Cloning Imac HDD onto MacBook

[cemaco]

Hi guys,

I have an Imac which is my main machine. I am buying a MacBook this weekend. My intention is to be able to use the MB as if I were using the Imac, that is, I plan to have everything exactly the same in both machines and to sync everyday.

The thing is, I would like to have a choice of just cloning the HDD of the Imac onto the MB, so that all apps, files, folders, preferences, etc. are up and running from day 1, instead of having to reinstall everything and setup all my preferences in the MB again.

Is such a thing possible? If so, what do I have to do?

If not possible, what would the second-best solution be?

I appreciate your help here.

Rgds,

 

[BOSS10L]

Hi guys,

I have an Imac which is my main machine. I am buying a MacBook this weekend. My intention is to be able to use the MB as if I were using the Imac, that is, I plan to have everything exactly the same in both machines and to sync everyday.

The thing is, I would like to have a choice of just cloning the HDD of the Imac onto the MB, so that all apps, files, folders, preferences, etc. are up and running from day 1, instead of having to reinstall everything and setup all my preferences in the MB again.

Is such a thing possible? If so, what do I have to do?

If not possible, what would the second-best solution be?

I appreciate your help here.

Rgds,

AFAIK, the MB should have a "migration assistant" that will allow you to connect them and move your data via Firewire. I don't think it will migrate all programs though, so you might have to reinstall some apps.

 

[sickmacdoc]

Hi guys,

I have an Imac which is my main machine. I am buying a MacBook this weekend. My intention is to be able to use the MB as if I were using the Imac, that is, I plan to have everything exactly the same in both machines and to sync everyday.

The thing is, I would like to have a choice of just cloning the HDD of the Imac onto the MB, so that all apps, files, folders, preferences, etc. are up and running from day 1, instead of having to reinstall everything and setup all my preferences in the MB again.

Is such a thing possible? If so, what do I have to do?

If not possible, what would the second-best solution be?

I appreciate your help here.

Rgds,

Assuming your iMac is an Intel based iMac as opposed to a G5 based one, you could startup the MB in "Target Disk Mode" which will make it appear as a hard drive on your iMac screen. Then using either Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper you can clone your entire HD to the MB.

Use the iMac HD as the "Source" and the MB HD as the "Destination".

 

[cemaco]

Assuming your iMac is an Intel based iMac as opposed to a G5 based one, you could startup the MB in "Target Disk Mode" which will make it appear as a hard drive on your iMac screen. Then using either Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper you can clone your entire HD to the MB.

Use the iMac HD as the "Source" and the MB HD as the "Destination".

Thanks. But would this allow me to later synchronize the two computers? Would it not present problems of incompatibilities later?

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

just a note, syncing two computers to be exactly the same, whats the point? just keep your data in a external hd,and accessing the data would be a snap. just my 2 cents. keeping two computers the same kind of defeats the purpose of two computers...

 

[bartelby]

keeping two computers the same kind of defeats the purpose of two computers...

Not when one is a desktop and the other is a laptop.

 

[sushi]

Cloning requires that the chip set be the same.

Don't think that the MB and iMac have the same chipset.

Suggest using Migration Assistant.

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

Not when one is a desktop and the other is a laptop.

then why have two?? it's like having two calculators. or two backpacks. or two mice/keyboards.

 

[bartelby]

then why have two?? it's like having two calculators. or two backpacks. or two mice/keyboards.

Erm, no, not really.

What if you send a lot of time away from the desktop computer but still need to do work?

 

[cemaco]

Erm, no, not really.

What if you send a lot of time away from the desktop computer but still need to do work?

Which is my case.

 

[jodelli]

I recently used target disc mode from an iBook to a clean formatted secondary drive on a G4 Power Mac, using nothing more than the included disc utilities with 10.4.11. The iBook was going elsewhere and the transfer was completely successful.

 

[wheelerw]

I keep my two computers in sync using sugarsync (http://www.sugarsync.com). I first used migration assistant to move all my files from the iMac to my Macbook. Then I installed sugarsync on both computers. Sugarsync keeps all my files/folders in sync automatically. If I change a file on my Macbook, it will automatically change the document on the iMac.