Best way to swap two Macs data?

[sikkinixx]

I have a little 2.26ghz Mac Mini and my grandpa has an old G5 iMac. We are going to switch. What is the best way to get my stuff on his iMac and to get his stuff on my Mini?

I have a spare 320GB external drive so should I time machine my stuff to that, then wipe the mini THEN migration assisstant his stuff over to it. Then restore my stuff to his old iMac? Problem is that the iMac is only running Leopard while the mini is running Snow Leopard so I'm not sure if that will work, going back to an older OS that is.

Advice?

 

[Dave Braine]

I'm pretty sure that if your Mini came with Snow Leopard then you can't go back to Leopard, but I could be wrong. And, of course, Snow Leopard won't work on the G5.

I think that this should work. Clone your Mini to the external. Do a clean reinstall on the Mini then use Migration Assistant to import grandpa's stuff from the G5.

Do a clean reinstall on the G5, then use Migration Assistant to get all your stuff from the external.

 

[sikkinixx]

I'll give it a go. I'm just horrified of losing all my iPhone/Pad apps. I've had bad experiences where iTunes just decides to wipe my phone clean when using a new system, even though my account is logged in.

 

[Mal]

I'm pretty sure that if your Mini came with Snow Leopard then you can't go back to Leopard, but I could be wrong. And, of course, Snow Leopard won't work on the G5.

I think that this should work. Clone your Mini to the external. Do a clean reinstall on the Mini then use Migration Assistant to import grandpa's stuff from the G5.

Do a clean reinstall on the G5, then use Migration Assistant to get all your stuff from the external.

That will work one way, but I'm pretty sure Migration Assistant won't transfer from a newer OS to an older one. IF you make a Time Machine backup, excluding the system software probably, then there might be a better chance though.

It's worth a try that way, just make sure you're never overwriting your only copy of something of course.

jW

 

[GGJstudios]

Don't install a version of Mac OS X earlier than what came with your Mac