Use Time Machine to Migrate Apps or Re-Install Anew?

I bought a new 15" MacBook Pro a month ago and have used Migration Assistant to move all my files from my external drive, which were backed up from the old computer via Time Machine to this drive. I have been advised that this is a BAD IDEA, and that I should re-install my old software onto the new computer, and only use the migration assistant for moving DOCUMENT files to the new computer. Prior to receiving this advice, I had pro-actively reinstalled my entire Adobe Creative Suite Master Collection to this new computer's application folder, so the entire suite is installed on my new computer. The Creative Suite has now been installed on the new computer, and is also sitting on the new computer via the Migration Assistant process which brought EVERYTHING from the old computer to the new.
Should the Creative Suite Files in the Applications folder, which migrated via Migration Assistant, be REMOVED since they were already reinstalled on this new computer? Does anyone have some advice about this? I had heard that software should always be "REINSTALLED" as oppose to "copied" onto a new computer...
Thanks for any advice!!

wait, i'm not understanding something.
you say that you installed (via install disc) your whole suite AND migrated your apps over, so you have a double installation???
i just wiped out my boot drive and re-installed everything manually (to clean up and prepare for LION upgrade, plus get rid of some apps...migration assistant brings EVERYTHING OVER, which is annoying, so the only way to leave stuff out was to start fresh and only install what i wanted).
the first thing you should do is open up each version of each application to see which ones the licenses are tied to. in some CS installs, you have to de-authorize a version before you can install another version. it's possible that one version will work and the other one won't.
in any case, i think having 2 versions in the app folder doesn't really matter, it just takes up extra space. you only want one version (whichever one works) anyway. in my particular instance, i have a site license, so i can install it wherever without the de-authorization problem.
i've succesffully migrated using migration assistant as well as copied a bootable clone back to my machine. it's definitely cleaner to do a fresh re-install, but i think it might be too late for that since you double-installed.
again, figure out which version works. if they both work, you could probably get rid of either one. all the plists and application support files, plug-ins should be for the migrated version if you accumulated those things over time before you mirated over. just make sure that those are tied to the version that works and get rid of the other.

Similar Messages

I have a new macbook pro and want to transfer my Mail autofill from my old mac. Never used Time Machine or Migration Assistant -- looks complicated. Any easy way to do this?

I have a new macbook pro and want to transfer my Mail autofill from my old mac. Never used Time Machine or Migration Assistant -- looks complicated. Any easy way to do this?

caitlinfromcambridge wrote:
Thanks -- I would like to try this. I do not know how to reach hard drive from old mac to new. Can you help me with this?
There are two ways - you can boot your old Mac in Target Mode (reboot your Mac, and as soon as you hear the startup chime hold down the T key on the keyboard until you see the yellow/orange Firewire logo on screen). You can then use a FireWire cable to connect your new mac to your old one. The old Mac hard drive will appear on your new Mac as if it is an external hard drive.
Details on Target Disk Mode: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1661
If you don't have a firewire cable but you do have a home network (i.e. both computers can access the Internet at the same time), you can share the hard drive on your old Mac and then connect to it on your new Mac.
Good article on sharing your hard drive: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1549
Finally, if the above doesn't thrill you, you can hook an external drive to your old Mac, copy the mail folder over to it, then connect the external drive to your new Mac and copy it over. It's two steps, but if you don't have a firewire cable and aren't comfortable with sharing over a network it will work just as well - you just have to wait for the mail folder to copy twice instead of once.
If you get stuck post back!

Migration: Can I use Time Machine to move apps from MacBookPro to MacPro?

I've outgrown my laptop and have "graduated" to a MacPro <insert big smile>. I know I can use Time Machine to bring everything from an old laptop to a new one, but can I do the same to bring files from the laptop to the MacPro?
Sure would be lot easier than re-installing everything.
I have the original discs for all the important stuff, but wondered if I could bring over those myriad apps that I've downloaded.
The laptop is being "retired" - the screen is getting darker and darker - soon will be unusable...

The first time you boot your new Mac is the best time to migrate everything in "Setup Assistant".
If it's not the first boot, funny things happen. For just the applications I'd use Migration Manager to get them from the TM disk, or from your connected laptop. Since you've already booted up I wouldn't try to migrate in your Home folder that way.
For your own data you can drag to copy, or for application support data here's a user tip for that.
-mj
Message was edited by: macjack

Problem using time machine from migrated MacBook Pro

I upgraded from a 2.66Gig 15 inch dual core to a 2.2GHz 15 inch quad core (MacBook Pro 8,2) - I used setup assistant to transfer files and settings form the old mac to the new one over ethernet - Everything (apps, documents, preferences) transferred fine and the new mac is a clone of the other except for being able to use time machine. On running for the first time I get an error dialog "Time machine could not complete the backup. The backup disk image "Volumes/backups/restOfPath.sparsebundle" could not be accessed(error-1).
I tried a full reset of TM (deselecting the backup drive, turning off, deleting the preferences .plist and rebooting), with the same result. The image that is created is 1.6TB (on a 1 TB Iomega Home Storage drive). The image of my old time machine reflects the drive size -I don't know if this is a problem, both images are twice the size of the respective mac's inbuilt drives).
I looked at the troubleshooting tips and installed TM buddy - the log from the new mac shows this:
Starting standard backup
Attempting to mount network destination using URL: afp://Ray%[email protected]/backups
Mounted network destination using URL: afp://Ray%[email protected]/backups
Warning: Destination /Volumes/backups does not support TM Lock Stealing
Warning: Destination /Volumes/backups does not support Server Reply Cache
Error 257 looking up immutability for /Volumes/backups/Ray-Hicks-MacBook-Pro.local_c82a1408b246.sparsebundle/token
Error writing Time Machine Information file: /Volumes/backups/Ray-Hicks-MacBook-Pro.local_c82a1408b246.sparsebundle/com.appl e.TimeMachine.MachineID.plist
Running backup verification
Failed to attach to image: /Volumes/backups/Ray-Hicks-MacBook-Pro.local_c82a1408b246.sparsebundle, DIHLDiskImageAttach returned: 107
Backup verification incomplete!
Failed to attach to image: /Volumes/backups/Ray-Hicks-MacBook-Pro.local_c82a1408b246.sparsebundle, DIHLDiskImageAttach returned: 107
Mount failed... waiting 60 seconds and trying again.
Ejected Time Machine network volume.
The original mac can still use it's backup on the same disc - it gives the same warnings about Lock Stealing and Server Reply Cache, I'll append a report from TM Buddy below this one.
I'd appreciate any help that people can provide - I'm using the same username and password connecting to the backup disc from either mac so I'm presuming it's not an access privilege thing (but if it is I may need an idiots guide to changing these:))
Cheers
TM Buddy log from old MacBook follows:
Starting standard backup
Attempting to mount network destination using URL: afp://Ray%[email protected]/backups
Mounted network destination using URL: afp://Ray%[email protected]/backups
Warning: Destination /Volumes/backups does not support TM Lock Stealing
Warning: Destination /Volumes/backups does not support Server Reply Cache
QUICKCHECK ONLY; FILESYSTEM CLEAN
Disk image /Volumes/backups/Ray-Hickss-MacBook-Pro.local_109add54a619.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/Backup/Backups.backupdb
No pre-backup thinning needed: 803.6 MB requested (including padding), 748.74 GB available
Copied 358 files (2.8 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.
No pre-backup thinning needed: 800.4 MB requested (including padding), 748.74 GB available
Copied 31 files (15 KB) from volume Macintosh HD.
Starting post-backup thinning
No post-back up thinning needed: no expired backups exist
Backup completed successfully.
Ejected Time Machine disk image.
Ejected Time Machine network volume.
Message was edited by: RayHicks

Sorry - I totally missed this longer post you made - here are the answers to the best of my knowledge - I seem to have answered a couple accidentally in my next post, but didn't directly address what you'd asked - sorry about that I just totally missed your post before reposting an update to (what I thought was) my one-man thread!
{quote:title=Pondini wrote:}
When you set up Time Machine on that NAS, do you create the sparse bundle manually, or does the NAS do it? Is there a setting on the NAS to limit the size? (One of the disadvantages to using a 3rd-party NAS is, few folks here, or with Apple, know much about how that particular NAS interacts with OSX).
{quote}
It seems that the NAS does it automatically, sometimes wrongly (it puts the wrong MAC in occasionally, and it appends .local after the username (not sure of the relevance of this, but in the manual setup that got me limping along in the later post, it doesn't mention the .local bit and I didn't use it (maybe this is why the access is through ip address now?)
Those seem to mean your NAS isn't fully compatible with Snow Leopard. See if there's a software/firmware update for it.
I'm using the latest firmware, and it works with the other mac also running 10 6.6
also throwing the same warning but with no apparent problem (yet:P)
I'd appreciate any help that people can provide - I'm using the same username and password connecting to the backup disc from either mac so I'm presuming it's not an access privilege thing (but if it is I may need an idiots guide to changing these:))
That would be on the NAS, not OSX, so you'd need their instructions or help.
Indeed it was (fix seems to be to manually install a newly created sparsebundle)
You might try repairing the sparse bundle. Follow the instructions for a Time Capsule in #A5 of [Time Machine - Troubleshooting|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Troubleshooting.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
Thanks - I tried that I think ( I read though most of your site and tried many things:)), but with no joy - thanks for taking the time to provide this useful resource.
On a Time Capsule or AirDisk, where Time Machine creates the sparse bundle, it's actual size starts out at just a few hundred MBs (the directory structure, etc.), then grows as backups are added. It's maximum size is set at the size of the volume it's on.
That seems to be the way with this too (the actual size is a few hundred megs - though disc utility reports it to be 1.5TB which is twice the size of the Mac disc)
Thanks again for your time and input,
Ray

Using time machine after migration

I have just migrated from an old iMac to a new iMac. The old iMac backed up to a time machine. Can I set up the new iMac to backup to the SAME DATA (as if it were the same computer)? Or must I set up a new back-up? (I have a ton of data so will have to hard wire to do this- a pain- so would rather not if I dont have to).

Michek wrote:
I used this external hard disk to migrate from my older Macbook to the new one.
Exactly how did you do that?
If you used Setup Assistant when the new Mac started up (preferred), or the Migration Assistant app later on, and let it transfer Computer Settings, when the next backup started, you should have been asked if you wanted the new Mac to "inherit" the old Mac's backups. See #B5 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting for more explanation and details.
If you did something else, or answered the prompt with Create New Backup, you may be able to do that manually. It's a bit geeky, though. See #B6 in the same link.

Using Time Machine AFTER Migrating

I used Migration assistant to switch from a macbook to a macbook pro (successfully). However, now Time Machine failed to find the old Time Machine backup drive. I had hoped that I would be able to retain my backups after migrating. Is this not possible?

Actually, Time Machine does not use an IP address in the name of the backupdb, but rather the MAC address, the hardware address hard-coded into each individual Mac.
I just upgraded to a newer Mac last week, so looked into this. I thought it would be nice to keep all my backups back to my Leopard installation.
While it is possible to "merge" the backups from the older Mac to the newer one, on reflection it seemed to me to be more hassle (and potential danger, if you inadvertently restore an older system-type file) than it's worth.
Instead, I decided to keep the old backupdb around for a few weeks, just in case I remember that I've lost something; its files can still be accessed. If I don't realize I'm missing something within that time, I probably never will. So I will eventually just delete the old backupdb to free up space.
It's important to remember that the primary purpose of Time Machine is to enable restoration of a failed hard drive or inadvertently deleted file. TM is not intended to be a permanent archive of everything on the drive; none of us has enough spare hard drive space for that. For those files I want to archive in virtual perpetuity, I archive them separately to a safe location or DVD/CD.
Another option, if you want to retain that older backupdb, is to use SuperDuper! to create a disk image of it which you can store and access at will.
Hope this helps.

How to use time machine to migrate a user from one mac to another

I have a brand new iMac that was set up about a week ago which contains information from my old PC. I did a time machine back up and now I am trying to import that user to my new macbook air.
Using Migration Assistant, I imported from the user from the Time Machine backup (iMac) to the Macbook Air using my external hard drive.
When I restarted the computer, all that came up on the Macbook Air was the test account I created, not the user from the other Mac. The data is on the computer because the space on the hard drive was taken up. I just don't know why the user isn't showing up.
Can anyone help me to resolve this issue?

stevem902 wrote:
I imported the user from another iMac. The user accounts had the same name. What I should have done at that point is DELETE the old user on the computer I was importing to.
What I did to resolve the issue was create an admin account on the new computer.
Delete the old account that I was replacing on the new computer
Run import from time machine backup again.
Make sure. You have an extra account, and the one you migrated may not be recognized as the same one as on the old Mac. If you need access to that user's files on the old Mac; the backups; or any other drives, be sure you do. That's the possible downside to +Migration Assistant+ vs. +Setup Assistant.+

Using Time Machine to migrate to a new iMac, can I keep my old backups?

I've done a lot of searching on this and I'm having trouble finding an answer. I just got a new iMac to replace my existing one. I know the process of migrating either Mac-to-Mac or from my TM backup is straightforward and fairly simple. I'm just trying to figure out if, after migrating all my data to my new Mac, what will happen to my Time Machine disk. Will it want to re-baseline the new Mac and erase my historic backup data? Or will I still have access to the older incremental backups?
Thanks,
Matt

Matt in VA wrote:
I'm just trying to figure out if, after migrating all my data to my new Mac, what will happen to my Time Machine disk.
If you use either Setup Assistant or Migration Assistant to transfer your stuff, you'll be offered a choice. See #B5 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.
You might also want to see How do I set up a new Mac from my old Mac or its backups?

HT5096 How to I do a computer back up using Time Machine and the app IDriveSync?

I just started using iDrive to do a computer back up on my 13" MacBook Pro, but I don't quite understand how the two programs interact and how to use them together.

You'd have to ask the people at iDrive. It's not an Apple product.
I'm not sure how many people you'd find here using that particular product, but you should find quite a few at their website.
iDrive looks like your standard online backup service with a few more bells and whistles. I don't imagine it interacts with Time Machine at all.

After my hard drive was replaced I installed Mountain Lion. I was unable to use time machine or migration assistant to access files on my external Omega hard drive even though the files are still there? Is there another way?

My hard drive on my iMac was unrepairable so Apple installed a new one for me. When I reconnected my external Iomega USB hard drive I could "see" the original backup figures and the rows of "windows" and back to the original red rows of dates in time machine, but I could only access the recent installation date of my new OS X Mountain Lion. Migration assistant would not work as well only accessing the recent backups. Is there a way to "unlock" the past data so I can retrieve my documents and photos without resorting to purchasing "rescue" software??

I can't see backups for a disk/partition that's no longer connected

Where do I find the Time Machine System restore app on the install DVD?

I want to do a full system restore and I was wondering if I can run the program directly from the DVD instead of booting into the DVD. Both the targeted machine (a non-DVD target-disk connected computer over FireWire) and the backup disk (external HD) are not the startup-volume off the computer I want to do the restore with. So can I use that application directly and where to find it (weird thing, all the other helper-apps from the install DVD are in the hidden folder Applications, but not this one)?

You can restore from the original disc that came with your MBP as they are machine specific. If you want to restore your OSX with the same disc that came with hold C power on and push in the disc. 10.6 users - clean and polish the bottom of the 10.6 disk (no other) with a soft clean cloth and a tiny bit of rubbing alcohol. • Insert the disk and Hold c or option/alt key down and then boot the computer from the 10.6 installer disk. • Second screen, select your boot drive and simply install OS X again. • When you get into the machine, immediately Software Update (#10), reboot and repeat until clear. Important! Force eject a stuck disk - hold the trackpad or left wired mouse button down while booting, the hardware should force eject the disk, or use Startup Manager #3 and select the disk and then use the eject key on the keyboard. Then run all the software updates, there will be plenty. Be sure to back up first. If you are trying to do a remote install on a machine that came with a different disc, there more than likely be issues. You could do it with the Snow leopard retail disc, harder to find these days and becoming quite expennsive. ATB

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.

Using time capsule to migrate to a new macbook

i just purchased a new macbook (see specs below). i used time capsule to backup my old macbook which i am now selling. two questions... can i use time machine in migration assist to transfer all the info from my old mac to my new one? if so how? thanks for any help you can give me.

Yes. Or you can simply connect the two computers via Firewire cable and boot your old computer into Target Disk Mode. Use Migration Assistant to transfer your files.
Note that your old username/account name and the one on the new machine cannot be the same if you plan to migrate the entire Home folder.
Also note that the new machine will have Leopard, not Tiger. Do not attempt to migrate the operating system. Restrict your transfers to the Home folder and third-party applications.

Using Time Machine After Format/OS Install (10.5 to 10.6)

Hi Everyone,
I used Time Machine to back up my computer onto a 1TB external drive, and then formatted my MacBook's HDD, and installed Snow Leopard.
Before I use Time Machine again to backup my fresh install I just want to be sure that my other backups of the old HDD that are on my external drive will be untouched.
Can anyone confirm?

NerdSeven wrote:
Hi Everyone,
I used Time Machine to back up my computer onto a 1TB external drive, and then formatted my MacBook's HDD, and installed Snow Leopard.
Before I use Time Machine again to backup my fresh install I just want to be sure that my other backups of the old HDD that are on my external drive will be untouched.
Can anyone confirm?
Time Machine will do a full backup of the internal HD, since everything you put on it since erasing it is new.
If there isn't enough space on the backup drive for that (plus 20%), TM will begin deleting old backups trying to make room. If it gets to the very last backup and there still isn't enough room, it will fail with a message, leaving only the most recent backup.

I have chosen to fil migrate from old ibook to new MacBook Pro using Time Machine after establishing admin account. I now have two admin. accounts and wish to delete the later one and transfer files manually. I am worried I will loose both accounts. ??

I have chosen to fil migrate from old ibook to new MacBook Pro using Time Machine after establishing admin account. I now have two admin. accounts and wish to delete the later one and transfer files manually. I am worried I will loose both accounts. ??

Use the Office for Mac and ignore using Parallels for that. If you have PC only apps you have to run that are MS Windows only then consider Parallels. Just transfer your main PC, using Migration Assistant. If you don't know how then simply read over Pondini's article called Lion or Mountain Lion Setup Assistant tips and look for the section on migrating from a PC. Millions have done what you are about to, it's far from leading edge these days, if you go to an Apple Store to purchase they will offer this as a service, something you might be interested in.

Use Time Machine to Migrate Apps or Re-Install Anew?

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