Migrating to new Mac using Time Machine

Hi,
I will be getting a new Mac soon and I want to take all of my apps with me in their current state so I will be using Time Machine to migrate to the new machine.
I was wondering what are the essential files that I need to transfer over so that all the apps stay in the same state as they were on my current Mac. (Without the need for me to re-enter licence codes and go hunting for libraries etc.)
The main applications this is a worry for are:
Photoshop CS4 (and its affiliated apps)
Aperture 2
iWork '09
various other applications that have licence codes attached to them

it's more to do with the preferences being saved intact on my new Mac, I need to know what essential files to choose off my Time Machine backup when I Sync it with my new Mac. I don't want the whole drive migrated because it is full of rubbish I want to get rid of.
If you have any idea of what preferences and other library files are essential then that will be a great help.

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Migrating to new Mac via Time Machine: computers conflicting?

If I get a new Mac, and then during the Setup Assistant tell it to migrate from my Time Machine drive, will I have any conflicts with the old Mac? For example, will both computers have the same machine name? Will they be trying to write to the same Time Machine backup? I want to continue to use the old Mac, but want all my stuff on the new Mac, too.
Thanks!

misterMason wrote:
If I get a new Mac, and then during the Setup Assistant tell it to migrate from my Time Machine drive, will I have any conflicts with the old Mac? For example, will both computers have the same machine name?
Yes, but you can easily change one (or both) via +System Preferences > Sharing.+
Will they be trying to write to the same Time Machine backup?
No. Time Machine keeps track of which Mac is which by its +Ethernet Address,+ which is embedded in the hardware on the logic board.
If you're going to be backing-up both Macs to the same place, see #4 in the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum.

Migrating to new Mac with Time Machine?

I just got an new 27" iMac. I used my Time Machine backup to copy everything from my old IMac. Everything appears to have been copied correctly. All of my photos, music, documents and Adobe CS4 applications run. I was really impressed by how easy this was. I expected to have to reinstall the Adobe apps but it went perfectly. I am going to run this for a few days to test to see if everything works. This leads me to my question:
Can I use the same Time Machine backup on this machine? Or will TM want to re-archive everything again?
I clicked on Time Machine and this menu popped up. See jpeg.
[IMG]http://i49.tinypic.com/2wq7pu8.jpg[/IMG]
I was hoping to reuse this backup as though this is the same machine. Which button should I select? Reuse? I'd hate to ruin this archive by making the wrong choice. Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks!
Message was edited by: Hey Cricket

Hey Cricket wrote:
I was hoping to reuse this backup as though this is the same machine. Which button should I select? Reuse? I'd hate to ruin this archive by making the wrong choice. Any advice would be appreciated.
Yes. Select "Reuse." See #B5 in the Time Machine - Troubleshooting *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum, for more details.

I just got a new MacBook Pro, and I tried to bring across my files from my last mac using time machine. After it was done copying I can't find my files anywhere but the space (about 130gb) has been used on my hard drive. Help please!!

I just got a new MacBook Pro, and I tried to bring across my files from my last mac using time machine. After it was done copying I can't find my files anywhere but the space (about 130gb) has been used on my hard drive. Does anyone know how I can get to them? I did change my user name from 'user' while it was copying, could this have something to do with it?

You don't want to do that by copying.
Your best bet, by far, is to use Setup Assistant. If your Mac is running Snow Leopard, see Using Setup Assistant on Snow Leopard or Leopard.
If it came with Lion, it's a bit different: Using Setup Assistant on Lion

I migrated info from a hard drive to a new mac under time machine. It says I have shared files, but I don't see the old info on the new machine. Where do I look for it ? How do I make the old backup the base for my new macbook ?

I migrated info from a hard drive to a new mac under time machine. It says I have shared files, but I don't see the old info on the new machine. Where do I look for it ? How do I make the old backup the basis for my new macbook ?
The old OS was Mac X 10.5.8. I think the new one is 10.7.2 Lion.

Have a read here How do I set up a new Mac from an old one, its backups, or a PC?
Stefan

New to Using Time Machine, Should I Even Use It in This Case?

Hey everyone
So I just started a full Time Machine backup on my Macbook Pro to my Seagate 2TB External Hard drive. I make music, so I have a lot of projects and sounds, which I would like to have backed up just incase something happens to my Macbook. I have around 250GB of stuff on my computer, and it says that's it's going to take around 12 hours to back everything up. I'm new to using Time Machine, so I have a few questions:
Will this occur all the time if Time Machine is running? Like, will it keep updating the data I already have and replacing it, or will it just backup new changes/files after this first backup is complete? Is there an option/preference I can change so it only backs up new changes/files instead fully backing up every day?
Does Time Machine store the files/folders onto the external hard drive, or is it just like a backup file that you run which backs up everything?
Thank you guys in advance, really need help with this!

You should not use a Time Machine backup drive for permanent data storage. Use a separate drive for that purpose. It's much safer. Time Machine will over time delete files if they are deleted from the source drive which makes Time Machine a poor long term storage option. If you want a permanent storage option buy a separate drive for that purpose, but do not use Time Machine. User other backup software:
Suggested Backup Software
1. Carbon Copy Cloner
2. Get Backup
3. Deja Vu
4. SuperDuper!
5. Synk Pro
6. Tri-Backup
Others may be found at VersionTracker or MacUpdate.
Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on backup and restore. Also read How to Back Up and Restore Your Files.

Possible to restore iTunes safely to a new mac (from time machine backup) without using setup/migration assistant?

Hello all,
I have just acquired a new MacBook which I want to set up completely fresh. The only data I really need to restore/copy to it, besides a few document folders, is the iTunes library from my existing iMac. The iTunes library has been backed up using time machine on the iMac (using a portable drive). I’ve heard it might be possible for me to plug the time machine backup into the new MacBook and then option-click the time machine icon in order to 'browse other backup disks' and then restore iTunes. Would this work and would all my devices still sync with iTunes? I’m just a bit nervous because apple has migration assistant and setup assistant for doing this sort of thing - I just really don’t want to use them because the only thing I want on my new MacBook from the whole of the time machine backup is literally the iTunes library. I don’t want to start restoring user accounts which you must do with the assistants.
Thank you.

Thank you ever so much for the replies. Just one thing: the link you provided seems to discuss restoring individual items on the computer for which a backup has been made. On my macbook I can't click "enter time machine" which I'm guessing is because the time machine backup is for my old iMac (hence my comment about control clicking the menu bar).

Moving to new Mac with time machine

Hi
I'm purchasing a new mac pro soon and i'm wondering if using 'time machine' will enable me to transfer everything to the new mac, with everything 'in place' as it was on the old mac, in other words will i have to re-install my apps? (i certainly hope not)

Yes. I was surprised how easy it was and how well it worked when I migrated from an eMac (PowerPC) to an Intel iMac a few weeks ago. You'll have an even easier time.
Just make sure to use Migration Assistant when you first power on your Mac; when it asks if you want to transfer data from another Mac. Don't click "no" or "later" and then proceed to start from scratch. Using Migration Assistant after your Mac has been set up could lead to a whole bunch of permissions issues.

Can both an intel and a PPC mac use time machine on the same TC?

I just got a TC and have successfully used time machine with a MBP. I was about to install Leopard on my PPC eMac in order to use time machine on the TC but I wondered if they could both use the TC hard drive as it is currently formatted.
As I recall, intel macs use journaled GUID and PPC machines use another format.
Am I deluded?

I don't think there is a problem, and I believe others have reported in these forums that they're doing it.
There is a lot of confusion in this area compounded by a number of people who say that some of the Apple KB articles are wrong/misleading.
But in this case it's more a case of it doesn't matter - here is why.....
The Time Capsule disk comes formatted, you can erase the disk via the Airport Utility. That's the closest you can come to formatting and you don't have options - so it does whatever it needs to do to get it right.
The machines being backed up don't access the Time Capsule's disk(s) directly as they do on a locally attached disk. They do it via AFP network disk protocol and the Time Capsule disk is in effect insulated from the machine being backed up.
(As an aside, it's because of this - the differences in what can be done over AFP - that the Time Capsule stores the backups in a different file format)
If you add a USB attached drive to the Time Capsule you can also erase it with the Airport Utility as above. In my case, I've attached a USB drive to my Time Capsule. I never had the Time Capsule erase it, but before attaching it I attached it locally and formatted it GUID and HFSJ and it work just fine when attached to the Time Capsule. Does it have to be formatted that way - I don't know - all I know is in this one case what I did works which doesn't prove it has to be that way.
Message was edited by: Steve Holton

HT201250 can I back up two different Macs using time machine to the same external hard drive?

I have a MacBook Pro and a Intel Power Mac Tower. The Power Mac is backed up to a 4 TB external hard drive using Time Machine. Can I also back up the MacBook Pro to the same 4TB hard drive using its time machine without altering any of the Power Macs backed up files on the 4TB hard drive?
Ed

Yes, as long as the backup drive is large enough.

HT201250 how to transfer from mac to mac using time machine

how to transfer from mac to mac using time machine

See How do I set up a new Mac from an old one, its backups, or a PC?

Can't restore mac using time machine

I've been having an issue where my mbp will restart suddenly. I tried downgrading to mavericks, but it didn't fix the issue. Before I did I used time machine backed up to an external drive. Now, I'm trying to restore my mac, but it's not letting me restore it past today. What can I do?

If this is not enough information then I will answer any questions about this problem I can.

Cannot migrate to new mac using OSX 10.8.2 from old one using 10.5.8

Hi folks,
have just set up my new mac mini, which runs 10.8.2, and tried to use migration assistant to get files from my old macbook that uses 10.5.8. Have got as far as putting the six-digit code in on the old mac, and seeing the old mac on the new one, but they still won't talk to each other. Connection is via ethernet to my local router - I can access the internet from both, so the connection seems to work. Have checked all that Pondini has to say on the subject, but still no luck. What's the next thing to check?

Update to OS X 10.8.4, but that may not be the reason your Mini is not recognizing the MacBook.
I suggest you simplify things by connecting the two Macs directly to each other with an Ethernet patch cable. A crossover is not required. If you happen to have a FireWire cable you can use that in conjunction with FireWire Target Disk Mode: connect the two then start the MacBook while holding the t key. In that case you would choose to migrate "From a Time Machine or other disk" and not "From another Mac". The MacBook's disk will appear to the Mini as a locally mounted volume.
Hopefully one of these suggestions will result in success.

Photo transfer and update from 5-year-old Macbook to new iMac using Time Machine resulted in half of 2014's photos being un-viewable (only a gray triangle with exclamation point shows). How do I fix it?

I turned on my new iMac for the first time today and set it up using a backup on Time Machine from my old Macbook, which is running OS X 10.9.5 and has iPhoto version 8.1.2. When I went to open iPhoto on the new computer, it said I had to update the photos to work with the new version. Now, my photos from part of July 26, 2014 and onwards do not show up in the new iPhoto. The albums and spaces for the photos are there, but only a gray triangle with exclamation point shows in their place. Every other photo from 2003 to half of July 26, 2014 appears to have updated without issue. None of the fixes/rebuilds I tried worked. When I open up TimeMachine, it has no backups that I can use for the new computer (perhaps, because I wanted to still have access to use my old backups for my old laptop so told it not to use them for the new computer). My most recent half a year's photos are the ones I need the most. How do I make them appear on my new iMac?

Do you still have the old Mac? Then check, if the iPhoto Library has the newer events from July 26 onwards.
If yes, copy the iPhoto library from the old Mac to the new mac by connecting both computers. And then try to upgrade the copied library.
If you no longer have access to the old mac, you could try to inherit the backup of the old Mac and try to restore the iPhoto Library from it.
See Pondini's FAQ: http://pondini.org/TM/B6.html

Transfer iTunes to new Mac from Time Machine, then sync with iPhone

Hi everyone,
I just sold my old Macbook (everything was backed up with Time Machine) and bought a new Macbook Pro. Now I want to copy the iTunes library back. The problem is, even if I copy all the music, video, apps, iTunes U... from Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/... to the new Macbook, iTunes still thinks (rightfully) that it is a new machine. So if I plug my iPhone to it and try to sync, it will ask to *remove all my apps*, music, contacts... and resync again. That would probably *remove every user data* I have in those apps.
Do you have any solution?

By any chance do you still have the old computer? If you do then copy /Home/Music/iTunes/ folder on the old computer to an external drive then transfer it to the new computer.
If you don't have the old computer then you have a little bit of a problem. Did you use Setup Assistant or Migration Assistant to transfer your files from the TM backup? Is the username (account short name) on the new computer the same as on the old computer? I'm guessing "no" because you are getting the permissions errors.

Migrating to new Mac using Time Machine

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