Cannot use Migration Assistant to migrate from a Time Machine backup to a new Mac.

I have a supposedly valid Time Machine backup for both of the MacBook Pro's we have (had). My wifes is Pro is working but mine died. I am replacing it with a MacBook Air. Following the steps, I tried to Migrate all my Pro files and apps from a TM backup using the Migration Assistant but it stops at 'Looking for source' and never gets past this.
I have confirmed the wife's back up is valid using 'Enter Time Machine'. However, on that same Mac Pro, if I use the Migration Assistant, it does not find the hard drive, once again , getting stuck at 'Looking for source just like on the Mac Air.
I went back to BestBuy where I bought the Air and worked with the Apple Rep. He tried it himself on a Mac Pro they had in the store and got the same results.
We called this into MyApple and after elevating this to the next level, they still cannot explain it.
I have used this feature in the past prior to upgrading to Mavericks so I am wondering if the fault is there?
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Dave

I may have solved this (partly). A search reveal A LOT of peoplel having the same issue. One solution put forward was that the Time Machine backups were not complete. I noticed in mine, non of the backups for a quite a while have no Applications or System files backup. The solution was to do a TM reset. I did that and ran a new backup of the one MacBook Pro that is still working. After it was complete, the backup had the Applications and System data in it. I was able to open the Migration ssistant and it found the drive.
Now I just have to hope that the repair shop can salvage my malfuncitoning MB Pro so I can solve the main issue either by Migrating fromht MB Pro or make a new back up of the MB Pro after TM reset and use that for the migration. Won't till tomorrow (hopefully).
Dave

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Vexing migration from a Time Machine backup

When I went to set up my new machine I elected to migrate from a Time Machine backup; imagine my surprise when the process was completed and I was staring at an exact duplicate of my old machine-only as it looked back in late 2007. I've been backing up fairly regularly, but only when prompted by Time Machine. The last backup I performed was several days before I purchased the new machine.
I opened Time Machine and was surprised to see no backups displayed, and of course no Restore option. In the course of browsing the backup medium I discovered two folders in the backups.backupdb directory named Joe Blow's Computer and Joe Blow's Computer 2. The last backup in the JBC folder was dated November of 07, and was to the best of my ability to determine, the one that was migrated to my new machine. The JBC2 folder contained all of the subsequent backups; I could browse it directly and using the Browse Other Disks option in Time Machine, but was unable to view any of the backups without first modifying the permissions.
My initial fear, that all of my post-2007 data was lost, is no longer an issue since I've simply copied all of my files from my last backup to my new machine, but I'd really like to figure out a way to re-do the migration and get my old machine moved over to the new hardware in its entirety. Given the clarity of 20/20 hindsight I probably should have just done a machine-to-machine migration via firewire, but at the moment they're not in the same location and won't be for at least a month or two.
In the research I've done so far I've seen the issue of MAC address changes implicated in similar problems; my old machine is in its original configuration with all of its originally installed components. Thanks in advance to anyone who can shed some light on this for me.

Yes this is an interesting issue. I was wondering what would happen in such a given situation because I feared it would create problems. It makes you wonder what the need would be for time machine if it can not assist you in case your computer lets you down.....

How do I migrate from a Time Machine backup of a larger hard driver to a smaller hard drive?

My old MacBook Pro has a 1 TB drive. My new one has a 256 GB drive (SSD, as you might guess). I want to use Migration Assistant to move my files from my Time Machine backup to my new MBP. But obviously not all the files are going to fit. If I leave out my music and movies and a couple other things then it will work.
So I selectively migrated just the things that would fit, thinking that I could then fire up Time Machine and restore those other files to an external drive. That doesn't work, though, because my new computer is not recognizing the old computer's Time Machine, and instead is trying to create a new Time Machine area.
What's the best way to solve this problem? The end result I want is for my users and applications to be restored to the new computer, and my movies and music to be restored to external storage.

Aha, I think I found my own answer. I had to Browse Other Backup Disks by Alt-clicking the Time Machine icon. Then I could find the directory I wanted (iTunes Music, for example) and right-click on that to restore to a different location.
Thanks to http://pondini.org/TM/17.html!

Bought a new iMac migrated from a time machine backup and it didn't load contacts music etc

my 4 year old imac died. So we got a new 1Tb intercore i5 imac. Migrated from the time machine backup and it didnt populate itunes or contacts or photos. Am I missing something?

You should have imported the data in Setup Assistant when you first booted the new machine. If you used Migration Assistant instead, you now have another user with all the data from the old machine.

I used migration assn't to load a Time Machine backup onto a new mac. The first TM backup after that took some time, perhaps not surprising. But the backups thereafter have all taken hours, with huge amounts of "indexing" time. Time to reload TM?

I used migration assn't to load a Time Machine backup onto a new mac. The first TM backup after that took some time, perhaps not surprising. But the backups thereafter have all taken hours, with huge amounts of "indexing" time. Time to reload TM?

Does every backup require lots of indexing? If so, the index may be damaged.
Try Repairing the backups, per #A5 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.
If that doesn't help, see the pink box in #D2 of the same link.

Restoring from a Time Machine Backup on a new Hard drive

Hi,
I have a late 2009 iMac and I had the HD replaced (it was included in the recent HD recall).
Before I had it replaced, I made a backup using my time capsule and it was on the latest version of Mountain Lion.
My question is, since I have to install the OS using the original install discs which was Snow Leopard, if I use the restore from Time Machine using Mac OSX Utilities, will my Mac restore my Mountain Lion backup (and have everything like it used to before I had the HD replaced)? Or do I have to reinstall Lion then Mountain Lion then restore from there?
It would be a pain to re download everything.
Hope someone can help me out.
Thanks in advance

Please visit Pondini's Time Machine FAQ for help with all things Time Machine.
You will find that Mountain Lion stores an invisible copy of the Recovery HD. You can boot from your Time Machine backup drive by restarting with OPTION boot:
Boot Using OPTION key:
1. Restart the computer.
2. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the "OPTION" key.
3. Release the key when the boot manager appears.
4. Select the disk icon for your Time Machine backup drive.
5. Click on the arrow button below the icon.
Your computer should boot into the Recovery HD. You will be presented with a main window of options. Select the option to restore from a Time Machine backup then click on the Continue button.

Can I still use my "old" Mac after restoring Time Machine backup to a new Mac?

Hi guys.
Will I still be able to use my old Macbook Pro 2008 (Leopard) after restoring his latest Time Machine backup on a new Macbook Pro 2012 (Lion)?
Using Setup Assistant and transfering data using Time Machine creats the same Account on the new machine that was on the old one. I just don't know how the old machine will react towards his clone. I don't want to make a mess...
Please let me know.
Thanks

It should work if the drive is connected directly to your Mac. That is not the same as saying that it will work.
Since Mountain Lion was just released, it might make sense to hold on a few weeks and watch the forums for new and unforeseen issues before you dive in.

How migrate from older time machine backup (not the latest)?

My old Snow Leopard Mac had a dying hard drive. In the last few days, files were disappearing left and right.
I bought a new Lion Mac, but I don't trust the Time Machine backup for the last few days and I would like to migrate the backup from just before the problems started.
I can't figure out any way to do this. Migration Assistant only offers to import the latest backup
And the full Time Machine Restore feature, which DOES allow you to pick a backup, only works on the original machine, which will not boot any more.
Can I somehow trick Migration Assistant by deleting the last few backups from the Time Machine drive and renaming the one I want to use to Latest? (I've made a copy of the entire Time Machine folder just in case...)
Any other way to do this? I'm sure many people are in this situation.

I have this same question. My hard drive died, and the last few Time Machine backups appear to be incomplete or corrupted. New hard drive installed now. Migration Assistant and Setup Assistant first refuse to even recognize my backup drive, then insist on migrating data from the newest backup instead of an older (but definitely complete and reliable) backup. So I haven't migrated anything and am still using my old (OS 10.4) computer until i get this straightened out. Ideas?

Using Time machine backup drive on new mac

Hi
I have an external hard drive that has a time machine backup on it. I want to use it on a re-installed mac, the re-installed mac has quite a few new files on it.
Can you just plug it in and copy all the files across to the newly installed Mac and carry on - or is there a danger of anything going missing?
Thanks for your advice.

Turn off TM or set the backup drive to null. Rename your computer in Sharing preferences to the same computer name of your old computer. Turn TM back on and reselect the backup drive. TM will behave as you expect. Of course if the file dates on the new machine are all changed since the migration, then TM will correctly assume that they require backing up. You will then find that there will not be sufficient space on the drive for the new backups. If this occurs then you should simply erase the backup drive and start your TM backup anew.

Cannot Migrate from last Time Machine Backup

My hard drive some how failed or had a file structure problem and I had to completely wipe the hard drive and start over. Fortunately I have been continually backing up my hard drive.
I have tried migration assistant, and now I am trying to transfer the information as apart of the re-loading of Leopard and it is not working out. It moves extremely slow, so far it has taken almost 6 hours and the bar has barely moved. What should I do? I know it shouldn't take this long. When I first got the computer three weeks ago, it only took an hour at best to migrate the 80-100GB of information...
Also, I have no options to stop the transfer when you do it as apart of your instal rather than with migration assistant. Something is pretty darn wrong!

Do you have the same problem with both, the migration assistant (after install) and the setup-based time machine recovery ?

How can I migrate data from old macs second harddrive in time machine backup to my new mac?

Hi,
I have a little problem migrating all my data from my old Macbook to my new Macbook. I had two harddisk installed in my Macbook and did make a backup to a USB Disk. It seems that both harddisk are included in the backup. I can see them in Time Machine.
Now I want to restore my data to the new Macbook Retina. Unfortunately the Migration Assistant only shows the system disk, but not the data disk.
How can I access the data disk in the backup to restore the data to some directory on the new Macbook? The data is mostly the iTunes Library of my old Macbook.
Regards

If the migration assistant doesn't work and you have no backup then you will have to take another path that involves a little more manual work. Anyway in your situation a fresh start seems like a good idea. So set up your new Mac with the same username and afterwards copy your user folder from the old to the new either using your ethernet connection or an external USB drive. This will also bring your user's Library folder along and retain most of your settings at least as far as they are applicable in Mavericks.
HTH
Martin

Migration of Time Machine backup files to new Mac

I am the proud owner of a new iMac which is replacing an old 2006 model. I have 2 external hard drives which I have now connected to the new computer, I used to back these up using TM on my old mac. Can I migrate those backup files to the new mac so that if needed I can go back to restore files from months back ? The TM backup is held on a 3rd external drive.
Looking across the web it looks like if I switch on TM it will start with new backup files and wont read the old ones. Any ideas please ? Thanks

TM will make a completely new backup of your new computer, so you may wish to use a freshly formatted drive large enough to handle TM backups (roughly double the size of the drive you are backing up.) You can use TM or Migration Assistant to transfer from an old backup. MA is only useful if you want to transfer the entire Home folder, all third-party applications and support folders, system support folders, and system preferences. But if you want to move selected files and/or folders then you would need to use the TM application.
See User Tips for Time Machine for help with TM problems. Also you can select Mac Help from the Finder's Help menu and search for "time machine" to locate articles on how to use TM. See also Mac 101- Time Machine.

HT201250 Can i restore the entire system from a time machine backup to a new hard drive ?

If yes... does it restore EVERYTHING like it was before the crash... including Applications, emails, etc. OR i am better with a disk image to restore EVERYTHING ?

You need to install Lion on the new drive first, and then use Setup assistant.
After you've chosen a language and your network settings, it will take you into migration assistant, from which you can choose to tranfer information from Time Machine.
You can choose to migrate all users and apps or just some, according to your preference.

Getting Photos from Time Machine Backup disc to new mac

Hi! I have everything saved from my macbook on an external hard drive via time machine. When I go into time machine and the back up from my mac book, I click on users and then photos and then iphoto library and have no problem seeing my library...
BUT
Now I am trying to download all of the photos from the backup onto my husband's macbook. When I go to import on iphoto and then go to the backup disc... I cannot select iphoto library. It is a faded color and won't let me select it. It makes me worried that I can not access my pictures from another computer and cannot download them onto my husband's computer.
What is the problem and how do I resolve this?
Thanks!

I think it's because you're trying to restore to a computer with a different Owner. I would post that on the Time Machine forum.
Regards
TD

Migration Assistant won't see my Time machine backup disk

Hi,
I've seen some other discussions but they apply to slightly different situations and turn out to be too complex for me to follow. My situation is this. My Dec 2008 Macbook running Lion just died. Not sure what the problem is but it seems to be the hardrive. It will take me a while to get it fixed and in the meantime I have a farly new mac mini running Lion.
I also have been making Time Machine backups to an external drive. I read that I could migrate content from a time machine backup and I connected the backup to my mac mini and launched Migration Assistan (MA), seleted the option to migrate from a Time Machine backup. MA is stuck trying to find my disk even though it shows up in Finder. This is the screen I'm talking about http://screencast.com/t/AC0OiVzxx
I'm hoping there is the equivalent of a little on/off switch that I'm not seeing and you can direct me too.
How can I get MA to see my Time Machine backup disk? Thanks for your help.

sorry, i don't know what else it could be then. if you have another external drive you can try doing a full system restore from the TM backups onto that drive and see if MA will recognize that drive and migrate from it. other than this there is always manual migration. slow and tedious but it can be done. see this link for help with that
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=6185507

Cannot use Migration Assistant to migrate from a Time Machine backup to a new Mac.

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