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martinchivers

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 19, 2011
279
9
Bath, Somerset, UK
Some of the apps that are crosses out or not working are probably 32-bit apps. Catalina and subsequent MacOS will only run 64-bit applications . You can check this by looking at the Get Info for the effected application. It will denote 32-bits next to the application name located at the top of the Get Info window. Unfortunately, the only way to fix this is to get a replacement updated version of the app
Thanks. It looks like they are applications I don’t use so will check and remove them. Or update if necessary.
 

martinchivers

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 19, 2011
279
9
Bath, Somerset, UK
Thank you again everyone. I have the new 27 inch setup temporarily alongside the old Mac. It appears that everything is working as it should be apart from the Microsoft office. I spent all day yesterday trying various methods to get that working but ultimately failed. I've now resigned myself to buying the one-off license. This is £119 for the home and student version. As I really really do not want to use the web based office 365. I've been talking to Microsoft this morning and it transpires that my operating system which is Catalina is not compatible with the download. And I will need either Sonoma, Monterey or Ventura. Having looked in system preferences/software update, its offering Big Sur. But this isn't new enough as I need one of the above (I assume). Can I get a later version from somewhere else (apple site?) and how do I find out if its compatible with the late 2014 iMac?

Having now done more research, Its evident that the new Mac cannot support any of the above OS. Therefore its no good to me. I may as well quit now, as without word and excel its a useless brick. I'll need to stick to my old 21.5 & sell the 27 inch. I've set the boot drive back to HD and rebooted it. All good, so I can at least keep the SSD that I bought to run this from. I'll obviously need to wipe it ready to go. Unless anyone can offer any additional help, that will get me up and running with it.
 
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Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
29,239
13,310
Martin, why don't you get something NEW?
Or at least "Apple-refurbished".
I'd suggest an m2 Mini or an m2pro Mini.
 

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
29,239
13,310
Do you have-to-have MS Word -- in other words, do you collaborate with others and need "compatibility"?

Could you use a 3rd party solution like LibreOffice?

Or... why not use Apple's Pages.
It can export to MS Word.
It might not be able to hand some formatting conversions.
 

martinchivers

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 19, 2011
279
9
Bath, Somerset, UK
Good point. Yeah, I do need excel and word not the Apple equivalent or liber office ect. I’ve tried them over the years (but hated them) ive been using Microsoft since 1999 and find Change difficult. Also have a massive archive of both word docs and excel spreadsheets. They may or may not be fully compatible, I don’t have the time to spend relearning something new & messing around with getting it all up and running with something new. The same with photoshop, (for example, but that’s fully working) massively complex and learning something new just won’t work.
 

martinchivers

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 19, 2011
279
9
Bath, Somerset, UK
I have a installer packet on my new Mac from the old one. But don't know which version its for. its....

microsoft_office_16.42.20101102_installer.pkg

Can I not use this to instal word and excel? I'm perfectly happy with an old version. Failing that I'll just have to admit defeat & sell the 27 inch. I've looked on eBay for a newer one, but can't justify the cost of a newer one, would ideally need a 2017 onwards.

Incidentally, I've booted the new Mac from its internal drive and it definatly boots faster than the external ssd thats normally plunged in, that I've been using. Which one should I be using after doing the clone with super duper?
 

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
29,239
13,310
OP wrote:
"I have a installer packet on my new Mac from the old one. But don't know which version its for. its....
microsoft_office_16.42.20101102_installer.pk
Can I not use this to instal word and excel?"

You HAVE MS Office 2016 already?
Why haven't you TRIED it, to see if it works?
Do so, and get back to us.

I recall reading that earlier releases of MS Office 2016 were not "64 bits" which the later versions of the OS requires.
However, there's an updater available. See this page:

If the newer iMac has an internal SSD, THAT'S what you should be using as a boot drive.

Thoughts for the future:
You can't keep using the same old Macs forever.
The older one is a 2012, right? That's 11 years old already, going on 12.

Even the "newer" one is a 2014, right? That's almost 10 years old.
At some point these are going to fail on you.

You need to start thinking about the future.

I'd suggest a used 2018 Mini as a starting point.
Or perhaps a used 2020 iMac 27".
 

martinchivers

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 19, 2011
279
9
Bath, Somerset, UK
I've set the boot to the internal drive, now. thats 3.12TB I'm pretty sure its partitioned and an SSD. the external SSD I bought specifically to do the super duper is 2TB. I can use the external one for data, is it best to leave to OS on it, as a backup or delete it?

I've run the OFFICE installation. It said "successful". In finder I have office 2011, but the icons are crossed through. also have separately WORD and EXCEL, but not sure which versions. these are NOT greyed out. these open but cannot edit or save them. I've had a good look in the 2011 folder but can't see anything that looks like an activation code.

My old Mac is plugged into the power line, but unable to access the net with thew 27inch, as hotspot doesn't come up as an option. I'd only use that temporarily while getting swapped over.

I know they are getting old. But with the economic situation as is, I just cannot afford something newer. I bought the immaculate 27 inch for £300 and an SSD for that for another hundred or so & was hoping I'd be able to sell the old 21.5 to recoup some of that. At the moment thats just not an option as without office installed i'm stuck.
 

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
29,239
13,310
OP wrote:
"I've set the boot to the internal drive, now. thats 3.12TB I'm pretty sure its partitioned and an SSD"

WAIT!
STOP RIGHT THERE!


What you have is almost certainly NOT an "internal SSD".
You most likely have a 2014 iMac with a 3tb fusion drive.

This means it has a 128gb SSD portion, and a 3tb HDD portion.

Seems to me the 3tb fusion drive iMacs from this time (2013-14) were VERY susceptible to failures of the internal HDD (portion of the fusion drive). There was a recall on them, but that's long over. Something to be aware of.

"I've run the OFFICE installation. It said "successful". In finder I have office 2011, but the icons are crossed through. also have separately WORD and EXCEL, but not sure which versions. these are NOT greyed out. these open but cannot edit or save them. I've had a good look in the 2011 folder but can't see anything that looks like an activation code."

Didn't you say above that you had the Office 2016 installer?
I don't care about Office 2011.
If you have the 2016 installer, RUN THAT.
 

martinchivers

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 19, 2011
279
9
Bath, Somerset, UK
Ooooohhhhh! I get it. Right. It’s a Fusion Drive yes, definitely. I thought that was an SSD drive. I wasn’t aware for historical failures on them. That’s a potential pain in the arse.

I don’t have office 2016 installer no. It’s looking like i’ve dropped an almighty bollock here as without office i’m screwed
 

martinchivers

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 19, 2011
279
9
Bath, Somerset, UK
SUCCESS! Microsoft office 2019 now installed & as I far as I can see is working. Not expensive at £29 for a legitimate copy.

I will now be setting Time Machine for my scheduled backups. My documents are on the Mac HD (I think) so I can use the 2 TB SSD as my time machine drive, but its not shown. Is it OK to go ahead and format it, ready to be used for time machine? I really need to establish whether the documents folder I'm using is on the macHD or the external SSD.

When looking in "about this Mac" the manufacturing date is no longer shown. This must be from the super duper instal I guess.

Thank you again to everybody who has helped with what has proved to be a painful process.

I also have a folder on my desktop. called "Relocated Items.nosync". can I remove that now, to clean up my desktop?
 
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martinchivers

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 19, 2011
279
9
Bath, Somerset, UK
I'm set up and using the 27inch in anger, now. I have the MacHD, a crucial X8 2TB ssd and also a second identical one of those for my Time machine backups. Both the Mac HD and crucial have the same documents on them. (from the super duper clone I think). I'm finding I'm getting very confused, as I never know where to look for my documents (as there is a version in both). Which should I be using & can I delete out the unused version? Hopefully I've explained that clearly & it makes sense. I've made a test word doc & saved it in Documents. Then looked on both drives, its only in macHD. Also copied it to my desktop but its not visible on the crucial ssd, (desktop) folder.

The year and model are still missing from about this Mac.

What is the time machine actually backing up? Mac or crucial (or both)?
 
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