MacOS – copy apps and settings from an old to new laptop, but exclude the iTunes libraray

configurationmacbook promacossnow leopard

I'm thinking about getting a MacBook Pro with the 128 GB SSD.

It would take days to set up all my software development tools, control panel settings, and download and reinstall dozens of applications.

I understand Setup Assistant can help with this process.

However, there are two main issues (that I can think of)…

  1. The old laptop is running Snow Leopard. New one would be Lion. Will that be a problem?

  2. On my old machine I'm using 185 GB of storage — more than my prospective new machine's HD capacity. But 131 GB of that is my iTunes library.

    Can Setup Assistant copy my applications, control panel settings, and work files over, but leave out my iTunes library?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Also any notes regarding gotchas / things to watch out for with Setup Assistant.

Thanks!

(In case it helps, the control panel settings I'm concerned about are, for example, my network configs for different "locations," my screensaver timeout, security settings, and also control panels I've added like the CP for my Wacom tablet.)

Best Answer

Everything should work smoothly from snow leopard to Lion. As from itunes library, my advise would be to move it temporary to a non user related location (not under any user 'users' folder) during the copy.

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