Restore MBP from Imac Time Machine Backup

[itommyboy]

Gang here is my situation (please no Jersey Shore jokes)....

I'm trying to drop a full iMac backup from Time Machine onto one of my older MBP. In other words I'm trying to completely restore my older MBP with a complete iMac backup. I've tried one complete restore and it looked like it was working (took about 8 hours running restore) but get nothing but gray screen "you need to restart your mac" kernel panics upon power down/reboot.

Before I keep beating my head against the wall I'm hoping you fine ladies and gentlemen can tell me if this can be done successfully?

Both machines are C2D intels. Both were upgraded to Snow Leopard. For what it's worth the first shot I took I simply migrated over what I thought I needed. This looked like it worked and appeared to be my iMac (same destkop, same app's) but I had the dreaded missing iTunes library. All my tunes and videos and iPhone info appeared in iTunes but nothing was actually there when I tried to play any music or sync. "Would you like to locate it?" Well HELL YES I WOULD LIKE TO LOCATE IT! /endshouting

My iMac was the last gen C2D (3.06 Ghz C2D ati 4850. I put Snow Leopard on it myself & Leopard was the native OS upon purchase.

My MBP is a late 2008 C2D with the 8600 GT. I also put Snow Leopard on it myself and if memory recalls correctly Tiger was the native OS when I bought it?[/I]

TIA for any useful advice and suggestions.

 

[deadwulfe]

If the only thing you were missing was your iTunes library, why can't you just copy it over from the TM backup?

 

[deadwulfe]

Also to add, your first shot with using the migration assistant, after a fresh install, is probably the best way to do it.

Sometimes updates are dependant upon the hardware used, so a TM Restore, I would think, could leave out some necessary software when restoring to a completely different machine.

 

[itommyboy]

If the only thing you were missing was your iTunes library, why can't you just copy it over from the TM backup?

It's not the only thing missing and my other reasons for doing it this way are not needed for this post/troubleshoot. Thanks for your reply and the bump though. Anyone with any useful info?

 

[deadwulfe]

I'm not prying into your business, but the only issue you had mentioned was your iTunes folder not moving over. Have you even tried my suggestion with your other secretive items you want to mention without disclosing?

 

[deadwulfe]

What about a full migration? Migrating everything since you were apparently willing to do a full restore from a backup? Have you tried that or did you want to do this some other way you've yet to mention?

 

[itommyboy]

What about a full migration? Migrating everything since you were apparently willing to do a full restore from a backup? Have you tried that or did you want to do this some other way you've yet to mention?

Please stop trolling you don't have the answer. Thanks. Bye.

 

[deadwulfe]

Heh, good luck getting a different answer. I mean it. Good luck!

 

[itommyboy]

Heh, good luck getting a different answer. I mean it. Good luck!

It's obvious you underestimate the massive and legitimate knowledge and experience of many of the fine people/users around MR. The answer will come from someone who really knows, it's just a matter of time. Again, thanks for your sincere concern and all five of your posts.

 

[itommyboy]

And the answer is...

In a desperate attempt to salvage this thread from wasteland I'm dropping in to let everyone know the answer to my question which is.....a resounding no. You can not do a complete system restore from a TM backup made on another model of computer.

For some reason the first Snow Leopard disc I ever bought is corrupt or bad, thus allowing me to attempt the complete backup restore, but it would never work. After recalling some issues I had on my first ever install of Snow Leopard with the same disc, I bought a new copy. Sure enough right off the bat it stated "you can not restore from this backup because it was made on a different model of computer". Hopefully this may help someone now or in the future. Cheers.

 

[crazyrog17]

Boot the iMac from the install disc, connect them with firewire and start the MacBook Pro in Target Disk Mode.

Use disk utility on the iMac to restore the MacBook Pro's hard drive from the image of the iMac's hard drive.

 

[itommyboy]

Boot the iMac from the install disc, connect them with firewire and start the MacBook Pro in Target Disk Mode.

Use disk utility on the iMac to restore the MacBook Pro's hard drive from the image of the iMac's hard drive.

Crazy thanks - but I no longer have the iMac. Good suggestion nonetheless. Forgot to report once I got a new copy of SL migration also worked flawlessly.

 

[deadwulfe]

Also to add, your first shot with using the migration assistant, after a fresh install, is probably the best way to do it.

Sometimes updates are dependant upon the hardware used, so a TM Restore, I would think, could leave out some necessary software when restoring to a completely different machine.

Thus making a restore a bad option, even if it did work... At least you got your answer from a DVD object instead of from a person with experience, like you wanted.

Just because my username is deadwulfe, instead of something trendy or faux-provocative, it doesn't mean I'm an idiot. I guess you're used to being judged like a book by it's cover...

Anyways, thanks for the extra posts! I'm looking forward to getting 500 so I can have an icon!