Is it possible to restore my backup from Time Machine, made on an iMac running Leopard, onto a new iMac running Lion?

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Is it possible to restore my backup from Time Machine, made on an iMac running Leopard, onto a new iMac running Lion?

Restoring old Leopard Time Machine Backup to new Lion iMac

I'm currently running Leopard (10.5.8) on a 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 24" iMac with 4GB RAM and have just backed it up with Time Machine.

I'm thinking of getting a new 27" iMac (which will naturally be running Lion), with 8GB RAM but a processing speed of 2.7 GHz.

Although it has a slower processing speed, I assume it will be faster, but wonder why???

More importantly, I'd like to know: Is it possible to restore my Time Machine backup, taken from an old version of Leopard, onto this new iMac? Will my current system be completely restored? All the applications I currently run are Intel (and not PowerPC), so I believe they should transfer fine? Will I need to get new licenses for them? I'm quite happy running older versions of iLife/iWork so don't particularly want the new ones.

Any light shed on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

iMac, Mac OS X (10.5.8), From Leopard Backup to Lion

Posted on Jul 30, 2011 8:36 AM

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Answer 1

The hatter

Level 9

61,031 points

Jul 30, 2011 8:42 AM in response to justask

Mac OS_ Versions, builds 2011

No, you might be able to use 10.6.8 as a minimum, but new Macs based on Sandy Bridge, SSD + Thunderbolt, newer firmware and motherboards.

Your Mac can do a clean install of Lion using a network install method.

Slower? new processors lile Sandy Bridge are much more efficient than the older set.

There is more than .1GHz to bandwidth, support for SSD and SATA3 under the hood.

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Answer 2

Jul 30, 2011 8:47 AM in response to justask

No really.

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Answer 3

justask Author

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Jul 30, 2011 8:48 AM in response to The hatter

OK, so should I get Lion running on my current system, do a Time Machine backup of that, and then transfer that over?

I believe that in order to get Lion, I first need Snow Leopard, so would basically have to install two new operating systems, make sure it's all working, do the back up and then transfer it over?

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Answer 4

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Jul 30, 2011 10:20 AM in response to justask

justask wrote:

. . .

Is it possible to restore my Time Machine backup, taken from an old version of Leopard, onto this new iMac?

Not exactly, but you can use Setup Assistant when your new Mac first starts up to transfer your apps, user accounts, preferences, data, etc., from those backups. See Using Setup Assistant on Lion.

All the applications I currently run are Intel (and not PowerPC), so I believe they should transfer fine?

Maybe, maybe not. Not all Intel apps will work on Lion. Here's an unofficial list you can check: http://roaringapps.com/apps:table

Will I need to get new licenses for them?

If they're registered to a particular Mac, you may be able to transfer them. If not, probably not. It varies from one app to another.

I'm quite happy running older versions of iLife/iWork so don't particularly want the new ones.

Depending on how old, they may not run on Lion.

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