Carbon Copy Cloner Icon   

Computer-specific preference files -- caveats to migrating to a new computer

 

Some application preferences on Mac OS X are considered "host-specific." Host-specific preferences will be ignored if you boot your cloned operating system from another Macintosh. For example, the Launchpad (Lion+) and screen saver preferences are host-specific -- if you boot another Macintosh from your bootable clone, you will notice that Launchpad and the screensaver are reflecting the default settings. This does not mean that CCC did not preserve your preferences files, it simply means that these applications do not respect the preferences files while booted from another Macintosh.

Do not fear that you have lost any data, your original preferences will be "restored" when you boot again from your original computer.

Host-specific preferences may also be ignored if you have your computer's motherboard replaced. In this case, it will be necessary to reapply your preferences in these applications.

To learn exactly what preferences are host-specific, navigate in the Finder to your home directory, then to Library/Preferences/ByHost.