Mid 2009 iMac to a new Mac Book Pro

[dpdc77]

Hi guys,

I have a mid-2009 20" iMac with 1TB storage with 720GB being used. Currently hasn't been backed up to time machine. Don't' have external drive yet.

I would like to upgrade and transfer everything to a new 15" MacBook Pro.

How can I do this and what are my options?

Should I buy 1TB external for time machine backup then purchase non 1TB MacBook Pro, or does it have to be 1TB?

Thanks in advance,

Derek

 

[kohlson]

Old or new, you should have something to back up your data. So buying an external 1TB (or more) drive to back up your current or new system can also be used as something to facilitate the transfer.

Since it sounds like you want everything on your new system, probably best to get a 1TB drive inside of it.

This is pretty straightforward:
- Buy external drive and connect to iMac and run TM to back up.
- When setting up new MBP, there will be an option to Restore from TM.

There are lots of other ways to get data from old iMac to new MBP, which I suspect will be detailed in short order.

One thing to consider with this (and a similar Migration Assistant) method is that you are bringing along old "stuff." I don't mean the data, but the possibility of old apps/system "stuff" that was required on systems many rears ago and today just gums up the works. A clean, but much more arduous, way to proceed is a clean install of system and apps, with a straight transfer of your user folder. But perhaps you've been good about staying current and hygienic with respect to your system.

 

[kschendel]

Buy a 1 Tb external drive NOW and get your machine backed up, NOW. Any external USB drive will do. Do not wait. Assuming that you are using the original disk drive, that's an 8 year old time bomb just waiting to go off and you'll have nothing.

Then, worry about the new purchase. There's at least one inexpensive utility (the name escapes me at the moment) that will show you a breakdown of what your storage is being used for. It may be that you have a bunch of stuff you can get rid of, or it may be that you really need that much space. It is possible to keep stuff on an external drive, but that would involve a second external drive ... because you still need one for backup! I suggest that it would be simplest to buy a 1 Tb MBP and you don't have to fuss with it.

 

[kohlson]

There's at least one inexpensive utility (the name escapes me at the moment)

Disk Inventory X. Free. But there are several others.

 

[old-wiz]

Buy a 1 Tb external drive NOW and get your machine backed up, NOW. Any external USB drive will do. Do not wait. Assuming that you are using the original disk drive, that's an 8 year old time bomb just waiting to go off and you'll have nothing.

Then, worry about the new purchase. There's at least one inexpensive utility (the name escapes me at the moment) that will show you a breakdown of what your storage is being used for. It may be that you have a bunch of stuff you can get rid of, or it may be that you really need that much space. It is possible to keep stuff on an external drive, but that would involve a second external drive ... because you still need one for backup! I suggest that it would be simplest to buy a 1 Tb MBP and you don't have to fuss with it.

ABSOLUTELY! back it up immediately before you lose it. I would recommend a 2 TB drive to have some more space. If anything happens to your current boot drive you will be in deep poop.

 

[Fishrrman]

I wouldn't "pay Apple's price" for a 1tb SSD drive.
But if you have $$$ to toss away, go for it.

What I'd suggest is:
- Get an external 1tb drive.
- DO NOT use Time Machine to back it up.
- Instead, use either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper to create a bootable cloned backup of the internal drive. It will mount "right in the finder" when you connect it to the new MacBook.
(both CCC and SD are FREE to download and use for 30 days)
- Get the MB with 512gb of storage (and save a lot of $$$)
- When it's time to set up the MacBook, BE SELECTIVE about what you bring over and what you leave behind. For example, movies that you only watch now and then can be left on the external drive (it's finder-mountable, remember, because it's a clone).
- Don't clog up the MB drive. Leave about 15% of "free space", for breathing room...

 

[dpdc77]

Thank you, everyone, for your help.

I spent a lot of time and cleaned up a lot of junk on the drive. Got it down to around 425GB.

I'm leaning towards Fishrrmen's option because I am trying to save money. Just wondering why I shouldn't use Time Machine?

 

[kohlson]

Just wondering why I shouldn't use Time Machine?

Hopefully this wasn't lost in the discussion. TM works well, and I have easily and successfully migrated from one Mac to another using an external disk. Bonus - you have a backup! I've done this at on several systems work, as the unofficial departmental Mac guy, and here at home.
The only potential issue I see in this approach, and with other similar approaches, is that you can bring along things (old system settings, libraries, startup settings, etc) that may cause unexpected behavior. Example, on my brother's system, which dates back to 2006, "migrating" over to a newer system brought along his Blackberry environment. He has not used that in several years. It caused it to boot really slowly. Once identified and removed, problem solved.

 

[kschendel]

Time Machine does some things well. It's good for incremental backups, going back to find something you accidently deleted, it's automatic, etc. CCC and SuperDuper are a bit more straightforward / less "tricky" in how they operate and I prefer them for occasional full backups, taking a complete snapshot of what I have. And, since CCC / SD backups are simple clones, they're easily finder mountable and easy to use just like an ordinary external volume (which they are).

I use TM for ongoing backups and SuperDuper for occasional (bimonthly-ish, or before doing any major upgrade) full backups.

DO however use something, anything, and get at least one backup done before the gods of spinning rust smite your disk drive, leaving you wailing and gnashing your teeth in the outer darkness...