MacBook Air crash, Time Capsule and iCloud

[ChiantiSteve]

Please forgive a newbie.

My MacBook Air (previous model, 2 years old) literally collapsed. The hinging mechanism disintegrated and I lost any ability to see the screen.
I was able to export the screen view onto a TV using the MiniDVI port and an HDMI cable. All good.
I was able to do a full Time Machine backup to an external Time Capsule so I should have it all. Then the TV link crashed and now the MacBook Air is either not booting or I can't see it. Doesn't matter much, I hope, as long as the backup is all I need.
I have a MacBook Pro and would like to transfer the data to that machine without interfering with the data I have on it already. I wouldn't mind loading it all into the iCloud either, although not necessarily for syncing purposes - just for backup access from the Pro.
Looking at forums etc it seems that with Migration Assistant I could transfer to the Pro but that seems only if it's a new Pro. I suspect I will lose existing data on the Pro if I do that.
I don't know much about partitions and such but I wondered if I could load the Air HD onto the Pro and access it separately? Or physically remove the HD and use it as an external HD with the Air stuff accessible?
The iCloud solution would be OK but it talks about iWork files. All my stuff is Word and Excel with Office. Not sure if MS stuff works with iCloud.
My email is Mail (Mac) which should be OK somehow and there are a few years of emails that I don't want to lose.
A bit of a long story but can we start there? Thanks very much, Steve

 

[blevins321]

I *think* this will work. Someone else chime in and confirm.

Use Boot Camp assistant to partition your Pro drive without damaging the data. Then use disk utility to format to HFS+ Journaled.

Then boot into Recovery mode. (does your Pro already have Lion?) if not, use the bootable grey disk that came with your Pro. Restore the time machine backup of your Air to the new partition that you just made. Voila (I think)

 

[ChiantiSteve]

Thanks for that. Sounds logical and I do have latest Lion on the Pro.

I'll take your advice and wait to see if anyone disagrees !!

Cheers, Steve

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Just looking at BootCamp Assistant it seems to be all about installing Windows.

I guess I chose 'Install Windows7' to create the partition, then revert to the format and reboot without going further with Windows? Sound right?

Tks, S

 

[ChiantiSteve]

Slight problem.

The backup on Time capsule is 222GB and the free space on the Pro is 125GB.

Any ideas?

Tks, S

 

[Bear]

Slight problem.

The backup on Time capsule is 222GB and the free space on the Pro is 125GB.

Any ideas?

Tks, S

Time Machine allows you to restore from another computer's backup. On your MBP hold down the option key while clicking on Time Machine in the menu bar, it should show an option to Browse other backups. You could use this to recover the Air data to your working Mac. Just select a good location to restore the files to. (A good location might be under a folder called Air under your home directory.) This way you don't need space for Applications and any data that was duplicated between the two systems. And of course if you don't need immediate access to something you don't have to restore it right away.

 

[ChiantiSteve]

Tks Bear

 

[KPOM]

Slight problem.

The backup on Time capsule is 222GB and the free space on the Pro is 125GB.

Any ideas?

Tks, S

The Time Capsule backup includes copies of files, etc. that have been changed since you first started backing up. The actual amount it will restore onto the new partition will be only whatever was actually on your drive when it crashed. Since the 2009 had a maximum storage of 120GB, that's the most there could be.