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Migration assistant
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HEG
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Oct 29, 2014, 06:32 PM
 
I would like to transfer all of my data, applications and settings from my old iMac running Mountain Lion OS 10.8.5 to a new iMac running Yosemite OS 10.10. If I use the Migration Assistant on the old iMac to target the new machine will the old standard apps (iPhoto, iWork, etc.) replace the up-to-date versions on the new machine? Or do I have to instal Yosemite on the old iMac?
     
ibook_steve
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Oct 29, 2014, 10:17 PM
 
Migration Assistant gets run on the new machine, not the old one.

I haven't run it in a while, but I think you choose whether you want to copy apps over or not. In any case, since the apps you mention are free to download through the app store, it doesn't really matter whether you copy them over or not (unless you're saying you want to keep using the old versions).

Steve
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HEG  (op)
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Oct 30, 2014, 11:40 AM
 
Thank you, Steve.
     
anthology123
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Oct 30, 2014, 03:42 PM
 
Not a problem. Even if you did migrate apps, unless you changed the app name, Migration assistant will see an identically named app. If the version on the new Mac is newer than the one on the old Mac, it will not transfer the old one.
     
HEG  (op)
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Oct 30, 2014, 04:34 PM
 
Thanks. That is what I was hoping for.
     
donaldkepler
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Nov 4, 2014, 02:39 AM
 
One more thing I would like to mention over here regarding 'Migration Assistant'. If you don't use 'Setup Assistant' to transfer information when you first setup your new Mac, then without hesitating, you can do it later using 'Migration Assistant'. Please use single Ethernet cable for connecting two systems for migration.
     
HEG  (op)
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Nov 5, 2014, 01:10 PM
 
Thanks, I will try to use Setup assistant.
     
ClaraT
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Nov 25, 2014, 09:53 AM
 
I'm about to purchase a new Mac and am nervous about this migration process. Will be moving from 10.5.8 to whatever's the latest. From reading this thread it should be smooth sailing, correct?

I've got about 10,000 emails and 30,000 photos that I'm especially concerned about losing or corrupting during the migration. I've backed up the photos on various externals, but not the emails.

Any suggestions as to how to back up and save these important and non-replaceable pieces prior to making the leap to the next operating system?

Also, there's this nitpicky part of me that wishes I could start fresh with a brand new computer and not clutter it up with all the old stuff I need to bring along.

Thanks
     
OreoCookie
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Nov 25, 2014, 10:15 AM
 
You should make a backup using Time Machine which is included in 10.5. In fact, you should always make backups of your data independently of whether you intend to upgrade your system. All you need is an external harddrive with enough disk space. If you always keep backups, you'll have much more peace of mind because you still have a copy of your digital valuables someplace safe.

In any case, in my years I've run into just one problem when using Migration Assistant, but it was not a problem of data loss (it was an old kernel extension/driver which was incompatible with the new version of OS X). And I've used Migration Assistant tens of times (quite literally).
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
     
HEG  (op)
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Nov 25, 2014, 06:59 PM
 
Clara T

As part of the migration process I just backed up my old iMac's hard drive. I used Carbon Copy Cloner. It took a little less than 2 hrs to completely clone 194 GB. It was very straightforward.
     
OreoCookie
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Nov 26, 2014, 11:10 AM
 
Instead of using Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper once you should use an automated backup solution such as TimeMachine all the time. This way you don't even have to do anything out of the ordinary before updating the OS.
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
     
ibook_steve
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Nov 30, 2014, 06:21 AM
 
Originally Posted by ClaraT View Post
I'm about to purchase a new Mac and am nervous about this migration process. Will be moving from 10.5.8 to whatever's the latest. From reading this thread it should be smooth sailing, correct?

I've got about 10,000 emails and 30,000 photos that I'm especially concerned about losing or corrupting during the migration. I've backed up the photos on various externals, but not the emails.

Any suggestions as to how to back up and save these important and non-replaceable pieces prior to making the leap to the next operating system?

Also, there's this nitpicky part of me that wishes I could start fresh with a brand new computer and not clutter it up with all the old stuff I need to bring along.

Thanks
If your email is IMAP and not POP (IMAP stores email in the cloud/on a server while POP downloads everything to your machine and erases it on the server), you shouldn't have to worry as much about the email.

Steve
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ClaraT
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Dec 1, 2014, 10:30 AM
 
In doing some research on migrating what's currently on my 2008 Macbook running Leopard to the new machine that has Yosemite, in some places I'm reading that Leopard won't work by connecting the old machine to the new machine (using an ethernet cable for example) and that I can do a manual transfer.

Yet, in other places on the internet I am reading I could do a TM back up of the old computer to an EHD, then when that's done plug that EHD into the new Macbook and use Migration Assistant that way.

Does that make sense?

How would you proceed and with only half the storage space available what would you migrate over and what would you put on an external HD?
     
ghporter
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Dec 1, 2014, 02:15 PM
 
A Time Machine backup is a great idea no matter what, and using an external hard drive is pretty much the way to go for most of us. And yes, you can migrate using Time Machine. It's a little round-about, but it works.

But the only thing I've seen about not being able to migrate using a single cable has been referring to using Thunderbolt cables. You should always be able to use a single Ethernet cable to migrate between two Macs. You can even use your wireless network (though I wouldn't), or your wired network. There are instructions for doing a migration to a Yosemite machine in this Apple Knowledgebase article.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
ClaraT
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Dec 1, 2014, 03:04 PM
 
Thanks.

Curious why an initial migration from Leopard to Yosemite will only work by way of a TM back up. Isn't the back up an exact duplicate of the hard drive that is in the computer running Leopard?
     
donaldkepler
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Dec 22, 2014, 01:38 AM
 
Although the process of using Migration Assistant feature is good but, I must say about it that 'Either Get everything or nothing'. when it comes to receive all via categories, apps, notes, calendar data and files folders
     
   
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