Moving from old Imac to Retina - help please

[firsmith]

I'm sure there are multiple threads started but for the life of me I can't find anything.

I should be receiving my new Imac with 3TB Fusion next week. Right now I have an 2009 Imac with about 500GB of data on the internal storage, and another 900GB on an external drive. Some questions I have about transferring

Should I update the 2009 to Yosemite? Will it make a difference if the two computers are different OSX?

What is the physical way to do this? Do I plug an Ethernet cable between the two?

Since my storage use now is larger than the 09 can handle – and I don’t have enough space on the external for everything, am I in trouble not backing up?

Is it better to just open the new computer out of the box and move over data files/download software as needed? I’m afraid moving the current set up over is going to import a lot of junk like DVD software etc.

My wife has photos all over the place – combined between Iphoto and Lightroom and Photoshop. Does anyone know where I can source all the files for sure so nothing is missed on the transfer?


If you know of threads that you can point to that answer any of these questions, I apologize for not finding but could you please link

Much appreciated.

 

[Satori]

I should be receiving my new Imac with 3TB Fusion next week. Right now I have an 2009 Imac with about 500GB of data on the internal storage, and another 900GB on an external drive. Some questions I have about transferring

Should I update the 2009 to Yosemite? Will it make a difference if the two computers are different OSX?

No need to.

What is the physical way to do this? Do I plug an Ethernet cable between the two?

I haven't tried this in Mavericks, but it should work. You will need to turn on ethernet sharing in system prefs. Otherwise you can do it over wifi as long as both macs are on the same network. Using Mac Migration Assistant (which comes with every new Mac) makes it super easy.

Since my storage use now is larger than the 09 can handle – and I don’t have enough space on the external for everything, am I in trouble not backing up?

Not especially so. Of course it is always best to keep your files backed up!

Is it better to just open the new computer out of the box and move over data files/download software as needed? I’m afraid moving the current set up over is going to import a lot of junk like DVD software etc.

Depends how much junk. Might be easier to move everything and then prune.

My wife has photos all over the place – combined between Iphoto and Lightroom and Photoshop. Does anyone know where I can source all the files for sure so nothing is missed on the transfer?

Mac Migration Assistant should get em all for you.

Good luck!

 

[Georgio]

I'm sure there are multiple threads started but for the life of me I can't find anything.

I should be receiving my new Imac with 3TB Fusion next week. Right now I have an 2009 Imac with about 500GB of data on the internal storage, and another 900GB on an external drive. Some questions I have about transferring

Should I update the 2009 to Yosemite? Will it make a difference if the two computers are different OSX?

What is the physical way to do this? Do I plug an Ethernet cable between the two?

Since my storage use now is larger than the 09 can handle – and I don’t have enough space on the external for everything, am I in trouble not backing up?

Is it better to just open the new computer out of the box and move over data files/download software as needed? I’m afraid moving the current set up over is going to import a lot of junk like DVD software etc.

My wife has photos all over the place – combined between Iphoto and Lightroom and Photoshop. Does anyone know where I can source all the files for sure so nothing is missed on the transfer?


If you know of threads that you can point to that answer any of these questions, I apologize for not finding but could you please link

Much appreciated.

+1 on migration assistant, makes life easier, just sort out any unwanted junk afterwards when you have more space to play

 

[firsmith]

thanks guys, never heard of that software. Will check it out

 

[hyune83]

Migration assistant. Then transfer over files from external hard drive.

 

[nrubenstein]

Honestly, you should buy a 3-4TB drive, use that to transfer the data that you want, and then use it for Time Machine afterwards.

I would personally not use Migration Assistant as it's better to start off clean, IMHO.

 

[xgman]

Personally, I just boot to the new computer and then get everything from Time Machine and have never had any trouble. Saves a lot of time and aggravation.