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srowndedbyh2o

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 28, 2009
145
1
Hawaii
I know this subject has been discussed many times, but I’m still not sure about it.
I will be purchasing a new iMac. An independent Apple authorized store has recently opened in my town, and since their prices are the same as the online Apple Store, I figured I’d support them with my business. My old iMac is a Power PC G5. The store told me that it is not wise to use the migration assistant to move information from my old iMac to my new iMac because it will move everything, and it can cause a lot of problems moving info from a Power PC iMac to an Intel iMac. They have offered (for a fee) to help me with the transition. However I’d prefer to save the $$ and attempt the job myself.
I would like to keep the new iMac as “clean” as possible, so I’d like to start using the new iMac with whatever default settings it comes with for System Preferences, etc., and I won’t be moving any applications. I just need info like Safari bookmarks, address book, mail accounts, keychain, photos in iPhoto, and music, etc. in iTunes.
I seem to remember reading somewhere that the migrations assistant can be used to move selected items, and does not have to move “everything”.

I’m also a bit nervous about using Migration assistant as I keep reading about computers freezing up and then having to do clean installs, and trying again.
If I had to do a clean install, what would happen to the preinstalled software like iWorks?

Can/should I use the migration assistant for those few items I want to move, or should I just drag and drop files from one computer to the other?

Should I connect the computers together via firewire, or should I save the info from my old mac to something like a USB flash drive, then plug the drive into the new mac, then drag and drop?

My old iMac has FireWire 400, the new iMac FireWire 800. Will the same cable work with both iMacs or will I need an adapter?

If you have read all the way through this post, Thank You.

If you can help, then I Thank You Very Much!
 
I migrated from a PPC mini to an Intel iMac 24" last August. I didn't bother with migration assistant; I had them both on my house lan and just moved over stuff that I wanted to keep. It took me perhaps 30 minutes and I didn't have to worry about moving extraneous stuff or messing things up.
 
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