New Imac Transfer Help

[Ollywoood88]

Hi all

I have just purchased a new Imac i7 2013 3.5ghz quad Core

I currently have an old Imac 2008 model. I need to transfer all my software files and documents to my new Imac. Ports I have are USB 2..0 and FireWire 800.

I have an external Gtech FireWire 800 drive.

So I wanted help with how to back up and transfer. I was going to use time machine and FireWire to thunderbolt connector to transfer.

1. What is the best way to backup and transfer?
2. What connections?
3. Should I sell my drive after and get a thunderbolt drive?

I am using Mavericks 10.9.2

Thanks

 

[mcrazza]

You can connect both macs together via gigabit Ethernet, providing you have a Cat5 or upwards Ethernet cable. That way you can transfer all your files, settings and account/s at gigabit speed from the old mac to the new mac. This can be done via the migration assistant app in OS X.

But, yes, you can get a FW800-to-Thunderbolt adapter and transfer your data that way. Presumably you can make Time Machine backups with your external hard drive via the adapter too.

I don't know much about thunderbolt drives so I'll pass that one on to someone more knowledgeable.

USB3 drives are more than adequate as a backup solution. The latest macs (yours too) have USB3 which is 6 times faster than gigabit but of course slower than thunderbolt. USB3 ain't no slouch.

 

[rkaufmann87]

Hi all

I have just purchased a new Imac i7 2013 3.5ghz quad Core

I currently have an old Imac 2008 model. I need to transfer all my software files and documents to my new Imac. Ports I have are USB 2..0 and FireWire 800.

I have an external Gtech FireWire 800 drive.

So I wanted help with how to back up and transfer. I was going to use time machine and FireWire to thunderbolt connector to transfer.

1. What is the best way to backup and transfer?
2. What connections?
3. Should I sell my drive after and get a thunderbolt drive?

I am using Mavericks 10.9.2

Thanks

The easiest method would be to use your backup from the old machine (either a Time Machine Backup or bootable clone) and use Migration Assistant, which is pre-installed already on your iMac.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
[[ 1. What is the best way to backup and transfer? ]]

One way is to backup the old iMac to the external drive using either Time Machine or CarbonCopyCloner (or SuperDuper). Then connect it to the NEW iMac and use Migration Assistant to move everything over.
(Or -- if you're setting up new iMac, connect external drive when prompted and migrate everything as part of the original setup process).

[[ 3. Should I sell my drive after and get a thunderbolt drive? ]]

I wouldn't get a thunderbolt drive -- too expensive for what you get.
Instead -- if the firewire800 drive works with the thunderbolt/firewire adapter, I'd use that for now. It may not be as fast as the latest-and-greatest, but it will still work ok.
When it's time to get another drive, I'd suggest USB3 instead of thunderbolt -- far cheaper, and you won't notice any speed differences.

 

[Rud3Bwoy]

if not much data on your pc and have no external etc can use migration assistant i used it for the first time for my new imac the other day tho it took almost 2 hours to transfer 11 gb of data.