I migrate a mac about once a month, and I have used all the methods below. It is easier to migrate a Mac than a Windows machine by a mile. I use the term "source" for the machine your are replacing, "target" for the replacement, and [your account] for your user account on either machine.
The utilities listed are in order of my preference.
Several alternatives:
Migration Assistant Apple's Migration Assistant a great way to go. It is part of OS X and is located in your Applications/Utilities
folder. I update my laptop every six months and use it every time without any problem.
With Migration Assistant, you can import the set-up and data of a source machine directly from the source, from a backup disk image of the source, or a Time Machine backup of the source.
Be sure to have an extra account set up on the target since you cannot migrate into and replace an existing account. ie, if you had an account on both machines called "danny" Migration Assistant will lead you through all the step (which takes awhile) and then fail when you pull the trigger because of the name of your account.
The solution is to do this:
- Setup an account called "xfer" on the target machine;
- Save your data in [your account] on the target;
- log into "xfer";
- delete the account [your account] on the target;
- then run Migration Assistant, follow the directions, and you are good to go.
Migration Assistant has some intelligence. If you have a new version of something (OS, framework, software) on the target Mac, it will not overwrite it. If you have a configuration that is not supported on the target, it will not copy it.
You run Migration Assistant on the target machine. You can use Firewire or ethernet to connect to a source machine or any connection form to import from a disc backup of the source.
Duplicate the existing mac You can also use SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner. In this case, you will make a perfect copy of the last Mac then boot into it. Macs are similar enough in architecture that this works most of the time and it is the fastest way to go. The downside is that if your new mac has newer software, it will be overwritten with the older version.
You run these utilities on the source machine. You can put your target machine into Firewire target mode and copy direct to the target or onto an external drive. If you go through an external drive, you will need to run twice: once on the source to make the backup and again on the target to complete the migration.
Time Machine
You can migrate a source mac to a new target with Time Machine. This has problems. Some hidden files and directories are not copied, such as your personal .cpan directory for Perl. Also, Time Machine backups are frequently interrupted. If your last backup was incomplete, it will not use previous files for a complete migration. Not recommended unless it is all you have.
You run Time Machine both from the source to make the backup then from the target to bring in the backup. You can also use Migration Assistant to import a Time Machine backup onto the source.
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No matter which method you choose, programs that use your MAC address as a test of being on one machine may fail. MS Office uses MAC address for copy control, VMWare uses MAC address for each VM, etc. You will need to put your serial number and proof-of-purchase into some of these.
Best of luck!
This isn't really what I was looking for since I want a software package that will make an image to an external drive that I can move to another mac. – Daniel – 2010-09-25T01:48:30.690
1@Daniel Disk Utility is still a fine solution for what you need. It's built-in, free, and can clone entire devices to other devices or to/from a disk image file. – Spiff – 2010-09-25T03:11:28.607