Don't like Migration assistant - looking for alternatives

on my new imac in the first go i used the setup assistant to migrate my macbook data from a time machine drive. this brought me a lot of things into the library that i didn't want to be there in a clean new system. even though i did not choose to migrate my former applications. the library mess led to a problem with installing adobe creative suit on the new system and i had to reinstall from the bundled software.
this time i did not use the setup assistant to migrate any data and made a clean installation. no problems with adobe creative suite then. yet i have to fix itunes, iphoto, address book and mail manually. i want to copy as least library stuff as possible but of course want to have my music, my photos, etc. can someone advise how to do this step by step? thank you!

I would be brilliant if we were allowed a checklist of all things wanted (or not) …
That would take a lot more brilliance (& time) than most users seem to think … at least if it is to make reasonably certain everything needed is migrated! That's because not every application installs everything it needs into the Applications folder or uses Apple's installer to create a BOM (bill of materials) receipt record of what was installed where, nor do they all store all of their per user settings in the same place in a user's home folder.
For instance, take a close look at your ~/Library folder. If you have installed many apps chances are good you have app support files not just in the Application Support folder but in other folders as well. Complicating things further, neither items in the Application Support folder nor elsewhere are necessarily named for the app they are associated with. In fact, some items are shared among several apps so if any of them are migrated, those items need to be included.
Something similar applies in the system domain, mostly but not entirely in the root /Library folder.
There is no way Migration Assistant can sort all this out so it offers the only reasonable choice, the all or nothing one.

Similar Messages

Mac OS X Lion Migration Assistant "looking for other computers"

I just installed Mac OS X Lion from Snow Leopard. I actually did a clean install and during the setup, I attempted to use the Migration Assistant to transfer my Time Machine Backup, saved on a Time Capsule, but after selecting to transfer from my Time Machine, it shows my Time Capsule but continuously is 'looking for other computers". The drive shows at the top and I'm able to click continue, even while it still searches, but once I click continue, i put in my Time Capsules passowrd, it continues to search and i can no longer click continue. It never stops searching.
I found article how to fix this in Snow Leopard http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3253?viewlocale=en_US but the setting are different in the Security tab in the Preferences. There is no 'Allow all incoming computers'. I have tried both with firewall on and off and neither way works.
Let me know if you have a fix for this, as I have 250 gbs waiting on my Time Capsule to be imported.
Thanks,

SImilar problem here, migrating from an old MacBook Air to a new one (directly, not via backup).
During the new Mac's initial setup, I followed all the steps properly as instructed (and made sure the original machine's Firewall was off). I tried both my main WiFi network and an ad hoc network, with Internet Sharing. (Ad hoc proved VERY finnicky to even get a connection. Miserable--it would work or it wouldn't, and I had no power over it: it would fail on the same config where it would succeed. A shame, because ad hoc would be the ideal, low-interference way to get the fastest WiFi transfer. And it's a method Apple's support site even suggests.)
No matter what I did, both machines just stuck at "Looking for other computers" forever. I spent hours trying to get it to work. I wasn't going to buy an ethernet adapter, nor a new external HD (with some third-party backup software as a workaround) just so I could power on my new Mac and have my stuff on it.
Eventually I gave up, installed without migrating, and then ran Migration Assistant after the fact. That DID connect OK (took about 1 hour per 10 GB and was done by morning).
But doing it that way was a mess: there was NO warning when I did the initial setup that I should not use my own name as the main account if I planned to migrate later. Who knew? I couldn't migrate after the fact because I had the same name on both machines. Well.... of course! Don't most people keep the same name? It's as though you're not expected to ever buy another Mac unless you're a newlywed woman. (None of which would be an issue if migration would happen during initial setup as it should.)
So I had to create a superfluous extra account with admin privileges, run Migration Assistant from there, replace the redundantly-named new account, and then find and delete the redundant account where it was stashed during migration. Lastly, I deleted the superfluous admin account as well. THREE accounts needed to be involved, for a process ANY Mac-to-Mac buyer will face. There was nothing special about my migration.
I don't think most users could even figure out all these steps.
A loyal Air user buying a new Air should not be such an incredible hassle. It "just doesn't work."

Possible solution to Migration Assistant "Looking for other computers"

Like many I ran into the Migration Assistant problem of not recognizing an attached drive. I found one solution which worked for me. Obviously, it doesn't necessarily mean that it is going to work for others but I thought I would post it in case it is useful to someone.
The problem: My MBP 2012's internal HD was getting old and slow. Time to switch to an SSD internal. I purchased a Crucial 512 GB, placed it in an external enclosure and formatted it with Disk Utility. Then I removed the internal HD, replaced it with the SSD and put the old HD in an external enclosure. I attached it with a USB 3 cable.
I restarted the MBP and got to the Restore screen and chose to transfer all data from another disk. It then opened Migration Assistant. When I selected the option to transfer from another drive it went into the dreaded spinning ball hopelessly "Looking for other drives". When going back to Disk Utility, it showed me that the external was properly mounted and visible so that was not the problem. It appears from what I read on other posts that when Migration Assistant starts, it somehow unmounts external drives, possibly by logging out of whichever account was used last.
The solution I stumbled upon is this.
- Restart holding command R (I think) so you get the screen w 4 options: Backup from TM, disk utility, re install OS X and a fourth one
- Select OSX install. It will install a new system through Wifi. It only took about 5-10 minutes.
- Then after it finishes the system installation, it will automatically go into Migration Assistant. Select Backup from other drive and this time it will recognize the external and allow you to copy all files and settings from it.
Hope this helps someone.
Bo

Pondini wrote:
DrSam wrote:
One other caveat, which I learned in my search... Apparently if you are restoring via Migration Assistant, you can't restore to a user account that you are currently on, and you can't restore to a user account with the same name as the one you are restoring, without replacing the former.
Yes, other than using Setup Assistant when your Mac first starts up, that's the only workaround.
See option #4 in Problems after using Migration Assistant
And unbelievable that this would be the way Apple intended the process to go. I still am not sure how I could have gotten this to work from the start within Setup Assistant, which obviously you're supposed to be able to do,
That's not how it's supposed to work. Setup Assistant should have found the sparsebundle and shown it in the Select the Source window. Usually it does.
It's possible the backups were slightly damaged. It's also possible clicking Continue on that window might have, uh, kick-started it, as it did for a couple of other folks.
I agree that Setup Assistant "should" have found it, but it didn't... That was what my last sentence was referring to as well.
For what it's worth, I had tried clicking on the grayed-out continue button like people here suggested. For me at least, it acted like every other grayed-out button has, and did not respond.
You may be right that my backup .sparsebundle was damaged or something, but I'm not really sure why that would be or how one might know, or even what to do about it if you did suspect that to be the case. (It checks out on Disk Utility, and Finder has no problem with it. Heck, even Time Machine recognizes it as an "Other Disk" backup and lets me browse it. I just couldn't get the Setup & Migration Assistants to recognize it.)
I figured now that I got it to work I'd document my experience here for the benefit of the next poor guy who has to spend his Christmas eve Googling for this thread...

Migration Assistant "Looking for other computers ..."

After a new installation of Lion, I can´t restore my users from a Time Machine Backup with the Migration Assistant. In the Time Machine disk I have only the users backup, not the complete MacBook Pro. The back is from the same machine with Lion.
See the image attach.

Pondini wrote:
DrSam wrote:
One other caveat, which I learned in my search... Apparently if you are restoring via Migration Assistant, you can't restore to a user account that you are currently on, and you can't restore to a user account with the same name as the one you are restoring, without replacing the former.
Yes, other than using Setup Assistant when your Mac first starts up, that's the only workaround.
See option #4 in Problems after using Migration Assistant
And unbelievable that this would be the way Apple intended the process to go. I still am not sure how I could have gotten this to work from the start within Setup Assistant, which obviously you're supposed to be able to do,
That's not how it's supposed to work. Setup Assistant should have found the sparsebundle and shown it in the Select the Source window. Usually it does.
It's possible the backups were slightly damaged. It's also possible clicking Continue on that window might have, uh, kick-started it, as it did for a couple of other folks.
I agree that Setup Assistant "should" have found it, but it didn't... That was what my last sentence was referring to as well.
For what it's worth, I had tried clicking on the grayed-out continue button like people here suggested. For me at least, it acted like every other grayed-out button has, and did not respond.
You may be right that my backup .sparsebundle was damaged or something, but I'm not really sure why that would be or how one might know, or even what to do about it if you did suspect that to be the case. (It checks out on Disk Utility, and Finder has no problem with it. Heck, even Time Machine recognizes it as an "Other Disk" backup and lets me browse it. I just couldn't get the Setup & Migration Assistants to recognize it.)
I figured now that I got it to work I'd document my experience here for the benefit of the next poor guy who has to spend his Christmas eve Googling for this thread...

I have a new macbook pro and want to transfer my Mail autofill from my old mac. Never used Time Machine or Migration Assistant -- looks complicated. Any easy way to do this?

I have a new macbook pro and want to transfer my Mail autofill from my old mac. Never used Time Machine or Migration Assistant -- looks complicated. Any easy way to do this?

caitlinfromcambridge wrote:
Thanks -- I would like to try this. I do not know how to reach hard drive from old mac to new. Can you help me with this?
There are two ways - you can boot your old Mac in Target Mode (reboot your Mac, and as soon as you hear the startup chime hold down the T key on the keyboard until you see the yellow/orange Firewire logo on screen). You can then use a FireWire cable to connect your new mac to your old one. The old Mac hard drive will appear on your new Mac as if it is an external hard drive.
Details on Target Disk Mode: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1661
If you don't have a firewire cable but you do have a home network (i.e. both computers can access the Internet at the same time), you can share the hard drive on your old Mac and then connect to it on your new Mac.
Good article on sharing your hard drive: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1549
Finally, if the above doesn't thrill you, you can hook an external drive to your old Mac, copy the mail folder over to it, then connect the external drive to your new Mac and copy it over. It's two steps, but if you don't have a firewire cable and aren't comfortable with sharing over a network it will work just as well - you just have to wait for the mail folder to copy twice instead of once.
If you get stuck post back!

Migration assistant update for Mac OS X Snow Leopard

Hello -- I downloaded SNOW LEOPARD successfully that past week. I did a software update as well afterwards.
Now in preparation for upgrading to LION OS X, I read an article that mentions one must make sure to have the MIGRATION ASSISTANT UPDATE for Mac OS X Snow Leopard installed. I am unsure if this was included in the software updates I performed. One would assume it would be there. BUT there is not a detailed listing of what these combination updates include. HOW can I tell if I have the desired version required to continue on to LION?
Another suggestion was for one to perform FIRST AID on the start up disk. It only says to select your Mac HD and then to "verify" ..... do they mean to VERIFY DISK or VERIFY DISK PERMISSIONS. I have on occasion performed a REPAIR DISK PERMISSIONS but not the others mentioned. I do not know what the difference is?
THANK YOU

I have the same console mesages repeating ad-nasium as you do. What is interesting is I do have the StartuoItems directory but it is empty. The problem I have is that the log-in window comes up as normal, but I can not type in it for about 5-8 seconds. This has started after the latest updates which you mention. Don't know if this issue is related or not. Have deleted the loginwindows and loginitems preferences to no effect.

HT1391 I recently purchased music from power music. I downloaded it to I tunes. I don't know where to look for it in itunes. I am not that computer savvy but I would like to put it on my mp3 player. Any help would greatly be appreciated.

I RECENTLY PURCHASED WORKOUT MUSIC FROM POWER MUSIC. I HAVE DOWNLOADED THEM TO ITUNES. WHERE DO YOU LOOK FOR THE DOWNLOADED FILES IN ITUNES? I AM NOT REALLY COMPUTER SAVVY. I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO DOWNLOAD THEM TO MY MP3 PLAYER APPRECIAAND HOW DO I GO ABOUT DOING THAT? THANK YOU FOR ANY HELP. GREATLY APPRECIATED.

Please turn off your caps lock.
All caps indicates shouting, is considered rude, and is difficult to read. Many will not read such posts.
Your music will be in Library>Music on the left side of the itunes page.
Itunes only syncs with Apple devices.

Migration Assistant: Searching for other computers...

I got a new iMac 24" running Mac OS 10.5.6 (No new software updates available)
I want to transfer all my data from my old iMac, i.e.
iMac 17" running Mac OS 10.4.11 (No new software updates available).
The firewalls on both computers are disabled and they are on the same network.
I followed the instructions:
1. Opened Migration Assistant on the new machine
2. Chose 'From another Mac' - Use Network - it gave me a passcode and "Looking for other computers..."
3. I opened MA on the old machine
4. Chose 'To another Mac'
5. It found the new machine and asked for the passcode which I entered.
6. It said that all application will quit if I press continue, which I did.
7. It gave a 'Preparing information' message, BUT then again said that it found my new machine and asked for the passcode again - I entered it again.
8. It then gives me a 'Searching for other computers...' message...
And that is where stays... and stays...
please...

So you are migrating from Intel to Intel.
On the 17" iMac... how much free space is there on the drive? Not enough disk space and that could be what's holding that up. Not certain, just could be.
Right or control click the MacintoshHD icon on your Desktop, then click: Get Info. In the Get Info window, click the discovery triangle so it's facing down. You will see; Capacity and Available Make sure you have 10% available disk space, 15% is better. Not enough available drive space can cause issues like you are experiencing.
In my opinion, the Migration Assistant can be more trouble than it's worth. I use Firewire Target Disk Mode between Macs to transfer files. It's so much easier.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661
Carolyn

Migration assistant questions for Server 10.6.8

Currently on 10.6.8 server on an iMac that was used for lots of things (users logged into it and installed apps). Moving to the Oct 2009 Mac Mini Server that had no optical drive. It has 10.6.8 server, and I want to migrate just for the server related stuff.
I've already installed the 10.6.8 over the "remote install osx" in Utilities (over LAN), and it's sitting at the Migration assistant screen, showing no volumes, yet.
1) do I now just plug the older server and new server directly together with lan cable for the migration assistant to see each other? I know the server will be down for a bit during this...
2) I don't want to migrate the all the apps and junk... just the server related stuff, like OD, user shares, etc.
What settings should I be checking in the Migration assistant to have my server working with sharepoints, OD users, and all except APPS?

I've done a migration recently from a Mac Mini Server to a Mac Pro. I thought that migration the server by portion (like you) would be the most normal way, but turns out that I actually mirrored the entire disk image and it worked great. I simply booted my Mac Mini in Disk mode (FireWire) and copied it over.
In your case, it might be easier to start that way and remove the unwanted apps. At least, you'll be sure to have all your settings right away.
If you don't do that and start with a clean install, you'll need at least to migrate over your OD user using the Server Admin OD. Then, you'll need to "ditto" your mail, iCal and Address Book data over. The 10.6 Admin Guides, available on the Apple support website, are very detailed on the backup procedures.

Photo workflow in Preview- Looking for alternative app

Hey all,
I am struggling to view and delete unwanted photos quickly. I do a lot of wildlife photography and recently switched to Mac from Windows.
I prefer to take lots of images and then go through, using the arrow pad to click through the, and delete any unwanted images, preferable just using the delete key. I don't like preview because it doesn't let me view even close to full screen while still allowing me to click to the next photo, doesn't allow me to zoom easily with the keys, and doesn't skip to the next image when I move one to the trash can. Basically, I am looking for a program similar to windows photo gallery and that I can work straight with the folder and not have to import the images first. Any suggestions on programs? Thank you for the help.
Ryan Askren
www.RyanAskren.com

Any suggestions on programs?
Possibly Graphic Converter.
Any suggestions on programs?
http://www.lemkesoft.com/index.html
Matt

Need to create temp account if you don't use Migration Assistant first?

I don't have access to my old iMac right now, so I've gone ahead and created a main account on my new one. When I'm ready to bring over stuff from my old computer, do I need to create a temporary account first on my new iMac? I've heard that unless I do that, Migration Assistant won't bring over the info into my main account but rather will create an entirely separate account with all the old info.

I have never used Migration Assistant with an Erase and Install, as I have never had 2 computers running at the same time. I always migrate things manually one at a time from my backup external hard drive using the "Import" and "Export" functions under "File". I don't know about the network settings--I just generally set them up anew with the Network Assistant. I don't know about a .Mac account since I don't have one, but I imagine you could do something similar. I like to just start off with only the the address book and Safari Bookmarks and be sure everything is working properly before importing other files, and then I just bring those in one at a time. If you have a good backup of everything, you should be able to import anything you want after an Erase and Install. But it is essential to have a good and complete backup of everything important to you.
Good luck!

Looking for alternative to Web Start

Hello all,
After a couple years of using Java Web Start to deploy our educational software to schools, we're starting to realize that we need a new deployment strategy.
h4. Here's what we're looking for:
1. All files should be kept in OS-standard locations for applications, such as Program Files for Windows and Applications for Macs. Deployment of this program should be no harder for admins than for any other application. That means nothing in the User home folder.
2. Can be installed directly from a CD or USB stick
3. Can be easily updated as new versions are rolled out (i.e. can download the new jars from our servers).
Does anyone know anything off the shelf that works like this?
h4. Here are the problems with what we have now:
1. Web Start deploys jars (by default) into Users' home folders. This causes the following problems:
1a. Every user on the computer has to install the program individually.
1b. System administrators don't have any tools or patters for large-scale deployment of programs into user's home folders.
1c. Users may have limited space on their home folders.
1d. Users' home folders may be on networked drives, meaning that all the jars need to be fetched over the network every time they run.
1e. Users' home folders may be regularly cleaned.
2. Although Web Start's cache folder can be changed, users may not have write access to those locations, so Web Start will not function for those users if they need to download new jars. While this may be ok for our software alone, it will break any other Web Start application. Web Start cannot have different caches for different applications.
2b. Also, administrators don't have standard ways to deploy to random cache directories on computers.
3. There is no easy way to install Web Start applications from CDs. Jar files have to go into the right folders as if they were being downloaded from a server. We have a way of doing this by starting up a Jetty server, but it is not very robust.
...however, we still want the ease of Web Start's updating. We want to be able to push out new versions, which admins could update and deploy to their schools the way they do for all other applications, and we also want to support rapid-release cycles for our researchers and people working on the cutting edge of our software. Preferably this would need to involve some kind of jar-differencing, as users should only have to download the smallest subset necessary.
I'm sure we could write this ourselves, but I imagine we aren't the first people to have these kinds of requirements and problems with Web Start. Has anything been written that seems to approach what we want?
Thanks,
Sam

If you're willing to pay, you might wish to try Denova's JExpress. http://www.denova.com/
It creates proper installers and has autoupdate support. I've not tried it but it seems to be the off the shelf solution you're looking for.
You might wish to roll your own by using the open source netx implementation of the jnlp protocol. The basic idea is that you create an installation exe for Windows and package for the Mac wrapped around the netx application. It's a bit fiddly but it does work (I've done this myself). For the time you spend doing this though, you'd probably be better off with JExpress.

Looking for alternatives to nethogs

Hello, I'm looking for a network monitor in the same vein as nethogs but with actual functionality, like the ability to control the connections it sees instead of merely being able to watch. Things like killing the PIDs of the connections, refusing connections and limiting the bandwidth usage of connections if there is nothing like this in one neat package then the best ways to refuse and limit connections one by one on the fly, any suggestions? Thanks as always.

Thanks for the lists, however they all seem to be limited to visualising also.
If anyone is interested I did find trickle which handles the control/shaping side of things, so combine it with nethogs or any programs in the links above and you have what you need.

Migration assistant waiting for your mac to connect

I'm trying to utilize the migration assistant to migrate from Windows XP3 to a new iMac. The migration assistant connects and shows me the selected XP machine, but the XP machine is stuck on "waiting for your mac to connect." I've confirmed both machines are on the same subnet, I can access the folder shares from the mac, etc. Uninstalled Symantec Internet Security, disabled windows firewall, made sure firewall is disabled on Mac, no stealth mode on router, etc.

I'm trying to utilize the migration assistant to migrate from Windows XP3 to a new iMac. The migration assistant connects and shows me the selected XP machine, but the XP machine is stuck on "waiting for your mac to connect." I've confirmed both machines are on the same subnet, I can access the folder shares from the mac, etc. Uninstalled Symantec Internet Security, disabled windows firewall, made sure firewall is disabled on Mac, no stealth mode on router, etc.

What screen protector do you use? Do you like it? Looking for a clear one

I recently purchased an iphone 4, and I'd like a screen protector for it. I have a tendency to accidently put my phone in pockets filled with change, golf tees, keys, and all sorts of scratchy objects, and I'd rather not risk it.
The choices seem pretty limited actually.
AT&T sells a clear one for ~$10. How is it?
Top rated one on Amazon is from Splash. Anyone use that one?
Invisibleshield has just horrific ratings. Out of 70 purchases, 47 have been 1 star/5
I'm interested in:
Clear
Inexpensive
Doesn't cover the front facing camera
Any recommendations?
PS: (I know this question has been asked before, but not since august, and inventories have changed since then)

What you say can be true about the zagg invisible shield, but do you have the orange peel effect? Many people seems to have problem with this, and I find my self annoying with the orange peel effect. Sure, it may stay clear but you have to keep wiping them as they tend to get greasy over time. I've used bodyguards screen protectors (same exact material used by zagg, and is also a wet type, but they now have dry applications as well). And I did not like the fact that once they were fully dried, sure it stays clear, but once you touch your face with it, and use it over time, surely it will get grease on it and you will have to clean it out.
I highly recommend powersupport screen protectors, they are really good and good quality. Right now i'm using my first set of HD anti-glare screen protoctors and I have installed it so well that I don't need to take it off. Of course if you happen to get some dust in it, all you need to do is use a tape and stick it on one corner to lift the screen protector and use another set of tape, roll it (sticky side out), and run along the screens and the screen protector where the dust is sticking and surely it removes the dust.

Don't like Migration assistant - looking for alternatives

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