Half Pinwheel

can I boot my ibook g4 with the help of a mac book and firewire cable?

my g4 is half booting it turns on I get the screen saver but then all I get is the pinwheel and no menu bar or desk top.
it has been slow and sticky for a while so I bought a fire wire cable with a view to transfer some stuff across to a macbook but typically the day I got it the g4 expired. what to do?
oh and when I do put the cable in Im not getting anything showing on the macbook but i could be looking in the wrong place.

Should be able to – this Apple article should tell you everything you need to know http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661

Crochet Half Pinwheel Border Tutorial