How to Connect Two Macs Using Firewire

When I visit relatives, I often find myself – typically near the end of the visit – needing to move files from their laptop to their desktop computer. This is usually because while I was visiting, I did some writing and now need to email the files to myself, to be downloaded to my home computer. The house is not set up for wireless, so that option is out, and while I could simply hook up the laptop to the cable modem (and sometimes do), I often have files on both computers, and I find it simpler to combine them into one archive and have only one email waiting for me when I arrive home.

In the past, when the files have been large enough, or numerous enough, I have simply burned a CD of the files and taken it home with me. This, of course, brings in the risk of the CDR becoming damaged, and – most of the time – when I don’t have enough files to really need the space afforded on a blank CDR, the burning process simply adds additional cost and time.

So, then… what to do?

I have found two very simple ways of moving files from one Mac to another, and all you need is either a Firewire cable (assuming both Macs support Firewire!), or an Ethernet cable. In this article, I will describe the steps necessary to connect the two Macs via a six-pin Firewire cable.

First, connect the Firewire cable to the Firewire ports of each Mac.

Second… that’s it. Kind of!

That’s all the connecting that needs to happen, and actually there is absolutely NO fiddling around with settings in this method. All you need to do is figure out which computer has the older operating system, and turn that one off.

Now, reboot that computer, holding down the “T” key immediately. This boots up the computer into what is known as Target Disc Mode. The boot process should be much shorter than is normal, and you’ll know it’s done when you see a gray/black screen appear with an orange Firewire symbol appearing as a kind of screensaver.

What you have basically just done is booted up the computer so that it identifies itself as an external hard drive. If you’ll notice, there should almost immediately be an icon representing this computer on the Desktop of the other Mac.

All there is to do now is double-click on the icon representing the computer, and navigate to where your documents are. Then simply drag them over to where you want them to be on the other computer!

One word of warning about this method: Since you are using two Macs, the Mac that is running as normal will pay attention to file permissions, so if the documents are stored inside a user’s folder – even if they’re on the Desktop – they may be inaccessible to the other computer. The way to make sure this doesn’t happen is – before booting the computer into Target Disc Mode – to move the files to the root level of the hard drive. The root level is simply the folder that opens when you double click the hard drive. Files in this location are accessible to anyone, including the other computer you have hooked up to.

That’s it! Once you’re done, simply turn off the computer that’s been booted into Target Disc Mode – a quick press of the power button should do it – and then you can restart it normally. Unhook the two Macs and put the Firewire cable away. You’re finished!

I hope this has been helpful to you. If you’re still looking for another – faster – way to transfer files between two Macs, read my article about using an Ethernet cable. It’s a bit more complicated (it involves the extra steps of turning on file sharing on one of the computers and then connecting the other computer to it, since it is now acting as a server), but it’s still quite easy. Check it out!