Make 2 computer the same

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I have Late 2013 Laptop SSD and Late 2012 iMac 27 in. H/D. Is it possible to have LeCie backup put in to formatted iMac and make it the same?? but different Local sharing, Laptop Local#3 and iMac Local#4?? Want to ask before I do it. Yes both running latest Catalina
 

Raz0rEdge

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In what ways are you expecting the two machines to be the same?
 
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Dittoman1
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In what ways are you expecting the two machines to be the same?


My iMac backup disk is U 32 is corrupted. When my son formatted the iMac then installed OS X ( Catilina ) then install software back to iMac and realized its corrupted. Only thing I can do is format again and either use LeCie from Laptop into iMac since OS X is the same but thought ask first. Other thing I can so is format iMac then use Migaration Assistant from Laptop to iMac.. Hope this is clear
 

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What type of backup is on the LeCie? How could things be installed on the iMac if it was corrupted? Not sure what's going on there.

Anyway, sure you can use Migration Assistant to copy stuff over too.

Was the drive on the iMac corrupted or failing? If failing, since it is 8 years old, it might fail and you might want think about upgrading that to a SSD.
 
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What type of backup is on the LeCie? How could things be installed on the iMac if it was corrupted? Not sure what's going on there.

Anyway, sure you can use Migration Assistant to copy stuff over too.

Was the drive on the iMac corrupted or failing? If failing, since it is 8 years old, it might fail and you might want think about upgrading that to a SSD.

OK forget what I said above, Want to ask if I could format and install Catalina then install my software from iCloud?? Id so could u tell me how to do that ?? I see something new Macintosh HD and Macintosh HD-Data? Which one should I use to format that
 
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Ron, when your drive structure was changed to APFS, the process created those two Volumes and you should NOT mess with them. The operating system merges them into what looks to you like one single Volume, but the Macintosh HD Volume has much higher security because it holds the system. The Data Volume holds just that, your data. But you cannot just reach in and mess with them because they are viewed as two parts of the one drive by the OS in many ways. To install Catalina, you just install it to the hardware, or the partition you created for it. It will, if needed, format the drive/partition to APFS, create the Container there, and create the two Volumes in that Container.

I'm still a bit confused by where you are right now. You say your son updated the drive in the iMac to Catalina and then tried to reinstall software but found it corrupted. What does that mean, exactly? How do you know it is corrupted? The APFS format for the drive is new and most third party disk utilities don't know how to handle it, so they report errors. How about we back up a bit to see what is really going on?
 

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