How to transfer account user from one powerbook to another.

Hey gang, I need help with transfering my User Profile from one powerbook to another one.

I'm currently on a G4 Powerbook running Os X 10.2.8

The new G4 Powerbook will be running 10.3.?

My question is, Can I copy and move the user profile from my old machine to the new machine? If so how? The idea is that all my documents, music, photos, email, and preference settings can transfer over and be used on the new machine. Since all those files reside in one directory, shouldn't I be able to copy and paste it into the User Directory on the new machine?

Many Thanks in advance!

its really simple, but first..

do you want to transfer files through your:

1. home network?
2. crossover cable
3. firewire

firewire

I have all 3 of those options but I'm thinking firewire would be the quickest route correct? My user folder is about 40 gigs.

Thanks!

anyone?

Some help please? Time is growing short. I need to give this Powerbook back to my company end of the week.

Please!

I dont think its possible to copy the preferences over (version compatiblity).. I think the best thing to do is get a firewire hard drive and copy all your personal data to it. Or you can try to clone your old powerbook hard to the new one, so your new powerbook will have 10.2.8 and all your personal effects and then do an upgrade to 10.3

the best solution, is to make a clone of your current machine into a disk image, transfer it over to the new Powerbook, then do an archive and install with the 10.3 installation.

Sounds complicated, but is fairly easy.

Cloning your current machine

1. Download Carbon Copy Cloner
2. Follow the instructions on how to make a disk image out of your current system

Transferring the image to the new Powerbook

1. Hook up both machines via Firewire
2. Have the current machine running, then startup the new machine while holding down the letter T (you can let go once you see the firewire symbol bouncing around)
3. Transfer the disk image you made to the new hard drive

Formatting your new Powerbook using the disk image

1. Boot up from the 10.3 installation disk
2. Under the Installation menu, choose Disk Utility
3. Choose your drive, then click the Restore tab
4. Select the disk image you made, and then let it work its magic

Archive and Install 10.3
use the Archive and Install procedure thread to get from 10.2.8 to 10.3

its a mouthfull, but thats the safest way to make sure all your prefs will work, and all your usernames, keychains, etc will work in 10.3. Excluding the installation time, it shouldn't take more than a few hours depending on how fast the Carbon Cloning takes.

Thank You

Thank you so very much for the detailed instructions. This is exactly what I needed. I'm confident I'll be able to do this. I ran out of time on the powerbook so what I did was take my external firewire hard drive and used carbon copy. I made a disk image onto the external harddrive and I'll simply load it from that onto the new Powerbook. Then follow your instructions from there.

Thanks again. I GREATLY appreciate your time and effort.

Cheers!