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Transferring files to a new mac, with a twist...

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physicsdude1

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 30, 2006
36
0
I am using an Intel MacBook Pro.

I will be starting a new job soon and I will have to leave this computer with my current employer. My new employer will buy me another MacBook Pro.

Here's my dilemma: I have to give up the old computer before I get the new computer.

Question 1: What's the best way to transfer everything from my old computer to my new computer?

If only I had the new and the old computer at the same time I could easily use the Migration Assistant. On the other hand, I've done some reasearch and I've found that a .Mac account will let you do a backup, but I don't know the extent of what it will backup.

Question 2: Is there any way to make a full disk image back of my whole hard drive onto an external hard drive so that when I get my new computer I can just firewire the external hard drive to my new computer and use Migration Assistant to import everything?

Thanks for your help.
 
Question 2 will be your best bet. But an external with at least enough size to clone the current Mac. Use SuperDuper or CarbonCopyCloner to clone the current Mac to the drive. Then use Migtration Assistant to move the data from the external to the new computer.
 
yellow said:
Use SuperDuper or CarbonCopyCloner to clone the current Mac to the drive. Then use Migtration Assistant to move the data from the external to the new computer.
Click to expand...

Great, thanks for the info. I looked up CarbonCopyCloner and it says it is built for PowerPC. I've had issues using Rosetta in the past (though most likely the application I was running was not-so-well-written software). Do you have a preference for one or the other of SuperDuper or CarbonCopyCloner.
 
Frankly I prefer SuperDuper!. The cloning process is a long one, and if one pays for SuperDuper! (it clones fantastically at the free pricepoint), one unlocks the schedule and incremental backup features. It's well worth the cost, IMO.

CCC was the first, and it works quite well, but since I started using SD, I never went back to CCC.
 
Just throwing this out there, but I'm assuming you want to pull stuff off of the old work computer because it's personal. If that's the case, I'll just throw out a reminder to reformat your old drive, or at least delete and write over your personal stuff before returning it.

I've used an application called iWipe before, which does a nice job of securely deleting empty space on a disk.
 
emw said:
Just throwing this out there, but I'm assuming you want to pull stuff off of the old work computer because it's personal. If that's the case, I'll just throw out a reminder to reformat your old drive, or at least delete and write over your personal stuff before returning it.

I've used an application called iWipe before, which does a nice job of securely deleting empty space on a disk.
Click to expand...

Yes, indeed this is the case. Plus, I've installed a lot of software that will most likely be not necessary for the next user. I have the OS X disks, so I was going to re-format my hard drive and re-install the operating system before returning the computer. I was under the impression that this would clean off the hard drive. Is this not the case?
 
physicsdude1 said:
Ok. Will do. Will the Apple reformatting software give me an option to overwrite the whole disk with zeros?
Click to expand...

Disk Utility will do this - including several stronger options. It also allows erasing of free space, which may work just as well as the iWipe software. Plus, it's free.
 
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