Restoring a second hand MacBook from a time machine backup of a seperate second hand MacBook

I just bought a second-hand macbook to replace the macbook my old employer took from me when I changed jobs. I have taken several time machine backups of my old system in the hope I can just setup the machine I just purchased to mirror the other one, including backing up my iPhone via iTunes.
I have the snow leopard installation disk and can get copies of all the software I had installed if necessary. The old MacBook that was returned to my previous employer is being wiped of everything and setup new. Can anyone explain if / how I can setup my (new) second hand MacBook from another machines time-machine backup?
Thanks,
Peter

Shouldn't be any problem.
Boot from your SL installer DVD (hold down the C key on startup or hold down Alt/option on start and choose the installer disc).
OK the language page (if present). From the installer screen, go to the menu bar and choose Disk Utility; depending on the OS version it may be in the Utilities menu or Tools menu.
In DU, select your internal drive in the sidebar (the top item with the makers name and serial no.). Run Repair Disk. If that comes up as disk OK, click the partition tab. Select the partiton from the drop-down above the graphic; 1 partiton is all you need. Go to the options button and ensure that the partition scheme is GUID (for Intel Macs) or APM (for G5 and earlier) and the file system to Mac OS Extended (Journalled). Name the partiton (usually Macintosh HD), click Apply.
When that's finished, select the new volume in the sidebar (indented to the right below the drive) and go to the Erase tab, select Security options and select zero data (one pass is more than sufficient). Click erase. That will take quite some time; probably measured in hours and dependant on the size of the drive.
When that's completed, close DU and continue with the installation.
Shortly into the installation process, you'll be asked if you want to migrate data from another source. Select 'from a Time Machine Backup' and follow the prompts.
See Pondini's FAQs;
http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/19.html
http://web.me.com/pondini/AppleTips/SetupAsst.html
That should leave you with the same setup as you had on the previous MB.

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Message Edited by Ben on 04-28-2009 08:58 AM
Ben Rayner
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