Carbon Copy Cloner restore question

[RJMang]

1. How does this work: if I have a CCC backup of my Mac from a computer with an older version of the OS than the new Mac that I want to restore. Is this possible to do?

I also have a T.M. backup, but I've found restoring or migrating from T.M. to a new computer to be a less than flawless process in the past.

 

[jparker402]

1. How does this work: if I have a CCC backup of my Mac from a computer with an older version of the OS than the new Mac that I want to restore. Is this possible to do?

I also have a T.M. backup, but I've found restoring or migrating from T.M. to a new computer to be a less than flawless process in the past.

RJ, I don't know personally but, having been delving into CCC lately, I recommended you go here ccc6 (link to bombich) and ask them. I have found them extremely helpful.

 

[BrianBaughn]

If the clone has a macOS version that's unsupported on the new computer then the first thing I'd try is using Migration Assistant on the new computer and point to the clone for the source.

This recently went very well for me…going from Mojave to Monterey. I've had an issue with this process in the past but I can say the same about all of the methods I've used.

 

[Fishrrman]

"How does this work: if I have a CCC backup of my Mac from a computer with an older version of the OS than the new Mac that I want to restore. Is this possible to do?"

The "new" Mac has to be able to run the older OS.
If it cannot, then you cannot "clone" the entire backup to the new Mac (because the OS is too old, of course).

Instead, use Migration Assistant.
Or... if this is a "brand-new, out-of-the-box Mac", use setup assistant to do the migration the first time you boot up.

Setup assistant (or migration assistant) will work as well with a CCC cloned backup as they do with time machine. Maybe better.

All your apps, files, personal data and settings will be migrated.
The "old OS" will be "left behind", replaced by the newer one.

This really isn't hard.
It's just one of those things you do, and get on with...

 

[Macky-Mac]

If the clone has a macOS version that's unsupported on the new computer then the first thing I'd try is using Migration Assistant on the new computer and point to the clone for the source.

This recently went very well for me…going from Mojave to Monterey. I've had an issue with this process in the past but I can say the same about all of the methods I've used.

Going from Mojave to Monterey is in my near future.......so a question for you.

What does Migration Assistant do about older legacy software that isn't going to run on Monterey? Does it get transferred anyway?

I'm wondering if I'll need to go thru the applications folder to delete a bunch of stuff after running Migration Assistant using a CCC clone as the source?

 

[Fishrrman]

"What does Migration Assistant do about older legacy software that isn't going to run on Monterey? Does it get transferred anyway?"

The old software will probably get migrated anyway.
You can then "clean it out".
Another way (if you KNOW that an app isn't going to work) -- delete it from the backup BEFORE you run migration assistant.

"I'm wondering if I'll need to go thru the applications folder to delete a bunch of stuff after running Migration Assistant using a CCC clone as the source?"

Yes, you'll probably have to do that. But you'd have to do it if the backup was created with time machine, also (I reckon).

 

[harriska2]

I just went from Mojave to Monterey in a roundabout way. I tend to put my data on an external data drive (which I had to also update) so that wasn't as much an issue. I ended up re-installing Mojave because I couldn't get the monterey bootable thumbdrive to work. I then upgraded to monterey. I ended up using CCC backup of an external drive installed with Monterey and all my apps cleanly installed (testing Monterey) and cloned it back to the internal drive. It actually worked. I was a bit shocked. I did lose text messages and my photo albums. No big deal as the photos was link based (I used links to photos on my data drive) and I really didn't need to horde 3 years of text messages. I wanted to start clean so it worked for me.

 

[eldho]

You don't have to worry about any incompatible software. Migration assistant creates a folder that it puts all dubiously compatible items into so that you can then either delete them or transfer them to wherever you want to afterwards. I believe that CCC is actually more reliable than time machine and also works a lot more quickly when using migration assistant.

 

[Makisupa Policeman]

You don't have to worry about any incompatible software. Migration assistant creates a folder that it puts all dubiously compatible items into so that you can then either delete them or transfer them to wherever you want to afterwards. I believe that CCC is actually more reliable than time machine and also works a lot more quickly when using migration assistant.

I love CCC. TM is great for when I accidentally modify or delete a file and need to get it back quickly, but I don't trust it for anything else. For reliable backups CCC is the way to go. Also love the email reporting feature; that little extra peace of mind every night in my inbox is worth the price for me alone.