Need some advice with a HDD clone and a new Mac.

[erikfig]

My MacBook Pro 13 inches late 2011 was recently stolen but I clone the HDD a few days before it happens with Carbon Copy. I just bought a new one (same one).

My questions is this:

Can I use Carbon Copy right away and just clone the (backed up) external HDD back to the stock HDD that comes with the laptop? The HDD that I cloned with CCC has OS X 7.3 and the computer comes with 7.1 or so.

What I want to to do is basically use CCC and do the following:

Use the external HDD as "Source" and use the stock (internal HDD) as target.

I will appreciate any advice on this. Thanks

 

[chscag]

Yes, you can do it that way if you wish. You might also just want to update the new MBP with software update first including any firmware updates. Then use the CCC clone to copy what you need rather than clone everything over. Sometimes copying a cloned copy over a new install will cause slowdowns. I've personally found that to be true with CCC or SuperDuper. Time Machine works best in that situation.

 

[erikfig]

Yes, you can do it that way if you wish. You might also just want to update the new MBP with software update first including any firmware updates. Then use the CCC clone to copy what you need rather than clone everything over. Sometimes copying a cloned copy over a new install will cause slowdowns. I've personally found that to be true with CCC or SuperDuper. Time Machine works best in that situation.

I also have a Time Machine backup, should I use that one instead of CCC to avoid any slowdowns? I need all my applications and configurations for them like, CS5, Disk Drill, Office 2010, Fusion...etc

Can I just restore all my applications with CCC?

 

[chscag]

If you have a good current Time Machine backup, you can use that instead. The TM backup does not cause slowdowns as does happen on occasion with CCC.

And yes, you can certainly restore all your applications with CCC if desired. I have done that many times. My backup regimen consists of making both a CCC clone and TM backup. It takes two separate external hard drives but it's well worth the effort.

I commend you on your diligence in making backups. Having your MBP stolen is bad enough, but the loss of your data would have been worse. I wish all our members would be as diligent!

 

[erikfig]

If you have a good current Time Machine backup, you can use that instead. The TM backup does not cause slowdowns as does happen on occasion with CCC.

And yes, you can certainly restore all your applications with CCC if desired. I have done that many times. My backup regimen consists of making both a CCC clone and TM backup. It takes two separate external hard drives but it's well worth the effort.

I commend you on your diligence in making backups. Having your MBP stolen is bad enough, but the loss of your data would have been worse. I wish all our members would be as diligent!

Thank you chscag! Both of my back up are current so I will try to restore everything from TM to avoid any slowdowns. And yes, I use two different drives for backup too. One for TM and one for CCC. Better safe than sorry!