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Copy files from Mac OS 9 to Windows 7?

Copy files from Mac OS 9 to Windows 7?

Today I fired up a PowerMac 9500 that's been sitting dormant for 10 years, and I want to copy the data files over to my Windows 7 system (NTFS). The Mac is running OS 9 and, after some fiddling around for a while, I am able to copy files over to Windows via FTP.

Asked by: Guest | Views: 247
Total answers/comments: 2
Guest [Entry]

"Update: added info on SheepShaver to the bottom of this answer.

Okay, there has got to be a better way, but i haven't found it.

What i'm doing is continuing with the ftp approach, but doing it by manually rooting around, dragging the files to NameCleaner set to fix the names (changes invalid chars like / to valid chars like !, etc.), then dragging the files to Fetch 4.

I've tried various zip solutions with no success--various frustrating problems that led me further into the weeds without solving the problem. I also messed around with File Sharing with no success. Followed several online guides on making AppleShare work with Windows systems and it was a bust. Could never get Windows to see the Mac.

So, in the end, just manually futzing around, renaming and moving the files. Thank goodness for NameCleaner.

A note to anyone in a similar situation... It's apparent that sometimes a solution to the problem at hand isn't a solution to the real problem. After all this, i'm toying with just buying a newer used or refurbished Mac to deal with file format issues. Some of the files moved to my Windows system are useless--in the cases where it's a proprietary application format. Sheesh.

Thanks for the suggestions. Upvoting other good answers but accepting this one.

SheepShaver and Basilisk II

So now that i have my old Mac files on Windows, what do i do with them? Some are usable by Windows software, but not all of them. A comment by username below mentioned Basilisk, an open source classic Mac (68xxx) emulator for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. The current version is Basilisk II. But what i needed was SheepShaver, a PowerPC-based variant of Basilisk. It takes a lot of fiddling but i now have Mac OS 9.0.4 running on my Windows 7 desktop, with a 1 GB HDD, access to my Windows filesystem, internet access, etc. It's very cool, and i recommend it to anyone with a need or curiosity. To do this legally, you need to get a copy of your Mac's ROM, a disk image of your Mac OS install disk or bootable hard drive, and that's about it. I recommend looking at emaculation.com for downloads and help. The forums there are active and they are quick to help out. Below is a screen shot of my Win 7 64-bit desktop running SheepShaver with Mac OS 9.0.4 PowerPC. Cassilla is a Mozilla variant for classic Macs (which is giving me a ""no Javascript"" error at SuperUser.com for some reason). If you squint, you can see a ""Computer"" folder, which is essentially the drives available in ""My Computer"".

So, to wrap this all up, NameCleaner to make the filenames Windows-friendly, ftp the files from Mac to PC with Fetch, into a directory accessible via SheepShaver Mac OS 9 emulation. Definitely not the simple answer i was looking for, but a much more satisfying one that i wasn't expecting."
Guest [Entry]

"If you just want to get the files into SheepShaver, and you have enough free space on the old Mac's hard drive for another copy of the files you want to transfer, the easiest way to get all the original file names and resource forks across intact is to use a disk image file:

(Tried it with Mac OS 7.6.1, but 9.x should be similar).

On your old Mac, run Disk Copy. (If your old Mac doesn't have it already, there are old versions on Apple's web site -- in theory any PowerMac running the Classic Mac OS can use Disk_Copy_6.3.3.smi.bin -- but to open the downloaded file you'll need to already have something on your Mac like StuffIt that can decode a MacBinary file)
Go to the ""Image"" menu and choose ""Create New Image...""
In the size drop down choose ""Custom..."", choose ""MB"", and enter a size big enough to hold the files you want to copy.
Browse to where you want to save the file, give it a name for the disk file and click OK.
Once Disk Copy is done creating the blank file, it will mount it, and Mac OS will ask you to initialize the disk file. Type in a name for the disk. Click Erase.
Once the disk file has been initialized, an icon for it will show up on your desktop.
Copy files on to the disk image using its disk icon on your desktop (like you would for a regular disk).
Once you've got everything you want to transfer in the disk image, drag the disk icon for it into the trash to unmount the image.
Now you just have to transfer the one disk image file to the Windows machine.
You don't even need to use SheepShaver's ""My Computer"" feature to bring in the disk image - just add the disk image file to the Volumes list in your SheepShaver GUI, and it will show up as just another disk inside SheepShaver."