Cloning a 2010 Air to a June 2013 Air

[cjbryce]

Searched around and couldn't find a clear answer to this.

I have ordered a new MBA and want to clone my 2010's SSD, Now, I could do this from a TimeMachine back-up for my data, music &etc BUT I have MS Office and Omnigraffle Pro installed (and probably one or two other less important apps) which require product keys. So, two questions:-

Do any of the true cloners (e.g. Carbon Copy) port the keys across with all apps

or, if I do a clean install and restore from the TimeMachine backup,

Can I just re-use the install keys?

TIA

 

[TC25]

Do any of the true cloners (e.g. Carbon Copy) port the keys across with all apps

No

Can I just re-use the install keys?

Yes

 

[cjbryce]

No


Yes

Thanks. That prompts two follow-ups, sorry.

In that case should I just use Migration Assistant? Will that copy the apps over as well as the data?

 

[TC25]

Thanks. That prompts two follow-ups, sorry.

In that case should I just use Migration Assistant? Will that copy the apps over as well as the data?

A standard step with every new Mac is it will ask you if you want to copy anything from another Mac or a backup. You can point to another device on your network or a Time Machine backup. It will then ask if you want to copy the Apps or the Apps and Data. Nothing will copy the serial numbers.

I just went through this when I moved all my data from my 2007 iMac to a new Mini.

The simplest process is;

1. Full backup from 2010 Air to a USB drive
2. Plug USB drive into 2013 Air
3. Follow the on screen instructions.

 

[cjbryce]

A standard step with every new Mac is it will ask you if you want to copy anything from another Mac or a backup. You can point to another device on your network or a Time Machine backup. It will then ask if you want to copy the Apps or the Apps and Data. Nothing will copy the serial numbers.

I just went through this when I moved all my data from my 2007 iMac to a new Mini.

The simplest process is;

1. Full backup from 2010 Air to a USB drive
2. Plug USB drive into 2013 Air
3. Follow the on screen instructions.

Thank you.

 

[nobackup]

No


Yes

No quite correct making a clone takes everything across to the clone ..

I usually clone to an external drive, then use migration wizard to install on the new book, never had problems with keys ...

I use the Manual Application+Mail+Itunes "migration" only for clean installs, never need to reinstall ...

google how to transfer Office, Mail ... makes it much easier ... and you can control what comes across ... its all unix at the end of the day

 

[TC25]

Any software that knows what PC/Mac it was licensed on will have to be re-authorized on the new hardware.

 

[theSeb]

Do not use a direct clone method to copy between different Macs.

 

[Acorn]

im not sure how omnigraffle works but I know for applications like adobe photoshop you have to de-activate the software before you do a reinstall. once its deactivated you can reinstall later. with software like adobe even if you completely wipe your computer if you dont deactivate it will still show on adobe activation servers as activated on a different computer. (even if its the same machine). so when you try and reinstall you may get an already activated on a different computer message. I know your software isnt adobe I was just pointing out how some software is anal about it.

 

[Boyd01]

I went from a 2008 MacBook Pro to a late 2011 MacBook Air. Just plugged my Time Machine disk into the MBA and went out for a walk while the Migration Assistant did its thing. An hour later, all of my files and settings were moved to the MBA. Even the arrangement of files on the desktop and dock were the same as the old machine.

It worked really well - I was amazed since my experience with older versions of the Migration Asst were not so good. I have lots of expensive licensed software, including Office, Photoshop, Vectorworks, FileMaker, Final Cut Studio, etc.

The only thing I remember having to do was authorize Photoshop, which took a few seconds. I might have needed to enter my Final Cut serial number, not sure.

 

[RightMACatU]

Along side OP's questions:

To reset my MBA before I sell it, I want to wipe and restore ML. Is it just:
- A reboot with COMMAND + R
- Wipe disk from Utilities
- Re-install ML from Utilities

Is it that simple or do I need Internet connection and trade in my first born?