I’ve been receiving a lot of email lately from people who are either using older Macs and considering upgrading to new Macs, or are Windows users looking to escape the bondage of viruses, spyware, adware, instability, and insecurity. Both groups share a common concern: how do I get my data from my old Mac or PC onto my new Mac? Obviously, the answers to the question are as varied as the different hardware, software, and operating systems involved. Despite advances in software designed to automate the process, there will undoubtedly be some “growing pains” moving from one system to another. As they say, “no pain – no gain”. However, it’s worth it.

The first thing to consider, regardless of the make and capabilities of your “old” computer, is “what do I need to transfer?” If you’re like most consumer computer users, you have an address book, a collection of web browser bookmarks, email in an application like Outlook Express, a Quicken (or other personal finance program) data file, and perhaps correspondence in MS Word format. If you’re into digital media, you may have large numbers of photos, MP3 music files, or digital video.

Remember that most computer programs (we’ll use Quicken as an example) have three parts. There’s the Quicken application itself, your financial data file, and a Preferences file that contains data supporting the personalized look and feel of your installation (and perhaps your serial number). It’s possible that the only file that can be used successfully by the new system is the data file. No matter how hard you try, Quicken for Windows 95 will not run on Mac OS X. I mention this example to point out that, initially, the amount of data on your old hard drive may seem immense until you winnow out what you really need to move over to continue using the application.

After analyzing the amount of data that needs to be moved, you next need to find a way to move it. How you move the data is a function, primarily, of the capabilities of the “old” computer. Your new Mac has a plethora of input/output conduits: DVD/CD burners/players, FireWire, USB, Ethernet, Bluetooth, high-speed internet, etc. If you’re moving from a REALLY old computer, you may have none of the above. However, do not be deterred. Help is on the way. More next time.

© 2004 Peter F. Zimowski