After 8 years it's time to say goodbye to my Imac 21.5" late 2009

[Smartwatchlover]

Hello everyone,

after almost 8 years my late 2009 iMac (21.5", 3.06Ghz Intel Core Duo, 1 TB HHD, ATI Radeon HD 4670 256 MB and 16GB of RAM purchased after market) started to become really unmanageable, mainly for 2 reasons:

1 - kernel panic with random reboots became very frequent (2-3 time a day) and the guys at the local Apple Store told me that most likely there is something wrong with the motherboard
2 - it's deadly slow...

Long story short, I have decided to buy a brand new iMac 21.5".
Considering that my expectation is to use it for the next 6-8 years, I bought the top range and added some optionals too, in particular:

iMac 21.5 4K
3.4 GHz quad core i5
16GB 2400MHz DDR4 RAM
512 GB SSD
Radeon Pro 560 with 4GB video memory

Being a customised order, the delivery will only happen the next week, so in the meanwhile I would like to get prepared for the transition and ensure the new iMac will be set in the best possible way.

My question here is: once I will receive the new iMac, should I perform a complete restore from my external Time Machine drive (applications and data) or would it be better to just transfer the data and manually install the relevant applications (i.e. Microsoft Office, 1Password, Skype, etc..) one by one?

Another question: would you suggest to invest in an antivirus? If yes, what's your suggestion?

 

[tn-xyz]

RIP, buddy.

My question here is: once I will receive the new iMac, should I perform a complete restore from my external Time Machine drive (applications and data) or would it be better to just transfer the data and manually install the relevant applications (i.e. Microsoft Office, 1Password, Skype, etc..) one by one?

preferably manual transfer to keep it clean and not bring unnecessary waste to the fresh install.

Another question: would you suggest to invest in an antivirus? If yes, what's your suggestion?

no. however, you can get malwarebytes (free) and run it occasionally if that would make you feel safer.

 

[Fishrrman]

When the new one comes, here's what I'd suggest.
Unpack the new iMac and set it up, but... DON'T turn it on yet. Be patient.

On the OLD iMac, do this:
1. Download either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper. Either one is free to download and use for 30 days.
2. Take an external drive and erase it to HFS+ with journaling enabled.
3. Use either CCC or SD to create a complete clone of your OLD iMac's drive.
4. Take the cloned backup and connect it to the NEW iMac.
5. NOW, boot the new iMac for the very first time.
6. Begin the setup process. At the appropriate moment, the setup assistant will ask if you with to migrate stuff from an old computer or drive.

NOW...
You have to decide what you wish to do.
Setup assistant will migrate the following:
- applications
- accounts
- account settings
- user data
You can select one choice, more than one, or all of them.

This is "your own choice" -- nobody on this forum can make it for you.

If you don't want to bring over the apps (which will require re-installs and perhaps re-registration), you could consider just migrating your accounts and user setting and data. Be aware that in your user library, there will still be some "pieces" of previous apps (prefs files, files in the "Application Support" folder, etc.). You could "go inside" and manually locate and delete such pieces BEFORE you reinstall the apps.

Another way -- just bring over all the apps, and then try them out one-by-one.
Some may be outdated and no longer run, but you might be surprised that some older apps continue to run just fine.
I'd delete or update the stuff that doesn't run, and keep what does, and be happy.

ALTERNATE APPROACH:
If you don't really want to "auto-migrate" anything, but prefer to do it "by hand", there are other important considerations.

This is where having a cloned backup (as mentioned above) is FAR more useful than a time machine backup.
You can connect the cloned backup, and it will "mount right up" in the finder as would any other drive.
You can now just poke around and move what you wish (with some provisos).

PROVISO #1
IF you created a NEW account on the NEW iMac, you have to be careful when copying things to avoid permissions problems (even if you used the same account name and password).
You can bypass permissions problems by
1. Mounting the backup drive icon
2. Click ONE time to select it, then type command-i (eye) for get info
3. In get info, at the bottom, click the lock and enter your NEW password
4. Put a checkmark into "ignore ownership on this volume" (Sharing & permissions)
Now you can copy ANY file, and it will fall under ownership of your NEW account.

PROVISO #2
When copying stuff from your OLD home folder to your NEW one, be aware that you CANNOT COPY the main sub-folders named "movies", "documents", "pictures", "music", etc.
(These are "more than" just ordinary folders)
HOWEVER -- you CAN copy the items INSIDE these folders. That is, a single picture, a group of items, or even your iTunes music folder.

WHEW!
You thought this was going to be easy... eh?
Well, actually... it's not difficult... just time consuming and you need to give it a bit of thought before you get to it.

Enjoy the new iMac!

 

[Smartwatchlover]

Thanks for the suggestion, I will clean up my current iMac and will prepare a clone before the new iMac arrives.

I have just been notified by Apple that my iMac will enjoy a 8 hours flight before I will be able to put my hands on it (it’s coming from Cork, Ireland).

Didn’t know that despite the 2 Apple Store in the UAE, asking relatively simple customizations like SSD and additional RAM requires an international delivery.