Best way to transfer files to new MBP

[lukester]

Now I have to ask what is the best way to get all my stuff on the new machine.
I keep a backup on an external hd using Carbon Copy.
I would like to do a clean install but I think that will be a night mere.


I made a mistake when I made the boot camp windows partition by making it Fat 32.. Anyone know if I can make a new partition for windows on the new machine NFST and then copy my windows folder to it. I have it backed up using Winclone which works very well by the way.

 

[nOw2]

Use TimeMachine. Requires no effort at all. Migrating from a MacBook to a MBP was the first time I used TM for real - it'd been sitting in the background backing up continually for two years and then just worked.

 

[CocoaTurtle]

Personally I'd use Migration Assistant. Simply turn on your MacBook Pro and launch Migration Assistant from the Utilities folder in Applications and connect your MacBook Pro to your old Mac (You can use FireWire, ethernet or a wireless network, I've written this as if you were using FireWire but I'd imagine the process for the others is similar or the same). Power on the old Mac and hold down 'T' on the keyboard until the FireWire symbol is displayed, then on your MacBook Pro go through the Migration Assistant Wizard, follow the steps and it'll bring all your accounts, file and applications across!

Hope this helps

 

[lukester]

Personally I'd use Migration Assistant. Simply turn on your MacBook Pro and launch Migration Assistant from the Utilities folder in Applications and connect your MacBook Pro to your old Mac (You can use FireWire, ethernet or a wireless network, I've written this as if you were using FireWire but I'd imagine the process for the others is similar or the same). Power on the old Mac and hold down 'T' on the keyboard until the FireWire symbol is displayed, then on your MacBook Pro go through the Migration Assistant Wizard, follow the steps and it'll bring all your accounts, file and applications across!

Hope this helps

I appreciate the info but I guess I was asking if going through the trouble of a clean instal is worth the effort. I hear that over time you collect a lot of unnecessary files and they will be brought over with every thing else.

Or is there a way to be more selective what is transferred?
I certainly don't want to go through and set my email, and all my personal info again. Plus there are many files that have been downloaded off the web that I may have trouble getting the dmg files on.

 

[Coleys]

I appreciate the info but I guess I was asking if going through the trouble of a clean instal is worth the effort. I hear that over time you collect a lot of unnecessary files and they will be brought over with every thing else.

Or is there a way to be more selective what is transferred?
I certainly don't want to go through and set my email, and all my personal info again. Plus there are many files that have been downloaded off the web that I may have trouble getting the dmg files on.

If it is a fresh install, you won't have any files brought over.

 

[CocoaTurtle]

If you don't want to go through setting up your mail, personal information and settings again, Migration Assistant will be perfect for you.

I actually did this less than a week ago with my i5 MacBook Pro, I used Migration Assistant to transfer data from my three year old White MacBook, doing this had no effect at all on my new Mac. As for unnecessary files, all operating systems gather these over time. I would recommend using Migration Assistant, then once you've got everything on your new Mac, run something like Onyx (Its free, give it a Google or you can look at CleanMyMac or MacKeep although these have a price tag) to get rid of these files etc (This is the exact process I did with my new Mac) and then you should be good to go and enjoy your new MacBook!