About to sell one mac, bought a new one...

[chappy87]

Hey guys, just after a little advice from both the point of view of the iMac I'm selling, and the Unibody MacBook I just bought..

1. Should I restore the iMac back to it's factory settings before shipping to the buyer? If so, how should I go about doing so?

2. Should I do a clean install of OS X on the new machine? It's not brand new, has been used by a software company for testing their own stuff

3. My new MacBook doesn't have FireWire so full Migration isn't possible- most of my stuff is on an external drive anyway, so is it OK just to drag the Applications folder from my iMac onto my external, and then onto the MacBook?

Many thanks in advance for any help.

 

[KevinC]

I would do a clean install on the old machine.

To migrate, hook up an external drive and run a Time Machine backup of the old iMac. You can then use the Migration Assistant to restore the new system to the exact state of the old one, using that backup. Works VERY well.. Windows users WISH they had a way to do this so effortlessly and reliably.

 

[chappy87]

Hi Kevin, thanks for the reply.

The only problem with this is that I have a very large amount of stuff already on my external, and nowhere else really to put it. This kind of rules out the Time Machine route, which would otherwise be ideal!

 

[kweston2]

Advice

Hey guys, just after a little advice from both the point of view of the iMac I'm selling, and the Unibody MacBook I just bought..

1. Should I restore the iMac back to it's factory settings before shipping to the buyer? If so, how should I go about doing so?



2. Should I do a clean install of OS X on the new machine? It's not brand new, has been used by a software company for testing their own stuff



3. My new MacBook doesn't have FireWire so full Migration isn't possible- most of my stuff is on an external drive anyway, so is it OK just to drag the Applications folder from my iMac onto my external, and then onto the MacBook?

Many thanks in advance for any help.

1. Yes with the original disc boot off of it and then reinstall.
2. Yes I think it is polite.
3. The transfer process (in Leopard) can be done over ethernet if thats available...dont do wireless make sure it is wired.

 

[chappy87]

Does the install from the book disc erase all information on the HDD?

Also, when doing the migration over ethernet, will I need to type in serial codes for all purchased apps again?

Cheers.

 

[Shake 'n' Bake]

Migrate your stuff, then follow this guide.

 

[KevinC]

The only problem with this is that I have a very large amount of stuff already on my external, and nowhere else really to put it. This kind of rules out the Time Machine route, which would otherwise be ideal!

Sounds like the ethernet solution is going to be the way to go.

But.. sounds like you're not currently using Time Machine. You should seriously consider it. External drives are now ultra-cheap, and it's an easy way to keep current backups at all times.