View Full Version : HELP! Mac Classic to PC


StevenC
01-13-2004, 06:21 PM
Hi All,

I could really use some help. I know little to nothing about Macs, but I
have an old Macintosh Classic that was my friends. He has passed away and I
told his parents I would try to get all the files off the Mac and onto a CD
for their PC. There are some writings of his I think they would like to
have.

Ideally I would like to get the Mac on my home network and copy the files,
but I cannot figure out how to even physically connect to the network. My
2nd option would be to transfer all the files via floppy to my PC, then
convert them to the latest .doc file. The problem there is the floppy
formats are not compatible.

I don't have any Mac install disks or any way to transfer file to the PC to
the Mac, that I know of. I do have a Xircom parallel to Ethernet adapter,
but the Mac doesn't have the drivers, if they even exist ;-)

Anyway, my question is, there any way I can get he files of this Mac Classic
to my PC? Please feel free to email me at peregrine.falcon[at]comcast.net with
suggestion or further questions.

Thanks in advance.

-StevenC

B Collins
01-13-2004, 07:00 PM
StevenC wrote:
>
> Hi All,
>
> I could really use some help. I know little to nothing about Macs, but I
> have an old Macintosh Classic that was my friends. He has passed away and I
> told his parents I would try to get all the files off the Mac and onto a CD
> for their PC. There are some writings of his I think they would like to
> have.
>
> Ideally I would like to get the Mac on my home network and copy the files,
> but I cannot figure out how to even physically connect to the network. My
> 2nd option would be to transfer all the files via floppy to my PC, then
> convert them to the latest .doc file. The problem there is the floppy
> formats are not compatible.
>
> I don't have any Mac install disks or any way to transfer file to the PC to
> the Mac, that I know of. I do have a Xircom parallel to Ethernet adapter,
> but the Mac doesn't have the drivers, if they even exist ;-)
>
> Anyway, my question is, there any way I can get he files of this Mac Classic
> to my PC? Please feel free to email me at peregrine.falcon[at]comcast.net with
> suggestion or further questions.
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> -StevenC

The Mac should be able to read & write PC floppies. Insert a PC floppy.
It should show up on the Mac desktop. Drag and drop files to it. Then
move the floppy to the PC and transfer the files as desired.

The files need to be compatible with whatever application programs are
on the PC. I infer from your message that they are word processing
files. If they are in MS Word, even an old version, Word on a PC should
be able to open them. However, you need to append the filename extension
..doc to the file names so the PC will recognize them as word files. Word
on the PC can still probably open them even if you don't do that, but
they will probably be treated just as text files.

To change the name of a file on a Mac, including simply adding .doc to
the filename, click once on the name of the file. The filename should
now be highlighted. Type whatever you want in the name field, and that
will become the new filename. Note that when the whole name is
highlighted, anythig you type will replace whatever was there, so treat
the filename block like a min word processor: use the arrow keys to move
the typoing cursor where you want, then anything you type will be
inserted at that point, and will not replace what was there already.
When you have the name the way you want it, hit the Enter key or click
outside the name box, and that will set the new name.

If they are not Word files, do not append the extension .doc. Append the
appropriate extension for whatever kind of files they are, in the usual
PC naming convention. You can find out what kind of files they are
easily. Open the folder that contains the files, and then switch to
List, in the Viem menu. That will list the files, and should include the
file type as well as other info for each.

Bill

StevenC
01-13-2004, 09:10 PM
Unfortunately, The Mac Classic does not read my PC floppies. Not sure why,
but it's pretty old.

Anyway, I found a free emulator that will let me read the Mac floppies on my
PC and copy them. It's sort of a drag, sine I can only move 1 file at a
time, but I will just live with this and copy everything a bit at a time.

Thanks for your help.

StevenC

"B Collins" <bbcollins[at]invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:40044E72.50882309[at]invalid.invalid...
> StevenC wrote:
> >
> > Hi All,
> >
> > I could really use some help. I know little to nothing about Macs, but I
> > have an old Macintosh Classic that was my friends. He has passed away
and I
> > told his parents I would try to get all the files off the Mac and onto a
CD
> > for their PC. There are some writings of his I think they would like to
> > have.
> >
> > Ideally I would like to get the Mac on my home network and copy the
files,
> > but I cannot figure out how to even physically connect to the network.
My
> > 2nd option would be to transfer all the files via floppy to my PC, then
> > convert them to the latest .doc file. The problem there is the floppy
> > formats are not compatible.
> >
> > I don't have any Mac install disks or any way to transfer file to the PC
to
> > the Mac, that I know of. I do have a Xircom parallel to Ethernet
adapter,
> > but the Mac doesn't have the drivers, if they even exist ;-)
> >
> > Anyway, my question is, there any way I can get he files of this Mac
Classic
> > to my PC? Please feel free to email me at peregrine.falcon[at]comcast.net
with
> > suggestion or further questions.
> >
> > Thanks in advance.
> >
> > -StevenC
>
> The Mac should be able to read & write PC floppies. Insert a PC floppy.
> It should show up on the Mac desktop. Drag and drop files to it. Then
> move the floppy to the PC and transfer the files as desired.
>
> The files need to be compatible with whatever application programs are
> on the PC. I infer from your message that they are word processing
> files. If they are in MS Word, even an old version, Word on a PC should
> be able to open them. However, you need to append the filename extension
> .doc to the file names so the PC will recognize them as word files. Word
> on the PC can still probably open them even if you don't do that, but
> they will probably be treated just as text files.
>
> To change the name of a file on a Mac, including simply adding .doc to
> the filename, click once on the name of the file. The filename should
> now be highlighted. Type whatever you want in the name field, and that
> will become the new filename. Note that when the whole name is
> highlighted, anythig you type will replace whatever was there, so treat
> the filename block like a min word processor: use the arrow keys to move
> the typoing cursor where you want, then anything you type will be
> inserted at that point, and will not replace what was there already.
> When you have the name the way you want it, hit the Enter key or click
> outside the name box, and that will set the new name.
>
> If they are not Word files, do not append the extension .doc. Append the
> appropriate extension for whatever kind of files they are, in the usual
> PC naming convention. You can find out what kind of files they are
> easily. Open the folder that contains the files, and then switch to
> List, in the Viem menu. That will list the files, and should include the
> file type as well as other info for each.
>
> Bill

Brian Paul Ehni
01-14-2004, 12:15 AM
On 1/13/04 4:10 PM, in article 40046d02$1[at]usenet01.boi.hp.com, "StevenC"
<gyrfalcon42[at]hotmail.com> wrote:

> Unfortunately, The Mac Classic does not read my PC floppies. Not sure why,
> but it's pretty old.
>
> Anyway, I found a free emulator that will let me read the Mac floppies on my
> PC and copy them. It's sort of a drag, sine I can only move 1 file at a
> time, but I will just live with this and copy everything a bit at a time.
>
> Thanks for your help.
>
> StevenC
>
Be sure to add the correct filename extensions.
--

Brian Ehni