Firewire 400 - Thunderbold

[ekimyerac]

I just purchased a refurbished MacAir, I will want to transfer my stuff from my my 2008 Macbook White which has the USB and Firewire 400 . So, how would I do this, just USB or is there another way. I am running 10.7.

I am really excited.

Michael

 

[blueroom]

If they both have firewire you just need a cable and can then setup with your old Mac in target disk mode ("T" key) while cold booting.

Then use migration assistant.

Another way is backup via Time Machine to an external drive.

 

[ericcumbee]

Or you can get the apple thunderbolt firewire dongle. put the old MB in disk mode.


or you can do what i did when my little brother's MBP drowned. i pulled the hard drive put it in a SATA hard drive toaster and ran the migration that way.

 

[PBG4 Dude]

Thunderbolt -> FW800 dongle isn't available until next month.

You can do a Time Machine backup, then restore the backup onto your new machine.

 

[deeddawg]

How do you currently back up your files and stuff on your 2008 Macbook?

If using a TimeCapsule, then you can literally turn on the new Macbook Air and follow the directions to restore your stuff from the TimeCapsule. If instead you're using an external drive and TimeMachine, just plug it into the Macbook Air during set up and you can restore your stuff that way.

If you're *not* currently doing backups, you're asking for trouble. Computers get stolen, hard drives die, SSDs can die, etc. $80 to $100 for an external 500GB to 1TB drive is cheap compared to drive recovery services. Pick up an external drive, use it for TimeMachine to move your stuff over, and keep using it for backups going forward.

 

[Boyd01]

When I got my MBA I simply plugged in the USB Time Machine backup disk from my 2008 MBP, then went out for a long walk. When I returned everything was moved to the MBA and it worked remarkably well. All the software settings, arrangement of desktop icons, etc. were correctly moved. All I needed to do was re-enter my Final Cut Pro serial number and click to button to register Photoshop. After that, it was exactly the same as using my old Mac.... except MUCH faster.