Quickest way to move pics from old iMac to flash drive?

[ssledoux]

Can I just transfer the entire photo library, or do I need to do it in increments? I think it's about 75 gb total. I'm planning to get a 128 gb flash drive.

Just don't want to freeze this old gal up or anything.

**Just looked at the storage, and it's 178 gbs of photos and another 120 of videos.

What would be my best option for storing all that externally? a) I wanna move it before this hard drive winds up dead, and b) I wanna move it so I can access it from a new iMac.

 

[rugby4all]

You should be able to transfer your entire Photo library (although it may take time...). I would get, if you can, a SSD such as Samsung T5 (500 GB for <$100) as it will facilitate the transfer back to a new computer and you can always use the drive afterwards for backup or other purpose.

 

[macduke]

Can I just transfer the entire photo library, or do I need to do it in increments? I think it's about 75 gb total. I'm planning to get a 128 gb flash drive.

Just don't want to freeze this old gal up or anything.

**Just looked at the storage, and it's 178 gbs of photos and another 120 of videos.

What would be my best option for storing all that externally? a) I wanna move it before this hard drive winds up dead, and b) I wanna move it so I can access it from a new iMac.

An external SSD would be great and just keep everything on there plugged into the back. It's completely silent and you can even thread it through the hole in the back so it's just behind the foot and out of site. Don't even bother moving it to your Mac and start new on the Mac unless you need the files for projects or have the space and want a backup. If you're talking about iPhoto libraries, I'm pretty sure you can set them to external drives. Personally I like to pay for iCloud and store originals in there for safekeeping and then only sync lower resolution proxies to my Mac to save more storage. But also consider having the data in two locations. So many sad stories of people losing everything without backups. I use CCC to clone my SSDs to large, inexpensive spinning drives for archives.

 

[ssledoux]

An external SSD would be great and just keep everything on there plugged into the back. It's completely silent and you can even thread it through the hole in the back so it's just behind the foot and out of site. Don't even bother moving it to your Mac and start new on the Mac unless you need the files for projects or have the space and want a backup. If you're talking about iPhoto libraries, I'm pretty sure you can set them to external drives. Personally I like to pay for iCloud and store originals in there for safekeeping and then only sync lower resolution proxies to my Mac to save more storage. But also consider having the data in two locations. So many sad stories of people losing everything without backups. I use CCC to clone my SSDs to large, inexpensive spinning drives for archives.

What is CCC?

And most of these pictures are my daughter's. I THINK she still has them on her phone as well - she has a 256 gb phone just for that reason. I sorted and stored mine before I sold my iMac, and have been loading them from my iPhone into Shutterfly since, to try and stay on top of it.

My ultimate goal with my own photos is to make books with the images I really want and get rid of the rest. With digital, and especially phone, photography, there are SO many of the same types of pics. I'm really trying hard to get away from keeping so many because, let's face it, at what point am I gonna sit and look at 30,000 photos?

 

[mikehalloran]

There's a problem if you just copy them to a thumb drive or external disk. When you copy to another Mac, you may have permissions issue. Zipping the files first is a pain but it is a workaround as unzipping gives you the privileges on the second Mac. Highlight all the files you want and then select Compress x files under the File menu. This will create a single file called Archive.zip that you can rename and drag to the thumb or external.

CCC and SuperDuper! are two of many cloning applications. It's an API for functionality that exists in Apple's Disk Utility
https://www.lifewire.com/use-disk-utility-to-clone-macs-drive-4042367
but many find easier to use or don't know they can do the same thing for free. Either are free to try for 30 days but Disk Utility is part of the OS.

 

[ssledoux]

There's a problem if you just copy them to a thumb drive or external disk. When you copy to another Mac, you may have permissions issue. Zipping the files first is a pain but it is a workaround as unzipping gives you the privileges on the second Mac. Highlight all the files you want and then select Compress x files under the File menu. This will create a single file called Archive.zip that you can rename and drag to the thumb or external.

CCC and SuperDuper! are two of many cloning applications. It's an API for functionality that exists in Apple's Disk Utility
https://www.lifewire.com/use-disk-utility-to-clone-macs-drive-4042367
but many find easier to use or don't know they can do the same thing for free. Either are free to try for 30 days but Disk Utility is part of the OS.

Would I have this issue just trying to access them, as in to copy from a USB directly into a program like Shutterfly, or would it only be if I wanted to load them onto a new Mac?

 

[mikehalloran]

Would I have this issue just trying to access them, as in to copy from a USB directly into a program like Shutterfly, or would it only be if I wanted to load them onto a new Mac?

The issue is with a different Mac than the one that created the documents or pictures in this case. Certain types of files always have this issue; other types sometimes do. Emailing files always zips the attachments so that is never a problem.

There are workarounds using Get Info if you run into such problems but I like to avoid that when I can.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

I'd suggest you pick up a "bare" 2.5" SSD drive, 512gb in size.
These are downright cheap now.

Also, you will need either an external USB3 2.5" enclosure, or a USB3/SATA adapter/dongle.

Here's a bulletproof external case:
https://www.amazon.com/MiniPro-USB-...ords=oyen+digital+minipro+3.1+usb-c+enclosure
(The drive goes into the case with a screwdriver, that's all. Nothing to it.)

Here's a USB3/SATA dongle adapter:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011M8YACM/ref=nosim/macintouchcom-20?&tag=macintouchcom-20

Then, connect the drive to the Mac, open Disk Utility, and erase (format) it to Mac OS extended with journaling enabled.

Now, you can copy the photos and videos to the external drive.
It will become an external "archive" for your files.
If this stuff is important, you want it to exist IN MORE THAN ONE PLACE.

You can connect this archive to your new iMac and import the files back over.

HOWEVER...
I wouldn't "fill up" an internal drive (especially an SSD) with a lot of stuff that you'll seldom or never use or look at.
You want to keep a good portion of the internal SSD (say, 20%) "empty". The Mac OS uses this space for VM, temp files, etc.

 

[macduke]

What is CCC?

And most of these pictures are my daughter's. I THINK she still has them on her phone as well - she has a 256 gb phone just for that reason. I sorted and stored mine before I sold my iMac, and have been loading them from my iPhone into Shutterfly since, to try and stay on top of it.

My ultimate goal with my own photos is to make books with the images I really want and get rid of the rest. With digital, and especially phone, photography, there are SO many of the same types of pics. I'm really trying hard to get away from keeping so many because, let's face it, at what point am I gonna sit and look at 30,000 photos?

Carbon Copy Cloner.

Might be worth looking into Gemini 2 which makes it easy to spot duplicate files and can reportedly even help spot similar photos. I used the first version years ago and it was good software but haven't tried the newer version because it's a subscription service now and I don't need a service to find similar files. But could be worth the $20 for a year to help you sort through and clean up files.

 

[Wolf-Tau]

OP:

I'd suggest you pick up a "bare" 2.5" SSD drive, 512gb in size.
These are downright cheap now.

Also, you will need either an external USB3 2.5" enclosure, or a USB3/SATA adapter/dongle.

Here's a bulletproof external case:
https://www.amazon.com/MiniPro-USB-...ords=oyen+digital+minipro+3.1+usb-c+enclosure
(The drive goes into the case with a screwdriver, that's all. Nothing to it.)

Here's a USB3/SATA dongle adapter:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011M8YACM/ref=nosim/macintouchcom-20?&tag=macintouchcom-20

Then, connect the drive to the Mac, open Disk Utility, and erase (format) it to Mac OS extended with journaling enabled.

Now, you can copy the photos and videos to the external drive.
It will become an external "archive" for your files.
If this stuff is important, you want it to exist IN MORE THAN ONE PLACE.

You can connect this archive to your new iMac and import the files back over.

HOWEVER...
I wouldn't "fill up" an internal drive (especially an SSD) with a lot of stuff that you'll seldom or never use or look at.
You want to keep a good portion of the internal SSD (say, 20%) "empty". The Mac OS uses this space for VM, temp files, etc.

So you recommend this over SSD drives? I have 2 Samsung T5s @500GB each. I am hoping to get a new iMac soon and I am planning to double back up my photos as well.