i mac purchase

[dennisfcampbell]

currently in india and buying a 21.5 i mac .......can i go to the apple icon ( about his mac ) straight out of the box to see the correct HGz, hd size .....i cannot find the date of mfg. on my current model this way is there another method to verify this .......thanks
dennis

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hi,

Yes. Also, if you hold the Option key down, About This Mac will change to System Profiler... or System Information... (depending on your version of OS X) which will give you all the hardware info about your iMac.

You can visit AppleSerialNumberInfo.com and copy and paste your serial number, press Enter/Return, and it will give you all kinds of additional information including the location and date of manufacture.

C

 

[dennisfcampbell]

c,

 

[dennisfcampbell]

c,
thanks for the directions ........reading further i think i have discovered that apple will not be supporting the 2013-14 and mid 2015 i macs ........i cant understand them not supporting the next to last release........the mbp im using i have had for 7 yrs and would like to at least 4-5 yrs on the new i mac ......im not a rich man.......but im am really confused with the information im reading and need some direction .....which in your opinion would you invest in for the long haul i dont mind putting out the dollars for the 3.5HGz 21.5, now that i have it, i could possibly even purchase the 27, even though it is a bit large for my uses and space if i knew it would outlast the 21.5......have any thoughts on the matter
...thanks
d.

 

[dennisfcampbell]

cooper,
the only other problem, having resolved the previous, is how do i get the back up off my old 500 gb 400 fire wire into a new 1 tb hard drive for backing up separate from the machine.......
thanks
dennis

 

[honestone]

cooper,
the only other problem, having resolved the previous, is how do i get the back up off my old 500 gb 400 fire wire into a new 1 tb hard drive for backing up separate from the machine.......
thanks
dennis

First, is the 500 gig Firewire 400 drive an external one?

Secondly, is the new t TB drive the one inside your iMac, or another external drive? If it is internal, you of course will need to partition it to have a backup partition.

For either of those "setups", does the 500 gig drive also have a USB port on it? If it does, and as long as the new 1 TB drive (assuming it is an external drive) has a USB port on it, you should be able to just copy the stuff from the 500 gig drive to the 1 TB drive (or applicable partition on the 1 TB drive). This explains how to do it (assuming your backups are via Time Machine):

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202380

 

[dennisfcampbell]

yes the 500 gb is external and i want to use an external drive for time machine back ups......... these are external hd ports and number available

 

[honestone]

Thus, you want to use a 1 TB drive for your Time Machine backups, is that correct?

Also, will you be using all of the 1 TB for backing up, or will you partition it to use "part" of it for Time Machine backups?

And, you could still use the 500 gig drive, as long as it has a USB port. IN fact, you could use it "as is" with your new iMac.

 

[dennisfcampbell]

c,
if i partition the internal drive for time machine can i also still use the 500 gb for time machine as well.....is there such a thing as time machine 1 and 2...i just want to make sure if one back up crashes ill have access to all files .........i know its a bit anal but the 500 gb is almost 10 yrs old.......
regards
d.

 

[honestone]

I don't use Time Machine for my backups, preferring to use SuperDuper!. So, I am unsure if there is a way you can have Time Machine do two separate backups to two separate devices.

However, if you use it to make a backup to the partition on your internal drive, then via the link I provided above, you should be able to "copy" that backup to the external drive. However, you proposed setup is risky for the following reasons:

1. Having a backup on your internal drive assumes nothing goes wrong with the internal drive, nor accessing it. That is not always a wise choice.

2. Given that your external drive is 10 years old, there is the distinct possibility that it could go bad, and in fact become completely useless. I'm actually surprised it lasted you that long. What is the brand of the drive?

If I were you, I'd purchase a new external drive. 1 TB external drives are not very expensive. In the US, one can get them for about $40 to $50 US.

 

[dennisfcampbell]

this is why im getting a new external hard drive and if i cant use both as time machine ill use the external as time machine ..........just for access thanks for your help........
d.

 

[dennisfcampbell]

on a late 2015 imac am i stuck with el capitan or can i use a different osx
d.

 

[Cory Cooper]

The Late 2015 iMacs will only run OS X 10.11 El Capitan or later. They don't support earlier versions of OS X, and will not even allow them to be installed.

C

 

[dennisfcampbell]

c.
seems as if the shackles of success are integrating with product........thanks to all........ you have been a great help the past days
d.

 

[Cory Cooper]

No worries...we're always here.

C