What does Migration Assistant really do?

[hajime]

Hello. My new MBP i7 (with Snow Leopard installed) should arrive soon. Before I got rid of my old SR MBP (running Leopard), I used TM to backup the computer to an external drive. In addition, I used an extra external drive and Super Duper to clone the laptop. I read many posts that one could do selective migration to move the files to the new machine. I have a few questions:

1. I wonder the differences between using this method vs. drag-and-drop the folders from TM or Super Duper's backups.

2. Is selective migration able to transfer the settings while just the drag-and-drop approach does not? Does it get confused sometimes by transferring old settings from Leopard to Snow Leopard? Please note that I am talking about transferring settings from a 3-year old machine to a new machine with more advanced hardware.

3. I also used WinClone to clone the Bootcamp partition. Given that the new machine has more advanced hardware, I wonder if reinstalling Windows and 3rd party applications manually are required.

4. I think that when the users install applications under Windows, some of the system files are modified automatically. How about installing applications under Mac OS X? It looks like, at least on the surface, the applications are installed in the Application or Utility folder. The installers do not seem to modify the system files. Is that right?

5. Is it better to install all the applications fresh from the installation discs than just drag-and-drop the applications from TM/Super Duper backups to the Application and Utility folders of the new machine? Shall I use Migration Assistant of TM instead?

Thanks.

 

[satcomer]

I would only use Migration for you Music & Pictures. Download the applications again and get the latest 10.6.x updates for those applications. Plus consult the Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard compatibility table to make sure you have the latest 10.6.x versions.

When you bring in the Music folder open iTunes and hunt around in the iTunes Application's menu items for "Consolidate Library" and let iTunes get all the music, meta-data base.

 

[spinnerlys]

1. Migration Assistant does it automatically. Drag and drop needs your attention on what goes where, and often you might have to enter your password again and again.

2. Both are able to do the same, but MA does it automatically. Drag and drop needs your attention on what goes where, and often you might have to enter your password again and again.

3. Some installations (the ones where you have to enter your account password) write additional files and folders into the Library folders or the Library / Application Support folders on Macintosh HD / and Macintosh HD / Users / YOU /.
As those folders are needed by the system, a change in its structure has to be verified by you via entering your user account (admin account) password. But there is no registry or something similar.

4. Depends on the applications. Drag and drop applications can be dragged and dropped again, complex installations might be circumvented via Migration Assistant.


Have you looked at the dozens of already existing threads via the help of MRoogle?

 

[hajime]

I would only use Migration for you Music & Pictures. Download the applications again and get the latest 10.6.x updates for those applications. Plus consult the Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard compatibility table to make sure you have the latest 10.6.x versions.

When you bring in the Music folder open iTunes and hunt around in the iTunes Application's menu items for "Consolidate Library" and let iTunes get all the music, meta-data base.

Thanks. In the past, I got some repeated music files spreading across the hard drive. I did "Consolidate Library" but it looked like it did not work quite well. Anyway, I only have a few music and video files copied to my iPodTouch. In this case, I should not plug in my IPT to the new machine until I have transferred all the stuffs from the backup to the new computer. Am I right?

 

[satcomer]

Thanks. In the past, I got some repeated music files spreading across the hard drive. I did "Consolidate Library" but it looked like it did not work quite well. Anyway, I only have a few music and video files copied to my iPodTouch. In this case, I should not plug in my IPT to the new machine until I have transferred all the stuffs from the backup to the new computer. Am I right?

Yes. Don't plug it into the new computer until you get all the music and meta-data (copy the whole Music folder) showing up in the new Mac's iTunes.