Does "Time Machine" wipe orginal drive?

[eclipse]

Hi all,
my wife's new 8 core arrives any day now.

1. When we transfer all our software across to the new machine, is it better to start from scratch and put in all those discs, find all those licence passwords, etc — or can we just "Time Machine" all her applications and work to the new mac?

2. If iLife comes pre-installed, will "Time Machine" wipe that?

3. When one buys a new mac do iLife discs come with it or licence numbers for downloading?

4. (rant) where is my mac, I want it now, why don't I have it now, I need it NOW NOW NOW (sorry... just had to express my need for a new mac "hit"... happens now and then).

 

[pit29]

1. It depends how "messy" your current system is, and how much work to find all discs and passwords. I made an Erase&Install recently on my MBP and am much more happier now. May be a psychological issue, though.

2. Not sure for the second part. iLife will come preinstalled.

3. You get restore disks with a new Mac, and iLife will be on those discs. There is no way to download that, and there are also no serial numbers necessary.

4. I feel your pain.

 

[richard.mac]

use Migration Assistant in the setup to migrate your Time Machine backup. as they are different machines i think a full restore from the install disc wont work.

it will either use iLife from your old machine or keep the new iLife on the Mac Pro im not sure but im certain it will keep iLife '08 on the Mac Pro.

applications suites like Office and Creative Suite will need a reinstall as not all of their files will be migrated over. if you know which files these are you can retrieve them from the previous systems folder in Macintosh HD. afterwards if you have no need for your previous system you can safely delete that folder as it is a waste of space.