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Thoughts on migrating to a new Mac

By | February 15, 2009, 9:00pm PST

Some tips from my experience migrating from a MacBook Pro (Penryn 2.4) to the new “unibody” MBP 15-inch. When migrating your data from one Mac to another there are three methods.

A real assistant: step-by-step instructionsMigration Assistant
Apple’s Migration Assistant software (pictured) is by far the easiest method to migrate to a new Mac and should be used whenever possible. It’s the little wizard the pops up at first boot and after installing a new version of the Mac OS. It’s convenient and usually the best way to go. I wrote about Migration Assistant in MacBook Migration Strategies.

Nuke and Pave
Code for wiping a hard drive, installing Mac OS X and then installing all your applications fresh. This method is the cleanest and best, but it also takes the most time. If you’re having major software trouble or carrying a bunch of legacy code from machine to machine, this may be your best option. Rob Parker details a good clean install strategy on his blog that I recommend following. Personally, I’m going to wait until Snow Leopard to do my next N+P

Hard Drive Transfer
When I get a new MacBook I typically prefer to physically move my HDD from the older to the newer model. A physical hard drive migration is arguably the easiest method (29 screws notwithstanding) to get your data onto a new machine, however there’s one caveat and it’s a doozy.

Even though your new Mac may look like it’s running the same version of OS X as your old one, Apple ships a custom version of OS X that is designed specifically for the new hardware. Simply dropping the HDD from your previous MBP into the new model probably won’t work – at least not well. In this case you should run an Archive and Install from the new Mac’s install DVD by clicking on “options” on the first screen of the installer. This installs a completely new version of OS X, then puts back your preferences.

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Topics

Hard Drive, Apple Macintosh, Apple MacBook, Hard Drive Migration, Apple Mac OS X, Desktops, Operating Systems, Software, Apple Mac OS, Hardware, Jason D. O'Grady

Jason O'Grady is a journalist and author specializing in mobile technology. He has published six books on Apple and mobile gadgets and his PowerPage blog has been publishing for over 15 years.

Disclosure

Jason D. O'Grady

Jason D. O'Grady is the creator and editor of O'Grady's PowerPage, which has been publishing mobile technology news since 1995. He maintains an advertising relationship with the following legacy advertisers on the PowerPage:

  • Amazon Associates
  • Google Adsense
  • Tekserve

    • Advertising on the PowerPage is brokered by a third-party agency (BackBeat Media) and he recuses himself from these negotiations.

Biography

Jason D. O'Grady

Jason D. O'Grady developed an affinity for Apple computers after using the original Lisa, and this affinity turned into a bona-fide obsession when he got the original 128 KB Macintosh in 1984.

He started writing one of the first Web sites about Apple (O'Grady's PowerPage) in 1995 and is considered to be one of the fathers of blogging. He has been a frequent speaker at the Macworld Expo conference and a member of the conference faculty. He also co-founded the first dedicated PowerBook User Group (PPUG) in the United States.

After winning a major legal battle with Apple in 2006, he set the precedent that independent journalists are entitled to the same protections under the First Amendment as members of the mainstream media.

O'Grady is the author of The Nexus One Pocket Guide, The Droid Pocket Guide, The Google Phone Pocket Guide, and The Garmin nuvi Pocket Guide (Peachpit Press), the author of Corporations That Changed the World: Apple Inc. (Greenwood Press), and a contributor to The Mac Bible (Peachpit Press). In addition, he has contributed to numerous Mac publications over the years, including MacWEEK, Macworld, and MacPower (Japan).

When he's not writing about Apple for ZDNet at The Apple Core, he enjoys spending time with his family in New Jersey.

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RE: Thoughts on migrating to a new Mac
jackson1984-24316069205748857739440257893812 10th Oct
Odd but only 50% the submit is opening up for me. Is that this the net website or my above the net browser. Really should nfl jerseys truly I restart my internet browser?
View in thread
0 Votes
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One caveat about migration
DannyO_0x98 15th Feb 2009
The new 15 inch MBP has only a Firewire 800 cable, so you are likely to
need a FW400 to FW800 cable (which you'll be using later as you connect
external storage, etc.)

Migration may be done over the network, but I found it too slow.
0 Votes
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Connect an ethernet cable
frgough Updated - 16th Feb 2009
to the ethernet port on each machine (ethernet them together). Gigabit
ethernet makes the migration pretty fast.
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FW400 to FW800 cable
schutzphoto 7th Sep 2009
where can you buy a FW400 to FW800 cable because I just bought a new
24 inch I mac and I was previously using a older I mac and I didn't realize
the change in firewire until I received the system and went to plug in a
western digital hardrive and found that the connection had changed.
stupid me for not researching better- thanks and aloha

Bobby Schutz
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In other words ....
ShadeTree Updated - 16th Feb 2009
... Jason dispels the rumours that Macs just work!

"If you're having major software trouble or carrying a bunch of legacy code from machine to machine, this may be your best option."

and

"Even though your new Mac may look like it's running the same version of OS X as your old one, Apple ships a custom version of OS X that is designed specifically for the new hardware."

It would appear that the Mac suffers from many of the same woes as the PC.
0 Votes
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Nope
frgough 16th Feb 2009
Jason just shows he doesn't know Macs all that well. Migration Assistant
is all you need. Nuke and Pave is a habit learned from the Windows
world.
0 Votes
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re: Nope
Badgered 17th Feb 2009
Jason just shows he doesn't know Macs all that well. Migration Assistant is all you need.

It sounds to me like he knows it fairly well.

Apple?s Migration Assistant software (pictured) is by far the easiest method to migrate to a new Mac and should be used whenever possible. It?s the little wizard the pops up at first boot and after installing a new version of the Mac OS. It?s convenient and usually the best way to go.
0 Votes
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Not quite
winski 16th Feb 2009
It's not actually a custom version of OS X that is designed specifically for
the new hardware. What he really runs into is that the media that is
delivered with a new Mac has an installer for OS X that recognizes the
type of hardware. If you get OS X on a DVD for your Macbook, you can't
use it to install OS X on your iMac.

As far as legacy code, you've got to be kidding. What's he running, old OS
8 code? Not likely.

Shadetree, if this is the best you can come up with to compare OS X to
Windows, you are a sad little man.
0 Votes
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The best part is I didn't come up with it.
ShadeTree 17th Feb 2009
Jason did. Unlike you koolaid drinkers he seems to present a more balanced view.
0 Votes
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Nice Try!
ShadeTree 16th Feb 2009
Of course you offer nothing in the way of support for your contention. I do know he has been blogging about this subject since 1995 so he probly knows something about it.
0 Votes
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Trivial Stuff...
Brich Updated - 16th Feb 2009
I've been using Migration Assistant for a number of years now, and never
have needed to Nuke and Repave to have a new machine run fast and
reliably. I just finished migrating from a PB G4 (PPC) to a refurbed Penryn
MacBook 2.4 (Intel). It was a piece of cake. Unless your existing install is
already mucked up, then Migration Assistant, IME, is quite adequate and
reliable....ymmv.
0 Votes
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If my contention was that ....
ShadeTree 17th Feb 2009
... Apple systems get mucked up too, how does your saying "Unless your existing install is already mucked up, then Migration Assistant, IME, is quite adequate and
reliable....ymmv." refute it?
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Your Contention..
Brich Updated - 17th Feb 2009
that Macs can get mucked up has nothing to do with it. For the vast
majority of Mac users (and, I mean VAST), Migration Assistant or Archive
and Install (both are very easy steps) get the migration job done. Nuke
and Pave is an extreme step that sources from the Windows world, and is
almost NEVER necessary on a Mac.
0 Votes
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It was suggested by the author....
ShadeTree Updated - 17th Feb 2009
... not me and has been confirmed by at least one Apple user in the replies. Your arguement is with them.
0 Votes
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You...
Brich 17th Feb 2009
were defending the author in one of your responses above. My (and
other's) observations are based on years of daily hands-on use of Macs
and PCs, which inform our 'arguments' on the matter. May we all assume
that your observations are similarly grounded?
0 Votes
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You may assume that I have ....
ShadeTree 17th Feb 2009
BSEE and BSCS degrees and that I work for a PC OEM. You may also know that magnetic media is prone to data corruption over time and there is no magic formula that precludes Apple from that phenomina. You may also know that your experience is a drop in the bucket when compared to the millions of users who may not share your same experiences.
0 Votes
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@ShadeTree
Axsimulate 18th Feb 2009
"You may also know that magnetic media is prone to data corruption over time and there is no magic formula that precludes Apple from that phenomina."

You are correct that Macs are not ammune. However, you should know that all Intel Macs use EFI. And with EFI comes GUID (GPT) partition table. GPT provides partition table redundancy, that combined with Journaling that OS X provides, the data on the disk have greater integrity and less prone to error than the BIOS/MBR combination that the vast majority of PCs use.
0 Votes
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In logic, your argument is known
frgough 16th Feb 2009
as an appeal to authority. Jason has nothing in way of support for his
contention either, except lots of years apparently giving bad advice.

Jason is promulgating a myth that nuke and pave is the best method, and
I can guarantee it came over from the Windows world.

When upgrading, archive and install is all you need. When moving your
data to a new machine, migration assistant is all you need. It's the same
nonsense that makes people declare you need to fix permissions every
time you do something to your OS X box.
0 Votes
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It seems the Windows folk...
storm14k 16th Feb 2009
...want so badly for everyone's experiences to be as bad as theirs. If they were though most of us that have left would never have done so.
0 Votes
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Yes, but...
Jeff Dickey 16th Feb 2009
...most Windows usees haven't ever seriously used anything else (DOS notwithstanding). Couple that with the prevailing attitude in most reasonably functional Windows shops that "change" (and its close kin, non-uniformity) is suicidally risky, and you get the prevailing attitude. This is egged on further, of course, by "consultants" and media who have strong vested interests in the status quo, and it's a wonder that there's as much variety in business IT as there actually is.

People should heed the lesson from every other monoculture that's come before: a threat to one is a threat to all. One could make the case that Windows is the IT equivalent of wheat rust or Dutch elm disease...
0 Votes
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That might be true if ....
ShadeTree 17th Feb 2009
... the author was a "Windows folk" but he is not. It seems the Apple folk want to keep their head buried in the sand as long as possible. Good luck with that!
0 Votes
+ -
buried in the sand?
jahrends 17th Feb 2009
What do we have our heads buried in the sand about? I think you
mean windows people do that. Windows just plain sucks. It in no was
is as stable as a Linux/UNIX platform. OS X is UNIX. Windows has
taught the world that a computer is supposed to crash and be
unreliable. Windows users must have some guilty pleasure self
loathing thing going that they have to hate on Mac users that know
how stable and reliable their macs are. We can't help you if you can't
see that people that used to use windows and now use a mac don't
miss all the crashes and just plain bugginess of windows. At the
moment you could not pay me to use a PC. That said I still have a
Windows 7 VM. So pull your head out of where ever it is.

Nobody has ever said that a MAC is perfect. They are just way better
than using windows. Users will be users and can make a mess of a
system (how do you keep a user from deleting files he should not.) A
migration install and your good as new.

I laughed at Steve Jobs when he said that Apple was the largest UNIX
vendor. I started using OS X and well I now agree. I also thought that
the only people that should have a mac are those that are computer
challenged. I was wrong there too.

The bottom line is that going back to a PC and windows is very
constraining compared to what I do on my mac.

My head is not in buried in the sand or any other dark place like I
believe most windows users that use the term "Fanboi" to describe
someone that knows what they like. The Apple Brand Loyalty is
earned. You would know that the first time you have an issue and go
to an apple store and the fix you right up while you wait. Any other
retail store will take your device and make you wait weeks while they
send it off. I know this because when I first went from my PC laptop
to my macbook pro 2 years ago I messed up my partitions. I went to
the apple store and the genius fixed me right up. If I had taken it to
the "Nerd Herd" I would have had to drop my machine off and they
would most likely had charged me for my stupidity.

So yes I am a happy apple customer.

Yes I can not fathom why anyone would defend windows as fiercely as
you do. On the other hand my Xbox 360 rocks!


0 Votes
+ -
Me thinks you protest way too much.
ShadeTree 17th Feb 2009
I must of hit pretty close to home with you!
0 Votes
+ -
You need a 12 step program. NT
No More Microsoft Software Ever! 18th Feb 2009
NT
0 Votes
+ -
You need a 12 step program. (NT)
No More Microsoft Software Ever! 18th Feb 2009
NT
0 Votes
+ -
buried in the sand?
jahrends 17th Feb 2009
What do we have our heads buried in the sand about? I think you
mean windows people do that. Windows just plain sucks. It in no was
is as stable as a Linux/UNIX platform. OS X is UNIX. Windows has
taught the world that a computer is supposed to crash and be
unreliable. Windows users must have some guilty pleasure self
loathing thing going that they have to hate on Mac users that know
how stable and reliable their macs are. We can't help you if you can't
see that people that used to use windows and now use a mac don't
miss all the crashes and just plain bugginess of windows. At the
moment you could not pay me to use a PC. That said I still have a
Windows 7 VM. So pull your head out of where ever it is.

Nobody has ever said that a MAC is perfect. They are just way better
than using windows. Users will be users and can make a mess of a
system (how do you keep a user from deleting files he should not.) A
migration install and your good as new.

I laughed at Steve Jobs when he said that Apple was the largest UNIX
vendor. I started using OS X and well I now agree. I also thought that
the only people that should have a mac are those that are computer
challenged. I was wrong there too.

The bottom line is that going back to a PC and windows is very
constraining compared to what I do on my mac.

My head is not in buried in the sand or any other dark place like I
believe most windows users that use the term "Fanboi" to describe
someone that knows what they like. The Apple Brand Loyalty is
earned. You would know that the first time you have an issue and go
to an apple store and the fix you right up while you wait. Any other
retail store will take your device and make you wait weeks while they
send it off. I know this because when I first went from my PC laptop
to my macbook pro 2 years ago I messed up my partitions. I went to
the apple store and the genius fixed me right up. If I had taken it to
the "Nerd Herd" I would have had to drop my machine off and they
would most likely had charged me for my stupidity.

So yes I am a happy apple customer.

Yes I can not fathom why anyone would defend windows as fiercely as
you do. On the other hand my Xbox 360 rocks!



0 Votes
+ -
You are promulgating a myth that ....
ShadeTree Updated - 17th Feb 2009
... nuke and pave is not the best method. All computer systems are subject to having problems. Yes, even your precious Macs! When you use a migration wizard you tend to migrate the bad with the good to the new system.
0 Votes
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I can see the advantage to nuke and pave.
snberk341 17th Feb 2009
.... last year when I took delivery of a MBP, I chose to let OS X update
itself to the latest version of Leopard, and then install the applications
individually and move the data over. (Not quite N&P I realize, but a
deliberate choice not to use migration assistant).

Of course, it had nothing to do with any problems with OS X, it was
because I was upgrading from an iBook that was my very first Mac. I
had programs on it I had forgotten about, data tucked away in weird
corners because it had taken me a few years to figure out that Apple's
minimalist folder structure, when used with smart folders, is actually
much more powerful than any folder structure I had come up with. In
other words, I the user had mucked up the User side of the system.

So I chose to only move those programs I actually used, and the data
that I actually needed. And tucked the rest away safely somewhere
until I was sure I wouldn't need it.

So, in this case N&P is a good option, but it wasn't because of OS X -
it was was to clean up my mess.

Now if I could just remember where I tucked that iBook stuff I could
delete it an be done.
0 Votes
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Finally a voice of reason.
ShadeTree 17th Feb 2009
Good post.
0 Votes
+ -
Do you...
Brich 17th Feb 2009
actually understand the options available for what you move over to the
pristine new Mac via Migration Assistant? Nuke and Pave was an extreme
solution for that poster.
0 Votes
+ -
I do know them ....
ShadeTree 17th Feb 2009
... and if I didn't I could have read some of them above. I also have used the migration assistant and the Nuke and Pave methods on Macs. What is your point?
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Thoughts on migrating to a new Mac
jackson1984-24316069205748857739440257893812 10th Oct
Odd but only 50% the submit is opening up for me. Is that this the net website or my above the net browser. Really should nfl jerseys truly I restart my internet browser?

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