05-11-2008, 07:32 PM
Yes, I have done variations of all of that. Each situation can (and probably will be) unique. I've used a combination of two methods, with mostly OK success.
Method one involves looking in the two Library folders (yours and /System/Library) and looking for things that appear to be what you might want to copy.
Method two involves searching by filename that contains either the app's name or the company name and looking for things that appear to be what you might want to copy.
"things that appear to be what you might want to copy" is anything with the company's or the app's name in it.
Neither method will work in all situations, of course.
Don't forget that many apps will give this info away in the form of an install log.
There is also Google, i.e. "where does app X store the serial #?"
You already know that if something is only in ~/Library it won't be available to other users. Something in /Library is available to all users. If an app was originally installed with the intention of being only for you (some apps' installers assume this, some give you a choice) there will be not much relating to the app in /Library. If the app assumes everyone will need to use it there will be not much relating to the app in ~/Library except for individual preferences. An install log file would be a big help here.
/System/Library is available to all users also but tends to be less registration/preference specific. Still, look inside of it because if there are libraries or other files that need to talk on a closer level to the OS, they might be here. Again, look for subfolders that give the hint.
The Keychain is both a blessing and a curse, because you can't (as far as I know) combine two keychain files into one. But replacing the existing one with your old one is easy, it's login.keychain inside ~Library/Keychains. Might cause more problems than it solves, so don't lose the new one just in case.
Method one involves looking in the two Library folders (yours and /System/Library) and looking for things that appear to be what you might want to copy.
Method two involves searching by filename that contains either the app's name or the company name and looking for things that appear to be what you might want to copy.
"things that appear to be what you might want to copy" is anything with the company's or the app's name in it.
Neither method will work in all situations, of course.
Don't forget that many apps will give this info away in the form of an install log.
There is also Google, i.e. "where does app X store the serial #?"
You already know that if something is only in ~/Library it won't be available to other users. Something in /Library is available to all users. If an app was originally installed with the intention of being only for you (some apps' installers assume this, some give you a choice) there will be not much relating to the app in /Library. If the app assumes everyone will need to use it there will be not much relating to the app in ~/Library except for individual preferences. An install log file would be a big help here.
/System/Library is available to all users also but tends to be less registration/preference specific. Still, look inside of it because if there are libraries or other files that need to talk on a closer level to the OS, they might be here. Again, look for subfolders that give the hint.
The Keychain is both a blessing and a curse, because you can't (as far as I know) combine two keychain files into one. But replacing the existing one with your old one is easy, it's login.keychain inside ~Library/Keychains. Might cause more problems than it solves, so don't lose the new one just in case.