Upgrading from 13 MBP to 15 MBP soon, need advice on backing/restoring data

[eyeyen]

Hi, long time lurker, first time poster.

I have gone through and searched for this, but I'm still not sure about the best way to go about this.

I have a 13 MBP I use for work and play, so I have my life basically on here. I have also installed packages via macports (which installs files not in ~/), so I want to be able to save these as well.

Most of my data is in my home directory (~/) but I was trying to think of the best way to go about restoring my data from my 13 to my 15.

1) Backup data via external hard drive, via either Time Machine, and then use Mac Migration assistant to restore my files.

2) Use Carbon Copy Cloner to make an exact 1:1 copy of my hard drive and restore it. My problem is here my 13 has a 250GB hard drive and I am going to throw in a Seagate Momentus XT 500 GB then try to restore my setup. My uncertainty is I'm not sure how that works from a 250GB -> 500GB in terms of CCC.

3) Just throw in the Momentus XT, and use a fresh install of OSX. Then just manually re-install everything (brute force). This would be time consuming, and I would have to re-set everything up.

Please note that I haven't used Time Machine yet or CCC, because I just got an external hard drive off Newegg.

My goal is just to migrate to the 15, everything in tact and with little or no setup. I want my username to be the same as well (eyeyen). Any advice is appreciated, thank you!

 

[lewis82]

You can't just clone it because it is not the same model of computer. The drivers are not the same.

Your best bet would be to use Apple migration assistant.

 

[TopHatPlus]

the easiest way to do this is time machine + migration assist, it is SO easy

1 - run a time machine backup, please note this is a complete backup including text documents, browser history, widgets and EVERYTHING you have, it will back it up the the exact KB of data you have on your hard drive.

2 - when you set up your new computer it will ask if you want to run the os or restore using existing files, thats allowing you to run migration assist from the word go, or you can just run it as the os and then run migration assist its completely up to you, but after a few hours of data transfer you will never know you switched computer except for the size and new features =D it is truly that amazing and easy to do =D

you could migrate from mac to mac, but you should ALWAYS have a full back up anyways and you can get it backed up and ready for the new computer, + you can use migration assistant on the new computer while you are using the old one pending you are keeping it =D

 

[eyeyen]

the easiest way to do this is time machine + migration assist, it is SO easy

1 - run a time machine backup, please note this is a complete backup including text documents, browser history, widgets and EVERYTHING you have, it will back it up the the exact KB of data you have on your hard drive.

2 - when you set up your new computer it will ask if you want to run the os or restore using existing files, thats allowing you to run migration assist from the word go, or you can just run it as the os and then run migration assist its completely up to you, but after a few hours of data transfer you will never know you switched computer except for the size and new features =D it is truly that amazing and easy to do =D

you could migrate from mac to mac, but you should ALWAYS have a full back up anyways and you can get it backed up and ready for the new computer, + you can use migration assistant on the new computer while you are using the old one pending you are keeping it =D

Sweet, so even if files are not in my home directory (~/) it'll copy that over as well? Macports installs files to /opt/local so I just want to be able to use those packages as well. This is great news, I appreciate this, I was really stressing over this.

You can't just clone it because it is not the same model of computer. The drivers are not the same.

Your best bet would be to use Apple migration assistant.

Thanks, I didn't know that the models had to be the same, I appreciate the heads up!

By the way, I forgot to ask this, but when installing the Momentus XT, just slap that in first, and put in the supplied system disc to boot up Disk Utility and re-install OSX on that (something like that) ?

I want to just remove the stock 500GB when I get the 15 and install the Momentus.

 

[TopHatPlus]

i did my first backup with time machine i had 139 GB on my 160 GB hard drive, it backed up 139 GB =D, i had added a few files and what not but my time machine had backed itself up within 1 hour of my hard drive failing, i purchased a 500 GB western digital HDD for $78 from tiger direct. Removed my old hard drive, installed the new one, got it all put back together and put in a Snow Leopard upgrade disk it installed the full OS and got everything registered and setup, plugged in my external hard drive, initiated migration assistance, and it took like 4 hours to transfer 152 GB of stuff, cause i had added some HD video before my drive crashed and did a compute restart and it was as though i never had a hard drive fail =D, i was truly impressed with how seamless it all went, when i get my new macbook pro in 2 days i will not be doing migration assist because all i want it my iphoto/itunes libraries the rest i want to start fresh start without all the junk i have accumulated =D haha a full migration is always an option though =D

 

[eyeyen]

i did my first backup with time machine i had 139 GB on my 160 GB hard drive, it backed up 139 GB =D, i had added a few files and what not but my time machine had backed itself up within 1 hour of my hard drive failing, i purchased a 500 GB western digital HDD for $78 from tiger direct. Removed my old hard drive, installed the new one, got it all put back together and put in a Snow Leopard upgrade disk it installed the full OS and got everything registered and setup, plugged in my external hard drive, initiated migration assistance, and it took like 4 hours to transfer 152 GB of stuff, cause i had added some HD video before my drive crashed and did a compute restart and it was as though i never had a hard drive fail =D, i was truly impressed with how seamless it all went, when i get my new macbook pro in 2 days i will not be doing migration assist because all i want it my iphoto/itunes libraries the rest i want to start fresh start without all the junk i have accumulated =D haha a full migration is always an option though =D

I see. Last November I switch from PC -> Mac. I've been super paranoid about my data, because usually with Windows, I just install a fresh copy, and re-install everything, and just copy my media over. Just used to that strategy, that's why I was skeptical and unsure about backing up and restoring everything.

I guess Apple has really made it easy to make it very seamless when transitioning from Mac to Mac which is a big win!

 

[lewis82]

Thanks, I didn't know that the models had to be the same, I appreciate the heads up!

By the way, I forgot to ask this, but when installing the Momentus XT, just slap that in first, and put in the supplied system disc to boot up Disk Utility and re-install OSX on that (something like that) ?

I want to just remove the stock 500GB when I get the 15 and install the Momentus.

Yup. You only have to put the DVD in the drive at boot, and then hold either the C key (that will boot directly from the DVD drive) or the option key (that will let you choose which drive to boot from, in your case, the DVD only). Booting from the DVD is long, don't be surprised. I don't know if you will need to format it manually or if it will do it automatically, but just in case, choose HFS+ (journaled), with GUID partition table as the partition scheme.

EDIT: I think HFS+ is called Mac OS Extended in disk utility.

 

[eyeyen]

Yup. You only have to put the DVD in the drive at boot, and then hold either the C key (that will boot directly from the DVD drive) or the option key (that will let you choose which drive to boot from, in your case, the DVD only). Booting from the DVD is long, don't be surprised. I don't know if you will need to format it manually or if it will do it automatically, but just in case, choose HFS+ (journaled), with GUID partition table as the partition scheme.

EDIT: I think HFS+ is called Mac OS Extended in disk utility.

Nice, now I just need it to come in already so I can do this.

BTW, will I be able to use the same external/Time Machine backup hard drive to do future Time Machine backups of the 15, or should I wipe that external, and start from scratch?

Did Apple think of that? If so, damn, they think of everything.

 

[TopHatPlus]

sort of >_< but no, once you migrate it will then start a fresh backup for the new computer, remember it is a new model with different drivers and different features so it should have it own backup, i am running a 2 TB on my mac and i will have both my computers being backed up into 1 hard drive.

if you have not already you can get everything backed up and ready for the new hard drive/ computer, once it gets in you migrate and replace the hard drive and then install the os and migrate again =D haha i love my macs and after owning one will NEVER go back to PC >_<

 

[lewis82]

I don't know for that last part, unfortunately. I guess you will be obliged to wipe it, since you can back up several computers on the same drive. Wait until all the data has successfullybeen migrated to wipe the external drive, and just to be sure, wipe the other laptop's drive only after the TM backup is done.

 

[philosopherdog]

What it will do is detect that you have a new machine. It will prompt you to this effect warning you that you will not be able to restore backups on the old machine. But then what it does it make a backup of everything on the new drive on top of the old backup, but not incrementally. So it's probably a good idea to wipe the backup disk out and start fresh once you're sure you have a working file system.

Nice, now I just need it to come in already so I can do this.

BTW, will I be able to use the same external/Time Machine backup hard drive to do future Time Machine backups of the 15, or should I wipe that external, and start from scratch?

Did Apple think of that? If so, damn, they think of everything.

 

[ljx718]

i would just start as new. i do this every couple of mouths. i have 4 external Hard drives and keep everything importnant on there.

 

[Rithem]

i would just start as new. i do this every couple of mouths. i have 4 external Hard drives and keep everything importnant on there.

Why do you do this? I just don't understand it. Getting all of my settings/everything else back in order would just be annoying imo.

 

[davidlv]

Backup strategy

I see. Last November I switch from PC -> Mac. I've been super paranoid about my data, because usually with Windows, I just install a fresh copy, and re-install everything, and just copy my media over. Just used to that strategy, that's why I was skeptical and unsure about backing up and restoring everything.
I guess Apple has really made it easy to make it very seamless when transitioning from Mac to Mac which is a big win!

Talking about using Migration Assistant and Time Machine: Of course, everyone who had a succesful experience will praise Apple's method, and I agree in most cases it will work just fine.
However, that is still putting all your eggs in one basket, the time machine backup. So where are you if there is a HD error on that drive when you try to restore from the Time machine backup? Uppps.
Just to be safe, have at least two separate copies of at least your irreplacible files. Setting and such can be redone, but once data loss strikes you are SOL!
USB Drive cases are available for 10-20 bucks and there is a good selection of cheap HD drives too, which you can always use for backup and file transfer purposes later, so I think it is well worth the extra trouble to have an extra drive with a CCC clone of your resent drive- just in case.

 

[TopHatPlus]

Why do you do this? I just don't understand it. Getting all of my settings/everything else back in order would just be annoying imo.

agreed. i spent year working on this, but i will be starting mostly new with my new computer, but once i get it going its going, no OS restores until its absolutely needed =D

and yes have more then 1 backup would be recommended and you could probably borrow a friends hard drive until you get both computers running the way you want and backed up, but time machine is pretty fool proof

 

[eyeyen]

Just to be safe, have at least two separate copies of at least your irreplacible files. Setting and such can be redone, but once data loss strikes you are SOL!
USB Drive cases are available for 10-20 bucks and there is a good selection of cheap HD drives too, which you can always use for backup and file transfer purposes later, so I think it is well worth the extra trouble to have an extra drive with a CCC clone of your resent drive- just in case.

Definitely will test to make sure everything is working. I appreciate the heads up, as you can't trust everything right?

and yes have more then 1 backup would be recommended and you could probably borrow a friends hard drive until you get both computers running the way you want and backed up, but time machine is pretty fool proof

Thanks for the input. The more I'm thinking about this, I might just do a fresh install and restore everything from scratch. It might save me some room.

I'll post up in a few weeks once I get it all situated as I'm still waiting for the 15 in the mail! Woo hoo!

 

[TopHatPlus]

haha for sure, i get mine in 2 days =D lmk if you have any other questions

 

[sbddude]

Why not connect the two machines with firewire and use the migration assistant that way? With that method, you don't need an external HD or Time Machine.

 

[fenderbass146]

Hi, long time lurker, first time poster.

I have gone through and searched for this, but I'm still not sure about the best way to go about this.

I have a 13 MBP I use for work and play, so I have my life basically on here. I have also installed packages via macports (which installs files not in ~/), so I want to be able to save these as well.

Most of my data is in my home directory (~/) but I was trying to think of the best way to go about restoring my data from my 13 to my 15.

1) Backup data via external hard drive, via either Time Machine, and then use Mac Migration assistant to restore my files.

2) Use Carbon Copy Cloner to make an exact 1:1 copy of my hard drive and restore it. My problem is here my 13 has a 250GB hard drive and I am going to throw in a Seagate Momentus XT 500 GB then try to restore my setup. My uncertainty is I'm not sure how that works from a 250GB -> 500GB in terms of CCC.

3) Just throw in the Momentus XT, and use a fresh install of OSX. Then just manually re-install everything (brute force). This would be time consuming, and I would have to re-set everything up.

Please note that I haven't used Time Machine yet or CCC, because I just got an external hard drive off Newegg.

My goal is just to migrate to the 15, everything in tact and with little or no setup. I want my username to be the same as well (eyeyen). Any advice is appreciated, thank you!

I don't know if I am making this 2 easy, but why don't you just pull your harddrive out of your old unit and pop it in the new one? Also if that doesnt work you can clone a drive on mac. Drivers don't matter since the OS has all the drivers for all intel macs anyway. I just upgraded from a 13" to 15" and just swapped the HDD. However not that I am thinking about it you probly will have a bigger HDD in your pro then in your 13 in.

In my case my 13 had a 500gb and my 15 had a 320.