# Is there a way to connect an external hard drive to my old Mac? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 5, 2013, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-connect-an-external-hard-drive-to-my-old-mac/649404 "2013-02-05T18:07:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JR\_Brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JR\_Brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JR_Brown)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-connect-an-external-hard-drive-to-my-old-mac/649404/1 "2013-02-05T18:07:10Z")
Computer semi-literate person here. I want to move all my data from my old computer to my spiffy new computer (both macs, if that matters). They aren’t in the same location, so I can’t just run a cable between them; I’d prefer not to use cloud storage, for idiosyncratic reasons; and I don’t really want to burn a billion DVDs, so I would like to use some kind of removable media device. A sufficiently large USB key is getting near the price of an external hard drive, and I’d rather have the latter. But my old mac dates from the invention of fire (i.e., c. 2000) and has only a USB 1.1 port and a FireWire 400 port, whereas all the external HDs I can find use USB 2.0 or 3.0. Does anyone know of an external HD that could connect to my old mac, or an adapter that would allow a standard one to do so? I don’t think it’s possible to upgrade the oldie to USB 2.0/3.0, so that’s not an option. Your thoughts appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-connect-an-external-hard-drive-to-my-old-mac/649404/2 "2013-02-05T18:11:35Z")
A USB 2.0 or 3.0 drive will connect fine to a USB 1.1 ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-connect-an-external-hard-drive-to-my-old-mac/649404/3 "2013-02-05T18:21:49Z")
You can still find FireWire 400 drives : > **[Amazon.com: WD My Book Home Edition 500 GB USB 2.0/FireWire 400/eSATA Desktop...](https://www.amazon.com/FireWire-eSATA-Desktop-External-Drive/dp/B000WGSAAE)** > > Amazon.com: WD My Book Home Edition 500 GB USB 2.0/FireWire 400/eSATA Desktop External Hard Drive : Electronics ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-connect-an-external-hard-drive-to-my-old-mac/649404/4 "2013-02-05T18:24:22Z")
Yeah, USB is backwards compatible so any new external HD should work. If your old Mac allows you to remove the hard drive, you could also just hook it up to your new Mac with an adapter ([like this](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006J2L0ZM/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00)), and bypass the middle HD. Which could save a lot of time if you get a USB 3.0 adapter and there’s a lot of data to transfer. EDIT: Dang, I changed the link to point to a USB 3.0 adapter, but it’s SATA only. Chances are your old hard drive has an IDE interface. Be aware, if you choose to buy one of these devices. You’ll have to look around for the right one for the job. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-connect-an-external-hard-drive-to-my-old-mac/649404/5 "2013-02-05T18:27:15Z")
To add to Doug’s suggestion, with the right cable you can use Firewire 800 drives. [Here](http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/1394/USB/EliteAL/eSATA_FW800_FW400_USB) are some more options - after you do the migration, just use it as a TimeMachine device. Another suggestion is to use the OSX Migration Assistant. Use Disk Utility to clone your old drive to the external device, then tell the MA on the new Mac to migrate from the external HD. You end up with all your stuff on the new Mac with no muss no fuss. ETA: USB 1.1 will be painfully slow to use. ---
**Author:** ![JR\_Brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JR\_Brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JR_Brown)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-connect-an-external-hard-drive-to-my-old-mac/649404/6 "2013-02-06T17:05:50Z")
Cool. If the new USB plugs can still connect to the oldie, I’ll probably just go with that; I don’t care how long it takes, simplicity is worth more to me. Thanks guys! ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-connect-an-external-hard-drive-to-my-old-mac/649404/7 "2013-02-06T18:15:01Z")
> [@drachillix](#): > > A USB 2.0 or 3.0 drive will connect fine to a USB 1.1 You’re going to need a snickers bar with that. ---
**Author:** ![Blakeyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blakeyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blakeyrat)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-connect-an-external-hard-drive-to-my-old-mac/649404/8 "2013-02-06T18:18:01Z")
> [@JR\_Brown](#): > > Cool. If the new USB plugs can still connect to the oldie, I’ll probably just go with that; I don’t care how long it takes, simplicity is worth more to me. Fortunately your 2000 HD is probably pretty small, unless you’ve upgraded at some point. Because on a modern 2 TB HD, USB 1 would take… well. Weeks I believe. Ouch. ---
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-connect-an-external-hard-drive-to-my-old-mac/649404/9 "2013-02-07T00:55:08Z")
I make it about 3 weeks plus a day or two. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-connect-an-external-hard-drive-to-my-old-mac/649404/10 "2013-02-07T01:07:05Z")
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