Migration assistant question?

[MiniD3]

Hi guys
The time has come to upgrade my old late 2012 27" iMac, pretty much maxed out except for the internal SSD
Have purchased the Studio Ultra and Studio Monitor , spent the kids inheritance and got the height adjustable option

Question
When using the migration assistant option,
Does all the stuff on the desktop transfer as well?
Regards,
Gary

 

[Fishrrman]

"Does all the stuff on the desktop transfer as well?"

Yes (because "the desktop" is a part of your user account).

My advice:
I believe "migration" will go best if you migrate from a backup drive. It can be a time machine drive, but what works better are cloned backup drives created with either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper.

Just BEFORE the new Mac arrives, run "a last backup" on the old iMac.

When the new Mac arrives, take it out of the box and set it up.
DO NOT PRESS THE POWER ON BUTTON YET!
Connect the backup drive.
NOW press the power on button.

Start clicking through. At the appropriate time, setup assistant will ask if you wish to migrate from another drive. YES. So... "point the way" to the backup.

Give s.a. time to "digest" everything -- be patient.

Setup assistant will present you with "a list" of stuff to migrate. You can migrate it all if you wish.
BE AWARE that older apps may not work with the new Mac (either because they're 32 bit or otherwise outdated).

Alternative:
Choose to migrate everything EXCEPT applications.
Now, you can migrate 3rd-party apps "manually" to see if they work.
(your settings and preferences for the apps will already "be there", because they're most likely contained within your account, which was already migrated).

When setup assistant is done, you should see your old login screen, just as before.

Good luck.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

The only thing I’ll add is…. If migration doesn’t do what you want/expect, it’s DIRT SIMPLE now to erase the Mac & try migration again with different settings. Remember that Migration doesn’t and can’t affect the data on the source (whether that’s the computer itself, or a Time Machine backup). So if the migration screws up, all you’ve lost is a couple hours. Try it again.

 

[MiniD3]

"Does all the stuff on the desktop transfer as well?"

Yes (because "the desktop" is a part of your user account).

My advice:
I believe "migration" will go best if you migrate from a backup drive. It can be a time machine drive, but what works better are cloned backup drives created with either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper.

Just BEFORE the new Mac arrives, run "a last backup" on the old iMac.

When the new Mac arrives, take it out of the box and set it up.
DO NOT PRESS THE POWER ON BUTTON YET!
Connect the backup drive.
NOW press the power on button.

Start clicking through. At the appropriate time, setup assistant will ask if you wish to migrate from another drive. YES. So... "point the way" to the backup.

Give s.a. time to "digest" everything -- be patient.

Setup assistant will present you with "a list" of stuff to migrate. You can migrate it all if you wish.
BE AWARE that older apps may not work with the new Mac (either because they're 32 bit or otherwise outdated).

Alternative:
Choose to migrate everything EXCEPT applications.
Now, you can migrate 3rd-party apps "manually" to see if they work.
(your settings and preferences for the apps will already "be there", because they're most likely contained within your account, which was already migrated).

When setup assistant is done, you should see your old login screen, just as before.

Good luck.

Thank you for your very detailed reply,
Very much appreciated
Been with Mac since 2012 but taught myself every thing I know,..........and still know nothing!
well, Lightroom Classic and PS I'm OK with !

Question/s
When you say "cloned from a backup drive" does that mean a cloned time machine backup ?
I have CCC, so got that covered
.............. Gary

 

[MiniD3]

The only thing I’ll add is…. If migration doesn’t do what you want/expect, it’s DIRT SIMPLE now to erase the Mac & try migration again with different settings. Remember that Migration doesn’t and can’t affect the data on the source (whether that’s the computer itself, or a Time Machine backup). So if the migration screws up, all you’ve lost is a couple hours. Try it again.

Thank you,
Just hope the supply chain speeds up a little, got the monitor but Studio Ultra is on order 4 weeks apparently
2-3 weeks to go !
...........Gary

 

[Fishrrman]

"When you say "cloned from a backup drive" does that mean a cloned time machine backup ?
I have CCC, so got that covered"

The CCC cloned backup is "all you need".
Run a final incremental backup just before the NEW Mac arrives.

That should do it.

 

[MiniD3]

Thank you,
Must get another HDD for the cloning backup
................ Gary

 

[MiniD3]

Well, I must thank you all for your assistance during the migration from iMac to the new studio Ultra,
everything worked just fine thank you all for you assistance
much appreciated
regards,
Gary