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TICKET ARCHIVE -> File Transfer

Leonard Gustafson - Sep 1, 2005 - 7:27 pm

Have been using performa 6360 for years. have many files i want to transfer to new imac g5. what do you advise?

fishbert - Sep 1, 2005 - 7:34 pm

Unfortunately i am not familiar with a 6360 performa however, i would suggest: just buying an external drive drive that both machines support. that would be the easiest thing to do. Just move files to the external drive from perfoma then from external drive to the Os X machine. If not, you could also burn CDs and just move them a little at a time. There is also sharing via the network if both are networked machines but i would be able to help you only if both are OS X machines as i have no experience in OS 9 classic. It might also be possible to use Target disk mode. You start up you G5 imac with the T button held down and it will start up in Target disk mode then you connect it (via firewire) to the performa (must already be started) and it will show up on your performa just like an external drive.

Leonard Gustafson - Sep 2, 2005 - 10:54 pm

Perhaps i need a source with more mac experience that includes machines that are more than five years old. any suggestions?

nhmac - Sep 4, 2005 - 7:49 am

Hi. I have worked with Performas. As I recall there is no ethernet port, at least on most of them, so networking is tricky; there are various ways of getting it happening, but probably not worth the time and effort.

The easiest solution I believe is this: the hard drive comes out of the Performa very easily, it's right in front, and you only have to open the case, unplug the power and data cables and it will slide right out. If you get an enclosure (Firewire or USB) you can remove the hard drive, and plug the hard drive into the enclosure. The hard drive will then mount as an external drive and you can transfer files. When you are done you can use the enclosure for a backup drive.

Let me know if you need more details on this. I would check dealmac.com for good deals on enclosures.
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Beverly Woods
http://beverlywoods.net
Low End Mac column: http://www.lowendmac.com/woods/index.html

nhmac - Sep 4, 2005 - 8:18 am

Alternatively, if the Performa has an ethernet port and you have a crossover cable, I could help you through connecting the two that way.
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Beverly Woods
http://beverlywoods.net
Low End Mac column: http://www.lowendmac.com/woods/index.html

Leonard Gustafson - Sep 4, 2005 - 1:38 pm

Since earlier communication, i have had a mac friend over. she loaned me a floppy drive that connects to imac. using this i can transfer the files to imac, but we have been unable to get the imac to read these files in legible form. files are from microsoft works 3.0 which was the software used by performa. perhaps i can get a disc with microsoft works 3.0 that will load and transfer into the imac system. the system disc for performa will load to imac, but imac will not transfer the software into its system. seems i need a disc that will set up the microsoft works 3.0 in workable fashion. do you know where and how i could get this or do you have an alternative answer?

nhmac - Sep 4, 2005 - 6:10 pm

Did the G5 come with a trial version of Office? I would think that should work if it's in your disks somewhere. If not let me know and I will think of another way.
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Beverly Woods
http://beverlywoods.net
Low End Mac column: http://www.lowendmac.com/woods/index.html

Leonard Gustafson - Sep 4, 2005 - 8:43 pm

Appreciate your attention. the g5 does have the microsoft office, but i couldn't get it to recognize the microsoft works 3.0 files.

nhmac - Sep 4, 2005 - 8:56 pm

Hmm. What kinds of files are these, are they text or spreadsheets or something else?

If you have one that you would like to email to me I will see what it takes to get it open in OS X. You can email me at bwoods (at) lemlists.com.

Another thought: can you copy and launch the original program in Classic?
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Beverly

Leonard Gustafson - Sep 4, 2005 - 9:56 pm

Files are mostly word processing, some spreadsheets, and data files. collected over past 10 years with the performa.
don't know what you mean by "launch the original program in classic". i tried to put original program from the performa cd's into the imac, but imac wouldn't take them and convert to a working program. seems that someone would be selling a disc that has microsoft works 3.0 software in a form that would load into the imac xp operating system. afraid my out-of-date ignorance is showing. i have been fairly unhappy with my year old dell pc, but afraid what i am getting with the imac is not giving me what i expected. perhaps dell can get me something that can be loaded on pc that will read microsoft works 3.0 files.

nhmac - Sep 5, 2005 - 8:35 am

I am sure there is a way to do this. Somewhere I think I may have an older version of Works or Office that I could test with. Do you have Classic (OS 9) installed on your iMac?
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Beverly Woods
http://beverlywoods.net
Low End Mac column: http://www.lowendmac.com/woods/index.html

nhmac - Sep 5, 2005 - 9:43 am

Also if you are still running Works on the Performa, if you could make me a sample file or two that are like what you are trying to open, I could see what works to open or translate them. As I recall, Microsoft did not do its users any favors with the compatibility of its file formats, even between different versions of its own programs. There may be an option in Works to save the files in a more compatible format (such as plain text or HTML). Also many OS X text editors (such as BBEdit Lite) will open such documents, the formatting may be nonsense but the text would be there and could be copied into a new program.

Personally I have had it with Microsoft and so I mostly run non-Microsoft programs here. There are a number of open source, free of charge OS X programs that have pretty much the same capacities as Office, and it's quite possible that one of them will open the Works documents. These include NeoOfficeJ, AbiWord, and others.
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Beverly Woods
http://beverlywoods.net
Low End Mac column: http://www.lowendmac.com/woods/index.html