LisaMary123
Level 1 (5 points)

Q: How do I transfer user data from older Mac Mini to new Mac Mini?

I have a 2007 Mac Mini running OS 10.4.11. I just purchased a new Mac Mini with Mountain Lion. How do I transfer my user data from the old to the new? My old Mac Mini does not have Migration Assistant or Time Machine. I have connected them directly via Firewire and ethernet but they they aren't seeing each other. I was on the phone with tech support and was able to transfer user data from a backup of my laptop. But it doesn't have all the user info my old Mac Mini has on it.

Mac mini, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Sep 22, 2013 8:02 AM

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LisaMary123

Q: How do I transfer user data from older Mac Mini to new Mac Mini?

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  • by mende1,Helpful

    mende1 mende1 Sep 22, 2013 8:04 AM in response to LisaMary123
    Level 10 (93,319 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 22, 2013 8:04 AM in response to LisaMary123

    You can't use Migration Assistant to transfer files to OS X Mountain Lion from Mac OS X Tiger. See > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4889?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

     

    What you have to do is to connect both Macs with FireWire, put the old one in Target Disk mode (hold the T key while the Mac mini is starting) and use Finder to restore the data you need manually. Another option is to transfer your files over the network > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1549

  • by LisaMary123,

    LisaMary123 LisaMary123 Sep 22, 2013 8:51 AM in response to mende1
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Sep 22, 2013 8:51 AM in response to mende1

    That's what I suspected. I do have a backup of my Mac Mini on an external drive that my new Mac Mini can see. New Mac Mini has a user set up that using data from my laptop backup (it had time machine). I'd like to get some of my data (from old mini and user) into my new user database. Not all of my music, photos and emails were on my laptop. Can I take the preference files from my old mini backup's user data (like "in box" for email) and copy over the prefs that were created by my laptop on my new Mac Mini? As long as I go from "user" to "user" in preferences, would that work and give me the full libraries of info? Hope this makes sense.

  • by Joe Bailey,Helpful

    Joe Bailey Joe Bailey Sep 22, 2013 4:32 PM in response to LisaMary123
    Level 6 (12,217 points)
    Sep 22, 2013 4:32 PM in response to LisaMary123

    It should work to copy the entire user folder, but certainly the library folder will work. NOTE: the user Library Folder in Mountain is an invisible file. the easy way to get to it is from the FInder desktop click on Shift+Command+G and type in ~/