Mac desktops: Dumping PC data to new imac
Dumping PC data to new imac
by fanofdave417 - 4/15/09 9:14 AMI finally made the jump from PC to Mac. My whole family thought I was crazy till they saw the "shiny"'ness of it all. I'm VERY happy with the new imac. But my question is related to the fact of how to swap all of my pc data (such as MP3's form itunes, some from other sources, movie files, etc) that I would like to move over. I don't have an external hard drive, and the research that I have done suggests that the seagate's one of the best. But all of the seagates that I have seen are mac formated or pc formated, not both.
I thought you could plug in ANY external hard drive (USB or firewire) and drag & drop from one, then plug it into the other and drop them on the hard drive. Am I missing something about the mac compatiability???
All is not lost,
by mrmacfixit
- 4/15/09 9:53 AM
In reply to: Dumping PC data to new imac by fanofdave417
Get yourself a large, external, Firewire/USB drive and connect it to your PC. Format it as NTFS.
Move all the stuff you need to move on to that external, connect it to your Mac and drag the stuff over.
Your iTunes library can be moved in the same way, there is a step by step procedure up at the Support section of the Apple site.
Yes, you can plug any external drive into your Mac and drag stuff from it, but there are limitations.
A Mac can read from, but cannot write to, a drive that is formatted as NTFS. (The normal Windows drive format)
A Windows machine cannot read from, or write to, a drive that is formatted as HFS+(Journaled). (The normal Mac format)
Once you have finished using the external to move data across, reformat it as HFS+(Journaled) and you will then be able to use it as your Time Machine backup device.
P
File transfer cable
by stuartfidler_uk - 4/25/09 5:02 AM In reply to: Dumping PC data to new imac by fanofdave417I think an easier way to do it is to buy a File Transfer Cable. I use one to transfer data between my desktop (PC) and my laptop (Mac) and vice versa. Have a look at http://www.cooldrives.com/nodrneusb20p.html
Re: Dumping PC data to new imac
by Bronzit - 4/25/09 2:34 PM In reply to: Dumping PC data to new imac by fanofdave417This is an easy thing to do, that you're all making into a hard thing: After you connect the PC to the iMac w/a USB cable, use the "Migration Assistant.app" in the Applications/Utilities Folder. It will do it all for you! Just follow the simple instructions.
If you had connected the PC to the Mac when you first fired up the Mac, it would've walked you thru this easily, after it asked you if you had files to transfer from a PC.
This is the 'Mac' way to do this. I have been helping people w/computers & Macs since March 6, 1984, when I bought my 1st Mac Classic. I have been maintaining copmuters of all platforms since 1964. The hardest part of moving to a Mac for a PC User is to FORGET everything they know about using a PC. A Mac is NOT a PC (nor is it a Linux box), so you cannot use it as if it were 1. Learn the Mac Way for a Mac, or the Lnux Way for a Linux platform. Don't try to turn either one into a PC.
VR,
Ron.
Interesting, but wrong
by mrmacfixit - 4/26/09 6:14 AM
In reply to: Re: Dumping PC data to new imac by Bronzit
The Migration Assistant is only for Mac to Mac transfer of data. It requires the "sending" Mac to be in Target Mode, something that a Winbox cannot do, and also requires a Firewire connection, (10.4) or a Wireless network (10.5)
Here is the official Apple method for moving data from a PC to a Mac
and
Here is the 10.4 method
and
Here is the 10.5 method
None of the official methods supports the use of a USB cable.
P
Re: Re: Dumping PC data to new imac
by Bronzit - 4/26/09 1:52 PM In reply to: Interesting, but wrong by mrmacfixit
I stand corrected. What I was trying to show is what Apple has here (as pointed out, above) @ (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2518?viewlocale=en_US):
"...Use a Network Connection
If you’re a little more savvy, connect your old PC to your Mac—either directly or over a network! Before you start moving files over, you should install any Mac software that you need to open your files first. Once you're done, use one of the following migration methods.
Direct connect
To move files by connecting your Mac directly to your PC:
1. Connect your Mac to your PC using a standard Ethernet cable.
2. Make sure that both computers are turned on.
3. In the Finder on your Mac, choose Connect to Server from the Go menu to open the window.
4. Type your PC's network address in the Server Address text box using one of these formats:
* smb://DNSname/ShareName
* smb://IPaddress/ShareName
5. Click Connect.
6. Follow the onscreen instructions to enter your PC's workgroup name, user name, password, and the volume or folder you wish to access.
7. Your PC volume should appear on your Mac Desktop.
8. Open the volume and drag and drop files directly from it to anywhere on your Mac.
9. When finished, drag your PC volume to the Trash to unmount it..."
This allows "Drag-N-Drop" to be used from the PC to the Mac, except for mail messages, which Apple shows you how to do, if you have a lot of them, here: (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1534)
You may want to get experienced help to do this if you feel uncomfortable with this process, after reading thru it. Any Apple Store will do it for you, probably for free, if you want to take both computers there. Call ahead to get an appointment then. It may be necessary to leave both & come back for them later, when it is done.
And remember that you do NOT have to buy Microsoft Office to use files created by that product after transferring them. You can use either NeoOffice (which is a free download) or the Mac iWork 09 package ($89 for the permanent passcode) to access & modify them. The iWork demo comes already on all Macs. The passcode just licenses each program (Pages, Numbers, and Keynote) to you.
I apologize for my mistake in what I wrote. It has been a while since I had to do this myself.
No problem,
by mrmacfixit - 4/26/09 3:22 PM
In reply to: Re: Re: Dumping PC data to new imac by Bronzit
I was looking at a device yesterday which is basically a USB cable with a "dongle" in the middle.
Connecting a PC and Mac together, and with the software built into the dongle, you can arrange a list of files on the PC and drag them to the Mac.
Sounds interesting.
I agree, Migration Assistant is a superb piece of software. I recently lost an internal 500GB and after it was replaced, Migration Assistant and Time Machine made it as though it had never happened. (Sorry Surfpro)
P
migration assistant
by lillibet1 - 5/7/09 5:09 PM In reply to: No problem, by mrmacfixit
Will I be able to use migration assistant in transferring all data from a iMac G5, OX 10.4.11 to a new iMac 2.66 ghz arriving tomorrow? I have used target disc mode going from my current iMac to my PB G4.
I am most worried about the transfer of all my email files. Can you suggest the best tutorial for transfer?
Thank you. It has been a while since I've used this forum and I am so happy to see both you and Mr. Profit still at it, dispensing great advice.
Are you on Twitter?
Migration Assistant
by mrmacfixit - 5/8/09 5:05 AM
In reply to: migration assistant by lillibet1
When you first fire your new machine up, part of the process is the transfer of data.
Follow the instructions and you will find that ALL your settings and data, including email if you are using Mail, will be transferred.
Once you reboot, it will be just like you were on your old machine, but much, much faster.
I have never seen a tutorial, it's just follow the on screen instructions. Choose to transfer everything.
No twitter.
P
firewire 800 to 400 needed for Migration
by lillibet1 - 5/11/09 2:11 PM In reply to: Migration Assistant by mrmacfixit
This is not a question but rather an observation. To use Migration assistant to move all my old files to my new iMac, every shred of information I find just says, "merely plug in your firewire cable and follow the instructions". No one, including the sales associate who was very happy to sell me my new iMac, informed me that I would need an 800-400 firewire adapter. My old firewire cable would not work, since the new 800 firewire ports have a different shape to plug into
You can imagine how happy I was to learn this, after having paid for overnight shipping so I would have the entire weekend to fuss around with data transfer, etc. Now I am waiting for the firewire adapter to be sent, paying extra shippping twice. (I live in a rural area no local tech shops.)
It seems like a very simple thing to add to the list of "you might want these too". The Barefoot Contessa's boxed mixes have a wonderful, bold, printed on the packaging box: "Buy these before you leave the store." That's my suggestion to Apple.
Thanks for listening.
I totally agree,
by mrmacfixit - 5/11/09 7:12 PM
In reply to: firewire 800 to 400 needed for Migration by lillibet1
I got bitten by this problem last week.
I have Firewire 400 cables out the wazoo but not one 400 to 800
P
A couple of solutions
by Renegade Knight - 4/28/09 2:11 PM In reply to: Dumping PC data to new imac by fanofdave417First just format the external drive with FAT 32. Mac and Windows can both read it. You have a limit on file size (4gb? or is it 2gb?) but that's about it. Your larger files you can burn to DVD.
I've screwed up a NTFS drive by using the Mac to read it. It took some fancy fixing to get it working (since it was the boot disk for the Vista Partition on the Mac). However if you are just moving data and Mac Can read it. It doesn't matter if you mess up the drive as long as you successfully transfer the files before you have to reformat it.
This is getting a little deep
by mrmacfixit - 4/28/09 3:48 PM
In reply to: A couple of solutions by Renegade Knight
how does a Mac reading an NTFS formatted disk, something that it can do with no problem, mess it up?
You probably had something else going on there.
I regularly put NTFS formatted drives into a G4 tower and scan them for Windows virus's without any problem. Even if the drive is know to be infested, it is quite safe to do.
P
A Simple Method:
by In-Correct - 5/11/09 3:40 PM In reply to: This is getting a little deep by mrmacfixit
Use portable devices like Media cards and USB sticks. They appear to be both windows and macintosh compatible.
You will never need to format them (I never needed to). I have been transferring files between windows and macs with these things. Or Zip Disks.
This is a boring and more time consuming way to transfer files, but you don't have to worry about formatting anything if you don't want to.
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