Moving info over to new iMac

[jw3571]

I just ordered a new iMac, i'm upgrading from my 2010 iMac. I've had another post regarding the error 36 message i'm getting on my old machine when I try to move my pictures to an external. I also have a time machine backup which i've never got a message on when doing a time machine backup. My question is, when i get the new machine and move all my pics and music over, am i going to get the error 36 message?

I've tried various things that have been recommended on the error 36 but none have worked so far. Would I be better off to take the old machine to Apple store and have them help get the new stuff over? Or should I just give it a try myself and see if I get the error? When you move stuff over, does it use a time machine backup or something else?

One other question, on my current machine I have been using Bootcamp, I don't want that on my new machine. How does that work when you're using a time machine backup?

 

[curmudgeonette]

I just ordered a new iMac, i'm upgrading from my 2010 iMac. I've had another post regarding the error 36 message i'm getting on my old machine when I try to move my pictures to an external. I also have a time machine backup which i've never got a message on when doing a time machine backup. My question is, when i get the new machine and move all my pics and music over, am i going to get the error 36 message?

Control-click on you photo library, and choose "show package contents". If you drill down several folder levels, you'll find your original photos. At this point, at minimum, you can recover the photos, but you'll lose the organization.

Because you have an external drive, you can now try dragging all the package "contents" to the external. Because it is no longer an opaque package, the Finder will tell you which files(s) have an error. The Finder also can keep copying all files that don't have an error - it won't abort the whole copy when there is an error.

If you find the problem file(s), you can now look in your Time Machine backups for a non-damaged copy of that file. This may let you fix your photo library such that a normal Finder copy of the whole thing will succeed.

 

[driftless]

I prefer to do clean installs. It helps to have all of your data organized.

 

[jw3571]

What exactly does a clean install mean? Sorry, I've never done this before.

 

[driftless]

A clean install is when you do not use Migration Assistant or other programs to set up your new Mac. You would set up your email accounts yourself as well configure your WiFi. You would then download new versions of your apps from the app store or elsewhere and finally move over your content. The reason to do this is have apps that are configured to the new Mac and not to move over extraneous system junk.

 

[jw3571]

That may be the way to go, i'm a little worried about getting the error 36 message, but I guess that would happen either way.

 

[trsblader]

That may be the way to go, i'm a little worried about getting the error 36 message, but I guess that would happen either way.

So I don't know much about the specific error, but I did a quick search and saw "The problem is observed when folders from a Windows-compatible volume get moved to a Mac and then back again. The dreaded “Error Code -36″ message is the result. If you are experiencing this problem, you can run a simple dot_clean utility to remove the hidden "dot-underscore" files from your flash drive or memory card." If this is your error, then just restoring from your most recent backup, or even doing a clean install and manually transferring the file, likely won't prevent the error. You'd need to either find and fix the folder in question, or go through your backups until you hopefully find an old enough version that doesn't have the issue. curmudgeonette's idea may help find the problem.

If that's your error, this link (http://osxdaily.com/2015/02/21/fix-error-code-36-finder-mac-os-x/) may help once you find the folder(s) with problems. I've never used this command or had this problem before, so the link is just for reference. I can't tell you if that actually works or not.

If that's not the error you're getting though, just ignore this message lol. You can almost certainly find help on this forum though if you want to if you search or make a new topic on the exact error you're getting.