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Replacement Mac Pro coming- Need help on how to transfer data

ildondeigiocchi

ildondeigiocchi

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 30, 2007
695
0
Montreal
Ok guys. So here's the issue. I have a 2008 Mac Pro which is being replaced by a 2009 2.66GHZ Octocore by Apple because of all the failures I had with the system. Anyways the computer hasn't shipped yet but I need a way to transfer my info from my old 500GB HDD (stock from Apple) onto the new 640GB HDD that's coming with the replacement system. I'm thinking of doing this via firewire but I am having some difficulty finding where to get one? I have two Windows Partitions via Bootcamp and I absolutely need them. Will transfering the data via fireWire upon the first bootup also transfer all the Windows partitions and all data written on them. Apple has allowed me to have the following option. I can either keep my old HDD and place it in the new system and send the 640GB HDD back to them or I can keep the new one, transfer all my info from the old one onto it and then send it back. I'm really not sure what to do. Is there a simpler way of getting all my data from my 08' Mac Pro onto the 09' one. Please post. You guys have been a great help in the past and I am always open to others' opinions.:apple::):apple:
 
Whataya wanna bet that cloning like you're talking about brings some of the same problems you had with the old one over to the new one?

Don't do it. Just get an ethernet cross cable (fastest way if you don't want to just insert the HDD for some strange reason) and file copy your documents only.
 
Hey Tessy, do you really need a crossover cable? I thought I remember seeing that a regular cable is OK even connected directly from 1 machine to the other.
If the OP has a router it is mindlessly easy to copy files by ethernet.
But I am not sure about the VMs, which he says he has to have. Would CCC clone the Windows VMs?
 
Firewire would be too slow. Any ethernet cable would do. Macs have built-in crossover and will automatically switch when you hook up the two Mac Pros. You could also always just take the 500gb out and install it in the 2009 MP in the second hard drive bay. No cables or anything else needed.

I would do a fresh install on the new drive and reinstall all your apps. Then transfer over all your data. I'm not familiar with a way to transfer all the windows stuff/partitions over. I'm sure someone with more experience could shed some light on that.
 
 
Ok guys well the system is on the way. I think I'll just use Carboncopy cloner. However, will this also copy my windows partition?
 
I really wouldn't trust the Windows stuff to work on your new machine without being properly installed. It's just an invitation to years of headaches before you give up and reinstall them anyway :(
 
PrincessPeach said:
I really wouldn't trust the Windows stuff to work on your new machine without being properly installed. It's just an invitation to years of headaches before you give up and reinstall them anyway :(
Click to expand...

All the information I have on the Windows side is not important. The only thing I want is that if I reinstall it off the Genuine Windows XP CD that it works. I've gotten some answers on another post already. We'll see what happens.
 
Both CCC and SuperDuper! should work fine.

I use CCC as i started with them and I find it easier (simply because of my laziness in picking up SD). However, recently I realised that CCC couldn't clone something well, so I used SD as well. SD is a little limited if you do not have a lic. for it.

Also, be sure to use "block-level clone" if you want an almost identical setup. I said almost identical because your hdd size is different and I'm not entirely sure if that might affect some things.

For me, I would just put the hdd into the new mac and do a hd-to-hd clone. As mentioned by one of the poster above, SATA 2 beats Gigabit Ethernet & Firewire 800. Also, it is imho, easier to simply slot the hdd into the drive ...
 
Tesselator said:
Don't do it. Just get an ethernet cross cable (fastest way if you don't want to just insert the HDD for some strange reason) and file copy your documents only.
Click to expand...
The XO ethernet cable isn't needed for 1G. :eek:

I've made the same mistake myself. :eek: :p
 
300D said:
800Mb/s is too slow? :confused:
Click to expand...

CaptainChunk said:
Well, it's slightly slower than gigabit Ethernet. ;)
Click to expand...

OrangeSVTguy said:
Also slower than 3.0gbps if you just install the HDD in the second bay of the newer MP.
Click to expand...


Well it really won't work quite like that. It's all about overhead and accumulative protocol delay. Even with the two 500GB drives on the same SATA buss internally you're only going to get about 60 MB/s (max) average. You add the protocol overheads to that. I dunno which is faster TCP/IP over 100 MB/s LAN cables or TCP/IP over 80 MB/s Firewire but I would assume it's the LAN.




nanofrog said:
The XO ethernet cable isn't needed for 1G. :eek:

I've made the same mistake myself. :eek: :p
Click to expand...
davidlv said:
Hey Tessy, do you really need a crossover cable? I thought I remember seeing that a regular cable is OK even connected directly from 1 machine to the other.
If the OP has a router it is mindlessly easy to copy files by ethernet.
But I am not sure about the VMs, which he says he has to have. Would CCC clone the Windows VMs?
Click to expand...



Ah.. OK, kewl. Thanks guys!
 
yes, there are certainly overheads. just like when comparing usb2 and firewire400. usb2 uses more cpu cycles over firewire400 ...

back to the point now.

when i expressed my support for putting it in the bay, both for convenience and also speed from a practical point of view. it may differ for ppl but for me, transfer speeds were in the range of 115 MB/s for large files, small files can be way slower even maybe KB/s

i never really sit and look thru every single bit, bytes transferred. just looking at istats menu transfer rates as and when i was at the mac.
 
Yeah I hear you. I recently cloned one 3-drive RAID 0 to another 3-Drive RAID 0 and saw a few hits of 300 MB/s. I thought: Oh Kewl! This will be fast. After 5 hours the (less then) 1 terabyte was finished copying. So that's easy to figure: 1TB @ 5 Hrs = 55 MB/s. And considering it was really only about 900 GB... :p

Anyway the point is that you're not going to get line speeds or buss speeds out of it no matter how you set it up. I agree though, putting the two drives in the same system is going to be the fastest by far. I guess 1G LAN in my case would have taken 6 or 7 hours instead of 5.
 
Tesselator said:
Yeah I hear you. I recently cloned one 3-drive RAID 0 to another 3-Drive RAID 0 and saw a few hits of 300 MB/s. I thought: Oh Kewl! This will be fast. After 5 hours the (less then) 1 terabyte was finished copying. So that's easy to figure: 1TB @ 5 Hrs = 55 MB/s. And considering it was really only about 900 GB... :p

Anyway the point is that you're not going to get line speeds or buss speeds out of it no matter how you set it up. I agree though, putting the two drives in the same system is going to be the fastest by far. I guess 1G LAN in my case would have taken 6 or 7 hours instead of 5.
Click to expand...
On a side note, can you use ethernet teaming or even AoE rather than FWx00 or USB?
 
Mac Pro Arrived Problems transferring.

Guys I need help. I installed my old 500GB Western Digital Hard Drive onto my new Mac Pro which came with a 640GB Hitachi HDD. I just need to transfer my documents, photos and movies. I got the documents transfered but I need to know how to get my iMovie videos which I made on the old HDD and the pictures i have on iPhoto on the old HDD onto the new one. I really need to know quickly because I have to send the system back to Apple.
 
Please guys any help CCC isn't working. I want to get my old iMovie videos onto my new computer on iMovie and the same with the iPhoto Pics.
 
You should boot from your original hard drive by holding down the option key at bootup once you install it in slot 2. Run CCC or SD! and target your new 640gb drive. Set your new drive as the startup disc and restart

I assumed that you did a fresh install and are manually moving your documents over by dragging and dropping? You can use the Migration Assistant to transfer all your documents and settings easily. It's in the utilities folder.
 
OrangeSVTguy said:
You should boot from your original hard drive by holding down the option key at bootup once you install it in slot 2. Run CCC or SD! and target your new 640gb drive. Set your new drive as the startup disc and restart

I assumed that you did a fresh install and are manually moving your documents over by dragging and dropping? You can use the Migration Assistant to transfer all your documents and settings easily. It's in the utilities folder.
Click to expand...

Will migration assistant put the iPhoto pictures into iPhoto and the movies made in iMovie on the old system onto iMOvie of the new system.
 
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