External Hard Drive

[haremite]

So, $660-plus later of getting my data retrieved, a new battery installed, an SSD installed and an upgrade to High Sierra on my mid-2010 MacBook Pro 15-inch, I have just purchased my first external hard drive.

Question: If I use Time Machine and back up all my stuff to the external, what happens if my current laptop crashes and I can't access anything on it, so I buy a new Mac of some sort and want to put all of the backed up stuff into that? Can it be done? A Mac friend user said it can't be done, it can only be re-inputted to the original machine where it all came off of.

If that is true, and all I really need are my documents and photos and some other downloads, then why not just put it all on a flash drive? What's the point of the external?

Thanks for your help.

 

[robvas]

Whoever said you can't doesn't know what they are talking about.

You can just use Migration Assistant when you set up your new Mac.

 

[haremite]

Whoever said you can't doesn't know what they are talking about.

You can just use Migration Assistant when you set up your new Mac.

[doublepost=1528483726][/doublepost]How can I use Migration Assistant if my old computer is basically dead? It's not dead now, but if it crashes again and I can't access anything, I can't migrate anything.

 

[jerryk]

[doublepost=1528483726][/doublepost]How can I use Migration Assistant if my old computer is basically dead? It's not dead now, but if it crashes again and I can't access anything, I can't migrate anything.

Read this. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204350

Scroll down the the part where it says "When asked how you want to transfer your information, select the option to transfer from a Mac, Time Machine backup, or startup disk.". Then scroll down further to see an example.