I will be buying a new imac soon, replacing one that is about 5 years old for my graphic design business. I like the idea of a fresh start, and don't want to migrate everything over. I will download my adobe software, but in terms of everything else, what do I need to take with me and what stuff can I leave behind?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
When migrating old computer what should I keep?
- Thread starter Susansmac
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Heh, that tells you everything other that 'what you should migrate'.
Upgrade the existing iMac to Mavericks if you haven't already done so.
Personally I'd be inclined to migrate user accounts only, and go for clean installs of all apps. Takes longer but weeds out the junk. There's also the option to import 'other data' but finding out exactly what that includes (beyond various universal OS preferences) is next to impossible.
I also want to avoid bringing all the junk. So what does migrating just the user account include?
I would like to have my iTunes, iPhoto, contacts, calendar and safari tabs transferred over. Can that be done without upgrading to maverick?
I will download my apps and will copy files over from external.
I would like to have my iTunes, iPhoto, contacts, calendar and safari tabs transferred over. Can that be done without upgrading to maverick?
I will download my apps and will copy files over from external.
I don't think there's any benefit to a manual transfer.
Apple seem quite confident that the Mavericks Migration Assistant can handle transfers from 10.6.8 and above...
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5872
...which (if true) means that there's no need to update the OS X on your old Mac.
Migrating a user or users will transfer everything that pertains to those user/users, ie the contents of the named user folder: Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Movies, Music, Pictures etc. It also transfers the user's Library which contains all your browser information, your Mail, and all user-specific preferences for both the operating system and for individual applications.
I was being rather ambiguous when I mentioned 'other data' earlier. There should be a folder named 'Shared' within the Users folder. If this has any content you wish to keep then in addition to migrating named user you'll also want to select the 'Other files and folders' option in Migration Assistant.
The 'other data' I was warning against is actually named 'computer and network settings'. This is where the junk resides; if you have the faintest suspicion that your current system is 'wobbly' then do *not* migrate these settings, because you're very likely to be migrating the problems.
Apple seem quite confident that the Mavericks Migration Assistant can handle transfers from 10.6.8 and above...
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5872
...which (if true) means that there's no need to update the OS X on your old Mac.
Migrating a user or users will transfer everything that pertains to those user/users, ie the contents of the named user folder: Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Movies, Music, Pictures etc. It also transfers the user's Library which contains all your browser information, your Mail, and all user-specific preferences for both the operating system and for individual applications.
I was being rather ambiguous when I mentioned 'other data' earlier. There should be a folder named 'Shared' within the Users folder. If this has any content you wish to keep then in addition to migrating named user
The 'other data' I was warning against is actually named 'computer and network settings'. This is where the junk resides; if you have the faintest suspicion that your current system is 'wobbly' then do *not* migrate these settings, because you're very likely to be migrating the problems.