Transfering Data to a Mac

basically i am thinking of getting a mac (mini) and wanted your advice on how to transfer my fies from my xp. Here is wht i have thought of so far:

* Enabling my 3ogb iPod video as a hard disk drive

* Using an ethernet cable and borrowing a friends monitr and keyboard set up a network (not sure if this would work).

* Burning to disc ( would take ages seeing as i have 80gb worth of files/music videos etc)

* Using my 5gb a time of online storage at uni again borrowing a friends setup.

anyone think of any other ways?

#429518

Timbob...option 2 is the easy way...no probs at all...just enable file sharing on the folders you want the mac to access....you know that though.

#429520

get hold of a hard disk enclosure and use the usb interface

#429522

i just found this step by step guide:

http://www.lifehacker.com/software/network...wire-173973.php

however i know it is a dumb question to ask but is "ethernet" the same as "firewire"? My comp has an ethernet cable and so does the mac mini so logically i should be able to set up a net work between the two?

Thanks for the reply guys.

#429526

The process for connecting the two computers via ethernet is slightly different from the process described in your link, which deals with firewire. There's a thread here:

http://www.aqua-soft.org/board/showthread.php?t=8109

That deals with what you're looking for.

#429528

wow that sounds just if not more complicated, might have to go with option 3/4. Annoyingly this will take ages. Here is a nother thing not sure if you will be able to answer this though, i am at uni and have bought a 2mb package for the year, and i think it has recorded my mac address for my ethernet card. Now if i were to get a mac mini would my internet still be active?

#429530

naw dude, it ain't that hard. one of the bee-you-tee-full things about macs is that you don't need a crossover cable. it's a 'smart' port. just enable file sharing like bh2 said and then drag 'n' drop your files.

#429531

I was using my windows box with a wireless router. I connected the mini via ethernet cable to the router (it wouldn't recognise the wireless password for some reason)...et viola! That was it. Instant network. Honest. Ha! Beaten by the shmengie!

#429532

so basically on the xp right click my new volume ( the volume with all my data) create a network place and then plug the ethernet cable into the mac and i should be able to copy and past the files to the mac mini? I have emailed my local network too to se if they have made a note of my mac ethernet card on my xp only allowing me to access the internet through my xp. Stupid money grabbing fools.

#429534

By far, the easiest, is using your iPod as a flash drive. I put all my files on there (it fit), then I dragged them to the right space.

It's much easier to set up, and quicker.

#429597

ooo ooo ooo. i just happened to find your answer earlier today totally by chance. you can make your XP hard drive appear in the Finder, either over the Internet or Ethernet. in other words, instead of hooking up your iPod, it's your comp HD instead.

check this out:

http://www.apple.com/support/switch101/migrate/

woot

#429830

Alpha is bang on thats the easiest way to do it.

Use the apple support link he's advised, tells you everything you might need to know about switching.

I would avoid transferring any 'Large' masses of files from your iPod too often, you will notice if you do this it gets rather warm... its quite a demand on the iPod.

Personally I have 4 iPods ( I think I only use 1 as a MP3 Player ) and although I have had no problems with using them as repair boot/startup disks I have had friends that have literally welded their HDD in them by putting too much demand on them.

#430036

can you put a mini in target disk mode? do that, and hook it up the pc via firewire drag and drop.

#430037

Yes and no, if you do that directly the PC (windows) won't recognise the Apple format HDD.

You would need a program such as Macdrive for the PC to recognise the HDD natively.

If a PC had a Target Disk Mode then this would be easy peasy... as its been the case for a long time that a Mac can read PC file formats such as Fat 32 and NTFS.

#430041