Upgrading Manually (from SL to Mavericks)

[danqi]

I finally want to upgrade my Mac Pro from Snow Leopard to Mavericks. (I had not done so earlier because of compatibility issues with the software that I need for work and lethargy)

Since I have a decade's worth of clutter on there, I want to perform a clean install and then a manual migration. I don't want to forget anything or mess something up on the way though (emails, iTunes sync data, etc.), so I am wondering if there are any good resources with advice on how to best approach this task. Also, are there any checklist on what to move? I don't want to forget something important that is hidden away somewhere in a library folder, etc.

Thanks!

 

[Bear]

When you use the Migration Assistant (suggest you do this when the initial OS boot asks as that makes for the cleanest copy) it allows you to specify what you want to migrate. If you select Users and optionally Settings it will pull in most of what you want and ignore most of what you don't want. You will then have to install Applications and you may need to look at "Other files and folders" to recover some stuff.

This method insures that iTunes, email and such is intact.

I've used this method and it works well.

 

[danqi]

I have used this method before, too. But what bothers me about it, is that it will transfer all the clutter in my library folders and maybe other places.