Hi! I'm more a user than anything else, so I'd like to ask you guys here a few Qs before I transfer files from the old one to the new one. 1. I understand the Migration Assistant is the way to go. My questions: Does it "clone" the hard drives in that I can have a copy of what's in my old one in the new one? Will it copy all apps? And will all apps function normally? How about my .mac? How do I transfer that? How about my mail? (As I download my gmail in my old mac using apple mail.) 2. I kinda figure that it might be easier for me to pull out the HD from the old macbook white and plug it into the 13" Aluminum MB. Is that at all possible, or will it be screwy? (This is easiest, if I can just do this, I will) Thanks so much in advance for the help!!!
Try this: Make sure you have a backup of your Hard drive's data on an external drive and then on the new Mac, simply select “Restore System from Time Machine” in the Utilities menu on your Mac OS X install disc.
hi fidji! when you say "backup of your hd's data on external drive" do you mean time machine? i have that. so i run the mac os x install disc. wonderful. thank you so much, will try that!
@jencc: Your options: -Swap HDDs: I've never done this. Can someone who's done this chime in and say if they've been able to do this without problems. -Migration Assistant: Also haven't done this. But from what I understand from running the App on my MB to see what it does, it may be the way to go. -Fidji's method: Can any who's done this also chime in? What's the difference between doing that and using Migration Assistant to migrate using a Time Machine Backup? (Aside from not needing to use the Install Disks).
Think of it this way.. your new mac will have all of your old mac's items.. and that includes Apps, Documents, Pictures... as if you physically replaced your HDD with the old one. From the way I understand it, with Migration Assistant you can transfer files (user data, account, settings) between 2 connected computers. Migration Assistant and Restoring from a Time machine backup will have the same end result.
okay okay before i get excited, what do i use to connect the two computers?? (man, do i sound like those people calling customer service? only because i *really* don't know!!)
@fidji & jencc: I'm not sure if you guys know, but with Migration Assistant you no longer need to connect the computers via LAN/FW/WLAN. You can use Migration Assistant with a connected External HDD that has a Time Machine Backup on it, which is why I asked the difference between the two methods. Go to Applications/Utilities/Migration Assistant...Click Continue, enter your Admin PW. And you'll see that one of the options for Migrating is "From a Time Machine Backup or Other Disk (Transfer information to this Mac from a backup disk or other startup disk)." The other two methods require you to connect the computers in some way: -From another Mac (Transfer information to this Mac from another Mac connected to it, or from another Mac on the same network) -To another Mac ((Transfer information from this Mac to another Mac connected to it, or to another Mac on the same network) @jencc: So if I understand right, all you need to do is make Time Machine "Backup Now" on your old Mac, and let it complete. And then hook up the EHDD to the new Mac, fire up Migration assistant and select the option I mentioned above and take it from there. Like I said, no need to connect anything anymore.
@jencc, raf is right. What I did when i switched from my older MBP to the unibody was to make a time machine back up of the MBP. I then run migration assistant on the unibody, choose the external drive where I had a time machine back up of the MBP and viola! everything is just like before. Every app, even emails are where it used to be. Its like I never even changed computers. Cheers,
OT: while having an exact copy of your old mac in your new mac is most sought, I wouldn't advise this when upgrading from an old PowerPC Mac to a new Intel Mac - some apps have better versions for the Intel Macs - better get the new upgraded versions. but in the TS's case, its Intel to Intel so no problem.
Will the migration assistant method work if the OSes on both machines are different? For example, the older mac is using Leopard while the newer mac is on Snow Leopard.