Best way to migrate to new machine while keeping it clean (no Time Machine, Intel -> M3)

[gilby101]

Is there a recommended way or a guide for doing a manual move?

Others have said lots of good stuff. But I do think licensing is not quite as easy as is suggested here:

install all licensed software I use, and any other software

Licensing is the can of worms. Before starting you need to have:

1) Records of all license keys, which can be
a) A string of characters, or
b) A file which was originally provided in an email and needs to be opened by the newly installed app.
c) The app logging in to a vendor web site (e.g. Adobe, MS) and this entitling you to use the software.

In some cases there is file stored somewhere (never specified but likely in a Library folder) which you can copy from old to new Mac. But increasingly this no longer works because it includes a UUID for the old Mac.

2) Understand license conditions which for personal use might be:
a) The license allows you to install on all Macs you own - this is very like the Apple App Store way.
b) The license may allow you to install it on x Macs. This can be:
b-1) An honour system
b-2) The vendor web site keeps track of computers on which you have installed software and you may be able to unauthorise the old Mac if the new one takes you over the limit. Each app will be different - this is the minefield which can cause endless frustration.
b-3) The license was for one particular Mac and you need a new license (Some years ago, I had this trouble with Disk Drill).

I have done this recently when replacing 2016 MacBook with a new MBP. With good records (I keep all licenses in either 1Password or a folder in iCloud) and preparation (checking licensing limits and de-authorising the old Mac) I managed the process without too much hassle. My only loss was a Chronosync license which I had been using incorrectly on two Macs.

That is my rant about moving licenses. I hope it goes well for you.

 

[tjktony]

Others have said lots of good stuff. But I do think licensing is not quite as easy as is suggested here:

Licensing is the can of worms. Before starting you need to have:

1) Records of all license keys, which can be
a) A string of characters, or
b) A file which was originally provided in an email and needs to be opened by the newly installed app.
c) The app logging in to a vendor web site (e.g. Adobe, MS) and this entitling you to use the software.

In some cases there is file stored somewhere (never specified but likely in a Library folder) which you can copy from old to new Mac. But increasingly this no longer works because it includes a UUID for the old Mac.

2) Understand license conditions which for personal use might be:
a) The license allows you to install on all Macs you own - this is very like the Apple App Store way.
b) The license may allow you to install it on x Macs. This can be:
b-1) An honour system
b-2) The vendor web site keeps track of computers on which you have installed software and you may be able to unauthorise the old Mac if the new one takes you over the limit. Each app will be different - this is the minefield which can cause endless frustration.
b-3) The license was for one particular Mac and you need a new license (Some years ago, I had this trouble with Disk Drill).

I have done this recently when replacing 2016 MacBook with a new MBP. With good records (I keep all licenses in either 1Password or a folder in iCloud) and preparation (checking licensing limits and de-authorising the old Mac) I managed the process without too much hassle. My only loss was a Chronosync license which I had been using incorrectly on two Macs.

That is my rant about moving licenses. I hope it goes well for you.

Amen.

Calendar alerts are not working for me (I depend on them), so I'm going to be wiping my 14" M1 MBP (Ventura) and installing Sonoma and everything from scratch. I'm good with everything (done it before) except MS Office 2021 Home and Student for Mac (got it for $110+tax, now is $150+tax). I've dealt with MS in the past and was lucky enough to get an answer about how to manage the transfer for older Office products. Now I've read it's all different and it's no longer possible to speak to an agent about it, so I'm dreading the thought of trying to get an answer from MS, and even then perhaps losing the app and possibly having to buy another one.

 

[JamesMay82]

Why would it mess up? I have moved my iTunes library with more than 10 K songs with artwork. Take a back up and move small part of the library to test.

I’ve got cds that I’ve ripped and had add artwork in manually and when I’ve moved it in the past it loses the link with the artwork. I think it’s because of where it stores the artwork separately from the music folder. So I just need to make sure I copy that over..

But I’m on big sur on current machine so unsure if I move artwork folder will it read it like that in sonoma?

 

[MBAir2010]

But I’m on big sur on current machine so unsure if I move artwork folder will it read it like that in sonoma?

dont feel bad or go crazy since "music/itunes" never pinpointed an album art work when that was added somehow.

I get errors today from High Sierra.... say on led Zeppelin 4 that shows the man with sticks cover then their individual signs or logos art work on "going to California" while playing on an iPad, Apple TV and MacBooks.
I edit the song many times and just the default always shows th wrong cover.

another album that never sync is the Motels "Shock"
since 2004 on my igloo iMac G4 were the songs never playin in order.
there are other cd ripped albums that I have problems with art work ever since I started ripping my cd back in 1999.
I do have to admit that since Mojave the album art work has been steady and slightly improving.

I'm having problems with Toad the Wet Sprockets "starting now" were the first song never show sup on 4 devices.
this was an "music-tunes" purchase that never works as intended.
I did remove, repaid the album several time this year.

al in all I'm happy with not toting cassettes or cd around as in the past, especially while cycling and now we have safe wireless earphone means. Im h just baffled that a song won't keep the album art
even after editing or pasting too many times over these decades.

 

[TechnoMonk]

I’ve got cds that I’ve ripped and had add artwork in manually and when I’ve moved it in the past it loses the link with the artwork. I think it’s because of where it stores the artwork separately from the music folder. So I just need to make sure I copy that over..

But I’m on big sur on current machine so unsure if I move artwork folder will it read it like that in sonoma?

My songs were also ripped from my CD collection. How did you tag the artwork? I used mp3tag and never had problem with artwork or metadata in iTunes.

 

[msackey]

I’ve got cds that I’ve ripped and had add artwork in manually and when I’ve moved it in the past it loses the link with the artwork. I think it’s because of where it stores the artwork separately from the music folder. So I just need to make sure I copy that over..

Re: artwork. Oh yeah, that's definitely a PITA that I've encountered several times over the years of migration.

Wasn't it true that in the early days of macOS that the idea was that you could fully uninstall a program simply by dragging the app to the trash can without having to worry about the smattering of related files elsewhere in the drive (because there weren't supposed to be any). Of course, in a very short period of time and especially with programs like MS Word, you saw there were files scattered all over the drive.

What a shame that in 2023 there still isn't a system for easy uninstall without an uninstaller. I'd love to see ALL related support files, caches, and preference files deleted when I uninstall an application.

 

[TracerAnalog]

It doesn’t have to be.

I always set up a new computer from scratch.

I make an encrypted disk image of the old computer and keep it on the new drive, so anything I need to check or transfer is easily accessible. After a few weeks I move the image to long-term storage.

Exactly what I do. Mind you, I have a data storage strategy that makes this easy. All my samples are on one partition, all my photo’s another, etc. I always keep my applications separate from media and data.

 

[cmcbhi]

Good stuff. I’m planning to switch from a 27” iMac to a Studio Machine and Monitor when the M3 version is available.
I do have three questions.
1). Lightroom. Could I just install Lightroom (I use LR Classic and store my images on my machine) connect the old to new via RJ45 jacks and a patch cord and let LR import all my image on to the new machine? That way I’ll not have all those LR catalogs produced every time I close LR?
2). Could itunes and video files be imported the same way? The music files are in iTunes and now, I guess the movies are in thr Apple TV app.
2). Import documents the same way. I store documents locally and in iCloud.
FWIW, I back up w/ Time Machine on an external drive and Carbonite so I do have multiple backups.
Suggestions would be welcome.

 

[YoitsTmac]

Good stuff. I’m planning to switch from a 27” iMac to a Studio Machine and Monitor when the M3 version is available.
I do have two questions.
1). Lightroom. Could I just install Lightroom (I use LR Classic and store my images on my machine) connect the old to new via RJ45 jacks and a patch cord and let LR import all my image on to the new machine? That way I’ll not have all those LR catalogs produced every time I close LR?
2). Import documents the same way. I store documents locally and in iCloud.
FWIW, I back up w/ Time Machine on an external drive and Carbonite so I do have multiple backups.

Install Lightroom classic but you must find out which LRCatalog file you’re using. Copy all your images to the right directories and then open the catalog. Thumbnails will regenerate. If you do not load from the catalog, you’ll lose your edits. If you have custom presets, you must recover those from library. You can find this folder by opening preferences on your old computer, then go to presets, then “show Lightroom develop presets”. You’ll see the path in finder. I’d copy the entire “CameraRaw” folder personally (my location is -/Library/Application Support/Adobe/)

As for documents, just copy them first from your TM backup, then turn on iCloud sync. It’ll save some bandwidth.

 

[cmcbhi]

I’ve got cds that I’ve ripped and had add artwork in manually and when I’ve moved it in the past it loses the link with the artwork. I think it’s because of where it stores the artwork separately from the music folder. So I just need to make sure I copy that over..

But I’m on big sur on current machine so unsure if I move artwork folder will it read it like that in sonoma?

FWIW, I keep added Album Artwork in a Lightroom file unimaginatively named Album Artwork. Easy to find.

 

[cmcbhi]

Install Lightroom classic but you must find out which LRCatalog file you’re using. Copy all your images to the right directories and then open the catalog. Thumbnails will regenerate. If you do not load from the catalog, you’ll lose your edits. If you have custom presets, you must recover those from library. You can find this folder by opening preferences on your old computer, then go to presets, then “show Lightroom develop presets”. You’ll see the path in finder. I’d copy the entire “CameraRaw” folder personally (my location is -/Library/Application Support/Adobe/)

As for documents, just copy them first from your TM backup, then turn on iCloud sync. It’ll save some bandwidth.

Question: if I install Lightroom and let it copy the images from the old computer, would it not also copy the sidecar files from each image which contains the edits? Also, what about Photoshop?

 

[YoitsTmac]

Question: if I install Lightroom and let it copy the images from the old computer, would it not also copy the sidecar files from each image which contains the edits? Also, what about Photoshop?

Search the -/Library/Preferences folder for “Adobe” on the old computer. Install PS and LR on the new computer (do not open them), then copy all the matches into the new computers preference folder. Skip over any files that are duplicates.

Still copy that CameraRAW folder. Should be good to go for both LR and PS.

 

[cmcbhi]

Search the -/Library/Preferences folder for “Adobe” on the old computer. Install PS and LR on the new computer (do not open them), then copy all the matches into the new computers preference folder. Skip over any files that are duplicates.

Still copy that CameraRAW folder. Should be good to go for both LR and PS.

Sorry to seem ignorant, but what “matches” do you mean?

 

[YoitsTmac]

Sorry to seem ignorant, but what “matches” do you mean?

I’m saying do a finder search in the folder “preferences” for Adobe. That will get you all Adobe preferences as a result. Those are the “matches.” Copy those to the new computer after installing (not opening) PS and LR. If there’s any duplicates while copying, skip over them

 

[cmcbhi]

I’m saying do a finder search in the folder “preferences” for Adobe. That will get you all Adobe preferences as a result. Those are the “matches.” Copy those to the new computer after installing (not opening) PS and LR. If there’s any duplicates while copying, skip over them

Got it.

 

[gilby101]

Question: if I install Lightroom and let it copy the images from the old computer, would it not also copy the sidecar files from each image which contains the edits? Also, what about Photoshop?

Lightoom is not like Photos. It does not have a big library containing both data base and photos. Don't try to import from one computer to the other using LR.

Also understand the catalogue has pointers to where each photo is located (sidecar files will be alongside the photo files). The pointers are to the complete file path, starting from /Volumes/.... to the file name.

1) Copy your catalogue (just the catalogue file) from the old computer to the new computer. You can place this wherever you like. I create and use ~/Lightroom folder. The catalogue has details of all your photos and all the edits you have done, but can't find the photo files.

2) Discover where your LR photos are now stored - use LR's "Show in Finder" to tell you this. If you have been careful these are all in one folder tree. Locate the top level of that that folder tree. Copy the whole folder tree from old computer to new computer. If possible locate in the exact same location on the new computer.

3) If the photo file location is the same, just open LR and it will find all the photos. If they are not in the same location, LR will lead you through the process of relinking. LR will rebuild previews and so on as required.

4) I have said nothing about LR preferences. When changing computer I have always re-created them and not attempted to copy preferences. @YoitsTmac is helping you with copying them if that is what you want.

5) Same for add-ons.

6) Photoshop. It just opens photos using file location - either when opened from Finder (file system) or from within LR. Nothing special to do here except for any preferences, etc. you want to retain.

 

[cmcbhi]

Lightoom is not like Photos. It does not have a big library containing both data base and photos. Don't try to import from one computer to the other using LR.

Also understand the catalogue has pointers to where each photo is located (sidecar files will be alongside the photo files). The pointers are to the complete file path, starting from /Volumes/.... to the file name.

1) Copy your catalogue (just the catalogue file) from the old computer to the new computer. You can place this wherever you like. I create and use ~/Lightroom folder. The catalogue has details of all your photos and all the edits you have done, but can't find the photo files.

2) Discover where your LR photos are now stored - use LR's "Show in Finder" to tell you this. If you have been careful these are all in one folder tree. Locate the top level of that that folder tree. Copy the whole folder tree from old computer to new computer. If possible locate in the exact same location on the new computer.

3) If the photo file location is the same, just open LR and it will find all the photos. If they are not in the same location, LR will lead you through the process of relinking. LR will rebuild previews and so on as required.

4) I have said nothing about LR preferences. When changing computer I have always re-created them and not attempted to copy preferences. @YoitsTmac is helping you with copying them if that is what you want.

5) Same for add-ons.

6) Photoshop. It just opens photos using file location - either when opened from Finder (file system) or from within LR. Nothing special to do here except for any preferences, etc. you want to retain.

Thanks.

 

[JamesMay82]

My songs were also ripped from my CD collection. How did you tag the artwork? I used mp3tag and never had problem with artwork or metadata in iTunes.

I just did get info and added the artwork within iTunes/music app. I think by doing that way it doesn’t embed them within the file?

 

[splifingate]

I'm finally moving to Apple Silicon and ever since my first Macbook in 2011 I've done migrations using Time Machine. There's probably a lot of useless fluff, incomplete uninstall files and so on, so I will try to a manual move this time. Also because I think it's a good idea to manually make sure I have Silicone native installs for everything running on the machine for optimum performance.

Is there a recommended way or a guide for doing a manual move? I'm thinking of stuff like libraries and interlinked software. For example the Music app library (which in turn is linked to Rekordbox), Adobe Lightroom library, general software license stuff (the licenses are hopefully the easiest part).

I understand I will probably have to look into all these cases on an individual basis, but maybe there are some best practices? My current plan is to put the files I need on a drive and download the actual applications from the vendors for a fresh reinstall.

In the past, I've not had great success using TM or Migration Assistant. YMMV.

Using iCloud has really made things as simple-as-bringing-home-store-bought-peach-pie.

One nuance that complicates things, somewhat, is that my ultimate use-case-scenario is to have an Administrator Account, and a User Account (the one which I use on the Daily).

On setting-up a new System, I create my initial Account as the one I want to be Administrator (not attached to iCloud), then create a new one that I intend to use as a (regular) User. I then sync my iCloud to said User account, and roll-on, from there.

[I am still baffled by AAPL's insistence on defaulting to 'Administrator-status' for new accounts; but, that seems to be the theme in Win64, Linux, BSD, et al., so I try not to grieve myself too much on these matters]

After I have my Administrator account fully established, I use that to create a new User.

After Log Out, I then proceed to inhabit my User account, and Authenticate (when needed) with my Administrator account for anything further.

After that, I sync my online Accounts (google, live, et al.).

Then I download, and install, my favoured Apps. Firewall, and border-protection come first. Everything else after that is cake: CC is account-based, as well as Affinity.

I hold a master Document detailing all my passwds, License keys, etc.; I use that to refresh my memory, and bring-me-back Full Soft Functionality to where I was the week, prior.

The only ~/.Library/ items that I copy-over (via external disk) are primarily my email-client folder (which extremely simplifies things, as setting-up two-handfuls of email accounts is an arduous process), custom templates, ~/.ssh, activation folders, and random other-things that inhabit only the past OS Install(s).

I singularly use Firefox, and FFx Sync brings me to exactly where I was yesterday, today.

I already have Ethernet things statically aligned, and ubiquitously-aligned on the wireless-front. New IPs, and new Static designations; but everything just works.

From there, it's an easy process to connect to the whole-home-NAS, etc.

I still have to get a number of things updated, but these will happen; in-time.

This past week's efforts were a veritable breeze compared to the multiple-hundreds of installs I have performed, in the past . . . I give Sonoma a two-thumbs-up

 

[TechnoMonk]

I just did get info and added the artwork within iTunes/music app. I think by doing that way it doesn’t embed them within the file?

Yep. It was hit and miss with iTunes when I tried with few songs. One of the reasons I used mp3tag for all metadata and artwork. Never had to worry about separate files. I keep the original non iTunes back up.

 

[MBAir2010]

2). Could itunes and video files be imported the same way? The music files are in iTunes and now, I guess the movies are in thr Apple TV app.

Apple TV still plays imported videos on the Apple TV device, MacBook Air, Mac mini and now the iPad via home sharing and the opsund can be projected to HomePods or any airplay device set up as in the past.

I hope this helped!