transferring data from one mac to another

Question

transferring data from one mac to another

I recently bought a second hand mac from ebay and it was pretty empty. There are some settings still from the previous user.

My old mac's backlight has died and the only way to use it is to link it up to my tv.

I have tried using the Migration assistant via WI-FI and ethernet cable and both haven't worked.

I'm considering taking the hard drive out of the mac and using it as an external hard drive. There are a couple of programs i've tried to download but dont work and i'd really like my firefox settings back!

I was also wondering if i was able to take the RAM from the old mac and install it in the new mac?

All suggestions welcome.

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on May 18, 2012 7:31 AM

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Answer 1

May 18, 2012 8:05 AM in response to water_compact

It would help to know which one of the 9 different models of MacBook you have. To see which models you have go to the Apple in the upper left corner and select About This Mac, then click on More Info. When System Profiler comes up check the Model Identifier on each MacBook and post it back here.

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Answer 2

May 18, 2012 8:13 AM in response to frederic1943

Ok, the new mac is a MacBook5,1 and the old one is a 3,1.

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Answer 3

May 18, 2012 8:33 AM in response to water_compact

The model 5,1 is the Aluminum Unibody and doesn't have a FireWire port which would be the easiest way to transfer.

To transfer your current hard drive I like the free application Carbon Copy Cloner. It makes a bootable copy of everything on your hard drive http://www.bombich.com/index.html You'll need a cheap SATA external hard drive case. Put the new drive in the case then format and partition the new drive and clone your old drive to the new one. Check that it's set up right by booting up from the external drive. Then replace your old hard drive with the new one and put your old one in the external case. Here's a cheap SATA external hard drive case on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/SATA-Hard-Drive-Case-Enclosure/dp/B001AAVA08/ref=pd_cp_e_0

You can't take the RAM from the 3,1 and put it in the 5,1. The model 3,1 (Late 2007) uses 200 pin 667mhz PC2-5300 RAM and the model 5,1 (Late 2008, Aluminum Unibody) uses 204 pin 1066mhz PC3-8500 RAM

However RAM is cheap for the 5,1 http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Apple_MacBook_MacBook_Pro/Upgrade/DDR3

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Answer 4

May 18, 2012 8:39 AM in response to frederic1943

Ah, so making the old HDD into an external hdd would be the best option?

****! thats ok, i'm going to sell the old mac for spares so it'll sell for a bit more with the RAM intact.

I have a time machine backup on another external HDD, what would happen if i put that back up on this new mac?

I think they have slightly different OS....

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Answer 5

May 18, 2012 8:44 AM in response to water_compact

Your link to the hdd casing, i'm in the uk so is this the same thing?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/USB2-0-EXTERNAL-ENCLOSURE-bargain-universe/dp/B005EY62VS /ref=sr_1_2?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1337355738&sr=1-2

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Answer 6

May 18, 2012 8:48 AM in response to water_compact

Yes that's the same thing.

Here are instructions on replacing the hard drive in a MacBook with a removable battery. http://creativemac.digitalmedianet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=45088

Here are video instructions on replacing the hard drive on the Aluminum Unibody http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/macbookpro_13_unibody_hd/

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