Comments on: Transfer Everything from an Old Mac to a New Mac with Migration Assistant

By: Speakes

Speakes — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 23:30:08 +0000

Is it possible to have two users migrate from two separate computers down to a new computer? I’m thinking yes just with two separate user accounts sharing the same applications.

Just copy over their own user directories manually starting fresh with apps of after one user does the migration assistant.

Am I on the right track?

Thanks!

By: kralnor

kralnor — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 17:21:39 +0000

Half the fun of a new computer is an excuse to start over fresh. You end up loading up stuff you need and nothing else. I can’t imagine getting a brand new computer and then transferring all the crap I’ve built up that made me want a new one in the first place.

By: Just Call Me Rich

Just Call Me Rich — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 16:11:35 +0000

As a tech who has done thousands of Mac setups in corporations over the decades, I know about Migration Assistant. It does a decent job – but as others have mentioned, it will bring over a lot of the old junk from the old system. It does not do any compatibility testing on if your apps will work or not or how old your fonts are or if your preferences are corrupt or not. And when it does this, you get a system that is not quite as buggy as the old Mac, but nowhere near as stable as a clean install of the OS and clean installs of the apps.

My best suggestion for those of you interested in a stable system you don’t have to worry about is to avoid Migration Assistant. You are better off doing a clean install of the applications and moving over your files by hand. It is not too tough if you keep everything in the documents folder and desktop – those are two folders in your Users/ folder. Also grab the iPhoto and iTunes libraries (and Garage Band and iMovie files too if you have them). Move your fonts over and add them in through Font Book (included in the Applications folder) and be sure to scan them for damage or corruption. You can export your bookmarks from Safari or any other browser you use and reimport them again. Install a new printer driver – they tend to be OS specific. Your mileage may vary, but this should cover most generic users needing to move to a new Mac.

Getting a new Mac is a great opportunity to get a fresh start – like moving into a new house. Wouldn’t it be better to put new furniture into the new house rather than bring over the dirty old stuff you had before?

To answer the “what cable do I use” question by Dave – you can use a Firewire 400 or 800 or a standard Ethernet cable to go directly between the two systems – it depends on what each one has, but you should be able to find a match. If you want to use the network option, don’t use wireless or go through a 10/100 mini-hub – your Mac (old and new) will be able to support gigabit ethernet speeds when using a direct ethernet cable going from Mac to Mac, speeding up the transfer by hours. You don’t even need a special crossover cable – a regular Ethernet cable will work.

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 16:03:12 +0000

Personally, I just take my documents, pictures, and itunes library, and copy that stuff manually to a brand new Mac. Then I go and redownload and reinstall the apps I want. That way you dont carry around legacy stuff you may not need anymore, but you keep all your documents.

By: Dave in Cincinnati

Dave in Cincinnati — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 15:29:27 +0000

Would it be possible to hardwire the old Mac to the new Mac before using Migration Assistant? And if so what type cable would one use to connect the two Macs?

By: Brrr

Brrr — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 14:47:52 +0000

Almost none of my applications are from the app store.

Besides, I want to pull over the apps AND settings as they were on my old Mac. Especially with Photoshop, I was hoping to avoid having to reload all my plug-ins, actions, key commands, brushes, work spaces, etc.

By: Aaron in Tampa

Aaron in Tampa — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 14:27:44 +0000

Yes, exactly. I want to transfer my information from my old mac to a shiny, new OS X installation. I dont want any of the garbage settings, and built up cr@p. I want my old stuff on a fresh install.

Suggestions for that other than painstakingly moving library, application support and myriad other files and folders from one to the other?

By: Larry

Larry — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 10:44:17 +0000

Hey, thanks for the tip!

What would be the best way to transfer files to a clean install or new MAC?
I suppose my Mac gathered a lot of garbage through the years and I am thinking about a clean install. With the Migration Assistant I fear to copy all this junk as well. What is the best way? Do I just copy the stuff I need manually? Where do I find all the local Mails? What about Apps bought old fashioned online?
Thanks for some advice and greetings from Germany

By: MacFreek

MacFreek — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 06:52:48 +0000

Any tips for transferring files from an old PowerPC iMac to one with an Intel processor?

By: Ceveces

Ceveces — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 04:15:11 +0000

Take nothing and redownload only what you need from App Store?

By: Ceveces

Ceveces — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 04:14:39 +0000

Yes it moves My Documents and My Pictures from a PC but I wouldn’t rely on it 100% because its windows after!

By: Brrr

Brrr — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 01:56:28 +0000

My only complaint about Migration Assistant is it’s too complete. I wanted to only transfer certain specific applications and such, and I’m only presented with the option to take all or nothing.

By: Daz

Daz — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 01:14:25 +0000

I actually was a little skeptical of this when I recently purchased my new MBP. I had an early 2008 running Mountain Lion and finally decided to upgrade. I used the migration assistant. It transferred about 230 GB worth of files to my new machine in about 1 1/2 hours. I was amazed at how fast it was. The only two glitches I had were two licenses weren’t transferred, Office 2011 and another app. That was an easy fix. So I highly recommend using migration assistant.

By: Kurt

Kurt — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 00:59:25 +0000

It mentions “Mac or PC”, this works with Windows in some fashion?

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 00:50:39 +0000

What if you are upgrading to a later version of OS X, for example from Snow Leopard to Mountain Lion?

What happens?