Help, Macbook Pro is Dying, Migration Assistance Needed.

[MacGekko]

I have the early 2008 Macbook Pro with the Nividia issues, I got 7 good years out of this thing so I am not complaining but I fear that the logic board is dying. Yesterday after playing a Youtube video the screen had purple highlights at various points and the purple images started flashing, it stopped, I was able to move the tracpad cursor but unable to click anything, manually shut it off, it restarted fine but after using it for multiple hours last night and a few hours today the same thing happened again while using safari.

If indeed this thing is is dying, when I buy a new Macbook Pro how do I migrate all of my hard drive from the old one to the new one? I just saved a new Time Machine backup, can I simply plug in the external hard drive to the new Macbook and use migration assistant?

When Apple stopped supporting Snow Leopard I upgraded to Mavericks, should I try to upgrade to Yosemite, will that make the transition easier or will it not matter?

Finally, does anybody have any thoughts as to other possible explanations for the computer seizing after the screen gains these purple effects?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Natzoo]

It is easy to transfer, you backed it up to an external hard drive?

 

[MacGekko]

It is easy to transfer, you backed it up to an external hard drive?

Yes a time machine backup to a Western Digital external hard drive. Sorry for this amateur question but does the Time Machine backup include everything?

 

[teleromeo]

Just use your backup to migrate, be sure to backup your latest work before you start. The migration can take several hours depending on the speed of your Time Machine. When you're done your new mac will have almost the same look and feel as your old machine.

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Sorry for this amateur question but does the Time Machine backup include everything?

Unless you excluded files or folders from your backup you should be fine.

 

[MacGekko]

Thank you for the responses. On the purple image effects and then freezing screen issue, is there any hope that it is not the Nvidia situation?

 

[Natzoo]

it could be it

 

[Samuelsan2001]

I suppose it's possible but

Thank you for the responses. On the purple image effects and then freezing screen issue, is there any hope that it is not the Nvidia situation?

whatever the problem is it will require a new logic board so you will be in the same situation with fixing or replacing. At 7 years old a laptop is just not worth spending money on anymore. I'd hesitate to bother fixing anything over 5 years old. With the drop in mac prices and the changes in technology it is almost always in your best interests to get a new computer at this point rather than spend goood money on old tech...

 

[MacGekko]

whatever the problem is it will require a new logic board so you will be in the same situation with fixing or replacing. At 7 years old a laptop is just not worth spending money on anymore. I'd hesitate to bother fixing anything over 5 years old. With the drop in mac prices and the changes in technology it is almost always in your best interests to get a new computer at this point rather than spend goood money on old tech...

Is that because those Nvidia chips are 100 percent certain to eventually fail?

Yes, I will probably buy the 15 inch Macbook Pro for $1899, it is more power than I need but I'm used to the 15 inch screen and don't think I can go lower.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Not really

Is that because those Nvidia chips are 100 percent certain to eventually fail?

Yes, I will probably buy the 15 inch Macbook Pro for $1899, it is more power than I need but I'm used to the 15 inch screen and don't think I can go lower.

More just that it sounds like a system failure rather than a hard drive or ram problem that will be easy to fix.

If you want to keep costs down consider refurbished they are pretty much as new except the box....

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/macbook_pro/15