Performa to MacBook, and AppleWorks Lives

OK I need to start actually posting to this site so I can publicize it, no better time than the present!

An interesting New and Vintage Mac mixed job last week. A client was migrating from an iMac G4 to a new (Unibody) MacBook. They also had an archive of ClarisWorks files on a Performa 62xx series machine that they wanted to use on the new laptop. And, they preferred to use ClarisWorks instead of Microsoft Office on the new computer if possible.

Transferring from the iMac to the MacBook was relatively easy, although the new MacBook's lack of a FireWire port no longer makes Target Disk Mode a viable transfer option for this model (sigh...) They didn't have a lot of data, however, so I just copied their personal files and a few applications to a USB flash drive, and from there onto the MacBook.

ClarisWorks morphed into AppleWorks before being discontinued by Apple many years ago. However copies are still available for sale online. Apple gave one last gift of life to this venerable product by updating it (in version 6) to run under Carbon in MacOS9, and thus later in MacOSX. AppleWorks 6.2.9 runs just fine in MacOSX Leopard on the new Intel Macs, and is speedier than ever! An Amazon.com seller had an original AppleWorks 6.2.9 install CD available, problem solved.

Getting the files off the Performa was more of a challenge. This Performa had a modem, floppy disk drive, and SCSI port. The newer Macs had USB, FireWire and Ethernet, but not the older ports. The easiest solution was to bring the Performa back to my office and transfer the files with my Museum gear.

The Performa started up fine, so I copied the ClarisWorks files to an external SCSI drive. Shut down the Performa, moved the drive to the next room, and reconnected it to a PowerBook Wallstreet which has SCSI and Ethernet. Power up, and the Wallstreet doesn't see the external disk at all.

Odd. Maybe it doesn't like the older HFS formatting (the Wallstreet uses HFS+ under MacOS9)? Unlikely, but I disconnect the drive again and connect it to a Quadra 840av, which uses HFS instead. No dice, same result. A drive is seen on the SCSI bus, but no volume (the actual data) is found. Can't be read at all.

Hmmm. I try to reformat the drive, and it fails immediately. Apparently just carrying the old drive from room to room, or power cycling it on and off a few times after several dormant years, was enough to kill it. Such is life with old gear...

Awright. Repeat Process. Grab another SCSI disk from my stack, hookup in enclosure, connect to Performa, copy files, move drive to newer machine, and now everything is there. Copy files via Ethernet to my G4 Cube (the VMM central server), and then to my Mac Pro. All files open immediately in AppleWorks with no modifications. Painless - once they got there! I burn a CD-R with the files, and return the computer and disc to my client.

Next time I'll tiptoe between rooms with the old SCSI drives...