Advice for Migration Assistant Needed

I will be transferring my data from my current powerbook to a new mbp. I've read some posts recommending not using migration assistant, so I'm looking for the best advice concerning this. I have no non Apple applications or software on my pb other than Camino browser and the Macjanitor utility. I could manually transfer my itunes music, contents of my documents folder, iphoto library, etc. I've done this before using my ipod when I set up my imac, but the mbp will replace my powerbook and I want it set up exactly the same way so it seems like using migration assistant would be far less tedious. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
John

Interestingly, only this week I got a new MBP and move all my stuff from my old PowerBook G4 (Titanium) with no problems.
I simply plugged in the power on the MBP, booted it. Waited for the intro to finish, then clicked on the option to copy stuff from a previous machine. Plugged in the FireWire and rebooted the PB in Target Disk mode, selected the items I wanted to copy (all) and after about 30 - 40 mins, everything was done and I had 2 identical desktops. Everything just worked, it even copied my trash.
Since then over the course of the week, I have noticed one or two apps etc that will not run on the Intel machine. All I have done is download the Universal binary for them, deleted the old PPC one I had, installed the new one and all go.
I was amazed how easy it was, everything I had copied but it also left what was already on the MBP in addition. I got all my email in Mail including all folders and prefs, all Safari prefs, history and autofills and favourites, all items in my Dock and Menu bar, all there perfectly. All my documents, folders, items on my desktop. It was just perfect.
I have had no issues and no perfomance issues. The odd thing does not run as fast as I would expect but I assume this is due to some things being PPC and running using Rosetta slows them. The odd thing that was TOO slow or would not work at all, I just located the Universal Binary for and away I go.
So I would say 150%, use the assistant. I used the one at boot up (set up assistant or something) but I assume migration assistant does the same thing.

Similar Messages

Is the password for Migration assistant different than the apple ID password?

When I attempt to use the migration assistant using the Apple ID usename and password doesn't work. What other password do I need?

If you are transferring material from a PC to a new Mac, see:How to transfer data from a PC to a Mac - Apple Support for Migration Assistant help.

Firewire 800 vs 400 for Migration Assistant

I'm trying to use Migration Assistant to move stuff from my old iMac, which has Firewire 400 ports to my new iMac which has Firewire 800. I bought a cable that has one plug type on each end, but it seems the two iMacs can't 'see each other' using this cable. Also, if I connect my external LaCie hard drive (which has both)to my new iMac using this cable, it doesn't mount, although it will using a USB2 cable. This isn't an option for Migration Assistant. Any ideas?

Well, either the cable is bad or your firewire port is bad. Firewire 800 is backward compatible to 400. Try on someone elses mac. If it works on theirs, then your port is suspect.
Glor

HT4796 mac sees PC, PC not connecting to mac for Migration Assistant

mac sees PC, PC not connecting to mac for Migration Assistant - Passcode screen is not coming up on PC, just sits in waiting for Mac to connect, forever....

Hello metehangunaydin,
Please try the below steps so that you may atleast be able to print.
1.Click Start button on the Computer .
2.then click on Control Panel .
3.then Printers and Faxes
4.On top-left, click on Add a Printer
5.Click on Add a Local Printer
6.Then while "Use an Existing port" is selected , select "Virtual USB port ... " then click Next
7.from the Manufacturer list, select HP, and then under Printers list select Deskjet 990c" , then Click next and complete the wizard
Now try printing . It should work.
Regards,
Jabzi
Give Kudos to say "thanks" by clicking on the "thumps Up icon" .
Click "Accept as Solution" if it solved your problem, so others can find it.
Although I am an HP employee, I am speaking for myself and not for HP.

Can I retrieve password for migration assistant

I want to migrate from my old PC to Mac, but when I type in my password. Mac won't let me. Is there a way to retrieve my password for migration assistant?

Pondini wrote:
Shootist007 wrote:
If you didn't use the exact same user name and password that was on your PC on your Mac then MA will create another user on the Mac, making it harder to get to your Data.
Not so.
If you use Setup Assistant on your Mac when it first starts up, whatever you transfer to your Mac will be in a single user account.
If you use Migration Assistant later on, whatever you transfer will go into a new user account.
See OS X Lion: About Windows Migration Assistant for details.
Excuse me you just stated the same thing as I did, that was After you said Not So.
What did you think the letters MA meant.

Need advice- using migration assistant in first 10.5.2 setup or not?

So, I just bought the newest MacBook Pro and sold my Powerbook G4 12-inch, before selling it I, of course made a clon of it's HDD with an external FireWire Iomega HDD with Carbon Copy Cloner (Superduper! gave me an error when creating the backup but CCC never did). So my question for all of you expirienced migrators from PowerPcs to Intel (going from tiger to leopard too) is that should I use the migration assitant (choosing the option to migrate from another mac in intial setup) or just start from 0 (a big pain u know where) and drap and drop my iTunes folder, assuming it would be recongized well with iTunes in that machine, from my clone and not to drag and drop apps but reinstall them? I heared that dragging and dropping doesn't work good for apps cause both of the arquitectures doesn't install them the same way. I of course will also drag and drop my documents folder and my iPhoto library..
So, please, really, what is the best option?
Thanks in advance guys, peace!
-Fernando

FCA wrote:
yes it is the newest one, very excited! Now, remember I was in tiger so I wouldnt be able to make a TM back up also what do you mean migrate some parts? Is there an option to just migrate dcuments of something like that? Thanks for your response!
I am not sure about Migration Assistant. Only going by what I read somewhere, that you can select what you want to migrate, with some limitations.
Don't confuse Migration Assistant with Transfer Assistant, which does move everything.
I used Transfer Assistant when I got my new MBP. Put the old one in Target mode and waited.
It worked, but both were running Tiger.
Someone else might have direct experience with Migration Asst. and give you more details.
On my G5, I installed Leopard on an empty drive and used MA. It worked but some apps came with warnings and they didn't work.
I just opened MA and it says you can migrate
User Accounts
Applications
Network and Computer settings
Files
Volumes
So I guests that answers your question.

TS1963 How long do I waiting for Migration Assistant?

I have had the hard drive crash on my iMac and Apple Care support helped me to get the Migration Assistant to start to recover lost data of the hard disc. It has been going for 7 hours so far and the MA window still says "Looking for applications and documents to transfer..." How long should I waiting?

if Disk Utility or fsck should fail to repair it, your best bet is DiskWarrior from Alsoft, you'll need the CD to boot from if you don't have another boot drive...
http://www.alsoft.com/DiskWarrior/
Your best bet is DiskWarrior, you need the CD/DVD though, if you don't have another Hard Drive to boot from.
http://www.alsoft.com/DiskWarrior/
But others that may work…
Intech Speedtools Pro...
http://www.intechusa.com/STU3.html
Drive Genius…
http://www.prosofteng.com/products/drive_genius.php
TechTool Pro…
http://www.micromat.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=83
Data Rescue II...
http://www.prosofteng.com/products/data_rescue.php

HT1338 my old mac cant connect to internet and my migration assistant needs an upgrade is there any way to download to my new mac and install the upgrade on my old one so i can complete the migration process?

I just purchase a new IMac, I am trying to use migration assistant. the problem I am having is my old mac cannot connect to the internet and it needs a software update, can I download the update on my new mac and install it somehow on my old mac?

If it's a free update, search Apple's support site for it and move the dmg as you would any file. If it's a paid upgrade, no; the Mac App Store upgrades, while downloadable, can't be downloaded from a Mac which can't use them.
(78632)

Kudos for Migration Assistant

Conventional wisdom is that these forums are for complaints, and I've posted my share. However, I had an unexpectedly good experience so figured I'd share that for a change.
A couple of days ago I use Migration Assistant to migrate the entire contents of my 17" MPB to a new 15" MPB. Needing a quick, mid-work week transition, I didn't want to spend time reloading/configuring apps. Well, it took 2 hours to move the files, but after 2 days of use I have found NO issues. I had to retrain Little Snitch, and reinstall Parallels due to a missing driver, but other than that, my work flow has not missed a beat. (Okay, I had to rearrange some icons on my desktop.) I was very surprised at how easy it was.
Very cool.

Totaly agree with you Migration assistant is GRRRREAT.
I moved from iMac G5 to Alum 20" iMac with total success in a relatively short time. Every single parameter, password, and visible data was preserved and secure.

Want to you ethernet for migration assistant?

I would like to use the simple ethernet connection between my Imac Intel and new Macbook Pro. I see in the user's guide that it is possible, but when I opened migration assistant on the new Macbook Pro there was only the Firewire option. I don't have a firewire cable. Can I used ethernet and how?
IO tried to transfer my Time Machine backup to the new Macbook Pro but only got some of the information, not the email settings and content, nor Photos for Iphoto or ITunes contents.
when I did the same thing with another Macbook Pro and Air, everything transfered perfectly...I had a mirror image of one computer on the other, including Calendar, etc.
I just did a complet reinstall and erase and wondering what I did wrong.
Any tips?

I am able to connect through the ethernet cable, the option to transfer the deeper files (there are three items to check, one is setting and apps, two is surface files, and the third is deeper files on the system, which I presume are the emails, itunes contents, photos, calendar, etc.) is not enabled. There is a check but it is greyed out. When I tried the same option backing up from my Time Machine, I ended up with only a partial backup of the contents from my Imac to the new Macbook Pro. I did an install and erase to start again now.
When tried the same backup from Time Machine with a different Macbook Pro and Air a month or so ago, everything from the Imac was on the portables. That's what I want to do now.
I don't know why but I must be doing something wrong or things have changed for doing this.

What wires/adapters to use for Migration Assistant

I have a lab with 28 Mac Minis. Typically I start the school year by creating a "perfect" computer and using Migration Assistant to make duplicates of that target computer to all the rest. Since these don't have typical Firewire ports, should I be using Thunderbolt to Thunderbolt connectors, using adapters for the newer Firewire ports so that I can keep using existing Firewire cables, or something else?

What Mac Mini's do you have. Per this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_Mini
al the Mini's have FW. The early ones FW 40 and the latter one FW 800. You can connect the two with an adopter.

How to select correct time machine backup for migration assistant

We have two MacBooks backing up to one Time Capsule using time machine: let's call them H and R.
I have had to reinstall Leopard on Macbook H and am now trying to restore using Migration Assistant.
Migration Assistant finds the Time Capsule and identifies that there are two Time Machine Backups, but doesn't give an option to select the one to use.
Whenever I click 'Continue' it does the 'Checking time machine backup' (for hours), then brings up the data to restore, but every time it comes up with the data and settings from Macbook R.
How can I tell Migration Assistant which Time Machine Backup I want to use?

Brilliant. That was it.
I used the other MacBook to run Disk Utility on my backup volume and repaired it: #A5 is bang on.
Then, Setup Assistant saw both backups and let me select the one I wanted. It's now transferring my stuff.
Very relieved and extremely grateful.
Your apple tips should come with every mac and time capsule.

How long for Migration Assistant to calculate Time Machine backup file size

I have just bought a new MacBook Pro to replace one that will not start up. Consequently I am trying to migrate my user account, files and applications from a Time Machine back up - but it seems to be taking an age to calculate the Applications and "other files" sizes.
How long should I be looking at for 145GB's worth of data to be recognised by Migration Assistant?
If there is a problem with the migration, can I replace the User and Applications folders on the new MBP with those from the Time Machine back up?

it's quite safe to assume that the Migration process is stuck. there is no sense in waiting any longer. stop the migration and see what got transferred. did the home folder get transferred? you can restore just the home folder using TM and reinstall applications but that has to be done correctly. DO NOT try to copy anything from TM backups using finder.
First, make sure that your current user has different short name than the user you are trying to migrate. then control-click on TM in the dock and choose "browse other TM disks". this will let you browse TM backups. select the folder /users/username there. click on the "gears" action button in the toolbar and select 'restore to...". select to restore to /users on your main drive. you'll have to enter your admin password to do it. once the copy is complete, go to system preferences->accounts and create a new account with the same short name and password as the user you are restoring. it will say that a home directory by that name already exists and ask if you want to use it. say yes.

Advice for migrating from Exchange to OS X Server

I am in the process of migrating away from Microsoft products altogether. The biggest beast of all is going to be Exchange.
I am looking at imapsync as a possible method of migrating user mailboxes. Is there anyone here who has undergone this task? Are there any better solutions out there for migrating the mailboxes over?
Thanks in advance.

slopresto wrote:
Is it really that problematic?
I am supporting (begrudgingly) a number of OS X Mail servers. What Apple has up to now has not been very good. No vacation messaging without rolling your own add-in, weak web mail interface, poor integration with other Apple products (iPhone), randomly corrupted databases for no apparent reason, the inability to maintain read/not read status on reconstruct or migration, poor spam handling, no migration tools. I call it the problem of the week. I got a new one today. Unlike any other problem ever seen so far. And it effects one account only. I will admit that I am just tired of it. Does it work. Mostly. But there are better solutions on the platform than the built in solution. Now, this "may" change when Snow Leopard is released. http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/02/13/snowleopard_server_to_ramp_up_scalability_andperformance.html which I can not confirm nor deny.
I have used straight postfix on Linux before with only an occasional problem, but never in a corporate environment.
Sadly, this is postfix on OS X, not postfix on Linux. As sad as this is to say, there is a difference and the difference is not in favor of OS X.
My boss, on the other hand has been a Mac guy for 10+ years and assures me that I will be impressed by the performance gains and lack of issues we will have by switching over from Microsoft products.
You will have gains. You will not be tied to licensing fees. You will not be plagued by the intricacies of an Exchange server and its myriad of updates, patches, tweaks, and adjustments. Heck, you will not have to reboot the machine every week to keep it from crashing. OS X has a lot of advantages over Windows in a server environment. OS X has a lot of really good services that are rock solid (BIND, Apache, racoon, the dev tools, Apple File Services (yes, I said it, it is a really good filing protocol!), Podcast server, wikis, directory services, chat server...) that make the OS X a swiss army knife of sorts. But in my experience, mail has been an afterthought and generally more trouble than it is worth.
As a side note, I should mention that Apple did pull off some real magic with the one checkbox mail cluster. I you have an Xsan and are load balancing your mail servers, the setup is beyond easy. There, I said something nice.
Is there anyone out there who has done this successfully and may perhaps know of an easy method of migrating the mailboxes in. Right now, it is a toss up between imapsync and doing a straight import via Outlook using their pst files from the nightly exmerge.
There are methods of doing the migration. If you decide to import via Outlook, I suggest doing a rule based move. If you do a drag and drop, the IMAP connection will likely drop after a few hundred messages and then you have no idea where it stopped. Create a rule to do the move. It will take longer but the time lost to frustration and manually finding where the copy stopped equals out.
Good luck in your migration. I am sorry if I came down negative. OS X Server is a great product. I just have a lot of criticism about the mail implementation. I will say, I am looking forward to September a bit as my opinion may change.
Message was edited by: Strontium90

HT204350 Can I use Migration Assistant to transfer data from macbook running 10.7.5 To a macbook air running Mavericks? On first attempt destination machine says that os versions are not compatible for Migration Assistant.

I am trying to transfer contents from old macbook running os 10.7.5 to a macbook air running os 10.9.1 using migration assistant but the destination macobook air says that migration cannot proceed (yellow triangle) because the os on the macbook is not up to date (assuming that eans 10.9.1). However old macbook cannot be updated to 10.9.1.
Can anyone suggest a way around this please?

Try looking at this section in the Migration Assistant article.
Migrating using FireWire or ThunderBolt

Advice for Migration Assistant Needed

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