I have a Macintosh LC II and a G3 that don't work. Can I get data off the hard drive?

Is the G3 a desktop or a notebook? Which model? Generally speaking, an IDE/ATA hard drive can be removed from the computer and then connected to a USB adapter. Below is one example, but you will find similar devices in many computer stores.

http://www.newertech.com/products/usb3_universaldriveadap.php

The adapter would allow you to use a more modern Mac (or a PC with the appropriate software) to read from the hard drive.

With an LC II things get more complicated. The hard drive in this case is SCSI, and you would need another (pre-1998) Mac with a SCSI port to do anything useful.

However, before we continue, could you perhaps tell us a bit more about in what way the two computers are not working? Sometimes, even a bad logic board battery can cause unexpected difficulties (such as startup issues).

Jan

Hello,

You have probably tried cleaning the LC II logic board already (there have been reports about people using a dishwasher with pure water for cleaning a bare board).

Yes, using the G3 would not be a bad idea. If necessary, with access to a suitable Mac(DB-15)-to-VGA adapter, it may be possible to use a PC monitor.

Once the beige G3 desktop is working, there are several data transfer methods available:

1.44 MB floppy disks written on the G3 can be read on many modern computers via a USB floppy drive (special software for Mac disks required on a Windows PC).

A SCSI Zip drive can be connected to the SCSI port of the G3. The Zip disk can then be read through a USB Zip drive on another computer.

The G3 has built-in Ethernet, and can be connected to a router/switch. Transfers can be carried out through a local network or over the Internet. FTP software may be used, or one can send files as email attachments.

A null-modem connection between serial ports (using standard terminal emulation software with file transfer capabilities) is yet another alternative.

Do not expect the staff in any computer store to be familiar with old machines.

Jan

Addendum

The beige Power Macintosh G3 computers are excellent intermediate machines. They can handle older technology, such as ADB, 800K and 1.44 MB floppy disks, SCSI, serial communication and LocalTalk networking. Internally, both ATA and SCSI drives can be installed. Built-in Ethernet allows connections to modern networks.

With optional PCI expansion cards, USB and/or FireWire is possible. Optional AV ports would, for example, allow a TV set to be used as an extra monitor.