Following the Great Monitor Meltdown of 2008, I went out last night and bought a new iMac. It’s way more computer than I actually need, since pretty much all I do is surf the internet and play music, but I still like it. It has a built in camera. My mom is looking at buying a computer for herself so I’m going to try to convince her to get one with a camera too so we can teleconference. I also got some crappy printer that’s free after rebate and a portable hard drive for backup.
Mom is lending me the money at no interest so the balance doesn’t sit on my ridiculously high APR credit card. She told me to think of her as the world’s sweetest loan officer.
I think I understand how to transfer my data from my old machine, but because the monitor is burned out I may have to take it in to the Apple store and have them pull the hard drive to do the transfer, or so the “Apple Specialist” tells me.
You might be able to do it youself at home, by booting the nearly-dead Mac into what’s called Target Disk mode.
Basically, you plug the old Mac into the new Mac with a Firewire cable, start the old Mac while holding down the T key on its keyboard, and its drive should soon appear on the new Mac’s desktop.
Yeah, the “Apple Specialist” (I do love their aqua t-shirts with job title emblazoned 'pon the sleeve!) mentioned this possibility. I need to stop off someplace and pick up a firewire cable (I’ve managed to make it through four computers without acquiring one). When I started up the new one there was some question about moving information with some program or other, Something Manager, so one way or another I should be able to get it done myself. I’m pretty technically inept though.