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HD for my old iMac

MacBH928

MacBH928

macrumors G3
Original poster
May 17, 2008
9,204
4,224
Hello

I got an old iMac 17. I am trying to transfer some files but it just won't do it over ethernet due to permissions or stuff that I just can't figure out I tried a lot with it. Now I am getting an external HD for backup. Here is what

I noticed most of the external HD got USb 2.0 , but my iMac has the older slower USB. I got firewire, but after asking around I was told to use WD hard-drives, but those got no firewire :(
Its getting confusing

My cd-burner died like 4-5 years ago, it won't transfer over ethernet, on USB it is way too slow and problems with permission of transfer. external HD is my last choice by backing it up.

is it doable with the slower USB? are there cheaper firewire HD? Because my imac's hard drive is only 80 GIGS. I do not want to buy the 500 GB with firewire just for that.
 
When I was in school I worked between two labs. In one I used a Mac Pro with USB 2 and in the other I used a G4 with USB 1. The transfer speed on the old machine to my portable HD was miserable to say the least.

Firewire 400 is about equal to USB 2, and I was able to transfer several hundred MB of files in only a few seconds. Either go with a Firewire HD or upgrade to a Mac with USB 2. The drive is cheaper...

Here is a link to Amazon with many Firewire drives. WD does make them, but places like Best Buy don't always stock them.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=firewire+hard+drive&x=0&y=0

Dale
 
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It is a bit expensive at $250 specially that I will only need a 200GB capacity not a 500GB . If they do exist that is great...

I am trying to stick to WD because I am trying to store some information for years to come and I need something reliable. This is not for transferring movies from my home to work thing, so I need most reliable thing I can find. This is why I am afraid to use any other brand like LaCie and others
 
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