New iMac: Restore Back-Up of Old iMac, or Clean Install and Transfer Files

[rayward]

I'm going to be getting a new iMac in the new year. I have a back-up of my current iMac on a Time Capsule, so it should be possible simply to restore the latest back-up to the new iMac, but I've heard that Time Machine might not have a full back-up of everything. I also believe that I can migrate from old to new directly, via firewire.

Alternatively, I could simply have a clean install on the new iMac, and transfer all the files over my (wired) network, although I have a clone of my old PC under Parallels, and I'm not sure how this could be transferred.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 

[dmackerman]

I am having the same debate while I await my new iMac to arrive. The main thing that concerned me was that I would be "bogging down" the new machine with old stuff that I didn't really need. That's why I decided on just using Migration Assistant, but not having it transfer over my apps. I'll reinstall all of my apps, I will just have it transfer over my home directory.

You'd be surprised at all the stuff you won't need and don't use on a regular basis that doesn't need to be restored to your new computer...at least I know I will.

 

[harcosparky]

Personally I am a " Clean Install " person, and always have been.

It's a great opportunity to do some house cleaning.

When working I tend to create multiple copies of things, stored in different places often times forgetting to clean up the unwanted files. I store my Photo and Music libraries on a separate HDD so they are not an issue. My "Documents" and "Download" folders can get awfully cluttered from time to time.

Also over time I try various apps, often time abandoning them, yet forgetting to remove them. Having said that I have a drive I use to copy all libraries and folder to right before I do the Clean install in addition to a Time Machine backup.

 

[peskaa]

Clean install.

My i7 arrived today, and I had the choice of restoring from my Mac Pro backup or going from scratch. I went for the latter, as it means there's less chance of any screwy settings being transferred and it is easy enough to copy files over manually.

 

[oftheheavens]

i originally backed up from my macbook, but my i7 was running sub-par. so i redid a clean install and transfered everything. This caused my i7 to run A LOT smoother and it is now as fast as I thought it would be.

 

[rayward]

Thanks folks. Clean install it will be.

I won't be junking my old iMac, so it's not like I will lose anything I forget to copy over.

 

[powerbook911]

I have "transfered," using Firewire about my last 5 Macs going back to 2005. I think my machine still runs fantastic compared to other Macs I use.

However, if my Quad ever comes, I'm going to try to do a fresh install, if I can find all my license keys. I think after 5 years, it is time to start fresh. Of course, my document folders and whatnot can come right over. It's the behind the scenes stuff that I hate to keep transferring.