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OOPS. I think you are worrying too much about a task that is not really terribly difficult. Perhaps you should use Migration Manager after all Betty. I have never used it myself so Mark would be in a better place to advise. However, if you stick with exactly what I tell you, then I can walk you through most of it I think. 

 

FIRST: STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOINGThere is no need to write down your passwords. You have the other Mac there and you can just look at it when you want to log into a website. Do them one at a time when you get the new machine as you log in to each website. 

 

 

Edited by MDM
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40 minutes ago, Betty LaRue said:

Say I copy the files I want to install on my new computer into a file on my desktop HD. How do I get them from that HD into the new Mac? Drag and drop? Drag to where, or copy to where? There are questions here that Mark and Michael instinctively know how/what to do. I don’t. I don’t know whether if I want a copy of my contacts in the contact folder, do I have to follow that string to open the contact folder in the new Mac and copy/paste, or drag/drop.

There has to be an easier way.

I’m pretty low right now (not quite tearful) thinking all of this will be endless.

 

 

I have just told you the easy way with passwords in the last post. It is important not to make mountains out of molehills. The important thing is to keep the old computer working until you have the new one up and running. 

 

Copying a file to the new computer is simple. You drag and drop to your external drive and the drag and drop onto the new machine from there. Location - most likely to the same location as the old computer. It will depend on what you are copying. 

 

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4 minutes ago, MDM said:

The important thing is to keep the old computer working until you have the new one up and running. 

Good advice.

 

50 minutes ago, MDM said:

Perhaps you should use Migration Manager after all Betty. I have never used it myself so Mark would be in a better place to advise.

 

Betty,

 

Your 2020 iMac will come with the operating system (Catalina or Big Surr?) already installed, but it won't be fully setup. When you start your new Mac, it will ask you a few questions (language and Wi Fi network/password) and then ask what you want to do to comple the set-up - as shown in this Apple tech support page https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT204350

 

The migration assistant can either transfer directly from your old iMac to new iMac or from a Time Machine backup, using cable connection (fastest) or via your Wi-Fi network (slow).

 

If migrating from Mojave to Catalina this article suggests that incompatible 32 bits aps won't be transferred.

https://eshop.macsales.com/blog/55314-how-to-use-migration-assistant-with-macos-catalina/

 

Mark

 

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28 minutes ago, M.Chapman said:

Your 2020 iMac will come with the operating system (Catalina or Big Surr?) already installed, but it won't be fully setup. When you start your new Mac, it will ask you a few questions (language and Wi Fi network/password) and then ask what you want to do to comple the set-up - as shown in this Apple tech support page https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT204350

 

The migration assistant can either transfer directly from your old iMac to new iMac or from a Time Machine backup, using cable connection (fastest) or via your Wi-Fi network (slow).

 

If migrating from Mojave to Catalina this article suggests that incompatible 32 bits aps won't be transferred.

https://eshop.macsales.com/blog/55314-how-to-use-migration-assistant-with-macos-catalina/

 

Mark

 

 

Using Migration Assistant might indeed make it easier to do but it might mean carrying over a lot if excess and unnecessary baggage which may cause problems. It should not attempt to install apps that are not compatible with Big Sur but it might carry over other stuff that doesn't work properly. Really it is not at all difficult to get macOS Big Sur running and to reinstall a few apps from scratch. Otherwise I would not have offered to help as all that is needed is to follow some very straightforward instructions. Really there is no need to get into panic mode. What is the worst case scenario here? Having to reinstall a second time I guess. There is no risk of losing anything. 

 

However, given Betty's apparent level of stress in her last post, perhaps it would be best to use the MA. 

Edited by MDM
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I believe using Migration-Assistant will leave your old machine as is until you decide to prepare it for resale.  Basically, I'd do a fresh install since you have so much cruft and old programs on the older iMac, but I have my passwords stored elsewhere and I've set up both Macs and Windows machines before (my Windows laptop in the last two years).    OWC/Macsales has good information for how to do things with Macs.  If you don't have a Time Machine drive, now might be a useful time to set one up.  I've got an Adata external drive for this.  I've used Migration Assistant, I think, at least once. 

 

With Time Machine, I believe you use a USB connection for the original connection with your old machine, and then a connection (possibly with an adaptor from one USB port type to a different one).

 

I think a fresh install makes more sense if the machines can't run close to the same OSes.  It's a bit more painful, but an old iMac may not have the same types of USB ports that a 2020 iMac has.   The new machine will be running Catalina or Big Sur. 

 

Set up the machine as a fresh install strikes me as easier except for the hassle of setting up all the accounts, which is annoying but not that hideous.  Safari may have a way to transfer accounts from the old machine to the new one through Apple's cloud service.  Dunno.

 

As for other programs that don't come with the OS, if I didn't miss them, I wouldn't reinstall them.  Keeping a machine relatively lean has advantages.  Update the system, reinstall the Adobe programs and any other programs you know you'll need that you've already paid for (MS Office, DxO programs for me).  Freeware -- really, just reinstall it if you miss it.    

 

Edited by MizBrown
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I did get the passwords copied. Done before coming back to read this. I feel calmer now. A lot of time was spent deleting old ones from sites I no longer even recognize, once I brought each one up and saw what it was about. Apparently, the Macs have a level of security with passwords that I was unable to even do a screenshot. 

 

Michael, once I get the new computer up and running, transfer what I want, and am completely satisfied I have everything I need working properly, the old machine will be wiped and I’ll sell it. I have a big desk, but I'm not sure there’s room for two 27” Macs to sit side by side.  So it won’t be around for me to retrieve passwords. That's why I had to copy them by hand.

 It is done, so I won’t need to ask about  passwords again. The nice thing about having the passwords written down is the list tells me what apps I have so I can get the upgrades on the new Mac later. There’s nothing there I need to use right away with burning urgency.

I’ll set up a folder on my desktop HD and copy files over to it.  I’ve spent time deleting a lot of old email, too. I don’t read email on my Mac. I work on pictures on it. Everything else, I do on my iPad, so mail accumulates on the Mac. I do want to move over what I have left, though. I’ll go through this long thread and see if moving the email (how to) was addressed previously.

Sorry if I passed my stress on.

I do prefer to do a clean install if I can pull it off.

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30 minutes ago, Betty LaRue said:

I did get the passwords copied. Done before coming back to read this. I feel calmer now. A lot of time was spent deleting old ones from sites I no longer even recognize, once I brought each one up and saw what it was about. Apparently, the Macs have a level of security with passwords that I was unable to even do a screenshot. 

 

Michael, once I get the new computer up and running, transfer what I want, and am completely satisfied I have everything I need working properly, the old machine will be wiped and I’ll sell it. I have a big desk, but I'm not sure there’s room for two 27” Macs to sit side by side.  So it won’t be around for me to retrieve passwords. That's why I had to copy them by hand.

 It is done, so I won’t need to ask about  passwords again. The nice thing about having the passwords written down is the list tells me what apps I have so I can get the upgrades on the new Mac later. There’s nothing there I need to use right away with burning urgency.

I’ll set up a folder on my desktop HD and copy files over to it.  I’ve spent time deleting a lot of old email, too. I don’t read email on my Mac. I work on pictures on it. Everything else, I do on my iPad, so mail accumulates on the Mac. I do want to move over what I have left, though. I’ll go through this long thread and see if moving the email (how to) was addressed previously.

Sorry if I passed my stress on.

I do prefer to do a clean install if I can pull it off.

 

 

No worries Betty. I am glad you are feeling better now. You are not getting me stressed. I was a little worried when you said you were feeling low and thinking of the process as endless that I might have been influential in getting you to attempt something that would be too much for you but really it isn't. It should really be fun getting a brand new high spec Mac and doing the clean install is not lethal. A few hiccups at worst I reckon. 

 

I wasn't suggesting you keep the old Mac long term but it is really useful to have it to refer to until you get set the new one set up. What I was saying is that say you want to log on to Alamy on the new Mac and you can't remember the password. Then all you have to do is open up the Safari Passwords  on the old Mac and check what it is. In general it is easy to retrieve passwords anyway but it is wise to have them backed up as well as in written down or in an encrypted file.  

 

Mail - no big deal but do you use Safari or the Apple Mail program to access your email? Do you use gmail?

 

EDIT - also do you use iCloud?

Edited by MDM
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2 hours ago, M.Chapman said:

Your 2020 iMac will come with the operating system (Catalina or Big Surr?) already installed, but it won't be fully setup.

 

Last week I helped a friend setup a new 2020 27" iMac. It had Catalina 10.15.7 installed. It was sourced from a local reseller rather than Apple, with their extended 2 year warranty rather than Apples 1 year.

 

It was a clean install, including mostly new software and with data from her 2011 27" iMac. That was still running Lion and old Adobe software plus an old Quark Xpress 9 and Suitcase Fusion. All went well other than an expected problem with the latest Quark not reading her old Quark 9 files. In this instance she is running both Mac's side by side. There are usually always issues when the older Mac has never been updated

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AB photos, that is heartening.

And Michael, my whole life, I’ve been the one in the family who took on the load. The manager, the bill-payer, figuring out solutions and the one who did the hard work, whether it was the house painting inside and out or landscaping. The matriarch, Dr. Mom. I handled it well.

But being a caregiver for years was like climbing a mountain with a pack of jackals nipping at my heels. Toward the end, the last 2 years, I was getting 4-5 hours sleep a night and having to lock my door those few hours out of fear.

The stress was almost unmanageable, and it wrecked my health. It seems now that I have a lowered tolerance for stress, although in years past it manifested in ulcers. Nobody ever could see my stress, I internalized it. I am truly sorry that I inflicted it on the rest of you.  A weak moment, is all.

I’ll pull up my socks and do this.

I am very grateful for all the help I’ve gotten here. I don’t know what I’d do without it.

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4 minutes ago, Betty LaRue said:

AB photos, that is heartening.

And Michael, my whole life, I’ve been the one in the family who took on the load. The manager, the bill-payer, figuring out solutions and the one who did the hard work, whether it was the house painting inside and out or landscaping. The matriarch, Dr. Mom. I handled it well.

But being a caregiver for years was like climbing a mountain with a pack of jackals nipping at my heels. Toward the end, the last 2 years, I was getting 4-5 hours sleep a night and having to lock my door those few hours out of fear.

The stress was almost unmanageable, and it wrecked my health. It seems now that I have a lowered tolerance for stress, although in years past it manifested in ulcers. Nobody ever could see my stress, I internalized it. I am truly sorry that I inflicted it on the rest of you.  A weak moment, is all.

I’ll pull up my socks and do this.

I am very grateful for all the help I’ve gotten here. I don’t know what I’d do without it.

 

Again no worries Betty. I am more than happy to help you and I know I am not just wasting my time as it is clear that you are taking a lot of it on board.  

 

I can relate to what you say about stress. It is truly horrible. It eats away inside a person in all sorts of ways, physically and mentally, and poor sleeping is part of the whole vicious circle. That really wears you down. Recognising stress is important although it is not necessarily possible to deal with it just by being aware of it. One way I deal with it is to think of what the likely worst case scenario could be as a lot of the time it might not be as bad as I am projecting. That gets me through the night sometimes. 

 

And that is what led me to mention worst case scenarios with your new Mac. Looking at in this light, the worst case scenarios are not too bad at all. And doing it will give you confidence as well. You are definitely a lot more capable with tech stuff than you give yourself credit for. I am confident you can do it fairly easily or I wouldn't be offering to help as I said. Learning new stuff is really good for the mind I think. It feels really good when you click something that you didn't understand. The spring clean is good for the head as well. So whatever you do, never panic - this is not difficult.

 

 

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I’m going to have to take a pause with the computer while I gather my tax information for the CPA. Every year I procrastinate because I hate doing it. I have a bit over 2 weeks before they are due to be filed, so I need to get with it. It’s about a 2 day job, but my printer isn’t working. Maybe need ink? Another machine I don’t dig! 😂

Tomorrow is lost because of hospital tests. If things go badly, I’ll need morphine, or so they said. 😬

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6 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

I’m going to have to take a pause with the computer while I gather my tax information for the CPA. Every year I procrastinate because I hate doing it. I have a bit over 2 weeks before they are due to be filed, so I need to get with it. It’s about a 2 day job, but my printer isn’t working. Maybe need ink? Another machine I don’t dig! 😂

Tomorrow is lost because of hospital tests. If things go badly, I’ll need morphine, or so they said. 😬

 

Hope everything goes well at the hospital. I'm sure it will.

 

Allan

 

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I tried both methods of finding keywords. "Veeery interesting," as the mad scientist said when he electrocuted a thousand baby frogs. Allan's, I suspect worked back before Catalina. (???) I got where I wanted to go with MDM's simple method. Why has the world be keeping me ignorant on these matter? 

 

I have a go-see on an other studio flat tomorrow. I've said 10 Hail Marys to the God of Lettings. There is such a god, right? 

 

 

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12 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said:

I have a go-see on an other studio flat tomorrow. I've said 10 Hail Marys to the God of Lettings. There is such a god, right?

 

Absolutely. There's a god for everything. And it works as long as you believe in it.

 

Saint Joseph seems to be the patron saint in all matters real estate. However he seems to side with the seller.

Our lady of Loreto (The Holy Casa!) may be a better alternative.

Both are quoted to be patron saints of aircrews too. Which we want to stay grounded, because they will bring back the Airbnb locust plague that eats our rental space.

 

wim

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1 hour ago, Ed Rooney said:

I tried both methods of finding keywords. "Veeery interesting," as the mad scientist said when he electrocuted a thousand baby frogs. Allan's, I suspect worked back before Catalina. (???) I got where I wanted to go with MDM's simple method. Why has the world be keeping me ignorant on these matter? 

 

 

The only part of this that I understand is the bit about the baby frogs. OK that's a lie. I have not got a clue what Ed is talking about.

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Aah. Ok. You should have a said you couldn’t find them and I would have to,d you how to do it. Keychains are a lot more complicated. Do not approach or if you do then do not touch. 

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1 minute ago, Ed Rooney said:

Yeah, shoulda, woulda, coulda. 🙂

See, Ed? I just put it out there how ignorant I am about computers and I get answers. Ignorance doesn’t mean stupid. Never be afraid to show ignorance, and good things come to those who do.

 

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I have a bit over an hour before I leave for tests, but I wanted to update you. When I got the notice from FedEx that my computer had shipped, I ticked a box asking to receive emails notifying me of the progress.

I never got any. I checked this morning, and the message said my computer had been delivered YESTERDAY! At 8:30am. I was here all day, nothing came.

I called FedEx and wasn’t able to speak to a person. What did I expect? So I type in the little box. I’m told, since their records show delivery, it is closed. Closed!!

I just called B&H and got to speak to an actual person. She said the package had been delivered to the wrong address. They’ll work on it on their end and send me a message within 24 hours.

What the heck. Helloooo stress. I’d hoped not to see you again.

I'm off to get myself presentable, now.

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7 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said:

Yeah, shoulda, woulda, coulda. 🙂

 

OK here is a really good tip in case you get locked out of your computer again. It applies to Betty or any other Mac users as well. 

 

Open System Preferences - Users and Groups. Click the lock and type in your login password. On the right hand side is a box saying Allow user to reset password using Apple ID. Make sure that box is ticked as well as the Allow user to administer this computer which it should be if you are the only user. If you ever get locked out, after 3 or 4 failed attempts, then you should be offered the chance to reset the password using your Apple ID. Needless to say, you will need to know your Apple iD password or be able to get it from another device (computer, iPhone, iPad). This may already be set by default but it really is worth knowing and may have saved Ed a lot of trouble when he was locked out.

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1 hour ago, Betty LaRue said:

I have a bit over an hour before I leave for tests, but I wanted to update you. When I got the notice from FedEx that my computer had shipped, I ticked a box asking to receive emails notifying me of the progress.

I never got any. I checked this morning, and the message said my computer had been delivered YESTERDAY! At 8:30am. I was here all day, nothing came.

I called FedEx and wasn’t able to speak to a person. What did I expect? So I type in the little box. I’m told, since their records show delivery, it is closed. Closed!!

I just called B&H and got to speak to an actual person. She said the package had been delivered to the wrong address. They’ll work on it on their end and send me a message within 24 hours.

What the heck. Helloooo stress. I’d hoped not to see you again.

I'm off to get myself presentable, now.

 

Wow. That is  crazy. I’m sure it will get sorted out so you won't lose anything but what a pain.

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2 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

I have a bit over an hour before I leave for tests, but I wanted to update you. When I got the notice from FedEx that my computer had shipped, I ticked a box asking to receive emails notifying me of the progress.

I never got any. I checked this morning, and the message said my computer had been delivered YESTERDAY! At 8:30am. I was here all day, nothing came.

I called FedEx and wasn’t able to speak to a person. What did I expect? So I type in the little box. I’m told, since their records show delivery, it is closed. Closed!!

I just called B&H and got to speak to an actual person. She said the package had been delivered to the wrong address. They’ll work on it on their end and send me a message within 24 hours.

What the heck. Helloooo stress. I’d hoped not to see you again.

I'm off to get myself presentable, now.

 

B&H has always been excellent in handling mess-ups from other folks for me.  I've had a package with full tracking make it off the plane but not to Customs.  B&H gave me a full refund.  Ended up buying the same lens new rather than used.  FedEx here tends to be reliable.  DHL does things that have driven me nuts but I got everything in the end.  I explained after one package went to Lagos, Nigeria, then to Miami in a hurricane, and then was on its way to Granada since everyone knows expats live in Granada or San Juan del Sur, that I would report the package missing if it didn't show up in Jinotega that afternoon (Granada is in the opposite direction from Managua than Jinotega).  Since that, I tend to not have problems with DHL, but cringe every time something is shipped that way.

 

Really like doing business with B&H Photo.   They take care of their customers.   Hope this is resolved by the end of the day. 

 

I've been in their store in NYC a couple of times, and they've not sold me things twice when I asked about them but told me that one wouldn't work without a darkroom and I didn't need anything for digital different than my Norman powerbank and heads, despite what another vendor told me.  When a store cares enough about its customers to advise them against purchases, then yeah, that's who I go to.

 

Keep us posted. 

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4 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

I have a bit over an hour before I leave for tests, but I wanted to update you. When I got the notice from FedEx that my computer had shipped, I ticked a box asking to receive emails notifying me of the progress.

I never got any. I checked this morning, and the message said my computer had been delivered YESTERDAY! At 8:30am. I was here all day, nothing came.

I called FedEx and wasn’t able to speak to a person. What did I expect? So I type in the little box. I’m told, since their records show delivery, it is closed. Closed!!

I just called B&H and got to speak to an actual person. She said the package had been delivered to the wrong address. They’ll work on it on their end and send me a message within 24 hours.

What the heck. Helloooo stress. I’d hoped not to see you again.

I'm off to get myself presentable, now.

 

Just awful Betty!  So sorry this happened to you 😒.  You would that something of that value would require a signature!  Like MizBrown said, B&H has always handled mess ups pretty well. Hopefully it will get straightened out quickly.  Hope all went well today medical tests.

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