Hi All,
In another part of the forum I asked a question about my 2011 iMac which I had been happily using and still worked for the uses I had up until a couple of weeks ago at which point when I was using it the screen suddenly turned off and when I now try to turn the iMac on it sounds like it’s going to start up but there is nothing on the screen. As per this forum post I’ve been advised that the iMac has a GPU that has failed and that it is unfortunately now uneconomical to repair and will need to be replaced. Per this forum post:-
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/imac-2011-27-inch-blank-screen.2415873/
Ironically I had just created a spreadsheet because I was comparing some options from buying a new Mac Mini or iMac because I was saving up to hopefully buy a new desktop later this year. That plan may now have to be brought forwards a bit however it may still have to wait a while until I have the funds to buy a new computer and so that poses a different question which I’ll ask as well. But my main concern is how can I now get my files and data off the now broken iMac.
On the now broken iMac it did have Time Machine on and it was connected to an external hard disk. I also had a version of Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC) on it although it was an older version of CCC and not the most up to date. This has caused a problem because last year I lost my entire iTunes Library which was stored on an external hard disk and I thought I could use CCC to recover the iTunes library because that was the reason I’d brought CCC. Unfortunately that didn’t appear possible and I contacted the software company who produce CCC and they advised that my older version of CCC didn’t have the restore options of the more recent versions of CCC and so I kind of lost faith in CCC because it didn’t help me I lost my entire iTunes Library.
Prior to my iMac breaking I’d planned that when I brought a new Mac I’d get a cable to connect the two Macs and use Migration Assistant to transfer data to the new Mac. However I guess that now Migration Assistant is not an option?
Therefore is my best bet going to be looking to use something called Target Disk Mode? For that I’d assume that I’d still need a cable to connect the old broker iMac to any new Mac? Then what happens with Target Disk Mode? Can you sort of see the Desktop screen of your old Mac and look at all of your folders & files via the Finder and you could somehow copy or drag across the files that you need from your old broken computer? Or is it more a case of if you use Target Disk Mode you just have an option to copy the entire hard disk from the old broken iMac?
Alternatively am I better trying to use Time Machine to achieve the same thing or does that not retrieve all of your previous iMacs files?
Just as something else to consider because I don’t really have enough funds to buy the new Mac immediately if it has to wait a few months I take it there’s no time limit on the length of time I have to start this process and try to transfer my old files to a new Mac even if that’s in a few months time?
I do also have an offer of using someone elses Mac in the meantime. My father in law has a 2012 Mac Mini which he uses only say once a month or less and so he’s said that I could borrow it if I wanted to. As an interim measure this might be helpful prior to me saving up enough to buy my own new Mac.
If I do borrow this Mac Mini from my father in law would it be best just to use it as it is without transferring any of my data or files to it? Or could I transfer some of the files that I want from my own iMac to this loaned Mac Mini and then in a few months time onto a new Mac that I buy? One issue I could see with this is my iMac had a 1TB hard drive and it was a good 90% used and the potential loan Mac Mini only has a 256GB hard drive.
Many thanks in advance for any advice on this which will be much appreciated!
In another part of the forum I asked a question about my 2011 iMac which I had been happily using and still worked for the uses I had up until a couple of weeks ago at which point when I was using it the screen suddenly turned off and when I now try to turn the iMac on it sounds like it’s going to start up but there is nothing on the screen. As per this forum post I’ve been advised that the iMac has a GPU that has failed and that it is unfortunately now uneconomical to repair and will need to be replaced. Per this forum post:-
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/imac-2011-27-inch-blank-screen.2415873/
Ironically I had just created a spreadsheet because I was comparing some options from buying a new Mac Mini or iMac because I was saving up to hopefully buy a new desktop later this year. That plan may now have to be brought forwards a bit however it may still have to wait a while until I have the funds to buy a new computer and so that poses a different question which I’ll ask as well. But my main concern is how can I now get my files and data off the now broken iMac.
On the now broken iMac it did have Time Machine on and it was connected to an external hard disk. I also had a version of Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC) on it although it was an older version of CCC and not the most up to date. This has caused a problem because last year I lost my entire iTunes Library which was stored on an external hard disk and I thought I could use CCC to recover the iTunes library because that was the reason I’d brought CCC. Unfortunately that didn’t appear possible and I contacted the software company who produce CCC and they advised that my older version of CCC didn’t have the restore options of the more recent versions of CCC and so I kind of lost faith in CCC because it didn’t help me I lost my entire iTunes Library.
Prior to my iMac breaking I’d planned that when I brought a new Mac I’d get a cable to connect the two Macs and use Migration Assistant to transfer data to the new Mac. However I guess that now Migration Assistant is not an option?
Therefore is my best bet going to be looking to use something called Target Disk Mode? For that I’d assume that I’d still need a cable to connect the old broker iMac to any new Mac? Then what happens with Target Disk Mode? Can you sort of see the Desktop screen of your old Mac and look at all of your folders & files via the Finder and you could somehow copy or drag across the files that you need from your old broken computer? Or is it more a case of if you use Target Disk Mode you just have an option to copy the entire hard disk from the old broken iMac?
Alternatively am I better trying to use Time Machine to achieve the same thing or does that not retrieve all of your previous iMacs files?
Just as something else to consider because I don’t really have enough funds to buy the new Mac immediately if it has to wait a few months I take it there’s no time limit on the length of time I have to start this process and try to transfer my old files to a new Mac even if that’s in a few months time?
I do also have an offer of using someone elses Mac in the meantime. My father in law has a 2012 Mac Mini which he uses only say once a month or less and so he’s said that I could borrow it if I wanted to. As an interim measure this might be helpful prior to me saving up enough to buy my own new Mac.
If I do borrow this Mac Mini from my father in law would it be best just to use it as it is without transferring any of my data or files to it? Or could I transfer some of the files that I want from my own iMac to this loaned Mac Mini and then in a few months time onto a new Mac that I buy? One issue I could see with this is my iMac had a 1TB hard drive and it was a good 90% used and the potential loan Mac Mini only has a 256GB hard drive.
Many thanks in advance for any advice on this which will be much appreciated!
