MacPro replacement .... backing up what I need for Photoshop and Printing

[bellimages]

My MacPro is being replaced tomorrow morning. I want to make sure that i have done all proper preparations before making the exchange. I've used the computer for almost three years. During that time I purchased an Epson 7900. I'm afraid that I may loose my print settings, ICC profiles for various papers, etc.) and similar things. It's amazing that files slowly build (over the years) on a computer. And when it dies, or is stolen, or is replaced, we panic!!

An IT friend told me to use Carbon Copy Cloner to backup the entire disk. I am doing that right now .... backing up all the the data onto one of my four internal hard drives. The Carbon Copy Cloner copy will be a bootable copy of my current system. With that said, how would I get the information that I need from the backup and onto the hard drive of my new computer?

[jonathanlung]

Assuming the hard drive containing the clone is installed and mounted in the new MacPro...

Booting to an OS X installation disk (which includes the recovery partition installed with Lion), you can copy the the contents of the disk image from CCC onto your new drive by selecting .dmg file creating by CCC as the source and your hard disk as the target. Unless some drivers are missing out of the box (which is quite possible if your MacPro isn't currently running an up-to-date version of Lion), after the copying process is complete, you can reboot your new computer and it should be as though you never left your old one.

Alternately, you can use the Migration Assistant from the installation disk (or in the /Applications/Utilities folder). From the wizard, select "From another Mac, PC, Time Machine backup, or other disk" and then hit next and select "From a Time Machine backup or other disk". Select your CCC .dmg file and presto!

[jalcocer]

I don't think you'll have a problem cloning your actual disk to the new system on the new mac pro, I really don't believe you'll have any trouble at all, just the time it takes to backup your entire system and put it into the new mac. I don't think even a problem with the thunderbolt interface since I understand there was an update for snow leopard for thunderbolt.

So my guess is you'll be alright for the time you want to spent without lion.

regards

[mrenters]

Thanks for this excellent reply.

One thing that I didn't explain is that I'm currently running Snow Leopard. The new MacPro will come loaded with Lion. Since I've heard of printing issue with Leopard, and compatibility issues with Adobe software, I think that I will want to downgrade my new MacPro to what I've been running (Snow Leopard).

How does this affect everything? And how will I accomplish this task?

I've used Carbon Copy Cloner a number of times over the years and it has always done the right thing. I bought one of those USB drive holders that you can slide a bare drive into and then used that as the destination for CCC.  The nice thing about that is that it shows up as a orange USB drive on your desktop so that you can easily see which is the system "Macintosh HD" and which is the destination "Macintosh HD".  If you have a spare drive slot in your old MacPro, you can use that as well - just be careful you choose the correct source and destination.

If you've used Time Machine with an external drive or a Time Capsule, another option is to use that to restore from on your new MacPro.  To do this, boot from a Snow Leopard installation CD.  From memory, it went something like: Pick Disk Utility from the Tools menu and then repartition the system disk on your new Mac to clear it, exit Disk Utility and then pick "Restore from Time Machine".  I think it was also on the Tools menu, but it might be hiding elsewhere.

The MacPro models haven't been updated in years so the new one you're getting will run Snow Leopard fine.

Martin

[Craig Lamson]

Why don't you just put your Carbon copy disk directly into the new box and boot directly from that.  No need move the files at all.  Then when you have the new computer to a state you are happy with, make another clone.  You will still have your original drive with Lion which you can erase or keep as is.

[francois]

Why don't you just put your Carbon copy disk directly into the new box and boot directly from that.  No need move the files at all.  Then when you have the new computer to a state you are happy with, make another clone.  You will still have your original drive with Lion which you can erase or keep as is.

This is the simpliest way to do it. A new Mac Pro should have three HD connectors easily accessible and free.

[jalcocer]

Why don't you just put your Carbon copy disk directly into the new box and boot directly from that.  No need move the files at all.  Then when you have the new computer to a state you are happy with, make another clone.  You will still have your original drive with Lion which you can erase or keep as is.

that's a great idea, if your actual system drive is good and fast enough for you that would be a way to go, if you want to use a different drive well, just use carbon copy for the new drive and voila, just hook it up to the new mac and you are good to go.

another option is using super duper, but I used carbon copy the most and with great results.

[David Watson]

Last time I upgraded my Macpro I simply took the drives out of my old system and put them in the new one.  I agree that an OS change is best avoided until your main applications start insisting on it in my experience.

Just as an added comment my Macpro (dual quad core 3.2) is plenty fast enough so I have not wasted (IMO) money on a new box.  What I have done is to replace all the drives including the optical drives and when I did that I just used Time Machine onto an  external firewire RAID box which I use for backup.

I would be very interested if Apple brought out a Macpro with Blueray and a Thunderbolt port.  In the meantime if they don't I may consider switching to a 15" or 17" laptop and Thunderbolt anyway.