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How do I move a time machine external drive from one iMac to a new iMac?

Just purchased a new iMac.

On my old iMac, I have a LaCie external drive being used by Time Machine to back up my system.

How do I activate Time Machine on the new iMac and and have it access the LaCie external drive?



iMac 21.5″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Dec 27, 2020 9:54 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Dec 27, 2020 9:57 AM

You should be able to simply unplug the Lacie from the old Mac and then plug it into the new Mac. If you have already done that and are having a problem, please let us know what is happening.


However if the drive is 5 years or older, I would seriously consider replacing it with a new External Hard Disk. What most experienced users use are OWC Mercury Elite Pro due to the very high reliability and reasonable prices.

3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Dec 27, 2020 9:57 AM in response to carol329

You should be able to simply unplug the Lacie from the old Mac and then plug it into the new Mac. If you have already done that and are having a problem, please let us know what is happening.


However if the drive is 5 years or older, I would seriously consider replacing it with a new External Hard Disk. What most experienced users use are OWC Mercury Elite Pro due to the very high reliability and reasonable prices.

How do I move a time machine external drive from one iMac to a new iMac?

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