fastest file transfur method from xp to osx 10.6

[Matty-p]

ok so my new mac arrives first thing tomarrow morning and id like to be using it as my main conmputer as soon as possible but before i do that i need about 50 gb of files from my old computer running win xp transfured to my new mac .my home network is 100 mbit base (wired) and id like to know the most efficient / fastest way of transfuring all the new files either across the home network or just running a 100 base ethernet cable from pc to mac atm i am thinking windows mapped drive as the most efficient way ???????? or is ftp better/more efficient/faster ?

 

[belvdr]

If your old PC is only 100Mb, it won't matter which method you choose.

 

[iMouse]

If the old PC has FireWire, that's your best solution. Most PC notebooks have a 4-pin FireWire connector and Sony & HP put 6-pin FireWire on a good portion of their consumer desktops.

For most of my data transfers, I just pull the PC hard drive and use an IDE/SATA to USB adapter. It allows me to move everything seamlessly because I can bypass NTFS file permissions on files or folders that I may not have full rights to access.

If you're going the network route, use Windows Networking to share the drive and pull it from your Mac. FTP/SFTP is often slower when transferring multitudes of files.

From Finder: Go --> Connect to Server --> smb://ipaddress_or_hostname/sharename --> Connect
Type in an administrator account username and password used on the Windows box.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

The method that will get them on to the Mac the fastest when it arrives, but will take more work beforehand, would be an external hard drive. It takes time to copy from the Windows box to the drive (and to acquire/setup the drive, if you don't have one handy already,) but the copying-to-the-Mac will be fast. This would get you "up and running" in the fastest amount of time after the Mac arrives.

If you want to spend the shortest period of time actively doing the work, networking will be quickest, using iMouse's directions.

 

[tkingart]

Targus makes a USB cable that allows transferring files easily between a Mac and PC. Totally plug and play.

 

[Lotus Esprit V8]

Whatever you do, stay away from FTP, in your situation it will end being like torture.

 

[Matty-p]

thanks everyone for your help

 

[Griffter]

Whatever you do, stay away from FTP, in your situation it will end being like torture.

What he said

Also you might want to consider buying an external USB hard drive and using that. Once you're done with it you can then use it as a time machine backup.