Old macbook to New macbook

[ljmtwitch]

Hi I am a pc user however my grandmother bought a new macbook pro with an ssd in it. She has the old macbook pro with a regular hdd in it. I bought a thunderbolt cable and I was wondering if there was a chance I could clone exactly what is on her old macbook onto the new one

Cheers
ljmtwitch

 

[honestone]

First, does the old MacBool Pro have a Firewire 800 port on it?

Secondly, is the amount of space used on the HDD less than the amount of space on the SSD?

Third, just to sure, you would want to replace everything on the SSD with everything from the HDD? That would include the Mac OS, correct? (I suspect the new MacBook Pro is running at least Yosemite (OS 10.10.5), whereas the old MacBook Pro is running with a different version of the Mac OS. Again, is that correct?)

Fourth, has she been making backups of the stuff on the old MacBook Pro, and preferably to an external device?

Last, besides Disk Utility, do either of you have a more robust disk cleanup/maintenance/repair program, like TechTool Pro or Disk Warrior? Also, has she been following any cleanup/maintenance plan on a consistent basis?

All of that is important in order for this project to be a success.

 

[ljmtwitch]

Yeah the macbook pro is above mountain lion I think, I don't know if it has a Firewire port but i think it does however the new macbook doesn't and yes the amount of space is less than the ssd. I was thinking of using migration assistance to transfer everything using a thunderbolt cable...

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

If both MacBook Pros have a Thunderbolt port (not Mini DisplayPort on the older MBP), then you can use that cable with Migration Assistant. If they don't both have Thunderbolt, you can perform the migration via an Ethernet cable as well.

Move your content to a new Mac

C

 

[honestone]

Yeah the macbook pro is above mountain lion I think, I don't know if it has a Firewire port but i think it does however the new macbook doesn't and yes the amount of space is less than the ssd. I was thinking of using migration assistance to transfer everything using a thunderbolt cable...

You will need a Firewire 800 cable first. Secondly, you'll need a Thunderbolt to Firewire 800 adapter, as the old MacBook Pro does not have a Thunderbolt Port on it. I have one of those adapters (cost $29; http://www.apple.com/shop/product/MD464LL/A/apple-thunderbolt-to-firewire-adapter), and it works well for me whenever I am backing up my MacBook Air (has a Thunderbolt port) to each of my external hard drives, which have Firewire 800 ports.

Now, using Migration Assistant will not migrate the Apple OS and "related" system files. If you want to just migrate all the non-system stuff, that can be done. But, you originally stated that you wanted to take everything from the old MacBook Pro and replace what is on the SSD.

Also, just to confirm, what exact new MacBook Pro model did she purchase, and when?

Also, will need answers to the other things I mentioned above.

 

[honestone]

Hello and welcome.

If both MacBook Pros have a Thunderbolt port (not Mini DisplayPort on the older MBP), then you can use that cable with Migration Assistant. If they don't both have Thunderbolt, you can perform the migration via an Ethernet cable as well.

Move your content to a new Mac

C

Cory,

I do not think Migration Assistant will migrate the OS and its associated files. I believe the choices for Migration Assistant are files/folders for Users, Applications, Settings, and Other Files and Folders on the "old" Mac. Is that correct?

 

[Cory Cooper]

Correct...it does not migrate the OS.

C

 

[honestone]

ljmtwitch,

It is imperative that you determine which Mac OS versions are running on each machine. The reason I say this is that if the goal is to replace everything on the new machine with everything from the old Mac, that can be done in an "easy" fashion, although you'll need the adapter and cable I mentioned above. If, though, you only want to migrate all the non-system stuff, and assuming the OS each machine is using is different from the other, then it will necessary to insure that any third party applications on the old Mac have been updated to run under the new OS.

We need definitive answers to these questions, so that we can help you.