Help? (Migrating from PC to new Mac)

[Eric Lewis]

I am finally getting my first actual new mac(i have an eMac thats old) and i want to transfer my data from my PC with xp to my new imac 20inch!

First...i have photos in "my photos" and each folder inside my photos is like an album
How would i import these into iPhoto without loosing the nicely sorted photos?

Secondly..i have 80gigs of Music /Videos (half are videos) and i want them on my new iMac...how would i do so..i have it backup on an external drive..how would i add them to itunes so they are on the computer and not on the external

Thirdly...i use outlook express for email...how would i transfer my email settings..contacts..mail etc? (and i dont want to have to buy something)

Can any blank DVDs be used to burn DVDS? or is it just apple branded?

Lastly How would i install a printer which is hooked up on a pc?

Thanks for the Help?

 

[Makosuke]

Well, I can help with some of these:

First...i have photos in "my photos" and each folder inside my photos is like an album
How would i import these into iPhoto without loosing the nicely sorted photos?

Easiest way is, I think, to create an album in iPhoto matching each folder, then drag the pictures from that folder into the album--iPhoto will import them, and they'll appear properly in the album you want.

You may also be able to just drag the whole folder and iPhoto will automatically create albums matching each sub-folder, but I'm not sure. You can always try it with a small subset to see if it works, and if not do the slower way.

Secondly..i have 80gigs of Music /Videos (half are videos) and i want them on my new iMac...how would i do so..i have it backup on an external drive..how would i add them to itunes so they are on the computer and not on the external

Pretty sure the easiest thing to do is just make sure that "copy files to iTunes music folder when adding to library" is checked in the iTunes preferences (under Advanced), then just drag the works into iTunes--it'll automatically copy everything into its own library (which will be on the iMac's hard drive), and you're done.

Thirdly...i use outlook express for email...how would i transfer my email settings..contacts..mail etc? (and i dont want to have to buy something)

I forget if Apple's Mail.app will import directly from Outlook Express--you can try and see. If not, I suggest downloading Thunderbird (free) and then importing everything into that, THEN import that into Mail (or just use Thunderbird if you prefer). To get your address book properly converted, you may have to export the works as a vCard and then import that, but that shouldn't be hard.

I haven't done that in a while, so there may be an easier way to do that if somebody else has done it recently.

Can any blank DVDs be used to burn DVDS? or is it just apple branded?

A blank DVD is a blank DVD--the hardware that burns the disc is the same. I recommend getting decent quality ones, but that'd be the same regardless of the type of computer.

Lastly How would i install a printer which is hooked up on a pc?

If you mean using XP's printer sharing to print from the Mac through the PC, there are a lot of FAQs and tutorials both on these forums and elsewhere on the web--Google should help if the forums don't.

If you mean using your old printer directly connected to the Mac, check if it has a USB connection. If it's parallel port only, you'd be better off buying a new one. If it's USB, it's probably already supported--plug it in and see, or search the manufacturer's web site to see if they have Mac drivers.

Good luck, and I hope if I didn't cover things somebody else can help.

 

[maestrokev]

iPhoto has option to just reference the photos in the folder of your choice rather than importing, this should keep your old directory structure