Kurtu

Q: I have a dead MacBook Pro (circa 2007) and I want to migrate the backup to another one (circa mid 2012)

I recently got a new MBP. I want to use my old one to replace my wife's which died recently. My wife's was running Mountain Lion and all I have is a SuperDuper! clone back up. My older one is running Yosemite. Can I just run Migration Assistant to move everything over or do I need to do something to prepare the target HD? Thanks for any help.

MacBook, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Nov 4, 2015 2:05 PM

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Q: I have a dead MacBook Pro (circa 2007) and I want to migrate the backup to another one (circa mid 2012)

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  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Nov 4, 2015 2:27 PM in response to Kurtu
    Level 9 (61,083 points)
    Desktops
    Nov 4, 2015 2:27 PM in response to Kurtu

    Use this excellent illustrated article by the late james Pond:

     

    Pondini's OSX Tips: Setting-up a new Mac from an old one, its Backups, or a PC


    .

  • by Kurtu,

    Kurtu Kurtu Nov 5, 2015 11:47 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Notebooks
    Nov 5, 2015 11:47 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

    Didn't work.  The migration assistant just told me there wasn't enough disk space on the machine. I may not have  been clear, but the one I want to transfer TO is running 10.10. The one from (via SuperDuper) is running Moutain Lion or there about.  The disk is full so do I need to reformat it or something else? Thanks for the assist.

  • by OGELTHORPE,

    OGELTHORPE OGELTHORPE Nov 5, 2015 11:55 AM in response to Kurtu
    Level 9 (52,516 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 5, 2015 11:55 AM in response to Kurtu

    How much data is on the 2007 MBP and how much space is available on the 2012 MBP?  You may have to consider moving the 2007 MBP HDD to an external enclosure or only transfer selected data.

     

    Ciao.

  • by Kurtu,

    Kurtu Kurtu Nov 5, 2015 12:00 PM in response to OGELTHORPE
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Notebooks
    Nov 5, 2015 12:00 PM in response to OGELTHORPE

    Quite a bit on first, virtually none left on the one I am trying to transfer to.  I have no need for anything on the transfer to (since everything there is on the brand new one) disk so could I just nuke it and start over? I looked at that possibility but going into disk utility on the transfer to machine doesn't give me an option to reformat or repartition on either a user account or an admin account.

  • by OGELTHORPE,

    OGELTHORPE OGELTHORPE Nov 5, 2015 1:36 PM in response to Kurtu
    Level 9 (52,516 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 5, 2015 1:36 PM in response to Kurtu

    Please rewrite your post and use 2007 and 2012 MBP.  'Transfer to' is a bit confusing for me and I would be disappointed if I were to post an incorrect recommendation.  I will state that any reformat of a HDD will delete all user data from that HDD.

     

    Ciao.

  • by Kurtu,

    Kurtu Kurtu Nov 5, 2015 2:00 PM in response to OGELTHORPE
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Notebooks
    Nov 5, 2015 2:00 PM in response to OGELTHORPE

    Sorry the dates were getting me confused so I thought this might be easier. I was wrong.


    There is a lot of information on 2007 and basically nothing left on the 2012 one is its current condition.   I have no need for anything on the 2012 machine  (since everything there is on the brand new one) disk so could I just nuke it and start over? I looked at that possibility but going into disk utility on the 2012 machine doesn't give me an option to reformat or repartition on either a user account or an admin account.

      As an addendum, the only thing we REALLY needed from the 2007 machine was pics from iPhoto. I tried to just boot the 2012 machine from the Super Duper hard drive so I could transfer the pics to a USB drive, but nothing happened. I restarted it, hit option at the chimes, got the option to go to Kay's Backup, but when I clicked on it, I only got a grey background screen with a little apple and nothing else before I gave up after 20 minutes. This happened with a second HD, too. The 2012 machine is running 10.10.5 and the clone is from the 2007 machine that was using Mountain Lion.

  • by OGELTHORPE,

    OGELTHORPE OGELTHORPE Nov 5, 2015 3:16 PM in response to Kurtu
    Level 9 (52,516 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 5, 2015 3:16 PM in response to Kurtu

    As a matter of procedure, make certain that the data on the 'new' MBP is backed up before you reformat the 2012 MBP.

     

    To use Disk Utility>Erase and reformat the 2012 MBP, boot into the 'recovery' partition and select Disk Utility from the 4 option menu.

     

    Have you considered using Target Disk mode to retrieve the photos from the 2007 MBP?

     

    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201462

     

    Another option is to take out the HDD from the 2007 MBP, install it into an enclosure and then connect it to the 2012 MBP.

     

    Appreciate the rewrite. 

     

    Ciao.

  • by Kurtu,

    Kurtu Kurtu Nov 5, 2015 3:39 PM in response to OGELTHORPE
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Notebooks
    Nov 5, 2015 3:39 PM in response to OGELTHORPE

    >As a matter of procedure, make certain that the data on the 'new' MBP is backed up before you reformat the 2012 MBP.

    Oh, yeah. I back up to SD every day so the back-up took place within about 10 minutes of getting everything over to the 2015.

     

     

     

    >To use Disk Utility>Erase and reformat the 2012 MBP, boot into the 'recovery' partition and select Disk Utility from the 4 option menu.

    How does this effect my getting the 2007 backup to mh 2012 computer.

     

     

     

    >Have you considered using Target Disk mode to retrieve the photos from the 2007 MBP?

     

    Target disk won't work since the 2007 is 100% dead. Turn it on, it doesn't even chime, the screen doesn't come on (I hooked it up to a monitor to see if it was just a screen problem and nothing happened. This is an older MBP so it had a latch to keep the top secured and there was a small light right next to where you pushed in to release the latch. That is flashing on and off quite slowly and regularly, but that is the only indication of anything.

     

    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201462

     

    >Another option is to take out the HDD from the 2007 MBP, install it into an enclosure and then connect it to the 2012 MBP.

     

    Thanks. I am trying to avoid that since most of my computer expertise ends at turning it on (as you can see by my thrashing around). May be getting down to my final choice.

     

     

    The other thing is that neither of my 2007 back ups are mounting (on either the 2015 machine or the 2012 one).  Just this nice silver/blue screen with an apple in the middle after hitting option and selecting the right drive (which BTW shows and shows no problems when I verify it in DU)>

    Thanks for the help and the patience.

  • by OGELTHORPE,Helpful

    OGELTHORPE OGELTHORPE Nov 5, 2015 3:52 PM in response to Kurtu
    Level 9 (52,516 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 5, 2015 3:52 PM in response to Kurtu

    Kurtu wrote

     

     

    >To use Disk Utility>Erase and reformat the 2012 MBP, boot into the 'recovery' partition and select Disk Utility from the 4 option menu.

    How does this effect my getting the 2007 backup to mh 2012 computer.

     

    That allows you to erase the data on the 2012 MBP creating the room that you need for the data from the 2007 MBP.

     

    Select the appropriate HDD installation video/directions from here and look at the HDD installation:

     

    http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/

     

    This will give you a good idea how to take out the HDD.  It is NOT rocket science.

     

    You need a #00 Phillips and a #6 Torx drivers, both which should be available at a good hardware store.

     

    Ciao.

  • by Kurtu,

    Kurtu Kurtu Nov 5, 2015 3:52 PM in response to OGELTHORPE
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Notebooks
    Nov 5, 2015 3:52 PM in response to OGELTHORPE

    Thanks this helped, I'll let you know if it solved it...

  • by Kurtu,

    Kurtu Kurtu Nov 5, 2015 3:56 PM in response to OGELTHORPE
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Notebooks
    Nov 5, 2015 3:56 PM in response to OGELTHORPE

    >That allows you to erase the data on the 2012 MBP creating the room that you need for the data from the 2007 MBP.

     

    That just erases the data and leaves the OS in place?

  • by OGELTHORPE,Solvedanswer

    OGELTHORPE OGELTHORPE Nov 5, 2015 4:01 PM in response to Kurtu
    Level 9 (52,516 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 5, 2015 4:01 PM in response to Kurtu

    Kurtu wrote:

     

    That just erases the data and leaves the OS in place?

    Wrong answer, that will delete everything from the HDD.  My apologies.  You can choose Reinstall OSX from the same 4 option menu:

     

    Ciao.