Moving 2009 Imac content to 20017 Imac

[mattg3]

About to buy a 27 inch 2017 Imac and want to move my Imac 2009 content into new Imac from my snow leopard 2009 Imac. Going to use the Migration application present on both computers. Can I use a regular CAT-7 ethernet cable to connect both computers to each other since the 2009 Imac has an older ethernet port than the2017 gigabit ethernet port in 2017 Imac. What Im trying to accomplish is to put everything from my old computer onto my new computer as easily and efficiently as possible. My 2009 content is in old snow leopard and old itunes accounts that exist on 2009 Imac. Will it easily go into the newer operating system and itunes account on 2017 Imac with no glitches? Thanks

 

[talmy]

I've never tried to jump over that many OS versions, but in theory it should work, and you will be out nothing (but some time) if it doesn't. 2009 iMacs had gigabit ethernet ports, but that won't matter anyway.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

Your method above should work ok.
But, if you have problems, I'll suggest an alternative:

- You'll need an external drive large enough to hold things
- You'll need CarbonCopyCloner (or SuperDuper). Either of these are FREE to download and use for 30 days.

Then...
- Connect backup drive to old iMac and initialize it.
- Use CCC (or SD) to clone the contents of the internal drive to the backup
- You now have an EXACT COPY of the internal drive (it's a "clone", right?)
- Connect that to the new iMac before you boot it up for the first time
- Then at the appropriate moment during the boot sequence, the setup assistant will ask if you wish to migrate apps, accounts, data and settings from an old Mac or drive.
- Point setup assistant at the external cloned drive, select those things you wish to migrate, and let setup assistant do its thing.

I've found that using a cloned backup produces very good results in relatively short time.

 

[mattg3]

OP:

Your method above should work ok.
But, if you have problems, I'll suggest an alternative:

- You'll need an external drive large enough to hold things
- You'll need CarbonCopyCloner (or SuperDuper). Either of these are FREE to download and use for 30 days.

Then...
- Connect backup drive to old iMac and initialize it.
- Use CCC (or SD) to clone the contents of the internal drive to the backup
- You now have an EXACT COPY of the internal drive (it's a "clone", right?)
- Connect that to the new iMac before you boot it up for the first time
- Then at the appropriate moment during the boot sequence, the setup assistant will ask if you wish to migrate apps, accounts, data and settings from an old Mac or drive.
- Point setup assistant at the external cloned drive, select those things you wish to migrate, and let setup assistant do its thing.

I've found that using a cloned backup produces very good results in relatively short time.

wouldnt it be easier to just use time machine to copy my 2009 Imac to an external hard drive and then use time machine to install it all to the 2017 Imac ? Im not even sure that kind of process would work but since I use Time machine and an external hard drive as back up I already have everything I need.

 

[Bertrude]

You could also use the 'restore' function in Disk Utility to create a clone to an external drive if you wish.

Bit of info here: https://www.lifewire.com/use-disk-utility-to-clone-macs-drive-4042367

 

[vworks]

You install the new OS on the new iMAC, if it is not already installed.
During the installation you can transfer all data from another mac or if the OS is installed you have the migration assistant in the Utilities folder - you start it and follow the instructions.

Otherwise you will have to make a TIME machine on external HDD and install from this backup but this will take more time
ps. and yes, you can use the ethernet cable

 

[Fishrrman]

I recommend a cloned backup on an external drive because I've never had problems doing it that way. YMMV...