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Clean install question

T

TorontoSS

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Nov 9, 2009
1,093
397
Hi - I’m getting a new air soon. I’d like to do a clean install, because well it will be cleaner. I use Apple Music for my music and iCloud has it stored.

My current Mac I noted has 18gb of music in an iTunes file.

If I do a clean install, will this be gone? The songs are currently available when I play them on my phone and these are mp3s over years.

Can the music be saved on an external hard drive?
 
When you say you’re getting a new Air do you mean brand new from Apple? If so then why do an install at all? The system that ships with a NIB Mac is the very definition of a clean install.

You say in one sentence your music is in iCloud then in the next sentence you say you have 18gb on your Mac. Which is it?

The stuff in iCloud will be available to you as soon as you sign in to your iCloud account. Anything on your old Mac will have to be brought over to the new machine or better yet uploaded to iCloud.
 
Thank you - my terminology is mixed up. My bad.

Yes it will be a brand new computer from Apple. So yes that in itself is a clean install. What I mean is I don’t want to use the migration tool. Partly because I want to start new again. I don’t want bloat on my computer.

I subscribe to Apple Music and have been since it came out. Does this mean I do not need to keep a massive iTunes folder on my Mac? Can I copy the folder I have and leave it on a hard drive and still have access to my music when I use the new computer?

I know my questions are basic - I’m just trying to get my head around it.

Thanks!
 
You don't have to use the migration tool if you don't want to. Just create a new local account on the new mac, and selectively bring over what you want, either via TDM or maybe as mounted share on your network, or manually copying over to an external drive and from that to your new Mac.

As for music....my understanding is that once you log into your Apple ID, you can download from the cloud whatever you want to keep locally...or nothing. Let's see if others have more info.

The nice thing is you try this no risk. Everything will remain unchanged on your existing Mac. From your new local account on your new Mac, if things are not what you like, you can still always run the migration assistant. No risk to try NOT using, worst that can happen is wasted time.
 
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The Sync Library only will work with things purchased from Apple. Anything else, like CDs that you ripped or stuff bought from Amazon will need to be transferred manually. This can be as simple as dragging the targeted music from the Music app on the old a Mac to a thumb drive. Plug the drive into the new Air and drag the contents to the new Air’s Music app
 
I’ve never used it. Does it upload your non Apple Music or just give you the option to buy the Apple copy of the song you already own? I vaguely remember Steve Jobs introducing this feature years ago and I remember thinking why would I pay for music I already have. Could be different now. At some point the OP needs to do his own research and make his decision.
 
*her research and decision.

The match feature works - sort of. Some songs don’t get played some do.

I will save the folder in an external drive, and do a fresh install / start and see what happens.

I will have the folder saved somewhere else. Thanks for your help.
 
If I was going to do "a manual migration", I would do it this way:
(note: I don't use any cloud services)

- Get an EXTERNAL drive.
- Use either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper to clone the contents of my (old) computer drive to the external
- When the new one comes, first get it set up with a new account, then...
- Connect the external
- Selectively locate and copy over those folders/files/apps/etc. that I wish to migrate.

When you do it this way, you must also do a "get info" on the external drive, and then set the entire volume (in get info) to "ignore ownership on this volume". Otherwise, you're going to have "permissions problems" between your "old account" and your new one (the two Macs will think they're two different accounts).
 
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Longkeg said:
Sorry. I’m old. My style book still includes the “universal he.” Your strategy is a sound one. Happy computing.
Click to expand...
Don’t worry - nothing wrong, we all do it including me. thanks for your help.

Fishrrman said:
If I was going to do "a manual migration", I would do it this way:
(note: I don't use any cloud services)

- Get an EXTERNAL drive.
- Use either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper to clone the contents of my (old) computer drive to the external
- When the new one comes, first get it set up with a new account, then...
- Connect the external
- Selectively locate and copy over those folders/files/apps/etc. that I wish to migrate.

When you do it this way, you must also do a "get info" on the external drive, and then set the entire volume (in get info) to "ignore ownership on this volume". Otherwise, you're going to have "permissions problems" between your "old account" and your new one (the two Macs will think they're two different accounts).
Click to expand...

Thanks for your help this seems like a good idea.
 
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