Can I restore preferences from "Library" or "System" folder?

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Can I restore preferences from "Library" or "System" folder?

My Macbook Pro (13', mid2012, running Catalina) has been stolen. Luckily, a friend gave me her old Macbook Pro (17', 2009, running El Capitan).

Before the Macbook got stolen, I did a backup. Instead of using Time Machine, I simply copied some folders into an external hard drive. I know how to copy the folders containing data (Download, etc.). But I don't know if I can copy anything from the User/Library folder and the System folder that I backed up.

Migration Assistant does not seem to allow me to migrate from the folders. I am guessing my mistake was that I didn't use Time machine, but now it's too late to fix that.

Is there anything I can do to recover some of my preferences from the backup? It would be nice to restore as much as possible of the old mac!

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Sep 18, 2021 8:19 AM

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Answer 1

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Eau Rouge

Level 8

42,554 points

Sep 18, 2021 9:29 AM in response to Paco el Alpaco

The replacement mac from 2009 is running Mac OS X El Capitan, the last OS X it can run.

You cannot restore the System folder or any Library folders from the stolen mac which was running macOS Catalina.

These System and Library folders have data that only a mac running Catalina could understand.

If you did restore them then your mac with El Capitan would become hopelessly confused and not function.

not to mention that the Catalina mac runs on the APFS file system and El Capitan only works with the HFS+

file system.

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Answer 2

Sep 18, 2021 9:34 AM in response to Eau Rouge

Cheers, thanks for clarifying. I thought that at least some simple preferences files (e.g. wifi preferences) could be similar, but it´s not worth risking it!

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Can I restore preferences from "Library" or "System" folder?

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