Looking for Migration Assistant tips |
jfruh 10-05-2005, 02:31 PM Hello all-
I currently have a G4 Power Mac, and I've just purchased a slightly used G5 Power Mac on eBay; I've ordered a bigger internal hard drive for the second drive bay and am waiting on that before I start using it. I am planning on using the Migration Assistant to move my old user data and applications over from the old Mac to the new. I've never used the Migration Assistant before so I'd appreciate any words of wisdom from those who have done so.
The thing that is keeping the process from being totally straightforward is iDVD. Basically, my old Mac doesn't have a DVD burner, and thus didn't come with iDVD; the new one does, and thus did. I'm assuming that the only way to get iDVD without shelling out for iLife (which I have no real desire to do) is to use the system restore disks that came with the G5. However, my guess is that there's no way to get iDVD off of those disks without doing a total system install. Also, if I use Migration Assistant to move my apps over, what happens to the existing apps? Essentially, I want my Applications folder to be just like the one currently on my old Mac, but to have iDVD in it. Any advice anyone has would be helpful.
Anyway, here is my current plan of action:
1. Install the new drive in the empty drive bay.
2. Use the system restore disks that came with the G5 to install a clean version of OS X 10.3.5 (this was the current version when the G5 was sold) on the G5's new hard drive; set up a single admin user with a name different from any of the users on my old Mac.
3. Wipe the G5's original hard drive.
4. Use my Tiger install disks and Software Update to upgrade the OS on the G5's new drive to the most current version possible.
5. Use Migration Assistant to import all of the users and the applications from the old Mac.
6. Upgrade one of the newly imported users to Admin, and then erase the original admin user.
7. Wipe the hard drives on my old Mac; put a fresh install of OS X 10.3 on it from my boxed Panther set (Tiger is too slow on the old Mac, and plus I'm using my license for the new one).
Anyone who's used Migration Assistant in the past, I'd love to hear if you think that this is a good idea!
Raven 10-05-2005, 02:54 PM The migration assistant will come up after the OS installation asking what you want to transfer from the old Mac to the new one. You can choose to import user settings, network settings, applications, your Library, etc. Its pretty customizable and doesn't overwrite the content of your current Apps folder or anything. it will only replace older items or ones that do not exist. So if iDVD is installed on the newer machine, it will not erase it.
jfruh 10-05-2005, 03:16 PM Hello all-
I posted a question elsewhere looking at this problem from another angle, but I think this might be the way I want to go about it, if I can.
To make a long story short (or at least try): I just bought a six-month-old Power Mac G5 on eBay. I am planning on moving all my apps and data over from my old computer, a G4. The system restore disks came will put OS 10.3.5 on the G5. The G5 has a built-in DVD burner, and thus also came with iDVD. The G4 does not have a DVD burner, and thus did not come with iDVD.
I have a commercial version of OS X 10.4, and what I'd ideally like to do is make a totally fresh and clean install of 10.4 onto the G5, and then use the setup assistant to import all my stuff from the G4 over. However, my fear would be that in doing so I would lose iDVD. Is there any way to install iDVD from the install disks that come with the G5 without installing OS X?
Thanks in advance,
jf
Raven 10-05-2005, 03:26 PM Take a look at what I posted in your Migration assistant thread for more details on the Migration. And please do not cross post as it just confiuses people.
hayne 10-05-2005, 03:29 PM I merged the two threads.
Raven 10-05-2005, 03:33 PM Thanks... I'm realy tired today so at least I'm going to feel a bit less like I'm hallucinating ! :D
jfruh 10-05-2005, 04:13 PM Well, you guys are in charge, so I guess you can merge them if you want to. I just want to emphasize that I am actually asking two different questions. The first was about importing applications using Migration Assistant, and whether doing that overwrites applications (Raven ably answered this above). The second, which has not been answered, was about installing the iApps off of a system restore disk without actually installing OS X.
jf
hayne 10-05-2005, 04:25 PM Well, you guys are in charge, so I guess you can merge them if you want to. I just want to emphasize that I am actually asking two different questions.
If you are asking two questions both of which are related to a higher-level goal, then they should be in one thread. If we know your higher-level goal then we can suggest solutions for that which don't necessarily answer your specific questions (which become irrelevant if your higher-level goal is accomplished).
The second, which has not been answered, was about installing the iApps off of a system restore disk without actually installing OS X
You can try doing this with the 3rd-party utility "Pacifist"
If you are, the DVD has a folder called "Applications" or something like that which actually has all of the standard i-apps and that packages can be run to install them if, for some odd reason, they were not already installed.
Joe VanZandt
Raven 10-06-2005, 09:58 AM You can try doing this with the 3rd-party utility "Pacifist"
To add to Hayne's post, here is the URL for it: http://charlessoft.com/
Its realy a great piece of software that allows you to drill down in any OS X install disk package and select precisely the item you wish to re-install.
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