Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Transfer from one Mac to another
- Thread starter jwolf6589
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Can you migrate individual apps (including all the bits and pieces located elsewhere) or do you have to migrate the entire backup in order to get working apps?
i haven't done this myself, but you can google it (& someone else here can fill us in), but i think you get: apps, home folder, user settings... that sort of thing. (but no, no individual apps).
I have transferred to new machines using Time Machine many times. Works great. I worked at a company where TM was the official way to move to new machines, until later when Migration Assistant became official. So I suppose both ways can work.
But, if you are coming from a machine that you have used for many years, I recommend using a "clean install." That is, don't drag all the Login Items, kexts, drivers, etc from 8 rev's ago into a new environment. The OS comes installed. Install your apps, then drag over your home directory folders. It takes some time and thought, but one complete your system will be rock solid for years to come.
But, if you are coming from a machine that you have used for many years, I recommend using a "clean install." That is, don't drag all the Login Items, kexts, drivers, etc from 8 rev's ago into a new environment. The OS comes installed. Install your apps, then drag over your home directory folders. It takes some time and thought, but one complete your system will be rock solid for years to come.
It is all or nothing with apps. If you tell it to import apps, it will import them all.
That has always been my understanding but I got the impression from one of the previous posts there might be some way around that. I’ve been using the Migration Utility since you had to connect the two computer’s together with a FireWire cable so I’ve got lots of junk I don’t want on a new computer. Guess I’ll have to put on my Big Boy pants and install all the apps manually.
I just used MA a week or so ago, so I'm pretty familiar with how it works. Once you get started, you will get to a screen like this where you can pick what you want to migrate. From there, you can check that Applications option to move apps over. I've never seen any setting beyond that were you could somehow pick only some apps. Checking that box seems to just bring them all over (at least that is how it worked for me).
Can I exclude all the 68K, PPC, and 32-Bit apps I have on my SSD when I do the transfer? I have hundreds of these apps and it will take a long time to go through and delete them one by one.
Tell me about it. My first MacBook was a iBook in 2005 and I transferred my HD from my then Performa. Fast forward to today and I have hundreds of 68K, PPC, and 32-Bit apps, and none can be opened since Apple removed support for Classic, PPC, and 32-Bit apps.
[automerge]1588521154[/automerge]
Is doing it this was faster than holding down command + R at boot up? I mean only files transfer over and I suppose the entire OS does not transfer over. But what is the MacBook Pro has an earlier version of Mac OS already pre-installed on it such as Mojave? Does that need to be upgraded first before I can do the transfer?
I feel your pain. I wish I could still run Snow Leopard to run a few old PPC apps and access my data. I simply can't upgrade to Catalina and will stay with Mojave for 32 bit apps. You can run Classic apps via SheepShaver emulation up to Mac OS 9.0.4. I believe Edward Mendelson has compiled a 64 bit version.
That app stopped working a while back for me. It was nice because MOST of my 68K and classic apps worked including Bernie the rescue which allowed me to run Apple II apps. I was first introduced to Apple during the pre Mac days of the Apple II.
I'm running it on Mojave right now. Running Mac OS 9.0.4. No problems. Had problems with a couple of versions of SheepShaver for a while. Now I'm running a version compiled by Edward Mendelson. Extracted from a total package (including OS) he made here
I'm not running the whole package, just extracted the SheepShaver app from it.
He also made a 64 bit version here
SheepShaver Wrapper for macOS
An AppleScript wrapper that makes it easy to use Mac OS 8.5 through 9.0.4 under macOS
www.columbia.edu
Only thing emulation doesn't do great is mouse scrolling. There's no real support for it. But all the classic apps I ran back in the days can be run. Sure, sometimes the emulation quits. But no biggie.
why not just clear out as many unneeded apps and junk from the original mac, then do a TM backup... when u migrate, most of what you don't need won't migrate over...
Because, as far as I know, there isn't any way to do that. I've never done anything but a full migration when switching computers so I have bits and pieces of things from 4 computers ago. Programs discarded long ago but the support files are still on the current computer. It's the reverse of why Time Machine and cloning programs can't restore individual apps, you don't get all the extra files that go with them. I'm after a computer that doesn't have things from 15 years ago in the system. It looks to me like that means installing the apps I use from scratch. It's past time to man up and do that anyway.
time machine will restore from the most-current backup... not everything you ever backed up. if you clear up unneeded apps, files you don't need, etc, then backup, and use that as your TM drive when you set up your new mac... all will be well (or close enough).
My most current backup from this afternoon has program support files from 15 years ago. The programs are long gone, the additional files are not. Perhaps if you could provide me with the names of all the support files that were installed along with Photoshop CS3 in 2007 along with their locations in the System Folder I could delete them and then make a new backup as you’re suggesting.
Precisely why a clean install is a good idea. When troubleshooting issues on systems, I find things like Blackberry "helpers" scanner drivers, lame-a$$ photography environments (Sony!) and so on. These things somehow get loaded, and long after the company has given up on them they are still there, "helping." Gifts that keep on giving.
might be worth, where possible, using an app's uninstaller before you final TM backup (or whenever you abandon an app).
meanwhile, if you're finding support files you don't need... delete them. seriously, how much space are we talking? megabytes? if you've cleaned out 90% of content on the old mac, it's not a big deal to find support files and clean them out on the new mac; you could use something like this:
find any file
no harm in a clean install; i do that with each new mac myself. but no harm in migrating a much-cleaned up mac to a new one, then sorting out some loose ends later. don't overcomplicate this!
We’re talking past each other. I don’t care about the size of the files. The traditional way to remove a program on a Mac used to be drag it to the trash, too late to use an uninstaller on something I threw out 10 years ago. The link you posted requires me to know the name of the file I’m looking for. I don’t. I’m going to do a clean install. Not complicated, just tedious. Thanks for your help.
'adobe'. 'microsoft'. or, 'photoshop', for example. easy searches. but again, how much content are we talking? megs? terabytes? either way, for most people, migrating to a new mac from time machine makes sense; not everyone's up for a clean install.
how do you copy over mail? notes? added fonts? all your system preferences settings? most people would not be able to work that out; but deleting adobe files in the main library's application support is just not that difficult.
still, whatever works. i do clean installs, and it is tedious (but rewarding). i just wouldn't wish that on my less-techy friends...