I own an early 2011 MBP and will be adding a 21.5 iMac to the lineup. Can I simply create an image of my MBP using CCC and restore it to my new iMac? My desire is to replicate my MBP without having to reinstall everything. Thanks for the help.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
MBP to iMac
- Thread starter eternalife
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
No, not until you upgraded/updated your MBP to OS X 10.8.3 at least, which has not been released yet, as that version will include the drivers for the late 2012 Macs.
As for other methods, you could use Setup / Migration Assistant to transfer settings, applications and your data to the new iMac via Gigabit Ethernet (cable should cost less than 10 USD for a Cat6 one).
Migration Assistant / Setup Assistant information:
Setting-up a new Mac from an old one, its Backups, or a PC
which includes:
which includes:
- Using Setup Assistant on Snow Leopard or Leopard
- Using Setup Assistant on Lion
- Using Migration Assistant on Snow Leopard or Leopard
- Using Migration Assistant on Lion
- Transferring files from one User Account to another
- Transferring Home Folders not on a Startup volume
- Transferring Applications
- Problems after using Migration Assistant
Like Simsaladimbamba said, just use Migration Assistant on the new iMac when you get it. You can either use a Time Machine backup, or do it over the network.
After the migration finishes, your iMac will be exactly like your laptop in terms of preferences, files, and all of that.
After the migration finishes, your iMac will be exactly like your laptop in terms of preferences, files, and all of that.
The problem with cloning... you have a different computer... with different hardware needing different drivers. You can run into problems.
If you use Time Machine, it moves over all the applications, user data etc... but it uses the OS install of your new iMac. It is much cleaner.
BTW: This is one reason why I do not put a lot of priority on having a bootable clone backup. Depending when in its lifecycle my machine crashes... there is at least a 50/50 chance that I will be upgrading to a new computer. Clones are not the best method.
/Jim
I'm going to echo everyone else's sentiment about the migration assistant. You do not want to clone here; not just because that iMac uses a special build of 10.8.2 but because each machine has specific drivers loaded and you'll have a less stable system if you clone rather than migrate. For your purposes, migrating accomplishes exactly what you want anyway.
) works properly Something that is worth pointing out is that if you have any of the adobe products you need to deactivate them first otherwise when you try to register them again on the new computer they will not be activated, rest should migrate automagically (including the picture you had on the desktop).
Thanks for all the comments. This is exactly why I wanted to clone. I have several Adobe products that I didn't want to deal with. I also am running Parallels with several images that I didn't want to mess with. I'll try the Migration Assistant and see how that goes. For some reason I was under the impression that although the drivers were different between hardware types, Mac OS shipped them all and the OS chose what it needed - my bad. Thanks again for all the help.
Just de-authorize Adobe before migration. I believe that most Adobe products (like CS6) can be registered on two computers. Regarding parallels VM images... I believe they are portable. They are probably (and certainly should be) excluded from your backup set.
/Jim
You can use Migration Assistant to migrate from a clone. That works quite well especially if you have to sell your old system before buying the new. And a clone is good for quick recovery from a failed drive. So don't rule out the value of clones. (I use clones, TimeMachine, and CrashPlan for extra protection against data loss).
----------
They most certainly are portable -- it's a great feature. They should be excluded from TimeMachine backups because every time you run the VM the entire VM disk image would be backed up and the TM volume fills quickly with these. However they should be backed up in some manner, like a clone or just a copy somewhere.
----------
They most certainly are portable -- it's a great feature. They should be excluded from TimeMachine backups because every time you run the VM the entire VM disk image would be backed up and the TM volume fills quickly with these. However they should be backed up in some manner, like a clone or just a copy somewhere.
So just de-authorize on the MBP, do the migration, and then authorize on both machines? I've confirmed I can legally install on both. I guess the same would apply to Lightroom?
I've also confirmation Parallels has a migrate feature as well. Here's hoping the migration assistant pulls the Parallels application over correctly. If it does, the VM migration is easy.
I have a VM on my MBA at work. I primarily work on the Mac side... but some things just require windows. My machine is set up that the data (ex: documents or desktop) is set up to share the same directory as my MBA documents & desktop. Hence... my Window 7 VM is pretty stateless. I can just download the company-wide VM from my corporate network. So in that sense... I guess that it "backed up".
/Jim
----------
If you are keeping your Adobe apps on the MBP... I do not think you even need to de-authorize the MBP first. Check to be sure. I've never done it yet... and do not want to be stuck in Adobe authorization hell.
/Jim