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Questions about migrating to new Mac Mini

Hi. I just ordered a Mac Mini from Apple's website. I bought it to replace an iMac I bought in 2007.


I will want to migrate the content of my iMac's hard drive to the Mini.


The iMac doesn't have any Thunderbolt ports and it only has USB 2.0 ports.


The Mini has two Thunderbolt ports and USB 3.0 ports.


I also have an external Firewire 400 drive that's connected to the iMac for Time Machine backups. I want to use this drive with the Mini too, so I also ordered the appropriate cables: a Fire 400 to 800 adaptor and also a Fire 800 to Thunderbolt adaptor.


So I'm wondering what's the best way to use Migration Assistant to transfer the data from my iMac to the Mini.


I'm thinking of connecting a firewire cable from my iMac to the Mini using the adaptors mentioned above. However, I read on Macworld.com (http://www.macworld.com/article/2016066/migration-assistant-thunderbolt-firewire -adapter-huh.html) that I will only be able to transfer the data from the iMac to the Mini via target disk mode ("From a Time Machine backup or disk")


My questions are:


Will transferring data via target disk mode work as well as the normal "From a Mac or PC" mode? Will the transfer be as smooth?


Or should I try connect the two computers in a different way? One other option mentioned in the Macworld article is to use a Thunderbolt to Ethernet cable. But it's $30 and I'd rather not buy the cable just for the one time of using Migration Assistant.


Would connecting a USB cable also work? If so, would it be better than the other options?


Thanks!


M

iMac (24-inch Mid 2007), OS X Yosemite (10.10.2)

Posted on May 24, 2015 10:40 AM

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Posted on May 24, 2015 10:44 AM

Use FW with old Mac booted to Target disk mode.

When you set up the the Mac it will ask if you want to migrate data. Do that.

If yo do it after setting up the new Mac a new user's account will be made with that migrated data.


I used FW when migrating from my 2009 Mac Mini to my 2013 Mac Pro

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Question marked as Best reply

May 24, 2015 10:44 AM in response to Mirsky

Use FW with old Mac booted to Target disk mode.

When you set up the the Mac it will ask if you want to migrate data. Do that.

If yo do it after setting up the new Mac a new user's account will be made with that migrated data.


I used FW when migrating from my 2009 Mac Mini to my 2013 Mac Pro

May 25, 2015 10:51 PM in response to Lanny

I am the original poster and my Mac is running Yosemite. I don't have a separate drive with a clone, though. I do have everything backed up to an external drive via Time Machine.


My main concern is whether I will transfer the kernel panic error to the Mac Mini. I called Apple today and they seemed to think that it's unlikely, but it could happen. I'm still trying isolate the cause of the kernel panic. I still don't know if it's caused by hardware or software.

May 26, 2015 12:35 AM in response to Mirsky

Mirsky wrote:


I am the original poster and my Mac is running Yosemite. I don't have a separate drive with a clone, though. I do have everything backed up to an external drive via Time Machine.


My main concern is whether I will transfer the kernel panic error to the Mac Mini. I called Apple today and they seemed to think that it's unlikely, but it could happen. I'm still trying isolate the cause of the kernel panic. I still don't know if it's caused by hardware or software.

Ah - you didn't mention the kernel panic. But Apple is right - it's unlikely to be within the software.


If you want to go ahead with my suggestion you could use your external drive for the clone (deleting the TM backup, and assuming the external drive is big enough to take the whole of your internal HD).

Questions about migrating to new Mac Mini

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