Migration question

[wfriedwald]

Going to both new hardware and a new system, it seems to me that the all-in-one migration, actually was not a good idea what I did try it.

so I'm wondering, is it possible to do a partial migration? Do it in stages, just grabbing a couple of apps at a time. that might be easier than trying to reinstall everything and figure out all my license numbers etcetera Etc.

What does everyone think?

W

 

[jasnw]

This is a real YMMV question, and you'll get a lot of answers. Painful as it is, I always take the hard way and reinstall what I need on a new system (or a new OS version install) and only migrate user-directory sub-directories and files as needed. If you have all the necessary files to reinstall apps and such, the two most painful things from this approach are (1) resetting all your preferences, and (2) moving things from your user-space /Library directory that you absolutely need to transfer rather than re-install (Mail app, I'm looking at YOU!). While this takes longer, it relieves you and your system of all the cruft that builds up over the years, it re-acquaints you with your settings and preferences, and it can avoid things from your old system stepping on things on your new system (particularly if you're doing an OS version change at the same time). I do not use TimeMachine for anything, and use Carbon Copy Cloner for backups and transfers of this nature. Just One Person's Opinion (but I know I'm right!).

 

[wfriedwald]

thanks!

so here's the next question: is there a possible way to do a partial migration? is there some way to use the Apple OS app, or is there something else that will transfer a select app (the app itself, the library and support files, the license number, all that stuff) sometimes even the simplest of app's have all this incredibly confusing "plist" baggage!

thanks again

w

 

[jasnw]

If there is, I'd also like to know about it. (And no, Migration Assistant isn't the answer.)

 

[wfriedwald]

PS: good news, I managed to locate my licenses for both DEFAULT FOLDER & PATHFINDER, so I could re-install those successfully. to me, this a major triumph!

 

[Thessman]

You can use Migration Assistant or Time machine, or do it by hand, but the latter is sometimes a daunting task.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

And even after Migration many apps will require you to re-enter license numbers anyway, so definitely a good idea to keep those handy.

 

[F-Train]

PS: good news, I managed to locate my licenses for both DEFAULT FOLDER & PATHFINDER, so I could re-install those successfully. to me, this a major triumph!

You may already know this, but you can keep info like that in Keychain Access.

 

[harriska2]

I’ve reinstalled Windows and upgraded so many times over the past few decades that I now have a software.txt file with a list of software to reinstall along with keys/codes/links. I also always keep my software downloads just in case. Moving itunes from pc to mac was easy, except I ran out of authorizations and had to reset all.

 

[kohlson]

One approach is to have a cloned backup of your disk. The proceed with a complete update. If you find it doesn't work for you, you can always recover from the clone.

In my decades of being the IT for my business and family, making a clean install is best, and can also take large amounts of time. But if you do your homework, and have a list of everything (I take screenshots of my app folder contents) it can be the least painful path.

Not every time, but many times, I have updated without a clone and it was a very large effort to get back to where I started.

Everyone has a philosophy on upgrades. For my home systems, I try to upgrade when the dot-three release is available If you get one or two major releases behind, it can be that much harder to catch up.

 

[Fishrrman]

It IS possible to do a "fully manual" migration -- I've done it.
But it is MUCH more involved than using setup assistant or migration assistant.

My advice for migrating from an old computer to a new one is to make a cloned backup of the old one (use either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper), then connect the cloned drive to the new Mac BEFORE you turn it on.

Then, use setup assistant to "bring it all" over.
Then, check everything for compatibility. Some apps may need updating.

 

[wfriedwald]

thanks, Dudes, for your helpful responses and insights. lots of wisdom here!

 

[gages]

@Fishrrman This is the method I used for my migration to the new Mini. Interestingly, migration assistant brought over some of the kexts in the library/extensions folder, which was not good and I had to remove.

 

[Originalbitman]

I tried both clone and Time Machine and couldn’t boot. Did clean install and am very happy. Not as big of a deal as I imagined especially with iCloud. Lean mean Mini Machine.