Question about iMac A1058 Hard Drive Swap (Please Read)

[NXS]

Hello folks. 

 

The short of it is this: My mother used to have an iMAC A1058 that eventually bit the bullet due to bad capacitors.  She held onto the hard drive because she says it has "irreplaceable" family photos and documents.  Well, she found another A1058 that looks identical to her old one and it still works perfectly.  She went ahead and ordered it, but is wondering if she will be able to replace the current hard drive with her hard drive out of her original and be able to use the system without any hangups or possible data loss.  I'm not savvy at all when it comes to Apple products, so I thought I would turn to the only community I trust and try to get some answers.  Would simply swapping out the hard drives work?  Will she be able to use it (with all of its antiquated and outdated software suites she has on there) or am I going to have to try another solution.  

Looking forward to any feedback!  Thanks in advance! 

[corrado33]

Why not just hook the hard drive up to a different computer and pull the data off of it? (Using something like hfsexplorer http://www.catacombae.org/hfsexplorer/ )

 

But otherwise, yes, it should still work if she just swaps the hard drives. 

 

If it doesn't, those old macs could be started in "target disk mode". So if she has another mac lying around, just connect the two via firewire cable, then start the "new" computer (with the old drive installed) in target disk mode (I think you hold "t" on startup") and it'll mount the drive on the other mac just like an external drive. Then pull all the pictures and stuff off.

[NXS]

2 minutes ago, corrado33 said:

Why not just hook the hard drive up to a different computer and pull the data off of it? (Using something like hfsexplorer http://www.catacombae.org/hfsexplorer/ )

 

But otherwise, yes, it should still work if she just swaps the hard drives. 

 

If it doesn't, those old macs could be started in "target disk mode". So if she has another mac lying around, just connect the two via firewire cable, then start the "new" computer (with the old drive installed) in target disk mode (I think you hold "t" on startup") and it'll mount the drive on the other mac just like an external drive. Then pull all the pictures and stuff off.

 

Unfortunately, we don't have any other Mac's at our disposal.  As for the programs you mentioned, are these programs that are used on a PC to simply clone a drive or extract data, perhaps?  I only ask because, again, I have absolutely no technical knowledge of Macs or their software/hardware capabilities.  Thank you for your speedy reply and time! 

[corrado33]

6 minutes ago, NXS said:

Unfortunately, we don't have any other Mac's at our disposal.  As for the programs you mentioned, are these programs that are used on a PC to simply clone a drive or extract data, perhaps?  I only ask because, again, I have absolutely no technical knowledge of Macs or their software/hardware capabilities.  Thank you for your speedy reply and time! 

Mac drives are formatted in a way that windows can't read. The software I linked allow you to simply plug the drive into a windows machine (as you would any other normal drive) and access it. If you don't know how to install a drive on a windows machine, just buy something like this

 

https://www.amazon.ca/Inateck-Docking-Station-Function-Tool-free/dp/B00N1MAMB6/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_147_bs_t_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=BC055QQYPA957TD53C3G

 

or this

 

https://www.amazon.ca/UGREEN-Adapter-Converter-Drives-Laptop/dp/B01AW40QZW/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_147_tr_t_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=BC055QQYPA957TD53C3G

 

(you can find cheaper ones these were just the first results on google.). Then you simply plug the drive into it and plug the usb into the windows computer. 

 

But honestly just putting the drive in the "new" mac should work fine. Try that first. Just don't format the drive obviously. 

 

As for using that computer for daily modern use... Eh, probably not. It's a bit old for that. You may be able to get away with it if it was a higher end model, but you absolutely won't be able to update to the latest macos. I mean, this was before apple even started using intel CPUs, back in the "power PC" days. You'll likely have issues finding a modern (read "safe") web browser that is supported on that version of OS X. 

[NXS]

Just now, corrado33 said:

Mac drives are formatted in a way that windows can't read. The software I linked allow you to simply plug the drive into a windows machine (as you would any other normal drive) and access it. If you don't know how to install a drive on a windows machine, just buy something like this

 

https://www.amazon.ca/Inateck-Docking-Station-Function-Tool-free/dp/B00N1MAMB6/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_147_bs_t_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=BC055QQYPA957TD53C3G

 

or this

 

https://www.amazon.ca/UGREEN-Adapter-Converter-Drives-Laptop/dp/B01AW40QZW/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_147_tr_t_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=BC055QQYPA957TD53C3G

 

(you can find cheaper ones these were just the first results on google.). Then you simply plug the drive into it and plug the usb into the windows computer. 

 

But honestly just putting the drive in the "new" mac should work fine. Try that first. Just don't format the drive obviously. 

Thank you, corrado33.   I know how to install drives and I'm pretty proficient with Windows-based PCs.  My main concern is just running into the potential hiccups of varying parts needing different drivers even though they are the same computer, essentially.  I just don't want to corrupt the data or brick the hard drive altogether.  When the iMac gets here, I will try the simple swap out first; if that doesn't work, then I will try the other options you provided.  I will also come back to this thread and let you know of my results.  

Thanks again for the speedy replies and your insights and time! 

[corrado33]

1 minute ago, NXS said:

Thank you, corrado33.   I know how to install drives and I'm pretty proficient with Windows-based PCs.  My main concern is just running into the potential hiccups of varying parts needing different drivers even though they are the same computer, essentially.  I just don't want to corrupt the data or brick the hard drive altogether.  When the iMac gets here, I will try the simple swap out first; if that doesn't work, then I will try the other options you provided.  I will also come back to this thread and let you know of my results.  

Thanks again for the speedy replies and your insights and time! 

Yep! The hard drive swap should honestly work fine. That was one of the nice things about macs back then. They had such tight hardware constraints that you didn't have to worry about drivers if the machines were the same. 

 

If it doesn't work, then yes, install HFSexplorer on a windows computer, then install the drive in the windows computer and start it up. Then run the HFSexplorer program and open up the drive. Immediately pull all the data off as quickly as you can (drive was likely only 80 gb) and give your mom all the pictures and stuff on a flash drive.

[NXS]

1 minute ago, corrado33 said:

Yep! The hard drive swap should honestly work fine. That was one of the nice things about macs back then. They had such tight hardware constraints that you didn't have to worry about drivers if the machines were the same. 

 

If it doesn't work, then yes, install HFSexplorer on a windows computer, then install the drive in the windows computer and start it up. Then run the HFSexplorer program and open up the drive. Immediately pull all the data off as quickly as you can (drive was likely only 80 gb) and give your mom all the pictures and stuff on a flash drive.

I'll do that!  

[NXS]

15 hours ago, corrado33 said:

 

As for using that computer for daily modern use... Eh, probably not. It's a bit old for that. You may be able to get away with it if it was a higher end model, but you absolutely won't be able to update to the latest macos. I mean, this was before apple even started using intel CPUs, back in the "power PC" days. You'll likely have issues finding a modern (read "safe") web browser that is supported on that version of OS X. 

The reason she wants to use it is because she works for our town's newspaper and the software suite is what she uses to make the newspaper layouts for advertisements and what not.  It's really just a preference thing and she wants to stick with what she knows rather than adapt to the newer stuff.  "It's too complicated or too expensive" is what I always hear when bringing up getting a new Mac... Gotta love stubborn mothers