# Transitioning from a G4 to G5 Mac

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transitioning-from-a-g4-to-g5-mac/331726>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 18, 2005, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transitioning-from-a-g4-to-g5-mac/331726 "2005-11-18T22:41:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\
**Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transitioning-from-a-g4-to-g5-mac/331726/1 "2005-11-18T22:41:22Z")

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Well, my long-awaited G5 arrived today, replacing my 4-year-old G4 (and what a gorgeous object it is, quite aside from its awesome specs).

I need to be able to transfer about half my G4 files (at least 100G) onto the G5 right away, and have the rest accessible on an as-needed basis.

Is the first step to simply unplug everything from the G4, remove it, and replace it with the G5? Then, can I just run a Firewire or USB cable to the G4 as if its 2 hard drives were externals, and leave that as my permanent setup?

Thanks.

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**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\
**Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transitioning-from-a-g4-to-g5-mac/331726/2 "2005-11-18T22:50:05Z")

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That should work fine, although there’s also built-in transitioning software that will do things like copy your settings from your old computer to the new one.

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**Author:** ![wheelie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b4bc9f/32.png) [@wheelie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wheelie)\
**Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transitioning-from-a-g4-to-g5-mac/331726/3 "2005-11-19T01:54:32Z")

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If your G4 has Gigabit Ethernet, it would be fastest to just connect them that way. The Ethernet ports are auto-sensing, so you don’t need a special crossover cable like the old days.  
[Here’s](http://www.macworld.com/2005/09/secrets/octmobilemac/index.php) a good article on ad-hoc networking from Macworld.  
I want one of those Quad-core G5’s so damn bad, but my MDD G4 isn’t _quite_ paid off yet. ☹ But it’s getting _real_ close.