older imac w/ a newer external HD

[lokkenic]

hi there. i've been using a WD 250gb external hard drive for the last couple of months for my macbook. however, i've got a bunch of stuff on my four year old slot loading imac that i'd like to back up. the external requires OS 10.2, and i've only got OS 10.1 running on the imac. is there any way i can still get the external to mount if i don't have any 10.2 or higher discs to install on the old machine?

thanks in advance.

 

[Queso]

Rather than use the WD drive, use the 6-pin to 6-pin FireWire cable that comes with it to connect the two Macs together. Then boot up the iMac whilst holding down the T key on the keyboard, and its hard disk will mount on the MacBook as an external drive. Then copy everything directly onto the MacBook.

 

[Killyp]

The best option is to follow what dynamicv said to do, up until the copying bit.

I would open disk utility, and then click the iMac's drive on the left, then click the button which says 'New Image' (top left), and connect the external drive to the MacBook. Choose to save the image on the external drive, make sure it's set to no encryption (only choose compressed if you're low on hard drive space on the external disk), and click Save. You'll have to leave it going for quite a while though, it's a lengthy process.

Doing it this way makes sure everything is backed up though. You'll end up with a disk image, double clicking it will replicate the drive on your MacBook's desktop so you can grab any files you want off it.