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jekjones1558

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 27, 2010
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Are there any advantages to using a Time Machine backup versus old computer when migrating?
 
Probably a better question for the El Capitan forum.

I don't think there's a real difference other than it being a good chance to validate your TM backup strategy is working properly.

Personally I chose to do neither and just installed what I knew I'd need, then cloned my files over. Call me old fashioned, but as infrequently as I buy new computers it's a good chance to break clean of whatever might be leftover from before. :)
 
Are there any advantages to using a Time Machine backup versus old computer when migrating?
Exact same end result. Usually, if your TM backup is on an external USB3 drive, the import to the new machine using that will be faster than migrating directly from another Mac over ethernet for example. Fastest ever would be if both Macs had Thunderbolt and you use a direct Thunderbolt cable for the transfer. Bottom line is use whatever combination has the fastest transfer speed.
 
i heard when you install os x that it installs packages that are unique to your computer. so doing a complete mirror from one computer to another is not as reliable as restoring that computer's time machine backup

os x is great. you can choose between restoring from time machine, or migration assistant, and the computer you are importing from migration assistant doesn't even need to be operational. you could just use the hard disk

its important to validate your time machine backup as someone earlier said.

the only problem i ever had with time machine was restoring a backup from a computer running snow leopard to a computer running yosemite. the photos wouldn't import because photos/iphotos


heck windows requires a working computer. windows won't read a dead computers hard disk. and windows warns people not to use system images to restore to a different computer because of differences in bios and drivers

if you want to restore a system image to a different windows computer, you have to use Acronis and my windows friends argue with me how windows is "more open ". heck windows 10 eliminated easy transfer.
 
i heard when you install os x that it installs packages that are unique to your computer. so doing a complete mirror from one computer to another is not as reliable as restoring that computer's time machine backup

I think you are mixing migrating with a restore. OP is asking about two different ways to migrate.

Even so, there is nothing special about what packages are installed. As long as the Macs are compatible with the OS X version, a full restore/clone will work fine.
 
When I bought mine, I used Migration Asst and did the migration over my network with both computers sitting next to each other. It was somewhere between 3 and 6 hours......painless, everything was up and running and ready to go after it was done.
 
Thank you everyone. It is great to have a community so willing to share knowledge!
My TM backup disk is USB 3 so I think that might be faster than transferring from my MBP over wifi and I won't have to worry about any wifi interruptions. My new MB won't arrive until next week but I want to be ready to go! Thanks again.
 
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I think you are mixing migrating with a restore. OP is asking about two different ways to migrate.

Even so, there is nothing special about what packages are installed. As long as the Macs are compatible with the OS X version, a full restore/clone will work fine.

my line about kext installs that are unique to the computer was meant to be a warning you shouldn't directly clone or remove a hard disk from one mac and stick it another mac, and instead you should use migration assistant or time machine to restore. one reason against mirroring that i can think of the top of my head would be the hidden apple diagnostic partition is unique to your specific computer.

when moving to a different mac you have the options of:
1) booting into recovery mode and restoring the time capsule directly
2) installing a fresh copy of os x and using migration assistant to import the time capsule
3) installing a fresh copy of os x and using migration assistant to import the other mac via cable
4) same as #3 but with the other mac's hard disk removed and in a external box

#3 might be the fastest way to move to a new mac, if both macs have SSD drives and are Thunderbolt

if i am moving to a different size drive on the SAME computer, i would just use super duper

if i was cloning a 2012 model onto a 2016 model, i don't think thats a good idea. but thats just me


the disk warrior boot cd is rumored to have multiple boot sectors for various mac models. and finding the correct boot sector takes a while. heh
 
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