Transferring Data From MacBook To iMac

I'm not exactly sure what category to file my question under due to it's unique circumstances, so I tagged & selected areas & categories that I thought were appropriate to widen the range of people who will see it & hopefully, make it more likely that I'll find the answer I'm looking for.
I was given an older iMac computer by a family friend, it's old enough to not have an iSight camera built into it, but new enough to have well-working wifi & Bluetooth connectivity available on it & support it's updated software without posing any problems. I believe from what I can gather & the looks of it, it's currently running Snow Leopard, but I can't be completely sure because the newer software was installed previously, before I received the computer, although I'm pretty sure that it is Snow Leopard.
I also have a MacBook that stopped taking a charge long before I got the new (to me) iMac, the repair is not worth the cost, so I would like to transfer the data from my MacBook (irreplacable pictures, music, etc.) to the iMac, I'm planning on purchasing an external hard drive & an external battery charger, but I can't afford it at the moment & would like to transfer the data as soon as possible, so that I can access it all again, but there's only so much battery life left on my MacBook battery right now, about 10% at the very most, which is certainly not enough to keep the computer on long enough to transfer it all with file sharing via wifi/Bluetooth.
So, I was wondering if I could possibly connect the two through a USB cord & transfer it without the MacBook being turned on or if there was any other way to transfer information without having to turn on the MacBook to do so?
My MacBook has a unibody & was purchased brand new in about mid-2010, it was either the last or at least, one of the last models of MacBooks made before MacBooks were discontinued, & it also runs Snow Leopard. I could never figured out how to work Time Machine & from what I could figure out from the program it either cost money to use/I didn't have any external place to store a large amount of data, so no, I don't have a working Time Machine because I never could set it up. I don't what might have relevance to my situation or not so, I tried to give as much information as possible in case it could be helpful.
Thank you all so much for your time, input, & help, I really appreciate it! (:

You could pull the hard drive out of your MacBook and put it in an external case.
Here are video instructions on replacing the hard drive on the White Unibody http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/macbook_13_09_unibody_hd/
Here's a cheap SATA external hard drive case on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Vantec-NexStar-2-5-Inch-External-Enclosure/dp/B002JQNXZC/r ef=pd_cp_pc_0
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/

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I was transferring data from my old iMac to my new iMac via Time Machine. After about 4 hours, the electrical power fluctuated and turned off my wi-fi. Now most of my necessary programs are useless. How do I erase and start over?

I was transferring data from my old iMac to my new iMac via Time Machine. After about 4 hours, the electrical power fluctuated and turned off my wi-fi. Now most of my necessary programs are useless. How do I erase that mess and start over?

Hello there, LynnS.
The following Knowledge Base article and it's referenced link should get you started with the Erase and Install of Mavericks:
OS X Mavericks: Erase and reinstall OS X
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH14243
Once you've gone through those 2 articles, this article should help you with restoring from your Time Machine Backup:
OS X Mavericks: Recover your entire system
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH14185
Thanks for reaching out to Apple Support Communities.
Cheers,
Pedro.

When transferring data from my old iMac to a newer one do the old Apple apps like iWorks override the new versions installed on the newer computer?

When transferring data from an older iMac to a newer iMac (refurbished) do the Apple applications like iWorks replace the ones on the newer computer?
I have read how to transfer data and using setup assistant but I am concerned about applications from Apple having the same names.

As you likely know legacy apps that are PPC based will not migrate over. However the data files will. I would urge you to inventory the apps you have and their data files to see how important they are and then look app by app to see what app replacements are available. If you are using Office for Mac prior to the 2008 version you will need to get a new license of the app because the 2004 version was PPC based. The files will come over and are readable by newer version of Office for Mac (I recommend the 2011 version) and also readable by the iWorks apps (Pages, Numbers, Keynote) but those are different apps than Office and work differently and do not have all of the features of the MS Office apps. This is really only a issue if you share files with MS Office users, if you use them for personal work then iWork may be just fine for your needs.

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I just bought a new MacBook Pro and I am having problems transferring data from my old MacBook Pro. I am using an Apple Thunderbolt to FW adapter to hook both computers and I am using the Migration Assistant. Everything looked ok until the "Transferring Your Information" screen got stuck. It says that it is "Transferring your Application folder..." And it has been stuck for at least the last two hours giving a message that says "About 3 minutes remaining..." This is starting to get ridiculously annoying. Options?

I guess I am finding my own way as time progresses and frustration increases but these are two things that I have found so far:
1. Transfering from one machine to another does not seem to be the most efficient way to do this so using the TimeMachine backup must be the way to go...
HOWEVER
2. In this process I also found another "complication" called: Legacy FaultVault - My computer is encripted and I used this now so called "Legacy FaultVault" app to do it (when it was no a Legacy!). The thing is that you can not transfer documents from your TimeMachine backup to your new Mac if the Legacy Fault Valut is active on your old machine so you first need to desactivate the encription. HOWEVER, this brought another issue...when I tried to desactivate the encription using the Legacy FaultVault screen I got a message saying that I did not have enough disk space to allow me to do that....Isn't that great??? This is a problem by itself and it seems to have some sort of solution I was reading about (not straight forward at all). What I am trying to do now is to copy the folder that contains my files and just paste them on my new machine to see if that works....it looks like my apps are on my new machine, unsure if they are working...need to test this next....
I guess the transfer machine to machine could have sorted out the conflict eventually...after tens of hours or maybe not! Who knows....
A very frustrated Apple fan...
I love Apple products but this is an ISSUE...I feel like there is lack of adecuate documentation around to deal with this or the data transfering apps should be able to deal with this on a more efficient way....just saying...

Transferring date from G5 PPc iMac to New Intel iMac?

Can anyone advise or point me in the right direction? I have tried searching Forums, but cannot find what I want.
I have set up my new iMac 10.6.2, loaded and updated all my programs, and now want to transfer my data from my old iMac.
There is a lot of legacy stuff on there, that came with the original Jaguar OS that I can't erase. i.e. Marble Blast, Nanosaur, McKiev World Book, and don't want to transfer.
The stuff that I want to transfer, is mainly my photos, music and videos (retain sync with Apple TV, and keep Playlists,) emails, and docs. I did try Migration Assistant yesterday, but after ten hours of transfer, at the last minute, it said it could not complete.
I was thinking of copying files to an external HD, then moving them across to the new iMac, but am not sure which files to copy.

A regular contributor, alias Kappy, has written just such a guide!
A Basic Guide for Migrating to Intel-Macs
Dah•veed

Suggestion on transfering data from iBook to iMac the old fashioned way

I was unable to transfer files, data, apps directly from my iBook to my new iMac. I'm wondering if someone can tell me how I can do this by using an external hard drive?
For traditional files I'm OK but I'm curious about moving things like my stored Entourage mail and my iTunes song lists, purchase history,etc.
Anyone have insight on this? Thanks!

Hi,
Thanks so much for your help. Do you mind explaining this a little more (I'm dense). To help further clarify I have the following items that I want to transfer...
* iTunes history (purchased, playlists, etc.)
* Safari and Explorer bookmarks
* Entourage -- everything, stored mail, address book, calendar,etc.
I tried moving these individual files (primariy MS Office) but it wouldn't allow me to. I'm thinking one of the issues is MSFT preventing me fro transfering Office from one machine to another so I will do a separate install of that suite directly onto the iMac - however I would be very bummed if I had to loose all my history on my previous Mac since the Setup Assistant isn't working.
Appreciate your further insight on this.

Transferring data from pc to imac using nano?

Hi,
I'm trying to transfer 15GB of data from my win98 pc to my new imac. As a first attempt, I bought an external enclosure, removed my pc's hard drive, put the hd in the external enclosure, and hooked the external enclosure up to my imac, but my imac can't read the drive.
Someone suggested that I put the hd back in my pc and use my 8GB nano to transfer the data. How does that work? My pc has a USB port(old type) and no ethernet port.

Hi,
I should also have added that Windows can't read the
HFS+ file system that Macs use and also, putting the
iPod into disk mode should not erase any data from
it.
Format the iPod on the PC by restoring it, and you
can use the iPod on both platforms.
Sorry, I put this whole issue aside because it was too confusing, but now I'm trying to get the data moved from pc to my imac again. My situation is this: I have an imac with itunes and a win98pc that does not have itunes.
Enable your nano for data in iTunes
I did that by selecting "Manually manage songs and playlists", which will also allow you to use your ipod as a drive. If you do that, the ipod won't try to download your itunes songs, which apparently happens if you select Disc Mode, as explained here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61131
EJECT it
I did that.
and see if it shows up as either a removable drive or
USB Mass Storage device on the PC desktop.
On win98, it says a driver is missing. According to this website:
http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/consumerelectronics/ipodfaq/ipod-mac-and-pc-usage-macos-9-windows-98.html
"Officially, Apple provides no support for Windows 98. You cannot use the iPod with Windows 98, as the operating system lacks support for FireWire and USB 2.0.
However, with some work, you can use a Windows-compatible iPod with Windows 98. A forum posting from iLounge provides instructions on how to use a Windows-compatible iPod 3G with Windows 98 and FireWire, as well as some subsequent models, and Michael Hobot's personal page provides a driver and instructions on how to use Firewire-based iPods with USB."
I looked around on the internet, and I found my way to this website:
http://www.redchairsoftware.com/anapod/support/proassist.php?c=9899
which has a driver for ipod on win98. I downloaded the driver per the instructions, but when I directed win98 to look in the folder with the driver, win98 says it couldn't find an appropriate driver.
Even if that had worked, there were more potential problems in store:
"If your iPod has been previously used on a Windows 2000 or XP computer, it may already be formatted and initialized. At this point, you can try connecting to your iPod in Anapod. If it works, you are done with this page and ready to go.
If Anapod complains that it could not find your iPod, then you probably need to format and initialize the drive. Normally you could do this with the Apple Updater utility, but because it does not run on Windows 98/ME, we provide an alternative called Anapod Reinitializer that runs on all versions of Windows."
and then there is this:
"As using an iPod with Windows 98 effectively is a "hack", EveryMac.com does not recommend it, but several readers have written to confirm that this method works."
As for this advice:
also, putting the iPod into disk mode should not erase any data from it.
that seems correct, but
Format the iPod on the PC by restoring it, and you
can use the iPod on both platforms.
apparently will erase the data:
"Converting a Mac-formatted iPod into a Windows-formatted iPod requires the iPod to be "restored", and doing so will erase the hard drive."
In conclusion, it appears I have reached another dead end in trying to transfer my 15GB of data from my win98 pc to my imac. I previously tried doing so with an external hard drive enclosure: I took my drive out of my pc, slid it in the enclosure and connected it via USB 2.0 to my imac, but my imac could not read the drive.
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Transferring files from macbook to imac. Need Help !!!!

Okay i will make this as short as possible. I was using a macbook to do imovie. My father bought a new 27 inch imac. Well I got his 24" imac. Stoked and boy what a difference !! On the old one I used an external hard drive and woking and saving off of that. When I got my new imac, I bought a new external hard drive. First I plugged in my old one to new imac. Transferred movies over. Then plugged in new external hard drive to imac, and put movies on there. I am a videographer for a few surf teams and I was working on a movie and noticed that some sessions were not on there. So I plugged in old external hard drive to macbook and there they were. turned both machines off unplugged both external hard drive. Plugged old external hard drive into imac and they were not there. I am using ilife 11 and am on 10.6.5. Sorry it was so long, just wanted to give all my info to make it easier to answer. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this whether you answer or not, much appreciated.

Really strange.
I suggest perhaps attaching the old ext HDD to the MB and the new ext HDD to the iMac and connecting the two Macs with an ordinary ethernet cable. Go to Finder/Help menu/Mac Help/Index/E/Ethernet for an article about making a network with two Macs and an ethernet cable. Then go to Index/S/Sharing to find out how to configure your two Macs to share files with each other.
With the network and sharing hopefully you can now see the files that you need on the MB/old HDD and can drag & drop them to the new iMac/new HDD.
Dah•veed

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but how do I get the iMac to be the main computer that the iPad and iPhone sync with?
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This way it is the same library, not simply a new library with all the same media files.
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Hi Todd
Not sure why that wouldn't work, but it could be that cable and adapter setup as the Early Core Duo only supports firewire 400.
You should try a 9 to 6 Pin Bilingual FireWire Cable:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?cid=103&cp_id=10301&cs_id=1030105&pid=3542&seq=1&format=2
http://www.firefold.com/6-Foot-9pin-6pin-IEEE1394B-Firewire-Cable-P965.aspx
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i I have the same problem. Did you ever find a solution? This is a brand new machine.

HT1554 Apparently, I don't know my "com.apple.smig keychain" password. And I'm in the middle of setting up my new Mac mini. I transferred data from my MacBook and what I thought was the password isn't working! Help!!

Apparently, I don't know my "com.apple.smig keychain" password. And I'm in the middle of setting up my new Mac mini. I transferred data from my MacBook and what I thought was the password isn't working! Help!!

Hello,
See if this helps...
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Transferring data from external hard drive to new replacement Macbook Pro...

Hello,
Apple have arranged to give me a replacement Macbook Pro due to faults with hardware on the one I am currently using. I will be going to pick up the replacement Macbook Pro tomorrow morning.
As a complete novice I just wanted to check that I have backed up the data from my current laptop onto my Iomega external hard drive properly, as I am slightly nervous about losing all my work and not being able to transfer all my files onto my new Macbook Pro tomorrow.
I did a back up using time machine earlier today which took quite a long time and seemed to go successfully. Is this the right thing to have done to save all data from my current laptop onto the external hard drive?
Will transferring data from the external hard drive onto my new Macbook Pro be a simple task?
Will I have to reinstall all my software such as Logic and Pro Tools? Also will my preferences and settings for music software be changed?
I'd greatly appreciate any advice.
Thanks,
Deena

Well it's like this.
If your problem on the Mac didn't affect the software or the TimeMachine backup, then restoring from that using SetupAssistant (when you first set up a new Mac it will ask you to restore) should go fine.
HOWEVER, if there are software issues on the Mac that also transferred to the TimeMachine drive, that will only transfer them back onto your new computer.
You can't very easily just pick out the things you want to restore from TimeMachine with, it doesn't give that fine detail of control, and if it's really messed up, it might not restore anything at all.
The golden rule of backups is to maintain two separate and easily accessible hardware copies of your data off the machine at all times.
Since you don't know for sure if the TimeMachine restore is going to work as intended, and your only other source is going to disappear, I'd advise a additional backup of your Music, Documents, Pictures and Movie folders etc., to another regular external drive via regular drag and drop copy methods.
The operating system and programs can all be reinstalled from fresh sources on the new machine, provided you have the AppleID and password, license codes for your programs, email passwords and any other necessary information to re-establish the license on the new machine.
(In some cases licensed software HAS NOT transferred to a new machine with a TimeMachine restore and had to be reinstalled)
Some times you have to contact the developer or "uninstall" the licensed program so it sends a signal to their servers that the program has been removed, else your license code may not work on the new machine.
You might decide the new machine would be better off with a fresh install of your programs that you know are 100% compatible with Lion etc., leaving a lot of older stuff you installed over the years off the new machine, if you restore from TimeMachine, you don't have this option. You pretty much get all the crap along for the ride,
If your new machine gets all crapped up, then restoring Lion is going to going to be a tough challenge, as you need a strong reliable Internet connection to download a fresh copy of Lion from Apple servers (no more disks). Once you do that, then somehow you have to use third party software ($$) to cherry pick your files out of TimeMachines trap. More headaches than you anticpated, and likely a charge by a specialist.
So I'd advise another hard drive with a copy of just your files, just in case a crap-up occurs
You can restore Lion yourself if it craps up, install programs from fresh sources as you know how to do, use the old license codes and then return your files manually exactly back into their same Music, Pictures, Documents, and Movies (etc, not Library) folders as before.
The key to this manual method is to make sure to use the same user name as before, so all your file location data pathnames retained by program files like iTunes to where the songs are located on the drive, are matched. Once you open these programs and restablish the links in OS X, then you can move them around.
Some tricks, if you use iPhoto, you can right click "show package contents" and inside is a folder with your Originals, copy that out and you can reimport your pictures into the new iPhoto Library on the new machine.
So use TM if you dare, but prepared to do things manually is my opinion.
TM restores have not been all that reliable or dependable, the more messed up your machine is, the worst the restore seems to be.
Good Luck

Just bought a new macbook w/ mtn lion. transferred data from my old macbook over n it created another user name. that's actually good--xcept for music, which i want on my new acct. How do i move files from my "old comp" acct to my new one?

i just bought a new macbook w/ mtn lion. when i transferred data from my old macbook over, it created another user name (i called it "old computer"). That's actually good--I'm not going to be accessing old files frequently--except for music, which i want on my new user name. How do i move files from my "old comp" account to my new one? Is there a way to easily move large #'s of files, or just one by one? I've googled extensively but can only find instructions for OSX 10.6 and previous, which talks about the "Shared folder," which I can't seem to find.

jesster03 wrote:
i just bought a new macbook w/ mtn lion. when i transferred data from my old macbook over, it created another user name (i called it "old computer"). That's actually good
That's actually bad. Peruse Pondini's Setup New Mac guide and seriously consider starting over.

I transferred data from my Macbook Pro to my Mac mini but it forced me to make a new user for my old data. How do I transfer my music, pics, and docs from the "old" user to the new user (so that I only have one user instead of 2?)

I transferred data from my Macbook Pro to my Mac mini but it forced me to make a new user for my old data. How do I transfer my music, pics, and docs from the "old" user to the new user (so that I only have one user instead of 2?)

Unless you transfer the files from Setup Assistant, Migration Assistant creates a new user with the data.
To transfer the files to your first user, you have to log on this new user, and copy all your files to /Users/Shard folder. This is a folder where you can put the files you want to share between two or more users, and all users can read and write in it.
After copying the files, go to your first user, open /Users/Shared folder, and copy the files to your user folders. If you migrated applications, you must know that they are stored in a common folder (/Applications), so you don't have to transfer them. To open /Users/Shared folder, open Go menu (in the menu bar) > Go to Folder, and type the folder

Transferring Data From MacBook To iMac

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