Transferring all from one mac to another mac

I am purchasing a new Mac Book Pro. I want 100% of the content from my current Mac Book Air to be transferred in the easiest way to my new Mac Book Pro.

I have time machine back ups created on an external HDD. Is it as easy as connection my new Pro to that Ext HDD and some how get time machine to install all files and set up on my new Pro with the Air Time Machine back ups?

If yes, do I need to update to Mountain Lion on the Air first, then do time machine back up and then transfer to Pro? I am using lion 10.7.4 on my Air.

I have no idea how to do this beside the hard (PC?) way, which is transferring all files and folders one by one to a External HDD and than manually transferring in to my new Pro. But was hoping Mac had a smarter way to do this....

Migration Assistant is a great useful tool when it comes to this. It's very simple to use and gets the job done well.

ImageX said:

Migration Assistant is a great useful tool when it comes to this. It's very simple to use and gets the job done well.

Click to expand...

Hmmm....looks like I can just connect the ext. HDD to the new Pro and use Migration assistant to transfer all my files++. Perfect!

Thanks

As ImageX says, Migration Assistant is straightforward.

However, to answer another part of your question — assuming tour Time Machine (TM) backups are up to date:

when you get your new Mac and start it up, you will be offered chance to use TM to transfer everything from your backup to the new Mac.

The advantage of this is that it restores all your settings, preferences, folder structures etc exactly as you have them now. In reality, the only difference between now and the new Mac will be the OS. Your new Mac will ship out with Mountain Lion. The TM will copy everything as it is now along side Mountain Lion. So, no need to upgrade your present Mac to ML.

Hope that helps with the other part of your question.

Ian

IWT said:

As ImageX says, Migration Assistant is straightforward.

However, to answer another part of your question — assuming tour Time Machine (TM) backups are up to date:

when you get your new Mac and start it up, you will be offered chance to use TM to transfer everything from your backup to the new Mac.

The advantage of this is that it restores all your settings, preferences, folder structures etc exactly as you have them now. In reality, the only difference between now and the new Mac will be the OS. Your new Mac will ship out with Mountain Lion. The TM will copy everything as it is now along side Mountain Lion. So, no need to upgrade your present Mac to ML.

Hope that helps with the other part of your question.

Ian

Click to expand...

So will my new Mac ask me if I want to transfer everything from my back up no matter if the Ext. HDD is connected to the new Mac or not, or do I need to connect the Ext. HDD during first start up to make this happen?

Sounds like I don't need Migration Assistant if it is like this at first start up when I get my Pro.

When you start your new Mac, it will ask you if you want to restore from a TM backup. Choosing "Yes", it then asks you to select your backup source (ie TM). You can mount your EHD at this stage and then select it. There's nothing wrong with mounting it before you start if you want to. Either way, you just have to select your EHD and hit "Go" or "Start"; I can't recall the exact wording.

Ian

Actually I just realized I cannot do it like this since I have messed up my possibility to use Chrome on my Air after I downloaded java 7. A clean install will fix that, while using timemachine probably will transfer the problem to my new Pro and I do not want that. Meaning I have to do this the good old fashion PC way....