Question on migrating data

[Blaize]

I have a MBP and have used it for my business and personal use however, I recently hired a part time employee who will now use this notebook along with me. To keep things separated I (along with a lot of help from AppleCare) set up a separate user account for the employee which has been working great. However, I can no longer take this notebook on the road with me or home for personal use as it needs to be accessible to my employee and so it will stay at my office.*

To remedy this I just bought a MBA for a second computer that I will keep with me and use for business and personal use. My question is how should I migrate my data from the MBP to the MBA? Can I keep the same account/user name or should I keep 2 separate names. I would really like to keep the same computer set up for both and be able to use them both interchangeably. I already have my IPad and IPhone synced to the current MBP and it works awesome.

I am not computer/tech savvy and I couldn't find a similar question elsewhere so I hoped maybe someone here could advise me of how best to set this up. I haven't turned on or set up the new MBA yet because I wanted to wait and see if I could set these 2 computers up as one account and still use them both. Everything I have read so far assumes the old computer will be retired after the migration.

Thanks for any suggestions.*

 

[lythium]

plug your time machine drive into the MBA and click restore. done.

 

[Blaize]

Should I connect directly to the MBP or the Time Capsule before turning on the MBA?

 

[Weaselboy]

Should I connect directly to the MBP or the Time Capsule before turning on the MBA?

When you start the MBA it will start the Migration Assistant. Just point the Migration Assistant to the correct MBP backup on the Time Capsule and it will pull in your account and all data.

Ethernet wired would be faster, but the MBA does not have ethernet so no dice. If you have a compatible Firewire cable to connect the two that is fastest. Absent either of those, the Time Capsule is your best bet.

When you run Time Machine on the MBA it will create new backup set on the Time Capsule that can coexist along with the backup set from the MBP.

There will not be any problem having the same account on two machines.

 

[kqwik78]

Are you able to just swap the flash storage form the units?

That would be the easiest solution I think

 

[Blaize]

Guys, I really appreciate your help, I did as suggested and started the process and then Migration Assistant walked me through it without a hitch. I didn't have to change the name of the new computer or anything, it took about 3 hours but EVERYTHING transferred over. It was so easy and I am so relieved!!! Thanks again for helping me