Keep New Yosemite or use Time Machine?

[Mydrivec]

So I'm moving from a late 2007 Imac to a new 5k Imac...should I use Time Machine on the new 5k to simply restore all my stuff....or should I begin fresh and new.

Some points first. All the important stuff...Pics/Music/Movies I have backed up externally in Time Machine AND just copied to a separate external (2 backups is my rule though I often do 3).

I don't buy a lot of software so I can't think of any programs I need that I can't re-download directly.

With that said, I've always thought going from a NEW clean install of the OS is the way to go and was not planning on using Time Machine.

Any pros vs. cons thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[DJLC]

Personally, I would probably copy my documents over manually and start completely fresh on the new iMac. I enjoy getting a fresh start sometimes, and since it sounds like you're not worried about any software installations / licenses I think you'll probably be happier with a fresh start.

 

[Mydrivec]

Personally, I would probably copy my documents over manually and start completely fresh on the new iMac. I enjoy getting a fresh start sometimes, and since it sounds like you're not worried about any software installations / licenses I think you'll probably be happier with a fresh start.

I don't disagree but I also don't want to take 2 days to transfer the information. I could do migration imac to imac via firewire...all my external USB drives are 2.0

 

[DJLC]

Migration Assistant shouldn't be any faster than just copying the files with Finder... If anything, the manual copy should be faster b/c you're not bothering with preferences or apps.

 

[robgendreau]

You really don't need to post this question in several forums; one will do nicely.

The folks who advise manually copying stuff presuppose you know what to copy. Aside from permission issues, and that fact that some applications require installation and can't be copied by a casual user, figuring all that out has to be figured into the time.

Save yourself some headaches and do what Apple suggests.

 

[Mydrivec]

You really don't need to post this question in several forums; one will do nicely.

The folks who advise manually copying stuff presuppose you know what to copy. Aside from permission issues, and that fact that some applications require installation and can't be copied by a casual user, figuring all that out has to be figured into the time.

Save yourself some headaches and do what Apple suggests.

BINGO...which is part of the reason I'm asking the question. Unless you buy machines fairly often, you wouldn't be very familiar with migration. As I'm replacing a 7 year old Imac, I think it is safe to assume that I've never used the migration assistant.

I don't want to find out later that I could have just done a flat copy and gotten the same results. For the most part, I do know the files I need to move in order to keep things like playlists and preferences in Itunes for example.

What I'm looking to specifically avoid...and perhaps I should have said this...is to have the same setup I do now. For example...I have been unable to get Flip4Mac to un-affiliate with certain types of files on my current Imac.

Also, I run both Apple and MS at my house... I KNOW with Windows that a clean install is always preferred. I have never heard the same argument for IOS.

 

[Mydrivec]

Updating with some real world experience. My Time Machine disk was connected to my 2007 iMac via USB. I attempted twice to use the migration assistant (6 hour runs each time) and it froze with 4-5 hours left. The profiles were migrated but zero files moved over.

I am now in the process of manually setting up and downloading all my old apps, etc.

No idea why Migration didn't work. No errors, no nothing. Odd.

 

[talmy]

My notebook has gone from an iBook with Jaguar through two MacBooks to an MacBook Pro now running Yosemite. I've always used Migration Assistant to go from machine to machine, and did regular upgrade installs to go from OS to OS. Sure there is old cruft, but it's always run fine. I would never bother with a clean install -- too much work for very little gain.

Migration always direct from machine to machine. Never tried Time Machine for this.