What do I have to do to set up my old G4 as a back-up hard drive ?

I want to connect my iMac with my G4 with a firewire, but I need to know a few things: a) How do I start up this system ? Do I start up my old computer or just plug it in? Will my iMac recognize the G4? b) Do I need to format the old hard drive? I still have back up information on that and want it saved. I know that I can't use the old Classic system on it, but if I start up the old system on my G4 will it mess up the new iMac? I have never done anything like this before so I'm in need of advice from someone who has had this experience or has the training to advise me. Thank you for your assistance.

As far as saving your old info from the G4, you didn't mention which OS X you are using on the G4, so start by referring to this article:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=1872713&#1872713
If you're planning on using the entire G4 computer as only a back-up hard drive, that seems as if it would be rather a heavy user of electricity to perform a job such as using Time Machine with an external hard drive. For one thing, the external hard drive for Time Machine needs to be larger than the drive that you'd be backing up. It will also be very inconvenient to always be starting up in Firewire Target mode just to backup with Time Machine.
You could either buy a self-contained external hard drive, or instead a hard drive enclosure (such as an Icy Dock) into which you could insert a bare hard drive which you already own or purchase separately.
Message was edited by: myhighway

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