Moving into my new MacBook Pro

[Julia Falling]

Hey, all –

 

My new MBP is supposed to be delivered today.  I'd kinda like to do a clean install of all my apps and perhaps lose some miscellaneous trash along the way.  Tell me, is it worth the trouble?  Any hints?

 

Should I instead just let my machines do all the work?

 

Thanks for any advice you are able to offer.

[Fabian]

I always have done a clean install. And I have encountered less problems than a friend who always had taken the whole bunch from the old one. 
 

Especially if you now switch from Intel to Mac silicon, I encourage you to do a clean install. 

[Julia Falling]

Thanks.  It will be slower, but probably better overall.  How much time am I looking at?  Any good plan for getting this done?  My iCloud stuff is downloading (I signed in with my Apple ID).

[Michael Hunt]

A clean install is also a good way to test out your data backup routines.

 

By this I mean are all your documents, pictures, other user generated content being stored in a place that is easily backed up/easy to restore. I use cloud storage as one of my backups for my data and this is a good way of testing.

 

As far as order of setting up a new machine such as a Mac my process is

 

A. Run through MacOS new setup routine for Apple ID, network settings etc. Tweak Apple ID setting after (I don't sync all the Apple ID stuff to every device so your situation may vary)

B. Run Software update to bring OS to latest version. Afterwards run App store updates for default apps to update (i.e. Keynote, pages etc)

C. Install primary apps I use day to day (Cloud software, Office, Bible apps etc). My goal is to get the machine to a working state where I can start to be productive. Tweaking can happen over a few days but generally I can't afford to take out more than a few hours/a day to setup. Usually a new machine arrives at the same as time as I have a number of other things going on so I try to get the machine to something like 80/90% fully setup in a ms little time as possible. With my setups I generally find this doable.

D. The app store is a huge time saver in this regard. Not only does it give me a list of what I have previously installed, I don't have to go hunting all across the internet to find each apps downloads. Not all apps I use are in the app store and quite a few of my top 10 I download directly from the developer. Still for many apps it greatly reduced the amount of time required to install and reminds of apps I haven't touched in a while that I might want to revisit or not install on my new machine.

E. I will usually go through my old install applications folder and app by app decide on whether to install it or not on the new machine. This process is helpful in decluttering and leafs me to think about better ways of undertaking a given workflow. Eg do I need 7 apps for image editing? Can I reduce the number of text editors, and streaming tools? Am I getting value for money out of an app subscription I purchased but not using much.

 

Phew that was longer than I expected.  Hopefuly there is a nugget or two in all that that is useful for you.

 

 

[Joe Weaks]

4 hours ago, Michael Hunt said:

do I need 7 apps for image editing?

No. All you need is the fantastic Pixelmator Pro.

[Fabian]

8 hours ago, Joe Weaks said:

No. All you need is the fantastic Pixelmator Pro.

It has full support for macOS Monterey with support for the Shortcut App. https://www.pixelmator.com/blog/2021/10/26/pixelmator-pro-2-2-adds-full-support-for-macos-monterey-and-shortcuts/
 

I guess we don’t see this amount of support for the new Apple systems in Accordance 14.

[markusvonkaenel]

8 hours ago, Joe Weaks said:

No. All you need is the fantastic Pixelmator Pro.

 

Or Affinity, or nothing beside the Apple app... Depends on the requriements 😃

[Mark Allison]

29 minutes ago, Fabian said:

It has full support for macOS Monterey with support for the Shortcut App. https://www.pixelmator.com/blog/2021/10/26/pixelmator-pro-2-2-adds-full-support-for-macos-monterey-and-shortcuts/
 

I guess we don’t see this amount of support for the new Apple systems in Accordance 14.

 

Probably not. We'd choosing to focus on adding new features that will benefit all our users. But it's possible we'll add support for shortcuts in later updates to version 14.

[Mark Allison]

14 hours ago, Julia Falling said:

Thanks.  It will be slower, but probably better overall.  How much time am I looking at?  Any good plan for getting this done?  My iCloud stuff is downloading (I signed in with my Apple ID).

 

If you want to keep all your Accordance Preferences, you can copy over the Accordance Preferences folder from your old computer. It's located in ~Home—>Library—>Preferences.

[Julia Falling]

Mark –

 

I moved my Accordance Prefs from my User Library, but there is no change in my Library.  It's a disorganized mess.  I've rebooted my new MBP, but it didn't help.  Anything I can do to straighten it out besides doing it manually?

 

Help!

 

Thanks.

[Paul Meiklejohn]

Julie, have you also copied your Accordance folder from user documents? If not, close Accordance copy and restart Accordance.  

 

Copy….

user Library/Preferences/Accordance Preferences

user Documents/ Accordance Files

 

 

[Julia Falling]

Thanks, Paul, but I've copied everything.  I'm wondering if I need to quit Accordance, delete Texts & Tools from User>Library>Application Support>Accordance, then restart Accordance and see whether everything will slip into its correct slot, including Library folders I created.

[Paul Meiklejohn]

No Julie, I wouldn’t delete anything yet.  The problem might be that you opened accordance prematurely before everything was preloaded.  That being the case it would have written a  default library order.  So what I suggest is close Accordance down.  Copy the two folders over from your old computer again and place them in exact folders in your new computer.  Only then, restart Accordance… Please let me know how you get on.

 

Quote

 

 

Edited October 27, 2021 by Paul Meiklejohn

[Paul Meiklejohn]

I copied this from a previous post I had written and it proved successful for another user.

 

1. Copy: User library / Application support / Accordance

2. Copy: user library / Preferences / Accordance preferences

3. Copy: I picked up these two file files from the preference folder as well...
    'com.OakTree.Accordance.Path.txt'.  /  'com.OakTree.Accordance.plist'

4. Copy: User / Documents / Accordance Files

 

Copied them all over to the same folders on the new computer.

 

 

https://forums.accordancebible.com/topic/31213-new-computer-setup-with-same/?tab=comments#comment-152948

 

 

 

Edited October 27, 2021 by Paul Meiklejohn

[Julia Falling]

Paul –

 

Thank you so much for your help!  I had moved all files but one.  The critical file was –

 

          User>Library>Preferences>Accordance Preferences.

 

With Accordance shut down, I dropped in that last file, replacing the one created in the fresh install, and there was my organized library!  What a relief!

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to help me eliminate chaos in one part of my life!

[Rick55]

You can always back up all your personal stuff then do a factory reset in your device.

 

 This way it’s likea brand new computer again,

 

 install accordance and enjoy their brilliant Bible application. 
 

If I could suggest- try not to download a bunch of stuff. 
 

enjoy your accordance modules and any other electronic books you may have.

 

 
God bless your Bible study

[Kristin]

The idea of a manual installation has been suggested by a few people on this thread. I am just curious about the logistics of it.

 

Are the people recommending this people who do not have many files? The amount of files I have on my computer is really intense, with folders and sub-folders and sub-folders of that. I have hardly any third party applications, but the ones I have are needed.

 

With that said, are the people supporting manual installs people who primarily have documents on some type of cloud and do not have vast quantities of data? Or rather, the people suggesting this, do you also have vast quantities of data?

 

If I am understanding correctly, when you get a computer you just set it up as a new user and log in with your Apple ID, then after it is set up you plug in TimeMachine as an external drive and manually drag over each of the documents, pictures, applications, etc etc. It seems extremely risky to leave a valuable document behind by accident.

 

So I am just curious.

[Michel Gilbert]

@Kristin

 

Hi. I’m not sure if this is relevant or if you will find it curious or interesting, but I just did a clean install of Monterey.

 

Why I did it: Based on 25+ years of reinstalling Windows on newly formatted drives, I thought that a clean install of Monterey would speed things up. I’ve got a 2014 Mac mini and I wanted to speed it up before the new minis are introduced sometime this year.

 

How I backed up my files: The same way as I always did with Windows. I found an old spinning hard drive and copied all my files onto it. I can copy many terabytes of files, but in this case I didn’t have to, just about 200 GB.

 

How I installed Monterey: I just followed the directions on how to download Monterey, make it bootable on a thumb drive, and booted into it to erase my drive and install it.

 

The results: More speed. I only do word processing, so the increase in speed is very noticable. It will do me just fine until the fall or early next year.

 

Michel

Edited April 29, 2022 by Michel Gilbert

[Julia Falling]

Sometimes a bunch of hidden stuff is carried along from Mac to Mac when it's all just moved.  I had a bunch of 3rd party apps which would not run on Monterey (that I wasn't using, anyway).  I certainly didn't want to move all the data associated with an obsolete app.  I also had ones that must have come in a discounted package in some deal.  I didn't want those, either.  I just did a general "house cleaning" and got rid of all that stuff.  I did a clean install of all the 3rd party apps I use, including Accordance.  You'll want to move your Accordance Preferences folder found @User>Library>Preferences.  That way your Accordance Library will  be organized on your new Mac in the same way it is on the old.  This is not the same as the preferences found @User>Library>Application Support>Accordance>Accordance Preferences.  You'll want to make sure you have that, too.  Saves a lot of time in set-up.  I ended up with a lot more storage on my new MBP, and a lot less garbage in those "behind-the-scenes" files that most of us don't look at much.

[Rich]

Julia — I generally do clean installs on new machines as well, then just reconfigure things manually (although with Accordance, I do generally copy things over if I can because the configuration is complex, although on my new Mac Studio, I re-setup everything from scratch (and just brought in my notes of course).

[Michel Gilbert]

Julia, while learning how to use a Mac over the past five years I tried a bunch of apps and I learned that to “completely uninstall” one you have to delete files from different Library folders--Application Support, Caches, Logs, Preferences, StartupItems, LaunchAgents, LaunchDaemons, and Receipts. But like you said, some stuff stays hidden. That’s another reason why I wanted to do a fresh install. I also reinstalled and reconfigured Accordance from scratch and even it seems to work better. When I do a lot of work in Accordance, like I’m doing this week, I have dozens and dozens of workspaces and tabs and construct searches open, and so far it has hardly ever crashed and required a restart. It’s also why I’m taking a bit of time to post on the forums. It is a nice break from work.

[Julia Falling]

Yep.  Those apps install stuff all over the place behind the scenes where we don't see it.  I got an app called "AppCleaner" – you drag and drop the unwanted app into the AppCleaner window.  It finds and deletes all the bits and pieces.