I bought a new MacBook Pro because my old MacBook Pro's screen went grey and my disc drive is broken so I can't update. I can see the icons very faintly, but can't see the pointer. How can I transfer information (pictures, documents) etc.?
MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.3)
See Pondini's Setup New Mac guide.
Well, I can't see my old screen to move my cursor to perform the functions described.
AFAIK, migrattion doesn't require using the cursor on the old screen, but only on the new machine's screen.
SchnellDaniels wrote:
Well, I can't see my old screen to move my cursor to perform the functions described.
Do you mean you're trying to start the old Mac in Target Disk Mode?
Try powering it down, then start up while holding the "T" key.
That will only work if you can connect the Macs via a FireWire cable, of course.
But it's still a bit "iffy" since something is clearly wrong with the old Mac. Whatever that is might not let the new Mac see the internal HD and copy what it needs from it.
OK, will have to try when I have some time. Some of this is over my head, frankly, and sound like "magic." :-)
I don't know what target disk mode is. The old macbook pro has a number of things wrong. The DVD/CD reader is broken, so haven't been able to update the OS since 2008 or so. In addition, the screen is grey, meaning I can barely make out the icons. I have to sign in blind, though I can tell when the screen shakes "no." Once I'm signed in to my side, I can only see the icons and can't make out what they are. This tells me that the hard drive may still be readable. I don't have time today to sit with this, but it will be my project for tomorrow. Hate to pay to have the information to be transferred. I'll let you know what happens. The Mac guy here seemed confident that he could get the information off, but there's a wait, 2-3 working days. I kind of need my quicken Data. Thanks for your suggestion. :-)
SchnellDaniels wrote:
I don't know what target disk mode is.
A way to start a Mac so it looks like an external HD to another Mac, if you can connect the two via a FireWire cable. If both Macs have (working) FireWire ports, and you have a cable (and/or adapter if necessary) to connect them. See the green box in Using Target Disk mode.
Since you can't see the screen, that's about the only way you're going to be able to get any data off the Mac without getting it fixed or paying for help.
SchnellDaniels wrote:
I kind of need my quicken Data.
If your Quicken is 2005, 2006 or 2007:
Move your Quicken Data File over to your new Mac using a flash stick. Install Quicken on your new Mac. Intuit now sells Quicken 2007 for Lion/Mt. Lion for $15:
http://quicken.intuit.com/personal-finance-software/quicken-2007-osx-lion.jsp
Launch Quicken 2007 on your new Mac and open your transfered file.
Thanks! The hardest thing was finding a firewire cable in the million (a little hyperbole) cables I have and then having to go to Best Buy to get one.
Now I have to work on transferring information, updating software and the like...
Muchos gracias, mis amigos!
If I can't see the screen on my old Mac, how do I put the data on a flashdrive? I purchased the Quicken update and can see my hard drive through the firewire on my new computer. I see no data in my the Quicken file the old hard drive.
If the old computer is in TDM, then it acts like a HD. You do everything on the new machine, using its screen.
I'm not understanding this. I am in Target Disk Mode. On my new computer I see a hard drive symbol. It does not show anything that I had on my desktop. I am srtuggling to see my old screen because and have moved files into the hard drive, THEN I can access my data. If it is not on my hard drive, I cannot access it. Unless I'm totally missing it.
This doesn't seem helpful because the answers I am getting are too focussed on a small section of my question and not on the whole context.
OK, so this is how I did it. I can barely see the grey screen on my old mac and I was able to make out icons with great difficulty. I did a search on my Finder for Quicken 2007. I opened Quicken, I went to file and clicked make a copy. It went to my desktop and I was able to click on it and put it into my hard drive. Then, I opened my computer in TDM and found my Quicken Data.
On my new computer I see a hard drive symbol. It does not show anything that I had on my desktop.
Double-click on the HD icon, open /Users/yourusername/Documents/. The Quicken file and everything else should be there. Alternatively, if you put it on the Desktop, open /Users/yourusername/Desktop/.
I have no idea why you can't see anything on your TDM HD and need to muck with the old macine's screen.
Hi, baltwo,
Thanks for jumping in here -- I didn't get the e-mail notfication. 😟
Transfer from old MacBook to new MacBook
