Buying a new Mac


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hello folks!

i know there is a similar topic floating around here but i wanted to make sure i dont fck this one up so here is my situation:

i am on a 2006 blackbook with leopard installed (latest updates and all).

i have time machine running so my disc is completely backed up.

i will buy a MBP on tuesday (i unfortunately need the new macbook NOW, so i cannot wait for possible i5/i7 updates)

and it looks like i wont have my old macbook then anymore.

so i figured i could do the following:

start up my new MBP, connect my external HDD with my TMB and then kinda access the drive from the desktop after my

whole system is set up. i can then dig through my latest backup and just "drag and drop" my itunes library, my photos-folder (not iphoto),

my wallpapers and my contacts and all.

i want to do it that way because my system is pretty much cluttered like hell, it has not been reformatted since december 2006 and it is working like a champ but there still is clutter and i figured if i use the migration assistent, all of the clutter will be tranferred to. plus a newly set up computer with fresh installs just "feels" better.

i could manually backup the folders of interest but now that i have a complete backup with things i might forget to backup and the files on the TM-disc themselves look like they are accessable and drag and droppable (except of course for the applications but i will happily reinstall them all, i already got my discs dug out) i tought that would be the better option, especially since i might, as mentioned, forget that one folder somewhere in my documents that i need that one day for research or whatsoever, i am a little paranoid.

so... is it possible to just use the time machine backup and pick out the pieces i want to restore?

pretty simple question, i know, but i really want to be dead sure.

thanks in advance!

oh yeah and i have an iphone, will i need to repurchase my apps again once they, folder wise, are stored on another computer or will i just be able to actiuvate my device on that new computer with my itunes account and sync it as usual?

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i would do that but i wont have the blackbook anymore on tuesday. so i will only have my newly purchased MBP and my external firewire HDD.

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Oh ok. Instead of using TMB, using Carbon Copy Cloner and make a direct clone of your blackbook. TMB uses some weird annoying database while CCC is a direct image. Then just move over docs, music, etc. Don't move over apps/preferences, reinstall and reconfig.

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You dont need to buy your apps all over again. When you buy your new machine launch iTunes, sign into your account and that will authorize your machine. There should be no difference.

Once you finished with your old machine, just deauthorize the computer.

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gees, thanks for the replies. very helpful. =)

but one more question... if its just for plain files without deeper integration into the OS itself like music, pictures and stuff... will my time machine backup do anyways?

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but one more question... if its just for plain files without deeper integration into the OS itself like music, pictures and stuff... will my time machine backup do anyways?

The problem is that the Time Machine Backup is very hard to look through and find files on (because it organizes your files into a date/time folder structure). Just taking an image of the system would be much easier.

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The problem is that the Time Machine Backup is very hard to look through and find files on (because it organizes your files into a date/time folder structure). Just taking an image of the system would be much easier.

sorry for being super-stupid but... would it work anyways? when i look into my time machine hdd (without actually starting time machine) i see my backups as sorted by time and some shortcut to "latest". i click on it and i see the same folders i would see when i click on my macintosh-folder.

i could clone my hdd, yeah, the thing is it would take too much time. everything happens in a rush right now and i already got my TMB ready, you know...

sorry for asking such in-too-deep questions, but my situation is a little complex here. :D

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sorry for being super-stupid but... would it work anyways? when i look into my time machine hdd (without actually starting time machine) i see my backups as sorted by time and some shortcut to "latest". i click on it and i see the same folders i would see when i click on my macintosh-folder.

i could clone my hdd, yeah, the thing is it would take too much time. everything happens in a rush right now and i already got my TMB ready, you know...

sorry for asking such in-too-deep questions, but my situation is a little complex here. :D

I suppose it would work. I've never tried. :p It just seems to me like it would be assured to work better with a pure disk image. The TMB is really meant for fully restoring back to a machine or pulling small files through its interface.

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or so thank you everyone, i now have the time machine backup for emergency cases and i manually backed up all my stuff, i did it like i did with windows back in the days, put everything i need into one folder and boom on my external hdd. ;) that should work.

today im going out for my new MBP and i hope i got everything i need.

thanks again for your patience and help!

cheers, guys!

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Another option (which I used when clean updating to Snow Leopard) is to simply back up the few things you want (music, photos, etc.) to the external hard drive just by dragging and dropping. Then you should have just the files you need on the hard drive and it will be a simple matter of dragging and dropping onto the new machine. Not the most robust method since you don't have a disk image, but it gets the job done pretty simply.

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