Moving Data to new iMac

[colodane]

My new iMac (7600 i5, 575, 512 GB SSD) arrived at the Apple store yesterday (9 days early!). I'll be picking it up tomorrow and getting it set up and my data moved from my 2011 iMac during the next few days.

I've been reading about the pros and cons of clean install vs. Setup Assistant for the past several months and have pretty much decided on going with the Setup Assistant route and checking the Account, Files/Folders, and Preferences boxes but not checking the App box. Plan on using Ethernet connection to both machines on my local network. Total to move should be about 100 GB. I have only a handful of 3rd party apps and don't mind doing a new install of them. But I have a couple questions:

After I move my existing Account Info to the new iMac, will the account still be useable on my old iMac? I would like to use the old one as a backup for a month or so until I'm sure the new one is working well.

Am I correct in assuming that, if I leave the App box unchecked, the Apps associated with OS-X (Mail, Safari, Contacts, Calendar, etc.) will still get moved along with their data? For example, will all of my Mail mailbox data be moved to the new machine?

Any other advice / concerns?

Thanks !

 

[Fishrrman]

There's a better way:

1. You'll need an external drive
2. You'll need CarbonCopyCloner (CCC is FREE to download, and it's FREE to use for the first 30 days)
3. Use CCC to create a cloned backup of your OLD internal drive
4. Connect the backup to the NEW Mac
5. Boot up the new Mac. Go thru the intial setup.
6. At the appropriate moment when setup assistant asks if you'd like to migrate data from another Mac or drive, "point it" towards the cloned backup.
7. Select the checkboxes and let Setup Assistant do its thing.

I predict it will go faster this way.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

After I move my existing Account Info to the new iMac, will the account still be useable on my old iMac? I would like to use the old one as a backup for a month or so until I'm sure the new one is working well.

Am I correct in assuming that, if I leave the App box unchecked, the Apps associated with OS-X (Mail, Safari, Contacts, Calendar, etc.) will still get moved along with their data? For example, will all of my Mail mailbox data be moved to the new machine?

Any other advice / concerns?

Thanks !

If you leave Apps un-checked, no OS X/MacOS apps will be moved, but that's alright - they come with the new OS.

Data is moved, regardless. Your Mail, etc. data is in the User account(s), it's not stored as part of the apps.

Yes, the old Mac will still be 100% usable. You'll have two Macs that happen to have User accounts with the same name. They're totally independent of each other. (Migration Assistant doesn't "Move," it copies.)

 

[colodane]

Thank You, ApfelKuchen - You've answered both of my questions. Now I understand, and the results I was hoping for should occur when I do the transfer.

 

[Weaselboy]

Plan on using Ethernet connection to both machines on my local network.

Just to clarify here... when you do this, the ethernet cable is connected directly between the two Macs, and not through the network.

What would be faster is if you already have a Time Machine backup on an external drive from the old Mac. That can be used as the source for the import.

 

[Shivetya]

can bootcamp installs be moved by any process?

 

[Weaselboy]

can bootcamp installs be moved by any process?

https://twocanoes.com/products/mac/winclone-2/

Winclone can do that for you. Not free though.

 

[colodane]

Just to clarify here... when you do this, the ethernet cable is connected directly between the two Macs, and not through the network.

What would be faster is if you already have a Time Machine backup on an external drive from the old Mac. That can be used as the source for the import.

Thanks, Weaselboy. I can certainly do that. But still curious about it. The Apple Support doc I was using, "Move your content to a new Mac", says the following:

Connect the computers to each other
Connect both computers to the same local Wi-Fi or Ethernet network
or, connect both computers directly using a TB, FW or Ethernet cable
or, connect to a Time Capsule or External Drive

I was going to go with the first option listed, since I have easy access to two Ethernet cables to my Airport router right by the desk. Can you elaborate as to the advantages/disadvantages of option #1 above vs. #2?

Thanks also for the Time Machine suggestion. But my Time Machine is on an internal hard drive in my old iMac and not convenient to get to. Also, I will be moving, at most, 100 GB and not especially pressed for time. So plan to go with the simple cabling instead.

Thanks again for your help, both now and in the past.

 

[Weaselboy]

Either will work, it is just a bit faster with the direct connect because you are not going over the network through a router or hubs and such.

 

[colodane]

Thanks again, everyone, for the helpful advice. Got the new iMac fired up today and the move of the data and settings from the old one was mostly successful. Used the ethernet cable connection between the two machines and that worked really well. Only took 17 minutes to transfer everything.

Everything seemed to be moved, including all my email mailboxes and only have a couple of issues. I was having an issue with the email certificate previously that I could bypass easily. Now, my POP email doesn't work on the new iMac. Perhaps going from El Capitan to Sierra is the difference.

My documents all seem to be moved, but links to desktop aliases seem to be broken as well as the linkage to the sidebar favorites.

Will look at these in more detail starting tomorrow and post about them if needed in the appropriate forum.

Also still need to install the 3rd party apps, USB sound card, etc. But pleased so far with the progress. Thanks again!