Firewire or Thunderbolt Cable?

Question

Level 1

0 points

Firewire or Thunderbolt Cable?

Hello All,

I have 2 questions. One relates to my 2007 MacBook on which the CD drive no longer works. I need to reinstall the OS, and I have heard I can do this by using target disc mode and connecting the MacBook to my iMac. My first question is: What cable do I need to do this with? Do both of these predate the Thunderbolt Cable? If I do need to use a firewire cable can someone include a picture of what I should buy? There are pictures of my MacBook and iMac ports below.

My second question relates to installing Microsoft Word onto my brand new Macbook Air, which has no CD drive (I have word on DVD). Again, I figure I'll do this with target disc mode on the iMac, but again, I don't know which cable to use. The Macbook Air has a thunderbolt port. What does the iMac have?

Obviously I'm a novice, so feel free to respond in laymans terms! Thanks.

Posted on May 17, 2014 12:25 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Kappy

Level 10

362,017 points

May 17, 2014 12:32 PM in response to renyay

Your MacBook only supports USB and Firewire. Your iMac has a Firewire port, it's the one with the "Y" icon above it.

Assuming you have an Office license, you can download and activate a trial version of Office 2011 from Mactopia.

Reply

Answer 2

K Shaffer

Level 8

36,070 points

May 17, 2014 12:39 PM in response to renyay

Both computers pictured have FireWire ports.

You'd need to get a cable with the correct version FW plug

on the ends; if they are both FW800, that'd be easier. Other

wise, if you had an older Mac with FW400, the cable would

need to have a ends that match each computer.

For a Thunderbolt-only equipped computer w/o FW ports,

you'd need to buy the TB to FW cable. There also are

other cables for use with TB, since displays also connect.

•FW Target Disk - How to use and troubleshoot FireWire Target Disk Mode:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661

Good luck ! 🙂

edited

Reply

Answer 3

renyay Author

Level 1

0 points

May 17, 2014 12:46 PM in response to Kappy

My stepfather is a faculty member at a local college. He sent me this version of Office. It has an MFG reference and Part number on the packaging. Is that enough to mean it's liscensed? If it is, and I download a trial version... how does that become my permanent liscensed version?

Reply

Answer 4

renyay Author

Level 1

0 points

May 17, 2014 12:49 PM in response to K Shaffer

Thanks,

How do I know if they are FW800 or FW400? The only ports I'm working with are those pictured, and the thunderbolt port on the MacBook Air.

Is it possible for someone to tell me specifically what cables I need? I need to connect the iMac to the MacBook; then I need to connect the iMac to the MacBook Air.

Reply

Answer 5

renyay Author

Level 1

0 points

May 17, 2014 12:51 PM in response to Kappy

Oh, I have a product key on the Office discs too.

Reply

Answer 6

Kappy

Level 10

362,017 points

May 17, 2014 12:53 PM in response to renyay

It's licensed to the school. Not the same thing. You don't require a license to use the one from the school. And, if you are not a student at the school then you would be using it illegally. If you are a student at the school, then you or your stepfather should be able to have the DVD cloned to a USB flash drive. Note that the DVD version must be for a Mac; not for a PC. The latter will not work on your Mac. Be sure you partition and format the flash drive for use on your Mac before cloning the DVD to it.

Reply

Answer 7

Kappy

Level 10

362,017 points

May 17, 2014 12:55 PM in response to renyay

Yes, I think that's what you need to license the copy for you. A license key is usually a series of hypen separated character groups consisting of five or six characters in each group.

Reply

Answer 8

renyay Author

Level 1

0 points

May 17, 2014 12:55 PM in response to Kappy

I think he bought these, just with a faculty discout. It includes a product key also. In that case am I able to somehow download an Office trial and then install it permanently?

Reply

Answer 9

Kappy

Level 10

362,017 points

May 17, 2014 12:56 PM in response to renyay

The iMac is FW800. The MacBook is FW400. You will need a cable with a FW400 plug on one end and a FW800 plug on the other end.

Reply

Answer 10

Kappy

Level 10

362,017 points

May 17, 2014 12:59 PM in response to renyay

OK. Gotcha. I believe that copy came with three license keys. In fact you should be able to use the key with a downloaded Trial version as well as the version on the DVD which is also a trial version until you enter a license key.

Reply

Answer 11

K Shaffer

Level 8

36,070 points

May 17, 2014 1:07 PM in response to renyay

If both ports are the same size, FW800 is a smaller port; FW400 is larger

The System Profiler (About this Mac) then 'More Info' should show the

hardware configuration of the computer(s) in question, the ports & the

connection speeds usually are listed in Sys Profiler> Hardware.

{By looking at the picture, looks like FW400 on the portable, and FW800

on the white desktop machine; whatever model/year these are.} My old

MacBook1.1 has FW400, as do my all older macs.

FW800 is backward compatible to 400 via correct cable or adapter.

Was writing when you already had reply. Slow low-end internet here.

Good luck! 🙂

edited 2X

Reply

Answer 12

renyay Author

Level 1

0 points

May 17, 2014 11:02 PM in response to K Shaffer

Thanks for the clairification! My iMac is from June 2011 and the MacBook is from late 2007 if that helps. I will look up the specs as you have advised. I feel like I have a better idea of what to buy now.

Reply

Answer 13

Kappy

Level 10

362,017 points

May 17, 2014 11:06 PM in response to renyay

I can assure you from personal knowledge:

Your iMac has FW800 port.

Your MB has FW400 port.

They make cables with each plug on each end. You can buy them in most computer stores.

Reply

Answer 14

renyay Author

Level 1

0 points

May 17, 2014 11:09 PM in response to K Shaffer

So in 'about this mac' for the iMac, I got to info saying:

FireWire Bus: Maximum Speed: Up to 800 Mb/sec

For the MacBook I see:

FireWire Bus: Maximum Speed: Up to 400 Mb/sec

So that means that I'd need to buy a 800mb/s firewire cable and then and adapter for a 400mb/s?

Reply

Answer 15

renyay Author

Level 1

0 points

May 17, 2014 11:10 PM in response to Kappy

Sorry Kappy, I didn't see this before replying! That totally solves that issue. And it seems that I'll be able to download MS Office, I haven't had a chance to do that yet today.

Thanks for the help!

Reply