Windows 7 to Mac OSX migration

With the pending demise of Windows 7 in a few short months I will need to move my Channels dvr setup from an old Windows 7 machine to an equally old MacMini running OSX 10.11.
Do you have an EASY step-by-step migration guide that a relative newby could follow?
Thanks for your help.

Can't answer your question as I started and ended on a Synology NAS, but seems it would be a good topic for a ChannelsDVR FAQ, since users seem to be trying out and migrating between different DVR platforms and the question seems to be coming up a lot.

It's pretty easy. From the web UI of your current/old install, backup the database. Then stop your old server, and install a new fresh copy on your new computer.

Log in to the web UI on the new server, click the option to restore, and point it to where your files and database are stored (they share the same parent directory).

Pretty simple.

OK. So you're suggesting I

  • download the Channels DVR software onto the Mac,
  • network the two computers together,
  • navigate the Mac to the location of the Channels DVR backup files on the Windows 7 PC, and
  • then install the backup file to the new DVR running on the Mac;

Sounds simple, right?
Unfortunately it has become something of a struggle. Perhaps you can provide some guidance.

The ChannelsDVR appeared to download to the Mac just fine.
When networking the Mac and Windows machines together I realized that the Mac could only access the Public folders and Libraries on the Windows PC C: drive.
It could not navigate to the Data folder with the DVR backup files. [They are located on the F: drive.]
So I copied the latest ChannelsDVR backup file to one of the Public Libraries/documents folders on the C: drive.

Then I attempted to finish the installation of the ChannelsDVR on the Mac. During that process I clicked the link to reinstall from a backup file.
I was then able to navigate to the backup file on the Windows C: drive, which appeared clear as day. And the file path appeared to be correct.
BUT, even after clicking on the backup file to select it (or clicking on the file folder that contains the backup file),
the SAVE button was greyed out and there was no way to complete the selection of the backup file at that point.

So I am stuck. What am I doing wrong? How do I complete the migration from the Windows 7 PC to the Mac?

Thanks for your help.

You need to copy the Database folder with the backup-xxxxx folder and the db files in there. Without the same folder structure the restore feature won't recognize the backups.

Thanks. That worked!

You know you can still upgrade your Win7 machine to Win10 for free right?