Transferring from old HD to new laptop?

Unfortunately, approximately 6 months ago I had a bit of an accident with a large drink, which ended up being on the inside of my Macbook.

On the positive side, I was able to rescue the HD from my old Macbook and claim on my house insurance for a new.

However, I now have my old sitting idly beside my new laptop with stuff on it that I want on my new Macbook.

Can anyone explain the best way to transfer over the files? I have a HD enclosure but need to know if I can transfer some of the file but not all and is it possible to transfer application by application?

Also, is it then possible to use my old HD as a back-up HD so that I can regularly back-up the Macbook and not necessarily have to keep everything on it.

Thanks

Check the guide in my sig. That way will transfer everything over, including apps, which you can then delete what you dont want. And yes, you can then swap out HD's, and put your old one into the enclosure, then format it and back up to it.

Right,

I have got everything off my old HD now and have what I need on the laptop.

I now need to erase all the info / data off the old HD currently attached via USB to the laptop and only use it as the disk where I back up to.

Can anyone shed any light on how to do this? Ideally step by step as it is safe to say that I am not exactly a whizz at doing things like this.

Open Disk Utility > Select the USB HDD in the left hand panel (make sure you have the right HDD selected!!) > Click on Erase in the right hand panel > Select your desired format (if using Time Machine to back-up, format as Mac OS Extended Journaled) > Name your HDD > Click Erase!

True Bassist said:

Open Disk Utility > Select the USB HDD in the left hand panel (make sure you have the right HDD selected!!) > Click on Erase in the right hand panel > Select your desired format (if using Time Machine to back-up, format as Mac OS Extended Journaled) > Name your HDD > Click Erase!

Click to expand...

Do I need an Airport to use Time Machine?

No. All you need is an external drive. I currently use a 1TB drive for my Time Machine back-up which runs via USB.