File Transfer conundrum

[Ella]

Hi there~
I'm new to this forum, and I truly apologize if I am in the wrong forum, thread etc. or for offending anybody by the basic nature of my questions. They will tend to bend towards idiot savant...ish-ness.

I have two Macs, one that was purchased as a student "loaded" with several graphics programs. I just used them as they were, on that computer(no actual softwear)...however I need to transfer them to my G4, because even though they are older versions of Dreamweaver, Firewire, Illustrator and Photoshop, I can still use them, and can't afford to buy the new softwear.
Is this legal? And how do I do this? I'm running Fetch and Netpresenz, and have been able to transfer one program and copy a backup....Is THIS legal?
However I can't get the others to do the same, and it's a nightmare trying to work via file sharing (slow, freeze ups, connections refused)....I need them on the G4. I can't burn them directly from the first computer, because my external is firewire compatable...the old mac is of course, not
Is there some kind of simple solution that I've made ridiculously hard? Oh, I also have my roomates third Mac setup with mine via router if that makes any difference. I'm running OS 9.2.2 on both, but the first Mac is so old, that it's going to go at any time, and it's impossible to work on.
Hope the ramblings make sense...?

 

[Fender2112]

If you don't mind opening the guts up, you can take the hard drive from the older computer and put in the newer one, assuming the newer one is compatible and has an extra drive bay.

You can also try a Mac to Mac ethernet connection. This is what I had to do when I got my G5. The hard drives were not compatible (SCII vs SATA). I transferred the entire contents of the old hard drive to the new one. It took several hours, but everything tranfered without a hitch.

 

[Ella]

Thanks Fender-more help?

Thanks! You're a peach, I never thought about taking it apart....However, I need to go with the second option,for compatability(the old Power Mac has an external HD that I forgot to mention) here's the wackiness, I can never figure out how to do the ethernet transfer...I've tried, but I'm missing some step, which is why I did the Fetch/Netpresenz thing, but if you wouldn't mind walking me step by step? Sorry for the dimness
I know that I disconnect from router, and hook together via ethernet cable, but how am I setting up the rest ...apple talk? File sharing panel? do I need to put anything in the TCP-IP panel? The end result should be that I can see it in the chooser correct?

 

[Fender2112]

You don't have to disconnect anything. Leave both computers connected to the router. What you're doing is settting up a local network.

From the Finder, select Go > Network. The other computer should show up on your local network. Click the "Connect" button and log in. Make sure you have adminitrator access. From here you should be able to copy whatever you need.

Edit: Forget that. I didn't realize you were on OS 9. I don't remember exactly how to do it, but the idea is the same.