Best way to do Migration assistant?

Hey I will be migrating to the retinaMBP tomorrow.
From peoples experience is it better to do migration from the recently updated Time machine via USB 3 or Old mac (Lion) to new mac (Mountain lion) via ethernet?
I have seen that people have had problems with migration but it has never been clear why..........
If any pitfalls can be avoided that would be great!
Thanks
K*

How to use Migration Assistant to transfer files from another Mac
OS X Mountain Lion: Transfer your info from a computer or disk
Migration Assistant tips and tricks

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Best way to use Migration assistant?

Hi, will be setting up a new 24" soon and need some advice. Of course, I'll want to transfer data from my old machine, G3 600. Waht is the best way to go about this?
1. Is there some prep work I should do on my old mac first?
2. I've heard that is was not a good idea to copy apps(maybe other components, too) from the old machine to make sure the machine stays as clean as possible. Is this true?
3. If true, then I of course still want to transfer all my files, music, photos, etc. Does this mean I just choose to transfer my user file? What are the advantages of this?
4. What about internet, mail accounts and configurations. Are these transferred from the user account, or, where are these?
5. If I don't transfer apps, I'm assuming I then have to go back and make sure all the apps I want are there, and update all of them as well. In this case, do i drag and drop them?
Would appreciate any thoughts on the subject. Perhaps I should just transfer everything, although people have told me it's not the best method to keep our new machine as clean as possible. Hope this makes sense. Many thanks for your assistance and expertise in this area.

sorry,
but i dont remeber them, as i am pretty new to mac os myself :P
i would try, if u dont find any informations about it.
- connect both pcs using a firewire cable
- boot the new mac and continue until the question appears:
"use data from old mac ?"
- reboot the old mac, pressing T while booting to get into the firewire target mode
- continue on the new intel mac....
- the 4 categories should be shown
AFAIK: you can still abort there.
BUT:
take some time before, i bet you will find more detailed informations in this forum regarding those categories and migration itself
best regards
fidel

Other ways to accomplish Migration Assistant-like tasks?

So, you know, kids get older, one goes off to college, the others want their own computer accounts instead of a single "Kids" account, etc. And then you get a new iMac...
"Ah..." I thought, "Perfect opportunity to clean up the account structure and make things clean again..."
So instead of running Migration Assistant from the outset, I configured the new iMac first. Create the User accounts, install the anti-virus SW, get everything set up the way I want.
Next, I try out the Migration Assistant... Surprise surprise, even if I just want to use it to copy the Documents folder of one account on the old machine to an account on the new machine, it pops messages about replacing the existing account on the new machine and blah, blah, blah.
Uh... no... that's not what I intended. I just want to suck over Documents, eMail, iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie libraries, bookmarks, address book contacts... I don't want to replace accounts! I have the new accounts set up the way I want them already...
So what do I do instead? Do I have to do each of these steps manually at this point? Do I have to export bookmarks, push them to the Dropbox on the new machine, import them, export contacts, push them to the Dropbox on the new machine, import them, copy Documents through the Dropbox in a two-step process, etc., etc., etc., ad nauseum?
Or is there some easier way to do this that's better thought-out than the Migration Assistant, which apparently wants to replace accounts wholesale and won't even let you copy stuff into the currently-logged-in account?
Or is the easiest thing just to nuke the new machine's configuration, let the Migration Assistant blast it's way mindlessly through whatever it does, and then start deleting and reconfiguring the new machine OVER AGAIN?
Thanks for any suggestions,
Rodney
27" iMac Core i7 2.93 GHz, Mac OS X (10.6.4), 8GB / 17" flat panel iMac G4, 1 GHz, Max OS X (10.5.11), 768MB

I suggest that you start all over again, using Setup Assistant after restoring the new iMac to factory original conditions, & migrate only the user account(s) you want to keep on it from any older Macs you have.
There are several good reasons Setup/Migration Assistant will not do what you want:
1. It is undesirable for privacy & security reasons -- there would be no point in having separate user accounts protected by passwords if someone could use the utility simply to copy whatever they wanted from another user's account into their own. As far as the computer is concerned, each user account is a separate entity, entitled to the same level of privacy & security.
2. Each user account has its own user preferences, application settings, & so on. There can be several thousand of these items for each user account. There is no way to merge them into one user account, so at best an account merge function would tediously have to ask which of these you wanted retained & which ones you wanted discarded on an item by item basis.
3. Many popular apps (among them Mail, iTunes, iPhoto, & many browsers) save user data in application-specific master files or databases rather than in individual files. Again, there can be only one of these (at a time) for each user. (For example, while iTunes stores song files individually, user ratings, notes, & other user-specific items are stored in iTunes database files, one per user.) Since each application that does this has its own unique methods & formats, Setup/Migration Assistant would have to know about all of them to somehow merge them into one user account's master or database files, assuming that would even be possible to do without conflicts.
The tips Pondini provided are the best you can do.
Message was edited by: R C-R

Any way way to use Migrations Assist via USB?

Trying to suck stuff from drive from a dead PowerBook (drive's fine) to new MacBook, and of course
only option is Target Disc Mode by FireWire.
And only way I have of connecting the old drive is by USB. Bet not.
Guess I'll just create a partition from unused space on the HD, clone the old HD over and Migrate from there.
Never mind...
p2

That's the ticket.

Migration assistant suggestion

Hi, I'm planning to buy a Mac Pro (8 core 2.66 GHz, ATI Radeon 4870, basic RAM and HDD to add them afterwards at lower price) and I wonder what would be the best way to use Migration Assistant from my old Power PC 1.8 GHz G5, running Tiger 10.4.11.
I know that using a FW800 to FW400 adapter I can connect the two machines and start the old one in target mode.
Doing this, what option I have to select? I know that several of my apps are not Intel specific, therefore the standard policy suggested by Apple should not be used: doing this I'd import Power PC apps in a Intel machine that would not work properly.
Therefore, I think the best way is to use the AM software only to migrate sys configurations, not apps. But some apps (like browsers, i.e.) have bookmarks, pws, and other settings stored in their prefs or App support folders. Should I invoke only to import network configurations and the Library, skipping the Apps, or should I ask the Migrator to copy also the Apps folder and then reinstall the Intel specific apps only afterwards on the new machine from original disks?
Another question: would it be better to completely clone (Carbon Copy or SuperDuper) the startup drive of the old machine on an external HDD? In this case, could I ask the Migrator to retrieve infos from the backup external drive?
Thanks.
Elio

Best advise is in a user tip on using Migration Assistant. But the bottom line is only import email, home library and folders for data and media, but skip applications - fresh re-install all of those yourself.
Otherwise, it will run slow, sluggish, like molasses, and have problems.
http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20080408105217231
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=435350

Time Machine and Migration assistant

Hi!
I have a new Mac Book pro and had an i-mac before.
All the data (i-photo, i-tunes...) are on a hard drive using Time machine. I don't have the i-Mac anymore.
I use the migration assistant to transfer my data. i can find them, transfer them, but it goes in another user and the folders are locked. So I move the folders to my user and then: either try to import in the libraries or dragging the folder in each software (i-photo, i-tunes...) but the best I obtained is to have the songs or the pics but no album, no playlist, no rating anymore... also the events are messed up and I lost part of the albums artwork... not what I expected...
I tried to find something in the discussions but I didn't!
Could you help me??????
Thanks!
Clement.

Yes, but you'll be better off using +Setup Assistant.+
When you first start up the new Mac, after the +Select your Language+ prompt, it will ask +Do you already have a Mac?+
Then you can select to transfer any or all of your network and other settings, applications, users, and files.
If you select all, the only things you may have to do later is possibly enter some 3rd-party app purchase codes, and, rarely, perhaps reinstall some complex 3rd-party apps that put files in unexpected places, such as the system folders.
If you don't transfer your users that way, you'll have to set them up. If you don't do it exactly the same way, and use +Migration Assistant+ later on, it may not be able to move everything properly to the different users.

Migration Assistant doesn't respect User Templates

Hi everyone,
I work doing Information Technology support for a small (of about 30-40 people) communications department. We just ordered about 9 computers, and they all came with Lion.
Some people that I work with are very change-phobic, and I've created a default user template that respects what they've been doing for a long time and includes what I need to do my job. The main things I've changed include reversing the natural scroll direction (I know, I know, I like it myself, but like I said, some people I work with are incredibly change-phobic) remote login settings, showing the Library folder, and including default login software (such as new backup software we've decided to deploy at the same time as new computer deployments).
I've found that creating new users on the system respects the user template:
(found at /System/Library/User\ Template/English.lproj/Library/Preferences/).
But when I migrate users (either choosing to migrate settings, or not migrate settings), it doesn't matter, as the OS defaults back to not including the new login software and reverting scroll direction.
I can't hold off much longer in deploying these computers, but I know that I'll immediatly get a lot of requests about how to put settings back to the way they were.
Is there a way to have Migration Assistant respect the default user template (when not migrating settings)?
Best,
Allen

Hi John,
While your link was certainly informative, it isn't really addressing my problem, though I appreciate your response.
I don't know if this may interest you, but you can force the Setup Assistant to run without reinstalling Lion. Just boot into single user mode (command+s), then remove this file:
rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
You see, your mac, upon every boot, checks to see if that file is present. Its not really even a file that holds any information (its just a file named .AppleSetupDone). If the file is not present, your computer will run the "first-run wizard," or Setup Assistant.
It's also a trick you can use if you don't have an administrative account on a computer.
Anyway, I'm still hoping I can get answers about why migration assistant refuses to respect the defaults I've set at:
/System/Library/User\ Template/English.lproj/Library/Preferences/
Best, and thanks again,
Allen

Migrating a user without Migration Assistant

Hi
My wife's old MacBook (Snow Leopard) just died. I had backed up my wife's user account, and so I'm trying to transfer her account to my MacBook Pro (Mountain Lion) making my wife an additional user.
Issue #1
First problem was Migration Assistant didn't want to know. It appears to only deal with Time Machine back-ups or start-up disks. My back-up is neither, it's just USERNAME/ Desktop, Downloads, Library etc. on an external drive.
Issue #2
So I logged in as Admin and tried to simply drag the user account and its folders into the USERS directory in the target computer. Not Permitted.
Issue #3
So I created a new account in my wife's name, then replaced the account folders (Desktop, Downloads, Library etc) with those from the back-up. I logged in as my wife and it seemed like it was working until I got an error message saying iTunes wouldn't open because I didn't have write permission for the iTunes library.
Going Foward
Seems like I've got two options:
Fix the permissions issue on iTunes
Find a way of getting Migration Assistant (or something else similar) to work – and start the migration all over again.
Fixing permissions seems quicker, provided you know what you're doing! Advice gratefully received.
Marcus

When you replaced the folders, were you logged into your wife's account? If not, they copied folders are owned by the user who created them.
To repair home folder permissions, you need to boot into the Recovery HD (hold down cmd-r on restart). When that boots, select Terminal from the Utilities menu.
Type resetpassword and hit return.
Select your hard drive, then her user account, then click the button at the bottom to Reset Home folder permissions and ACLs.

Migration Assistant can't find mounted external disc

Running Snow Leopard on newer iMac Dual Core. Trying to migrate users of dead G5. The G5 User data is intact, and on an external disc, and was transferred to this external disc from the G5's HD, by techs at The Apple Store. The specs of this external drive are:
30.74 GB
Format: Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
S.M.A.R.T. Status : Not Supported
Partition Map Scheme : Apple Partition Map
Mount Point : /Volumes/Macintosh HD 1
The external disc mounts to the desktop, but Migration Assistant just spins and spins looking for it, without success.
I have tried to boot from the external drive; Restart/Option does not result in the external disc as a startup option.
I'm thinking when the Mac boys wiped the external disc to make room for the G5 User data, they reformatted the disc to non-bootable. In an experiment, Migration Assistant easily found and transferred User data from my laptop (when restarted in target disc mode).
Is there a way to help Migration Assistant find this external disk - or an option that transfers the User files intact from the external drive to the new SL machine?
Thanks,
lex

lexsongs wrote:
+then MA will not work on it, period. you need to migrate manually. Migration assistant does not give a hoot what the partition scheme is on the drive you are migrating from so don't bother with that. the partition scheme on your main drive should be GUID but it's probably that already.+
+P.S. if you still have access to the old drive of the G5 then you can migrate from that drive directly.+
Thanks V.K. I did open Disk Utility and was ready to change the partition scheme (on the external disc) to GUID, but based on your last post I will hold off.
Yes, I have the old G5 HD, and will get some help with connections for migrating - or will build an enclosure (or have one built) and then use MA to move the User folders. In the meantime, I can still access the data in all User folders on the external disk.
if all the data you need is in the user folders you can simply do the following. drag a user folder from Users on your backup drive to the /Users folder at the top level of the main hard drive. make sure you don't have another user by that name already present there. you'll need to authenticate with your admin password. once you copied the user folder to Users on the main drive go to system preferences->accounts. unlock the lock at the bottom, click on + and create an account with the same short user name as the name of the folder you just copied to Users. it will tell you that a home directory by that name already exists and ask if you want to use it. say "yes".
Question: What allows MA to work with the original G5 HD but not with the copied User data on the external disc?
I don't know the exact innerworkings of MA but it clearly checks the drive to see if it recognizes it as something it can possibly migrate from as it needs a lot of stuff present to work. It doesn't just migrate user folders. it migrates applications, some library files etc. so unless it sees a full clone of another system drive or a TM backup of another drive (which both have all that stuff present) it won't even try migrating.

How do I get Migration Assist. onto my iBook to move files to my MacBook?

I just got a new MacBook and want to transfer my files from my old iBook G4 (OS 10.3.9). I followed the set up assistant instructions for the MacBook and inserted the OS X Install DVD and installed the file on the CD called "DVD or CD Sharing SetUp". At that point the MacBook's instructions said I should launch Migration Assistant on my iBook, and that Migration Assistant would be located in the Applications/Utilities folder. The problem is...Migration Assistant isn't there! I've searched the whole computer, but it's not anywhere else either. Is there another way to get Migration Assistant onto my iBook? If not, is there another way to transfer my files from the iBook to my new MacBook? Many thanks, from an excited new owner of a MacBook (who's a bit frustrated by this bump in the road). Steve

Welcome to the Apple Discussions!
Unfortunately, the Migration Assistant (that's compatible with Wi-Fi or Ethernet and therefore the new aluminum MacBooks) requires Mac OS X 10.4.11. You won't be able to use it with your iBook. You can see the system requirements here. Kappy has some great suggestions for manually migrating specific files in this topic.
-Doug

Can I pick which folders are copied in migration assistant?

Hello
I just reinstalled Tiger and i am trying to migrate my old system on an external drive back onto the origional. The total of the data on the external is way bigger than the capacity of the internal. Heres what is on the external,
- System folders (Want to migrate)
- A folder with data that was already on the external before i made it a clone. (Don't want to migrate)
Is there a way to select which folders to put back on the new OS? Or is there any way to make migration assistent not be able to copy that folder back on?
Thanks

never mind i used Sectet Folder and it worked

Migration Assistant in Lion OS not working

Installed Lion OS on both my iMac I7 and my Mac NoteBookPro with I7 processor. Tried to connect the two computers with Firewire but no luck. The remote HD pops up on the desktop but Migration Assistant cannot find the other computer, irrespective of which one I make the client. Exactly the same happens with ethernet cable. I do know that Firewire on the NoteBook worked under Snow Leopard. Any ideas anyone, please, or is Migration Assistant actually stuffed,
Best Regards
Dietrich

I believe Migration Assistant was upgraded for Lion early in the week. Do you have the latest? Should be Version 4.
Look here http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1420
Phil
Message was edited by: w7ox

Migration assistant does not allow selection of backup

The HD on my MBP failed. Under warranty. So made an appointment and took her in to my closest Apple Store. I had a recent full backup on my Time Capsule and thought I would be bringing the "not quite dead yet" old drive home. Wrong. Bringing the old HD home would have cost me $200... and I was shocked that there was no provision for erasing the old drive. Yikes.
A couple days later, the new HD is installed and I bring the laptop home and proceed with trying to restore. The machine hangs on reboot... I let it run over night before doing a powerbutton shutdown followed by using option startup to access Recovery disk and reinstall Mavericks. Attempt using an older backup.... repeat... three times. Same outcome. Somewhere in there, I attempted rebuilding and repairing the restored setup. Problems were found and I think I did finally get a system that would startup, but it had issues.... issues with the MS Office install, issues with an Apogee plugin... enough to make me keep trying something else. By now it is several days later and somehow Time Machine has managed to slip in at least one full backup of the disfunctional setup. Not knowing this, I redo the installation of Mavericks and attempt to use Migration Assistant. I am presented with exactly one option for which backup to use... the latest one.
So what to try next?
Somehow delete off all backups after replacement of the HD and try again?
Go back to trying earlier versions of backup using Restore?
I understand now that I should have done a carbon copy cloner backup sometime before the HD got really ill.... whenever that was?
So far this has not been a satisfying experience... a top of the line laptop, with the extended warranty, with regular backups on a time capsule. Still it was not enough. Fortunately, I am not trying to make a living off of this machine and can take some time getting it back up to where it was. It is making me understand why it might be good to have a Mac Pro with a RAID setup if I had real work on real deadlines. Not very portable though.

Continuing to research options for utilizing my Time Machine backups has led to the Pondini pages. Great stuff. In there I learned it would be possible to delete individual backups. This might allow me to get rid of the 3 backups which occured after my HD failed... backups of the new HD that are getting in the way of using Migration Assistant.
Here is my question.
In the listing of backups is a alias called Latest. It seems to be pointing to one of the backups that I want to delete. Will I cause a problem by deleting it? Or better yet, is it possible to edit this alias to point to the backup I want to use in Migration Assistant?
Status of attempts to Restore: Each attempt to restore is taking the better part of a day due to needs like sleeping and goiing to work...
Attempt 1 restore to day before HD failure worked but a strange assortment of error messages showed up indicating that the Drive failure was corrupting things
Attempt 2 restore to earlier same day... same result
Attempt 3 restore to 2 weeks earlier... same result
Attempt 4 restore to 5 months earlier... good result but l would like to get much closer
Is it possible to use Migration Assistant to utilize the "corrupt" backup?

How to restart migration assistant

Friends,
I just received an imac i7. I want to transfer files and programs from my imac 24 2.8 intel machine by migration assistant. I tried last night, but the system appeared to freeze about 3/4 of the way through. Is there a way to restart migration assistant to complete the job or do I have to do it all over again?
Would transferring from a TM backup be better? My TM is USB 2.0, and I figured that would be too slow.
Thanks!
Steve

Barry,
I think I figured out the problem. When I tried to migrate overnight, I didn't change my new machine's power saver feature, so I think the HD went to sleep after an hour (although you would think the migration activity would keep it awake). In any event, I'm transferring from a TM disk today; if I don't like the result, I'll try migrating via firewire with the settings changed.
Thanks for your help.
Steve

I bought a mac 2 days ago and transferred some files on there using migration assist which I did not want to. How do I restore my imac to factory settings so I can start again?

I bought a mac 2 days ago and transferred some files on there using migration assist which I did not want to. How do I restore my imac to factory settings so I can start again?

Look in /Users folder. You can go to System Preferences > Users & Groups, open the lock and "-" delete the account it created.
This is a problem whenever you use migration assistant after the initial install. The proper way to run Migration Assistant is in Setup Assistant when you first boot your Mac. I don't know why Apple isn't clearer about this issue.

Best way to do Migration assistant?

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