Transferring files from original imac AND external CD for old imac

Question

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. 

Answer 1

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.