Clone PowerBook to Mini?

[PhilipTobias]

What's the best strategy for cloning my old PowerBook to a new Mac Mini?

My PowerBook G4 is my daily workhorse, with all my files and applications. It has recently been upgraded to Tiger. I regularly use SuperDuper! v2.0.1 to do smart updates to various partitions on an external FireWire drive.

A few days ago I bought a new Mac Mini with Tiger, primarily for emergency use if the PowerBook dies or becomes temporarily unavailable, such as during repairs.

I now want to clone my PowerBook to the Mini, so I have all my files and applications available there, and can smart update them there from time to time.

What's the best way to initially do this, so I don't have problems with files, preferences, permissions, and all the rest?

Thanks in advance. ...pt

[dnanian]

I'd suggest that you simply use the Migration Assistant that appears when you first boot the mini. Should work great.

[PhilipTobias]

Originally Posted by dnanian

I'd suggest that you simply use the Migration Assistant that appears when you first boot the mini. Should work great.

Yes, that might be a good, easy way to copy things over. But will that also accomplish my goal of having a backup computer that can easily be *maintained* as a clone?

For example, using the Migration Assistant would seem to create a slightly-different initial data set. In that case, I probably couldn't use SuperDuper smart updates to maintain the match between my old PowerBook and the new Mac Mini.

If so, would SuperDuper's copy newer, or copy different, options let me simply accomplish my goal?

Thanks again for the prompt response. ...pt

[dnanian]

Not really, no. What you're going to want to do is ensure both computers have the exact same version of the OS, and make sure that version is at least as late as the one that shipped with the computer.

Once that's done, you can do a "direct copy", should you want.

But it seems to me that you'd be better off copying to an external drive that you could *boot* the computer from, rather than going directly to the destination drive of the computer itself. Up to you, of course!

[PhilipTobias]

Originally Posted by dnanian

Not really, no. What you're going to want to do is ensure both computers have the exact same version of the OS, and make sure that version is at least as late as the one that shipped with the computer.

Once that's done, you can do a "direct copy", should you want.

But it seems to me that you'd be better off copying to an external drive that you could *boot* the computer from, rather than going directly to the destination drive of the computer itself. Up to you, of course!

I have a Tiger license for both computers and want both to be at 10.4.3 today.

So my strategy question remains. For the easiest, safest way to maintain both computers as clones of one another, should I:
- Use Migration Assistant for the initial file copies? Then how best to later keep both in synch?
- Use SuperDuper! to make another clone of my PowerBook to my external FireWire drive, then clone the FireWire drive to the Mac mini? Then continue smart updates from time to time?

Sorry to be a pest. But as I want to use SuperDuper! to maintain this setup, I figured I'd consult the experts before starting. Thanks. ...pt

[dnanian]

If you want both to be at 10.4.3, just use SD. But what I'd do is simply keep the external up to date, and then update the mini from time to time, or just boot the mini from the external.