Migration assistant from external HD?

[annk]

I'm going to be getting a Macbook in a few weeks, but I won't have my PowerBook with me. I suppose I can just write down my most important settings to plot them into the Macbook manually, but I'm going to want to start playing with the Macbook before I'm back where my PB is (about 3.5 weeks). So:

1) Is it possible to use migration assistant from some sort of copy of my PB's contents on an external drive? If so, what sort of copy/clone do I need to make?

2) Is migration assistant a bad idea when your machine is old and you've probably got a lot of bloated stuff you don't need?

3) Would you just copy (to an iPod, for example) the files and apps you really want to transfer, and drag them over to the Macbook?

Thanks.

 

[CrzyCanuck72]

if you want your new MB to be an exact replica of your old PB, then the best thing is to make a clone of your PB to an external drive (use Carbon Copy Cloner) and then use Migration Assistant to move it over to your new MB. Yes, it will work from an external drive.

If you want to start fresh with your MB and just move over a few choice documents and applications, then just dragging & dropping from an external drive would probably be best.

Personally, I prefer the first one (it's what I did when I moved from my eMac to my new MB), but I can see the appeal of starting fresh.