Upgraded to new MBP. What software is tied to the old machine?

[steffi]

So, Just was wondering if everybody knows which services won't work after using Migration Assistant to transfer data from old machine to new machine.

So far two things needed fixing.

1. Microsoft Home and Business 2021 needed reactivation
2. X.app wasn't working. Had to sign remove my account and reenter it.

Anything else that's typically tied to the old machine that breaks after migrating to new machine?

 

[raythompsontn]

Those apps are not tied to the old machine. The activation information is stored somewhere on the system that is not restored with migration assistant. Other than having to reactivate some software there is really nothing that is “tied” to the old machine in the Apple world. Adobe products may need to have the old computer removed from the logged in computers that Adobe stores on their servers. Other apps may do the same thing. Just deal with them when you use them. The apps are tied to the user, not the machine.

 

[steffi]

Those apps are not tied to the old machine. The activation information is stored somewhere on the system that is not restored with migration assistant. Other than having to reactivate some software there is really nothing that is “tied” to the old machine in the Apple world. Adobe products may need to have the old computer removed from the logged in computers that Adobe stores on their servers. Other apps may do the same thing. Just deal with them when you use them. The apps are tied to the user, not the machine.

Yeah that's what I meant. In so far as there's state local to the old machine that didn't get picked up with Migration Assistant. Is it known what isn't picked up? I'm surprised I had errors upon startup with X.app after migration.

 

[raythompsontn]

Is it known what isn't picked up?

Probably not. I have had to reactivate MSOffice even though I did not change machines. ACDSee did not like the new machine and I had to reactivate. Of course, there was Adobe products. When I changed machines I just went through all the non-Apple apps and tried them. I don’t know if the apps use the machine serial number, or some kind of checksum like Windows, to check, and if the number changes, force reactivation.

 

[PotentPeas]

Most software like this will use system-specific identifiers, so of course the software will not register as "activated" if you use it on a different system, even after a full transfer or disk clone.

If you could just copy activation data from one system to another and have that work, it would be trivial to bypass the activation "feature" — once someone locates the "your activation is all set!" file, everyone would be just sharing that around.

I'd check on any paid software that you have that you didn't pay for through the App Store. Some might work fine if it is just a simple serial number check, but software that needs online activation will probably need some messing with.