[UnixMac]

I tried to search for this but maybe my technique wasn't any good, cause I couldn't find what I wanted. My question is, how do I migrate from my old mac to a new one, but ONLY move over certain things, such as book marks, keychains, and maybe an app or two, but not all the apps, etc.. You know how it is, you accumulate a bunch of junk over 2-3 years and you don't want to copy it over to a brand new computer.

thanks in advance for the tip.

[mduell]

Finder? rsync? They're just files/folders.

Am I missing some complexity in your question? Like doing the same migration for multiple users?

[EndlessMac]

Originally Posted by UnixMac 

I tried to search for this but maybe my technique wasn't any good, cause I couldn't find what I wanted. My question is, how do I migrate from my old mac to a new one, but ONLY move over certain things, such as book marks, keychains, and maybe an app or two, but not all the apps, etc.. You know how it is, you accumulate a bunch of junk over 2-3 years and you don't want to copy it over to a brand new computer.

thanks in advance for the tip.

So it sounds like you are telling us that you don't want to do a full computer migration but just a few selected files to a new computer. If that's that case then it's pretty simple especially if you are using the same OS version. There are several ways of doing it but they all basically involve copying and pasting your old files over to the new one.

For example you can copy all your important files and folder over to a CD and they copy them all to your new computer or if you have a firewire cable then you can directly connect the two computers and copy over your files. For applications I would recommend reinstalling them instead of copying them over.

It's funny that since Apple introduced the migration tool it seems that people forgot how to transfer files over the old fashion way by doing it manually. You can manually bring over any file you want to a new computer. You don't have to use the migration tool. I usually prefer doing it manually because like you I don't want to bring over all the old junk I have on an old computer.

[adamfishercox]

- Firewire target disk mode and drag files over
- Share the files over a wireless network
- Connect the computers via Ethernet
- Flash drive
- CDs (but not really.)

[UnixMac]

thanks guys, I get the gist of copy and paste, my main concern is those "hidden" files and preferences, as well as stuff like remembered passwords (key chain) and safari book marks / email settings.

I guess what I really want is to migrate all of the network stuff, but not all of the apps or the user name. I might just do the firewire method and see where it goes. Thanks again.

[adamfishercox]

Keep a copy of the "Preferences" folder in ~/Library/Preferences and whenever you start an app and want your settings back, copy in the appropriate preference. A bit time consuming but it's the best way I've found to keep settings and clear out crap.

[UnixMac]

good idea adam, thanks

[EndlessMac]

Originally Posted by adamfishercox 

Keep a copy of the "Preferences" folder in ~/Library/Preferences and whenever you start an app and want your settings back, copy in the appropriate preference. A bit time consuming but it's the best way I've found to keep settings and clear out crap.

That's what I would do too if you want to make sure all the hidden files and other extra files are working correctly. I thought you were taking more about regular files which are more of a straight forward copy and paste.

[UnixMac]

Originally Posted by EndlessMac 

.. I thought you were taking more about regular files which are more of a straight forward copy and paste.

lol, yeah, I might be a mac user, but I've been using computers for a long time and basic operator stuff like copy and paste are no biggie.. I just can't keep up with where all applications put stuff, Library, user folder, preference folder, etc..