Transfer data from iMac to iMac wirelessly

See using Migration Assistant in:OS X Yosemite: Transfer your info from a computer or storage device

1. Use the Setup Assistant, or the Migration Assistant, or open the Sharing pane of System Preferences on one computer, start File Sharing, and use the Connect to Server command in the Finder’s Go menu on the other.

2. Change it in the Sharing pane of System Preferences.

(130968)

On your new iMac I assume you mean it's used but is new to you because you state it had an old owner. Start by erasing the new computer's hard drive and installing OS X. Without knowing the specific model I can't really offer you a procedure of what to do. After you do this you will need to configure its Network wireless to connect to your local network. On your old machine you need to enable File Sharing in Sharing preferences. Select the Desktop icon for the old computer's hard drive. Press COMMAND-I to open the Get Info window and enable the Sharing option in the upper panel.

On the new computer you should find a new category listed in the Finder's sidebar - Servers. There you will see your old computer listed. Select it then click on the Connect button on the far right of the toolbar. To login to the other computer's admin account just enter your admin password and connect.

Randy,

Please remember if you choose to move the data wirelessly this will likely take a week or longer. I am not kidding so please re-think your strategy. I STRONGLY recommend using the backup from the old machine and connecting it to the new machine and using Migration Assistant. This will take a couple of hours vs. many days.

Yes this iMac (Model 14.1) had a previous owner. The OS X is pre-installed

Another thing to remember:

The iMac 14,1 originally came with Mountain Lion (10.8.x) - if there is a newer OS installed on it now (10.9.x or 10.10.x), then the owner should have erased the drive and reinstalled the original OS as the license for anything obtained from the app store is not transferable and tied to the seller's Apple ID.

In order to prevent future problems - and to be able to set it up with your own Apple ID instead of the previous owner's - I would recommend that you use internet recovery (Command + Option + R) to connect to Apple's servers, use Disk Utility to erase the drive, and then reinstall the OS. This should reinstall the original OS - you can then update to the latest using your own ID. This also has the added benefit of offering you to use Setup Assistant when the OS is first being installed - at that time you can transfer your files over. That is much better than using Migration Assistant as that will result in duplicate files.

Which OS version does the Mac have on it now (the way you got it from the seller)?

If it is newer than the 10.8.x that it came with, the licensing agreement states that the seller has to erase the drive because the license for the OS is not transferable - it is only for the person who downloaded it. The same applies to any programs/apps which were downloaded from the app store.

So, please post back with the OS version on your Mac so we can give you the steps to take if necessary.

Randy Allen wrote:

Thank you! No a week is about 6 days and 20hours too long.

Then abandon the wireless idea and use a backup (Time Machine or a bootable clone) of the old system and connect it via USB to the new machine.

Randy Allen wrote:

It has Yosemite 10.10.4 on it. The reason he didn't wipe it clean was that he had Microsoft Word on it and asked me if I'd like to keep it. What repercussions could there be if I don't erase & re-install?

You will be tied to his AppleID and continue to have problems. In short, you have an illegal license of MS Word because you did not pay for it. Even if the original owner did buy it, the license he got does not give him the authority to give it to you. To be honest, do the erase and install and then purchase your own license of MS Office for Mac. You can easily find it discounted or if you don't want to use that then use Apple's Pages app which is free.

Well, if you keep it, technically you will be running pirated/illegal software. If you have the registration key, you can reinstall and use that; if not, then you will suddenly lose it if/when you need to reinstall the OS due to some problems. If he did not remove his Apple ID and did not erase the drive/reinstall the original OS, then you will most likely not be able to update any apps at the app store (which were originally tied to his Apple ID) or reinstall the OS as both will ask you for the Apple ID used to download them previously.

Aside from all this legal stuff, I would always wipe and reinstall a fresh copy of the OS on any machine that isn't brand new when I buy it. You have no idea if/what the seller has left on it - I would not ever take the chance. That way I know exactly what is on it. I purchased a refurb iMac directly from Apple a couple of months ago and even erased and installed a fresh OS on that.