Transfer data using target mode

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Transfer data using target mode

I have a late 2013 iMac running MacOS Big Sur. The iMac suffered a video card failure. I can use Target Mode to read the HD.

There is 1.08TB of data on the HD, I am purchasing a 1TB M1 MacMini. I know I suspect that if I try to migrate to the Mini using the Time Machine I will run into issues. I used my laptop to download the iMac HD to an external drive.

What is my best option for migrating the data to the new computer? Can I pick and choose what data will be transferred? Can I move data from the old computer onto a external drive to get it below 1TB?

Obviously a 2TB new machine would have been the easy option, but they are out of my budget.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Posted on Mar 28, 2021 10:09 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

den.thed

Level 10

81,736 points

Mar 28, 2021 1:53 PM in response to West Coast Dan

At this point the only folder that you need to move things from is your user folder.

Some simple third party App’s can be move over manually, but those with installers should be reinstalled from the App Store or developer.

The System and Library folder are for the most part useless to you because they already exist on the new Mac.

Sadly because you could not migrate from TM, it is going to take some time to move and rebuild what you had before.

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Answer 2

den.thed

Level 10

81,736 points

Mar 28, 2021 11:06 AM in response to West Coast Dan

Sorry for your loss. Good work accessing the HDD and copying everything off to a external drive.

Migrating is all or nothing, so migrating from your TM backup, iMac or the external drive will not work.

It’s more time consuming to manually move what you want, but at this point that is the best option.

Personally I think that I would skip migration during the initial Mac Mini setup and then manually move what I wanted/needed from the copy on the external drive.

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Answer 3

Mar 28, 2021 11:14 AM in response to den.thed

When I look at the Users file it is the largest, do you think it would be possible to drag and drop the Applications, Library, and Systems folders onto the HD of the MacMini and then drag and drop the Users file after I remove some files on it to get below the 1TB level?

The files I would remove would be the desktop files, as I had a bad habit of saving almost everything to the desktop. What I am thinking is remove some folders holding video and photo files, from the Users Desktop folder, place these on a external drive and then drag the smaller users folder onto the dew drive. Do you think this is an option?

When I downloaded the HD I double clicked on the HD and only downloaded the Applications, Library, Systems, and Users folders. Should I go back and drag and drop the old HD, or do you think those 4 folders are sufficient? They were the only ones there.

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Answer 4

den.thed

Level 10

81,736 points

Mar 28, 2021 12:24 PM in response to West Coast Dan

Only problem I can see with that, is that you really need to leave around a 100GB or more of working room on the Mac Mini. Any less than that and you could start running into issues, when it comes to updates and adding more.

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Answer 5

Mar 28, 2021 1:35 PM in response to den.thed

Thanks...I’m hoping to do a better job of data management in the future.

just to clarify, the 4 folders in the above photo are all I need to pick and choose what information to transfer?

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Transfer data using target mode

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