ghosting 2014 mini hdd to 2012 sdd

[barryhill]

Hi

I have a music set up on a 2014 mac mini. Unfortunately I didn't realise how limited the 'upgrade' options would be on this model and didn't order enough RAM to run my music software efficiently.

So, I have just purchased a 2012 mac mini with 16gb ram, quad core processor and 2 x SDD 1TB drives. I am wondering if it is possible to 'ghost' my 2014 HDD complete with Yosemite installation and apps over to one of the new 2013 SDD drives? I would like to avoid having to reinstall all my apps, and operating system.

Is there software to do this? My logic says just make a copy of the HDD drive with yosemite and apps installed and copy it temporarily to an external drive, then reformat one of the SDD drives and then copy it all over to that drive? Would that work, or am I being a bit naive here!?


Barry

 

[iPhil]

Hi

I have a music set up on a 2014 mac mini. Unfortunately I didn't realise how limited the 'upgrade' options would be on this model and didn't order enough RAM to run my music software efficiently.

So, I have just purchased a 2012 mac mini with 16gb ram, quad core processor and 2 x SDD 1TB drives. I am wondering if it is possible to 'ghost' my 2014 HDD complete with Yosemite installation and apps over to one of the new 2013 SDD drives? I would like to avoid having to reinstall all my apps, and operating system.

Is there software to do this? My logic says just make a copy of the HDD drive with yosemite and apps installed and copy it temporarily to an external drive, then reformat one of the SDD drives and then copy it all over to that drive? Would that work, or am I being a bit naive here!?


Barry

Use migration setup to push over all the '14 items to '12 ... select the items that you want then hit start and it'l transfer the items without you doing it manually ...

 

[CoastalOR]

If your 2012 Mac mini does not already have Yosemite then clone the 2014 to the 2012 (you will lose everything stored on the 2012). Use Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC). It will also support cloning your Recovery partition to the 2012 and it has a 30 day free trial.

If you already have Yosemite installed on the 2012 Mac mini, then as iPhil said, use Migration Assistant in the Utilities folder.

 

[channelinspire]

Another vote for CCC. It has worked great for migrating an entire disk to another machine.

 

[Fishrrman]

CarbonCopyCloner is the tool you want to use.

CCC can even clone over the recovery partition.

 

[barryhill]

Hi
Just to clarify. I have used Carbon Copy to copy my entire 2014 HDD to a a subdirectory on an external Thunderbolt hard drive. My 2012 has two SDD drives, one with yosemite on it. If I boot up my 2012 mini, will it enable to me just transfer the files from my thunderbolt hard drive direct to the 2012 mini? Is this what migration assistant will do or do I just install Carbon Copy? Will it enable me to choose the backed up 2014 installation files and copy them directly onto my 2012 mini? Will it then overwrite the Yosemite installation with my 2014 installation and boot into that?

Barry

 

[CoastalOR]

Just to clarify. I have used Carbon Copy to copy my entire 2014 HDD to a a subdirectory on an external Thunderbolt hard drive. My 2012 has two SDD drives, one with yosemite on it. If I boot up my 2012 mini, will it enable to me just transfer the files from my thunderbolt hard drive direct to the 2012 mini? Is this what migration assistant will do or do I just install Carbon Copy?

Boot to Yosemite on the 2012 and use Migration Assistant. Did you read my post #3? I suggest you review the link to Apple I provided in my post #3.

Will it enable me to choose the backed up 2014 installation files and copy them directly onto my 2012 mini?

The selection is somewhat limited, again review my link to Apple in post #3.

Will it then overwrite the Yosemite installation with my 2014 installation and boot into that?

Migration Assistant DOES NOT transfer the OS! The purpose of Migration Assistant is to transfer user files and settings from one Mac system to another Mac system. It will also transfer 3rd party Apps and settings.

 

[barryhill]

UPDATE
Just to say, I have now successfully copied my files/documents/settings from my old 2014 mac mini to my new 2012 mac mini. Sounds wierd to put it like that, but given the flexibility and adaptability of the 'old' 2012 mac mini vis the fixed, inflexible nature of the 2014 mac mini - it does feel like returning to something new!

I am very impressed, as a long term windows user who migrated to mac last year, just how easy Mac's make it to do something like this. Windows would never have allowed going 'backwards' and actually moving software from one computer to another like this.

Amazing.

Thanks for everyone who chipped into this thread - the advice and encouragement was much appreciated.

Barry

Hi

I have a music set up on a 2014 mac mini. Unfortunately I didn't realise how limited the 'upgrade' options would be on this model and didn't order enough RAM to run my music software efficiently.

So, I have just purchased a 2012 mac mini with 16gb ram, quad core processor and 2 x SDD 1TB drives. I am wondering if it is possible to 'ghost' my 2014 HDD complete with Yosemite installation and apps over to one of the new 2013 SDD drives? I would like to avoid having to reinstall all my apps, and operating system.

Is there software to do this? My logic says just make a copy of the HDD drive with yosemite and apps installed and copy it temporarily to an external drive, then reformat one of the SDD drives and then copy it all over to that drive? Would that work, or am I being a bit naive here!?


Barry

 

[ecschwarz]

UPDATE
Just to say, I have now successfully copied my files/documents/settings from my old 2014 mac mini to my new 2012 mac mini. Sounds wierd to put it like that, but given the flexibility and adaptability of the 'old' 2012 mac mini vis the fixed, inflexible nature of the 2014 mac mini - it does feel like returning to something new!

I am very impressed, as a long term windows user who migrated to mac last year, just how easy Mac's make it to do something like this. Windows would never have allowed going 'backwards' and actually moving software from one computer to another like this.

Amazing.

Thanks for everyone who chipped into this thread - the advice and encouragement was much appreciated.

Barry

Barry,

I came across the thread a little later, but I'd also suggest SuperDuper for cloning drives: http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html (basically like Carbon Copy Cloner, but a bit simpler and a tad cheaper (although in its free iteration, it can do quite a bit). This and CCC are the two popular products for this, and the nice thing is that you can add this to your backup repertoire—grab a cheap external hard drive and copy the entire drive to it every so often or before big OS updates and you have a bootable duplicate of your system. It's a really great tool to use in tandem with Time Machine, especially if you want to get into storing a drive off-site (at a friend's or relative's house).

Still, congrats on the new machine!

 

[barryhill]

thanks for this. I will look into it.

Barry

Barry,

I came across the thread a little later, but I'd also suggest SuperDuper for cloning drives: http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html (basically like Carbon Copy Cloner, but a bit simpler and a tad cheaper (although in its free iteration, it can do quite a bit). This and CCC are the two popular products for this, and the nice thing is that you can add this to your backup repertoire—grab a cheap external hard drive and copy the entire drive to it every so often or before big OS updates and you have a bootable duplicate of your system. It's a really great tool to use in tandem with Time Machine, especially if you want to get into storing a drive off-site (at a friend's or relative's house).

Still, congrats on the new machine!

 

[matsta73]

Thanks for the message I will have a look at the information given