribbon cable. The computer should have the leads to do this, i.e. one ribbon cable with two connectors and two molex power connectors. With both drives installed, you can then drag your music and photos etc from the old to the new. You could try dragging the applications, although if they install additional files elsewhere they'll need to be reinstalled from the original CDs or DVDs.
The old drive may be screwed into the U shaped bracket from below. There should be a single screw which secures the bracket to the chassis at the front, although it may be hidden under the ribbon cable. If you unplug the ribbon cable and undo the single screw you can remove the bracket still containing the old drive, by sliding it forwards and lifting it up at the front. The screws securing the drive to the bracket can then be undone from beneath.

HT1635 How do I know which Hard Drive to get for my MacBook 2006? The old Hard Drive is a Toshiba (MK8034GSX) S/N Z6APT2XUT 9H5 EC. A?

How do I know which Hard Drive to get for my MacBook 2006? The old Hard Drive is a Toshiba (MK8034GSX) S/N Z6APT2XUT 9H5 EC. A?

I've put a 250gb 7200rpm drive in an Early 2006 with no problems.
For a new hard drive try Newegg.com http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=380&name=Laptop-Hard-Dr ives&Order=PRICE
Or OWC http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/hard-drives/2.5-Notebook/
Here are instructions on replacing the hard drive in a MacBook with a removable battery. http://creativemac.digitalmedianet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=45088
To transfer your current hard drive I like the free application Carbon Copy Cloner. It makes a bootable copy of everything on your hard drive http://www.bombich.com/index.html You'll need a cheap SATA external hard drive case. Put the new drive in the case then format and partition the new drive and clone your old drive to the new one. Check that it's set up right by booting up from the external drive. Then replace your old hard drive with the new one and put your old one in the external case.
Here's a cheap SATA external hard drive case on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/HDE-SATA-Hard-Drive-Enclosure/dp/B001AAVA08/ref=pd_bxgy_pc _text_b
If you don’t have the tools to open up the MacBook OWC has a set for $5
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/TOOLKITMHD/

How can i add bookmarks from my old hard drive to new hard drive on the same computer without overwriting the new bookmarks on my new hardrive? Cheers

The old hard drive was operating on Xp and new hard drive is Windows 7, if this makes any difference.

Unfortunately there is no simple method and, the workaround is far from perfect. The .json files Firefox uses overwite the existing bookmarks but the .html option appends and does not overwrite.
First of all backup all bookmarks on each hard drive. The best method of doing that is to backup the Firefox profiles, that captures the bookmarks databases (''places.sqlite'') and the autobackups that Firefox holds.
* [[Back up and restore information in Firefox profiles]]
* [[Restore bookmarks from backup or move them to another computer]]
#First ensure you have the largest databsae on the current install of Firefox. If necessary
##Locate the Firefox Profile on the old drive
##* [[Profiles - Where Firefox stores your bookmarks, passwords and other user data]]
##Open Firefox and find the profile that is currently in use.
##*Quick method <br/>Use FirefoxButton -> Help -> Troubleshooting Information [Open Folder] <br />(No certain of exact wordings, OR navigate to ''about:support'' )
##* [[Back up and restore information in Firefox profiles]]
#Now use HTML backups to transfer from the smaller database the basic bookmarks.
## Close Firefox & if the old database is the largest one use the Operating System copy option to overwrite the existing places.sqlite so that Firefox now uses the old database
## Reopen Firefox but this time open using the old profile. The easiest method of that may be to disable the new drive from the Bios or alternatively use Firefox profile manager and register the old profile location and open firefox with that profile
##* [[Use the Profile Manager to create and remove Firefox profiles]]
## Export the bookmarks from the old profile using the Firefox Library and the HTML option.
##* see [[Export Firefox bookmarks to an HTML file to back up or transfer bookmarks]]
## Close Firefox, reopen new version/newprofile and import the HTML.
You now have the largest database of complete bookmarks with tags etc. , plus additional bookmarks from the smaller database added on. Obviously you may have some duplication

Moving my iTunes library from old hard drive to new laptop

I apologize if this has been discussed before, but, just today I punched my laptop screen and shattered it (the laptop has been asking for it lately, it's been acting up and I was planning on buying a new one anyhow). I removed the hard drive and it's perfectly fine, no damage. I bought a new laptop a few hours after breaking the old one and I was wondering how, if possible, I can move my iTunes library from my old hard drive to my new laptop. I read about a hard drive case that comes with a USB cable and one of those things that plugs into my hard drive that I can then plug into my new laptop and my old hard drive will show up.
Sorry, it was a bit of a mouthful. Anything anyone can suggest is greatly appreciated.

tonybassplayer wrote:
Thank Chris I have just done that. How do I now get them in to Itunes ?
If you simply copy the iTUnes folder to /Music/ and launch iTUnes, everythign will be there. No need to import anything.
This will work the same with iPhoto.
Simply copy the Photo library to /Pictures/ folder and launch iPhoto.

Removing my old hard drive

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