Not clear whether internet connection can be WiFi?

Question

Not clear whether internet connection can be WiFi?

Root problem: new MacBook Pro Catalina, old nonfunctioning MacBook Pro High Sierra, external Hard drive with Time Machine backup from the old computer won't successfully create a user on the new computer when I try to use TimeMachine to restore on the new computer. I think this is because the new computer arrived when I wasn't ready yet and I didn't use the setup assistant but just stuck it in a drawer, yet seem to have done a few random setup things. I'm thinking of wiping the hard drive and re-installing the OS to restore to factory settings, then need to reinstall OS. The article on reinstalling OS doesn't say whether I can use a WiFi connection or need to use ethernet cable.

My question: Will my wiped computer still be smart enough to recognize a WiFi connection?

Also any helpful tips would be appreciated.

MacBook

Posted on Jan 1, 2021 6:04 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Rafael Scheid

Level 5

5,334 points

Jan 1, 2021 6:21 PM in response to NoNameFromEastCoast

Yes, in a certain point macOS will ask you for that connection and all you have to do is to enter you wi-fi password.

To make things faster and more reliable, do this How to create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support and then use it to reinstall macOS. This USB installer will eliminate the dependency of an internet connection to reinstall macOS. Internet Recovery is a great feature, but it suffers if your connection is unstable somehow, and maybe you'll have to restart from zero if anything goes wrong in the process, but with a USB installer you have a local copy of macOS.

Plus, I'd advise you to make a clean install, not using Migration Assistant or Time Machine.

After you setup macOS, do this:

Plug in your Time Machine disk

Enable Time Machine but disable Auto Backup for now

Go to System preferences > Sharing and rename your computer with the same name as the backup bundle file from Time Machine. Exemple: TM oil is MBPX.backupbundle, so rename your Mac to MBPX

This will make your new Mac to recognize the old backup file so you can start Time Machine interface and copy back your files to the new Mac.

Now you can delete the old backup file, re-enable Auto Backup and let macOS make a fresh backup from your new installation.

Once done, you'll have a clean install and all your data back. This is some hard work but will get you the best performance, once you're gonna be free from old files and setting from the previous version of macOS that could cause some problems/conflicts.

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Answer 2

HWTech

Level 9

56,390 points

Jan 1, 2021 6:19 PM in response to NoNameFromEastCoast

You can use WiFi, but you may need to manually enter the SSID and password when you select the WiFi option. If you don't see your WiFi's SSID, click the "...." and manually type in the WiFi credentials.

If you created a user account on the new Mac, then you can still migrate the user account(s) from the old Mac by running Migration Assistant. If the user accounts are the same on the old & new computer, then you will be asked what to do about it.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204350

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Not clear whether internet connection can be WiFi?

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