Nina Contini Melis
Level 1 (104 points)
Desktops

Q: Migration assistant to migrate from  an old 2006 iMac

A friend with an old 2006 Intel iMac that was running Snow Leopard is replacing it with a current 27 inch Retina model. Can one use her SuperDuper clone to migrate her data/apps/settings etc from the old iMac 17 inch to the new 27 inch one? I don't remember if the old one has to be at least Lion to work with Migration Assistant or can it be running Snow Leopard?

 

To complicate matters even more, just yesterday I upgraded her iMac to Lion, so she could purchase a recent  model Brother all in one scanner/printer/copier, which requires minimum Lion. The upgrade worked but the iMac has slowed to a crawl and it isn't feasible to work on it in this condition (it is maxed out at 3Gb RAM). She was going to purchase a new Mac in a couple of months but it seems more practical to buy it now, hence my question on getting her data into the new El Cap iMac when it arrives. Before erasing her hd and reinstalling Snow Leopard from the clone, I thought it might be useful to make a backup of the current Lion installation, thinking that may be easier to use with Migration Assistant. But I want to check with the experts here on the forum before doing anything.

Posted on Mar 28, 2016 7:58 AM

by rkaufmann87,Solvedanswer
rkaufmann87 rkaufmann87
Level 9 (58,704 points)
Photos for Mac
A:

Depends on the version of OS X installed on the SD backup. Migration Assistant works with Snow Leopard 10.6.8 or later. However rather than using MA, she should use Setup Assistant which is virtually the same as MA except it does not create a new user account. Connect the SD back to the new machine when it arrives, when it is turned on SA launches and eventually asks if you are migrating from another Mac, select yes and follow the on-screen prompts. Apple explains in Move your content to a new Mac - Apple Support.

 

BTW, you are way over thinking this, a migration is an extremely simple process.

Posted on Mar 28, 2016 8:11 AM

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Nina Contini Melis

Q: Migration assistant to migrate from  an old 2006 iMac

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  • by rkaufmann87,Solvedanswer

    rkaufmann87 rkaufmann87 Mar 28, 2016 8:11 AM in response to Nina Contini Melis
    Level 9 (58,704 points)
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    Mar 28, 2016 8:11 AM in response to Nina Contini Melis

    Depends on the version of OS X installed on the SD backup. Migration Assistant works with Snow Leopard 10.6.8 or later. However rather than using MA, she should use Setup Assistant which is virtually the same as MA except it does not create a new user account. Connect the SD back to the new machine when it arrives, when it is turned on SA launches and eventually asks if you are migrating from another Mac, select yes and follow the on-screen prompts. Apple explains in Move your content to a new Mac - Apple Support.

     

    BTW, you are way over thinking this, a migration is an extremely simple process.

  • by Nina Contini Melis,

    Nina Contini Melis Nina Contini Melis Mar 28, 2016 8:23 AM in response to rkaufmann87
    Level 1 (104 points)
    Desktops
    Mar 28, 2016 8:23 AM in response to rkaufmann87

    Well, possibly overthinking but I am leery. I helped another friend migrate from an old MBP to a new one, and Migration Assistant wouldn’t work with her backup, but perhaps it was Leopard that she was running and not Snow Leopard. My main current Mac is running Mavericks so I have no experience with El Cap. Used to be when you started a new Mac, within the startup process it would ask if you wanted to migrate data from an older Mac. I am assuming from your post that this has changed, and you now need to have the SD backup connected before turning on the new Mac for the first time. Thanks for that info which I didn't know. I will check out the Apple Support link you sent, too.

     

    The version of OSX on the backup is Snow Leopard 10.6.8, as I made it just before installing Lion. So you are saying I don't need to make a backup of the Lion installation, since I can use the current SL clone to transfer her data.

  • by rkaufmann87,

    rkaufmann87 rkaufmann87 Mar 28, 2016 8:26 AM in response to Nina Contini Melis
    Level 9 (58,704 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Mar 28, 2016 8:26 AM in response to Nina Contini Melis

    Nina Contini Melis wrote:

     

    Used to be when you started a new Mac, within the startup process it would ask if you wanted to migrate data from an older Mac. I am assuming from your post that this has changed, and you now need to have the SD backup connected before turning on the new Mac for the first time. Thanks for that info which I didn't know. I will check out the Apple Support link you sent, too.

     

    Move your content to a new Mac - Apple S

    The process is the same.