Migrating data from a clone of old HDD to new Macbook Pro

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Level 1

4 points

Migrating data from a clone of old HDD to new Macbook Pro

My early 2011 Macbook Pro has died (sigh), but fortunately I have a month-old clone of my old HDD and Time Machine backups of the more recent period. My question is how best to migrate the data to my brand new (mid-2015) MBP from these two backup sources? Should I reformat the new computer and transfer the entire clone to the new flash drive? Or, is it possible to transfer the data using Migration Assistant from the cloned drive to the new computer? Both computers are/were running OS X El Capitan.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X El Capitan (10.11.5), 2.5 GHz Intel Core i7, 1 TB Flash

Posted on Jul 5, 2016 7:08 PM

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Answer 1

BigGee42

Level 2

325 points

Jul 5, 2016 7:25 PM in response to JRM-Flyer

If you have a Time Machine backup that is more recent than the clone, then you can use Migration Assistant to restore your Mac from the Time Machine backup.

Startup the new Mac normally and select to Restore from Time Machine when you get to the Migration Assistant.

It should do all the work for you and you shouldn't even need the clone.

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Answer 2

JRM-Flyer Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 5, 2016 7:29 PM in response to BigGee42

Wow, thanks for the essentially instant reply! My understanding was that Time Machine backed up only data and not Applications, OS files, and such. If "everything" can be restored from the Time Machine backup, then I agree that would be the best way to go. Thank you again for the prompt reply!

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