You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Old Software on a Newish iMac

I am currently running a 2017 iMac (High Sierra 10.13.6). I have a 2008 Mac Pro (El Capitan 10.11.6) with some old software I'd like to continuing using. Can I remove the startup disk from the 2008 Mac Pro and connect it to my iMac and run the old software? Would I need to boot the iMac from the Mac Pro startup disk for it work? Is it safe to do that?

iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on Jun 22, 2020 4:35 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jun 22, 2020 6:57 PM

Unless you are transferring everything over, malware is not going to "crawl" over by itself. I would not transfer a lot of very old things - some apps may no longer run/be compatible with the newer OS, so I would not bother. You can just move over files, pics, etc. (things you created).

6 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jun 22, 2020 6:57 PM in response to rpmdk

Unless you are transferring everything over, malware is not going to "crawl" over by itself. I would not transfer a lot of very old things - some apps may no longer run/be compatible with the newer OS, so I would not bother. You can just move over files, pics, etc. (things you created).

Jun 22, 2020 6:59 PM in response to rpmdk

You can use Target Disk Mode to transfer files, like applications, from Mac to another.

Transfer files between two Mac computers using target disk mode - Apple Support


You can connect your Mac Pro to your iMac using a Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter and a Thunderbolt 2 to FireWire 800 adapter. You can't connect two Macs with Target Disk Mode using USB or Ethernet.

Jun 22, 2020 4:55 PM in response to Niel

Thank you Niel. Toward the end of using the 2008 Mac Pro, I was seeing problems with the startup disk steadily losing space. Possibly Time Machine was backing up copies? I was never able to chase the problem down and there seemed to be some other odd bugs as well (sorry I can't be more specific, it's been a while now). If I start using that old startup disk as an external drive with the new iMac do I run any risk of these problems transferring to the iMac?

Old Software on a Newish iMac

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.