Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Clone?

C

CRAIZEprince

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 12, 2010
26
0
Hii,

I'm planning on buying my first iMac for work and other stuff.
I have a Macbook Pro (Mid 2009) and I was wondering what the best steps are to get everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) on my (soon to be) new iMac?

I read some stuff about cloning using Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper.
But if I clone my MBP's hard drive won't my iMac "think" it's an MBP because of the cloning. (I know it sounds kind of stupid.)

Sorry for the bad English!!

Greetings
 
You're English is quite good. Mac OS X isn't like Windows. It'll see that its running on an iMac and adjust accordingly. But, the Macbook Pro must be running a version of Mac OS X that is equal to or greater then the version that is on the iMac. If it isn't, it may not boot or work properly. Example: You cannot put a Leopard system from your Macbook Pro onto your iMac that came with Lion.
 
Thank you. So cloning my MBP's hard drive (which runs Lion) and using that clone for my new iMac should give me no problems and all my data?

Wonderfully!! Thank you for the quick answer!!
 
No problems and all your data. Some things however, like screensaver settings, are unique to one machine and will be reset to the default on the iMac.
 
I've done this many times before. The best way I've found it to put the target Mac, the iMac, into Target Disk mode and connect it to the source Mac, the Macbook Pro, with a FireWire cable. I then wipe the main partition, not the whole drive just the main partition, in Disk utility. I use Carbon Copy Cloner to select the source disk and the target disc and let it work. Once its done, I eject the iMac's disk and restart it. If all goes well, it'll ask you for your login or show you your desktop.
 
CRAIZEprince said:
Hii,

I'm planning on buying my first iMac for work and other stuff.
I have a Macbook Pro (Mid 2009) and I was wondering what the best steps are to get everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) on my (soon to be) new iMac?

I read some stuff about cloning using Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper.
But if I clone my MBP's hard drive won't my iMac "think" it's an MBP because of the cloning. (I know it sounds kind of stupid.)

Sorry for the bad English!!

Greetings
Click to expand...

The best (bar none) method of cloning your new iMac to look precisely like the MBP is to use Setup Assistant. SA is what starts when you turn on ANY new Mac. Follow the on-screen directions and you will have no problems at all. If you want a guide on to use SA I'd recommend:

http://web.me.com/pondini/AppleTips/SetupLion.html

You can migrate directly from the MBP or a backup such as Time Machine drive or bootable clone on an external HD. Read the setup tips and it will walk you through it so when your new machine arrives you will have no surprises.
 
+1 on Set Up Assistant.

A true clone may not run your iMac, and even if it does it may have unexpected problems. Why do it? A true clone copies every file, and the software to run a laptop is different than the software required to run an iMac. Different video, different components.

Set Up will bring over everything you need, and result in a system optimized for your iMac.

Rob
 
robgendreau said:
A true clone may not run your iMac, and even if it does it may have unexpected problems. Why do it? A true clone copies every file, and the software to run a laptop is different than the software required to run an iMac. Different video, different components.
Click to expand...

Mac's don't have this problem. With a Mac, as long as it isn't running a special build for new machines, the needed drivers for every system up to that time are installed when the OS is installed. The installation of Lion that the OP has on his Macbook Pro has drivers for every Intell Mac made up to this point. It will run without a problem and have no compatibility issues.
 
rkaufmann87 said:
The best (bar none) method of cloning your new iMac to look precisely like the MBP is to use Setup Assistant. SA is what starts when you turn on ANY new Mac. Follow the on-screen directions and you will have no problems at all. If you want a guide on to use SA I'd recommend:

http://web.me.com/pondini/AppleTips/SetupLion.html

You can migrate directly from the MBP or a backup such as Time Machine drive or bootable clone on an external HD. Read the setup tips and it will walk you through it so when your new machine arrives you will have no surprises.
Click to expand...

Thanks!! This website really helped!
 
I just completed migration from 2009 Mac Pro to 2011 iMac and i went the clone route. Everything seems to be working correctly and clone went smooth. I still have my mac pro operational so i'm going to attempt another build using Setup Assistant and see what is different
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back