New Computer from Old Computer

[plutnicki]

Not sure which forum this belongs in, but there seems to be a ton of people buying new computers here. I'm going to be upgrading from my 1Ghz TiBook to a new BlackBook in a week or so when it shows up. I read about re-installing OS X to maximize my disk space, so I'm going to try that. Also, I've read about booting the TiBook up in target disk mode (hold 't' while booting). I think I can get all of my music and photos and docs in a straigtforward way, since I know where the libraries are.

BUT.

Where are all of the other preferences stored? Safari bookmarks, Address book data, iCal data, widget prefs, etc... Are there things I can just copy over to pick up all those things? Tried searching the forums, but I think maybe I'm just not hitting the right words to get this info.

Are there any hardcoded paths (i.e. if my new user account doesn't have exactly the same name as my old user account on the TiBook?)

If there's a more appropriate forum or FAQ, let me know. Thx.

 

[mad jew]

Migration Assistant (in the Utilities folder) should transfer all of these for you. Since you're going from a PPC machine to an Intel machine, I would do a clean install of all third party apps and their associated preferences though.

 

[plutnicki]

Yeah

Yeah, the third party apps I'll definitely do (mostly I just use MS Office apps and Thunderbird for work e-mail, along with the iApps).

I'll check out Migration Assistant. Never looked at this since this is my first Apple - Apple upgrade.

 

[iGary]

The migration assistant is the work of the devil.

 

[mad jew]

Yeah, I do it all manually too. It's okay, but I trust myself marginally more than an app.

 

[h0e0h]

i used my iDisk when i got my mac mini at Christmas for preferences, bookmarks, etc, and used wi-fi for all the music, photos, etc... *btw, BAD idea, it took forever* cause i didn't have a 6pin to 6pin FW cable.

 

[CanadaRAM]

You shouldn't have to reinstall the OS. You can use monolingual or deLocalizer to remove foreign language resources, and manually throw out applications if you don;t need them.

 

[plutnicki]

I guess

I could use the iDisk too. I guess my question is, where are all those preferences stored (bookmarks, addressbook, etc...)? I'm assuming the "migration assistant" knows where those things are located, and I'm not opposed to doing it manually, but I don't know where those files are...

Thx,

 

[mad jew]

Most preference files are kept in the folder named Preferences in your Home folder's Library. However, many of the other files you request are kept elsewhere. Safari bookmarks can be exported (File menu) and then reimported on the new machine. Similarly, iCal and Address Book data can be Backed Up (File menu again) and the Reverted To on the new machine.

I think that in this circumstance, Migration Assistant would be a good place to start. It has it's faults, but it should manage to transfer your basic settings relatively easily.