Advice for Time Machine restore to new rMBP?

[underdog8113]

I plan on purchasing a new rMBP this weekend and have never restored from Time Machine so i'm looking for some quick advice. My 2008 MBP is dying a slow death and currently runs Snow Leopard.

Will I have any problems restoring to the new Mavericks machine?

Also, I wonder a few things:

1. Do i need to plug in the external disk before my initial boot of the new rMBP? Will it prompt me to do so in setup? If not how do i initiate the time machine restore?

2. Is it possible to pick and choose what is restored to the new machine? My 2008 machine likely has a lot of junk data I don't want to take to the new rMBP. Likely the only data I want are music files, documents, and photos/videos.

3. How does the application restore work? Will it install all apps i currently run onto the new machine? Can I pick and choose? The only apps i really am concerned with transferring is the 2011 MS Office package as I got the install license from a family member and I'm not sure I can easily deactivate the old install and reacquire the license for the new machine. Pretty much everything else I would want to bring over can be easily reinstalled via download if i choose to have them on the new machine.

thanks for any advice!

 

[r0k]

I plan on purchasing a new rMBP this weekend and have never restored from Time Machine so i'm looking for some quick advice. My 2008 MBP is dying a slow death and currently runs Snow Leopard.

Will I have any problems restoring to the new Mavericks machine?

Also, I wonder a few things:

1. Do i need to plug in the external disk before my initial boot of the new rMBP? Will it prompt me to do so in setup? If not how do i initiate the time machine restore?

2. Is it possible to pick and choose what is restored to the new machine? My 2008 machine likely has a lot of junk data I don't want to take to the new rMBP. Likely the only data I want are music files, documents, and photos/videos.

3. How does the application restore work? Will it install all apps i currently run onto the new machine? Can I pick and choose? The only apps i really am concerned with transferring is the 2011 MS Office package as I got the install license from a family member and I'm not sure I can easily deactivate the old install and reacquire the license for the new machine. Pretty much everything else I would want to bring over can be easily reinstalled via download if i choose to have them on the new machine.

thanks for any advice!

1. You can plug in when OSX asks you where to migrate or restore from. I recommend migrate rather than restore. It is possible some app licensing or activation issues could be avoided by using restore rather than migrate but I've always preferred dealing with those few apps rather than taking the chance on putting old incompatible stuff on my newest Mac.

2. Not if you use migration assistant the first time you sit down at your new machine. I've used this method every time and I'm quite happy with it. I've heard there are ways to pick and choose what to restore but I've never bothered looking into them.

3. All apps will restore if you use migration, however some of them will complain about either serial numbers or activation. I would expect any Adobe or Microsoft apps to fall into the category of apps that require user intervention to get them working after a restore or migration.

 

[Weaselboy]

I see r0k answered your questions, and I completely agree. Going with the migration during system setup is the way to go.

Although app migration is all or nothing, in the user folders you do have some options. You can migrate some but not all user folders if you want. For example, you can uncheck the Music folder if your don't want to move that over to the new machine. Here is a screen showing how the selection box panel looks.