Transferring files from old iMac

Hey,
I just did the transfer via firewire of my old files from my old iMac to my new macbook.
I want to scrap everything that came in.
Wish I hadnt done it. Is there any sort of "undo" feature?
should I trash everything on the harddrive and reinstall with the discs that came with the macbook?
thanks!

1. Insert the Mac OS X Install Disc and double-click the Install Mac OS X icon.
2. Follow the onscreen instructions. In the panel where you select the destination disk, select your current Mac OS X disk (in most cases, it will be the only one available).
3. Click Options. If you want to save your existing files, users, and network settings, select "Archive and Install," then select "Preserve Users and Network Settings." If you want to erase everything on your computer and reinstall Mac OS X, select "Erase and Install." You can't recover erased data.
4. Click Continue.
5. Click Customize to select which parts of Mac OS X you'd like to install, or click Install to perform a basic installation (recommended).
-Bmer
Mac Owners Support Group
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Stuck transferring files from old iMac to new

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Well, there is very little drive activity from the old iMac BUT I restarted it and started the process over, de-selecting some of the items. Same results though I let it sit for a couple of hours and now it claims there is five hours left. VERY slow but making progress. My guess now is that the iMac's drive was SO fragmented that it is taking an inordinate amount of time to transfer.

Transferring Files from Old iMAC to New iMAC

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[email protected]

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"guess no one can help me. thanks anyway have a great night everyone"
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How do I quickly move files from old iMac to new one?

how do I quickly move files from old iMac to a new one?

How many files, and what total size?
To move ALL your files from an old Mac, you would use Migration Assistant, using either an Ethernet or Firewire connection. It's not quick, though.
To move just a few, you COULD put the old Mac into target mode (reboot it while holding T, and connect a Firewire cable, with Thunderbolt adaptor on the new end if need be). Or you could just copy them via an external (probably USB, for compatibility) drive or flash drive, formatted Mac Extended.
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Help transferring files from old Mac 10.3.9 to new Mac 10.6.1

Hi - I just bought a new iMac with Snow Leopard and I am trying to transfer my old files from my iMac running 10.3.9. I connected a FireWire cable between the two and restarted the old iMac while holding down the "t" key, using Migration Assistant on the new iMac. Migration Assistant kept saying that it was waiting for the old iMac to restart, even though the old one HAD restarted. I looked on the forums and saw that I should try to run Setup Assistant from the Utilities folder on the old iMac. But there isn't a Setup Assistant in the Utilities folder.
So I am at an impasse. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Some of the items I've found via searching suggest to avoid transfer or migration of older
files from the ancient 10.3 over to the newer 10.5 or 10.6. And when the old computer is
a PowerPC, the new Intel-based Mac may not see or be able to use some of the items.
The older Setup Assistant is supposed to do for Panther 10.3 what the newer Migration
Assistant does for Tiger 10.4; to an extent. The results from the older system are limited.
There is a way to have the new computer import some of the older computer's user files
and account info into it, before its first run; but with a leap so great between 10.3 & 10.6,
the results overall won't be as satisfactory as just running the new computer totally new;
going through the setup and upgrade processes independent of the old Mac altogether.
The Apple Support- Snow Leopard page should have some upgrade and migration help
info on there which may be helpful: http://www.apple.com/support/snowleopard/
It would appear that the instructions for migrating from an older Mac to one running 10.5
or 10.6 apply to the older computer, so the Panther software may be secondary if it really
matters at all in this process. See this document, and wonder along with me... This is not
quite the same as a migration assistant; but you don't need FW Target Disk in either case.
• Mac OS X 10.5, 10.6:
How to use Migration Assistant to transfer files from another Mac
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3322
The older method may not apply in the path you've chosen, outlined here, below;
but note there are matters about file and older app compatibility in the newer OS:
• Mac OS X 10.3, 10.4:
Transferring data with Setup Assistant - Migration Assistant FAQ
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1554
In the past, I've done a bit of upgrade and some migration action and found that overall,
the new OS X seemed to work a lot better with nothing old involved. That's just me!
And I'm sure each individual's mileage may vary...
Good luck & happy computing!
{ edited for no great reason }

Transferring files from old computer with fire wire

I'm transferring files from my old computer to my new one. The old one has three hard drives. Everything from the startup drive transferred OK over fire wire, but the new computer doesn't see the 2nd and 3rd hard drives on the old one. Is there a way to link these? Thanks!

Click here and follow the instructions, setting up FireWire networking from System Preferences if desired. FireWire Target Disk mode will only connect to the master ATA drive on the ATA 0 bus, and will shut down the computer if there's nothing at that location.
(30151)

Transferring files from original imac AND external CD for old imac

I have an original iMac that has tons of files on it I would like to save. I created a LOT of materials when I was teaching and they are all on the old iMac. It also has two games I bought on floppy discs that I would really like to keep. I tried to load files on a Passport, but the iMac won't recognize it. I have two other old iMacs (not quite originals) as well, but they won't take the Passport either. They will both take a flash drive. I can take word processing files (I can't even remember the application at the moment) off the older one and convert them to Apple Works on the other one, then take the converted files to our iMac 9.1 and convert them to Pages. Then I put them on the Passport. It is a pain, but at least it works. I can also save the documents as pdfs and put them directly on the newer iMac and copy and paste in a Pages document.
The original iMac does not lend itself to any of this. What is the best way to transfer files? It seems like a very long time ago I tried to connect it to my newer iMac with an Ethernet cable but it wouldn't accept the cable. If I am remembering correctly I called Apple Support and they said it lacked something that would allow it to connect. I do not remember if I have tried a flash drive on it or not. I believe I did and it would not recognize it.
Also, does anyone know how I can manage to save a copy of the games? Since I bought them on floppies I can't reinstall them if something happens, but I believe it is within the law to make a backup copy. Someone please correct me if I am wrong. I do have an external floppy reader for the original iMac, but it only works on user created floppies, not commercial ones. If I can manage to hook up to a flash drive or another computer and I simply save the game application, will that be enough? Or is it not possible to know until I try? Will saving the application get all the necessary files?
My second question concerns the newer (but still really old) iMacs. My daughter would love to play some of the games she used to play on them, but the CD drives do not work. Does anyone know where I can get an external CD drive that we can attach to these old iMacs so she can enjoy her games? The computers work fine; she just can't insert the CDs, because it's next to impossible to get them out again.
I believe on the "newer" two we are running OS 9, at least on one of them. I do not recall the OS on the original, but it is whatever it came with. OS 8, perhaps? It has been probably half a year since we fired it up.
I appreciate any advice and help anyone can give me. We really like these old iMacs, which is why we still have three of them. If we can save the files off the original iMac, we would still keep it so we could play our two old games from time to time. :-) I would part with one of the other old iMacs, but I really need to get the files first, and since it won't take a Passport I'm wondering if I'm stuck putting files a few at a time on a flash drive. Do you think it would take an ethernet cable? It seems like I tried to connect to my newer iMac but I couldn't get the computers to recognize each other. I followed all the steps for sharing, but I still couldn't get it to work.
Thank you so much.

Have you formatted the Western Digital Passport drive as a Mac OS Extended (HFS+) volume, or is it factory-formatted for PCs? If the oldest iMac is only running OS 8, it can't recognize HFS+ volumes. It was OS 8.1 that introduced that feature. Additionally, the version of the USB support files (which is somewhat OS-dependent) on the iMacs hard drives affects what will or will not be recognized by those older computers. With each successive release of the USB Adapter Support, the database of supported devices was broadened. The easiest way to transfer the contents of the iMac's hard drive is to physically remove it from the computer and connect a USB-to-IDE adapter directly to it. These adapters come with an external power supply to provide the 12 & 5 volts needed to power the drive. The data connection block is designed to fit either a 3.5" hard drive or the smaller 2.5" laptop drive, as well as newer drives that connect via SATA. It has an included USB cable that connects to a standard USB port, enabling direct reading/writing/file transfers from the hard drive to the computer to which it's connected. These adapters are not Mac-specific in terms of design, so you can buy one at a PC store and use it. For the purpose of identifying such an adapter, here's one that's often recommended in these Forums, carried by Other World Computing. As I mentioned, this adapter is not platform-specific, so you can buy/use a less expensive one sold by PCs stores. I bought one for $15 from Micro Center (PC store), and it has worked with Macs and PCs. As for removing the hard drive from the old iMac - and I assume that it's one of the original models with a tray-loading optical drive (as opposed to the slightly newer ones that have a slot-loading optical drive), you can find directions for accomplishing that if you do a web search. The link that I had for one site (that was good for years) is no longer valid. The iMacs that have a problem ejecting disks are undoubtedly slot-loading models. There are two wide rubber rollers inside those optical drives that grip the disk to pull it in or feed it out. Over time, the rubber dries out, causing the rollers to lose their natural gripping capabilities. If those iMacs have a FireWire port on the side, I'd suggest an external FireWire optical drive. Today, the only type you'll find is a DVD±RW drive, which is more than you need for your intended purpose. A basic CD-ROM drive isn't manufactured/sold anymore. Other World Computing has a few FireWire optical drives, but their least expensive model sells for about $100. Obviously, that costs more than the value of the entire iMac at this point, but the drive will also have USB connectivity as well. You may find other uses for it with your other computers (Macs & PCs), especially if they don't have a CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, or DVD±RW drive. As for transferring a program itself, there could be other associated files. You'd want to check the Extensions and Control Panels folders for any that are named to likely indicate being a part of the program's installed files. The Preferences folder will probably have a file that has saved game settings, but a new one would be created when you run the program in another supported computer. Depending on the age of the program - and you indicated that it was on floppy disks - its compatibility with newer, pre-OS X releases might be limited. The external USB floppy drive that you use with the older iMac should read commercial floppy disks, but it will not recognize the older 800K (Double-Density) Mac-formatted floppy disks. They're disks that typically format as 720K floppies in a PC, but the variable-speed FDD in older Power Macs was able to fit an extra 80K of data onto those disks. A standard 720K "PC" floppy disk should be read by that drive, but it can't recognize an 800K "Mac" disk. A 720K/800K Double-Density floppy disk only has the slide-lock hole at one corner, while a High-Density (1.44 MB) floppy disk has an additional hole at the opposite corner to differentiate it from the older type.

Can't find old transferred files from my iMac

When I was setting up my Mac Pro I chose to transfer my files from my old iMac by a firewire cable.
The problem is I can't find my files I created on my iMac with finder.
For the files where I do know it's location. I can see the files in finder and see them in quick view no problem, although I can't find those files through a finder search.

This happened to me when I got my new Mac and transferred stuff over about a year ago. Found this:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2409
It should do the trick; it did for me.
Be warned--it can take a while to finish reindexing!

How to transfer files from old iMac to new iMac without transferring everything.

I just got a new iMac and would like to transfer files from my old iMac. I don't want to transfer everything from the old iMac. I just want the files, iTunes library, iPhoto library, etc. I don't want to transfer applications and settings. I was told in the Apple store that if I transferred my files using system setup then my new computer would look just like my old one. I'd rather start out fresh with the new one and just bring in the files I need. Is there a tool that allows you to customize what you transfer over from old to new? Thanks for your help!!

Carbon Copy Cloner might be the correct tool. It lets you pick and choose what to clone.
http://www.bombich.com/ccc_features.html
install CCC on the old Mac,
connect the Macs with an ethernet cable,
enable file sharing on both Macs,
use "connect to server" (in Go menu) to mount the new Mac's drive on the old Mac.
run CCC.

Transfering Files from old OS9 (imac) to new G5 imac via firewire

I just bought the new G5 and can't seem to transfer my old files over. I hooked up the firewire, rebooted the old imac holding the "T" down and the old hard-drive icon shows up on my new G5 desktop.
However as soon as I click the icon I get the spinning ball of death...
What Have I missed?
Thanks

No need for a second set of peripherals. Plug the firewire cable into both computers and the keyboard into the old Mac and start it up in FireWire target mode (hold the T key while turning it on). Now unplug the keyboard and connect it to the new one. Start up the Migration Assistant and go.

Transferring Data From Old iMac to New iMac

I've tried searching the forums on this topic, and I can't find the exact answer I'm looking for.
I just got my 20" iMac CoreDuo and I'm trying to transfer Data from my old 17" iMac G4. I've got the two computers hooked up through Firewire and I was running the file transfer from the initial set-up, but it seems to have froze up on me. I have a lot of data, my G4 iMac is pretty much full and it showed about 6 hours of transfer time.
I guess my question is, how can I keep my new iMac from going to sleep in order to finish the data transfer? If I can't do this, what other ways can I get all my files over to my new computer?
Thanks in advance...
17" iMac G4, 20" iMac CoreDuo Mac OS X (10.4.4)

hey, i just finished transferring files and i have pretty much the same set up. Moved 35GB from imac G4 to the 2GHZ intel mac, via firewire. FYI, upon the initial transfer it states an approx completion time and amount to transfer. The time is FAR from the actual move. Mine stated 2 hours and about 30 minutes I think. The transfer was complete in about 20-25 minutes. So don't go by that.

Transfering files from old mac to new mac

I just bought a iMac G5 and started it up and it asked if I wanted to transfer files from my old mac. I selected yes. And it began transferring. It looked like everything was going fine until I checked on it about 30 minutes later and it looked like it hadn't progressed at all. I checked on it another 30 minutes later and it said 1 hour 6 minutes remaining and hasn't moved since. I don't understand why it's not going further. And it's taking forever! Am I just too impatient. I'm transferring 5GB from my old PowerPC G4 mac using a firewire cable. Any help is much appreciated. I have no idea why it's not working.

A couple of other things to consider Emille,
1. Make sure your data is really going through the firewire cable and not a wireless network. Going through an ethernet or firewire cable would be much faster. It may have been possible that even though you had a cable connected, It may have tried to do it wirelessly anyway.
2. Were either of them going to sleep?
3. Make sure no other firewire devices are plugged in.
Joe

Transferring Data from old iMac G3 233Mhz with OS 8.6 to new Imac

Hi. I'm new to this forum. I have an old iMac ( one of the original Blueberries) which runs on OS 8.6. i have bits and pieces on this which I would quite like to transfer onto my new iMac which is a brand new intel based 24 inch 2.5Ghz. The old computer only has a 6GB hard drive and only 96mbs of Ram. The drive is CD-Rom. I read somewhere that the new Macs could still run stuff on OS 9 but am unsure if this applies to 8.6 and wondered if anyone could help me with this query.
Thanks

Hi, Sophs -
I read somewhere that the new Macs could still run stuff on OS 9 but am unsure if this applies to 8.6 and wondered if anyone could help me with this query.
Certain Mac models which can use OSX can also use OS 9 as Classic, which is OS 9 run as a program to provide an environment (shell) within which many OS 9 programs can be run. For this use, though, only OS 9.1 or 9.2.x can be used.
Unfortunately, no Intel based machine can use OS 9 as either a boot OS or as Classic.
The data files (documents) from your old iMac can be used on the new machine - most new OSX apps can open files made by older versions of the same, and sometimes similar, software. However, the programs would not be usable.
How to transfer stuff from the old machine to the new -
The simplest, cheapest way would be to use an on-line storage service, such as iDisk in .Mac - upload items from your iMac, download them to the new machine.
Next easiest would be to get a USB external hard drive of modest size, and use it to copy stuff from the iMac to the new machine.
Another possibility would be to get an external firewire enclosure, pull the hard drive fro the iMac and install it in the enclosure, then connect it to the new machine.
It used to be possible to connect two such machines via ethernet and use File Sharing to transfer the files. However, I'm not sure if it is possible to do that between your old iMac and a new Intel machine.
<hr>
Approaching the issue of running old programs from a different path, there are some emulators which will allow the use of older Mac OS's on Intel machines. This article describes a few of them -
http://www.atpm.com/12.09/classic.shtml
There's more info on SheepSgaver here -
http://theappleblog.com/2006/07/01/classic-on-intel-macs-courtesy-of-sheepshaver /
Whether or not any of the emulators would serve your purposes well, or at all, is a different issue.

Transferring Data from old iMac to new iMac via Firewire

I am having difficulty transferring data from my old iMac to my new iMac via firewire. Per the instructions contained in migration assistant, when I hold down the letter "T" key during startup of the "old" mac the firewire symbol does not appear. Given that the firewire symbol does not appear I am unable to proceed with the transfer. Of note, my new Mac is the '09 24" iMac and my old iMac is the early 2006 model with the 17" screen. Incidentally, I am using the following cable contained in the attached link along with the adaptor (400) with respect to my old iMac.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8846387&st=firewire&lp=10&type=pro duct&cp=1&id=1215819175946
Can anyone help?

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
Dennis

Transferring files from old iMac

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