Help! Migration Assistant Woes!

Hi all--
I have an aged dual USB iBook that was recently replaced by a spiffy new MacBook Pro. The iBook is running 10.3.8, I believe. What I need Migration Assistant to do is transfer my email--Apple's Mail on both machines--to the new machine.
I ran migration assistant and all went well. I fired up Mail on the MacBook and walked through the setup. What I can't get to is the transferred mailboxes on either the MacBook or the iBook (hooked up via Target Mode.) Both have red circles with minuses in them.
I have important email that needs to come across to the MacBook, but I can't get to it.
What am I doing wrong? Everyone else seems to breeze through with Migration Assistant.
In fact, I don't see any of my files or anything on the new machine.
I followed Apple's instructions and left everything checked.
Enlighten a goofball! 8)
--Paul
MacBook Pro Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Locate the folder which contains the migrated mail on the MacBook Pro, and then hold down the Option key while dragging it to your desktop. The Finder will ask you for your administrator password; after doing this, you should be able to access the mail folder on your desktop in the Finder. Rename the current Mail folder inside the Library folder of your home folder(this is the item with the house icon in the Finder's sidebar), and then move the Mail folder from the desktop to the Library.
If you set up your account before running the Migration Assistant, a new account has been created on your machine with the migrated data. There are some options for moving that data to your current account.
(12275)

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Migration Assistant Woes

Hi,
Trying to use Migration Assistant to fill my new MacBook Pro mid-2009 with applications, etc. from a Macbook late 2006. Old one is running OS X 10.5.7 and Migration Assistant 1.2.3
I'm trying to use Firewire between the two computers. Problem is that when in Migration Assistant neither of the computers seems to recognize the other. I've tried restarting the old one while holding down 't' a number of times, but it never launches with the Firewire icon.
It should be noted that I'm going from 400 to 800, but I have a cable that does just that--and it works fine for other devices I've tested it on, namely an external hard drive.
Any ideas/suggestions?
Thanks!
Dallas

Are you doing it as shown in this Apple KB?
DALE

First-time Mac user with Migration Assistant woes

I'm a new Mac user with a MacBook Air. Still trying to get the migration process completed after three days so I can start using my computer. Looks nice, at least. Three questions:
1. After a 36-hour migration attempt from a PC over Wi-Fi, and with 2 hours to go, I'm getting a "Reconnecting to Mac" window on the PC. If it reconnects, how long could it take? It's still sitting there after 15 minutes.
2. If I cancel the migration process, do I have to start over and cross my fingers for another 36 hours, or does it pick up where it left off?
3. Is there any way to get a faster file transfer, say by Ethernet cable (I have the adapter), USB, anything. This is becoming painful.
I have verified the Wi-Fi connection is up and running. I can connect and reach the internet from my PC.
I don't want to schlep to the Apple Store. I bought this on Apple's assurance that the migration process would would work. If it doesn't, I'm returning it.
Thanks.

Steve, you don't have to run Migration Assistant right away. You can set it up as if you weren't going to migrate anything. You can start using your Mac right away.
Later, you can run Migration Assistant any time you want.
Depending on when you cancel MA, it is probable that whatever it did up to that point will be lost. 36 hours is unreasonable.
After you start using your Mac and are comfortable that it works to your satisfaction, connect the two with an Ethernet cable. Make sure it's a Category 5e or Category 6 patch cable (most are today). Then run MA. That ought to work and nothing will be faster.
For what it's worth I never got MA to function properly upon initial setup. It ought to work in theory but mine would get stuck at about the 99% point. Running it after initial setup has always been more reliable. I don't know why.

Migration Assistant and User Names

I'm about to take delivery of a new Mac Pro to replace the G5. I intend to just migrate my user data and install all apps from scratch so they're all Intel where possible. However, from memory, when you get a new machine and switch it on for the first time, you have to set up a user before you're asked if you want to transfer data. If I use the user name I'm used to from the previous machine, it won't migrate a user with that same name. I know I can set up a dummy user, migrate my data then delete the dummy but is there another way?

I need help, and I'm definitely panicking. I need clear concise answers to things. I'm willing to try things on my own, but I don't want to keep getting deeper and deeper and it be spring, and I still haven't fully loaded my brand new i5 imac, and not be dong fun stuff. Between the flicker, migration assistant woes, and duplicate email issues, I'm 75% to being at 'wit's end' and taking the whole **** thing back.
I did not migrate when first using set-up asst, and registered same user name on new i5 as I have on macbook (or close enough, I thought caps were diffferent in one place, but apparently not). So... later, when I went to migrate, it asked for different user name. I 1) picked a slightly diff name, and 2) migrated every thing (apps, network, etc). approx 35 gigs & 90 minutes. I go to look, nothing's there, obviously, and I have exactly my old macbook on a new user name. I don't want this.
a) how do I get everything I need/want from old macbook (iphoto/movies, docs, etc) to my ORIGINAL user acct on new i5?
a2) WHAT, exactly, of the 4 clickable buttons (user, apps, network, ?,) when I'm migrating, do I need to actually move?
b) a friend said I can move these files/whatever to a shared folder from the addl user account to the original, then delete old one (or keep it as back up). Is this true?
b2) I moved one pic this way, and it works I had to ("authenticate"), but let's say I move the "picture" folder (which includes 4,000 pics) this way, will there be any problems? in other words, will the iphoto or pictures folder that migrated to the user name I did not want, 'merge,' or 'replace' (or something else?) the handful of iPhotos and files I already have on my original/proper user name? are there any issues w/ doing this? keep in mind, when the old iPhoto6 migrated from macbook to username I had to create on new 'puter, it was upgraded, after promp, to iPhoto9, which is fine; just want to make sure that will be fine, moving this way (as well as iMovie, everything else.). And I guess, I need to keep 'authenticating.'
c) also, one of the 4 buttons when migrating is "user accounts." that's different than the 'user' folder? Please tell me which 4 buttons I need to have clicked when I migrate from a 4-yr old macbook w/ ilife06, to a brand new quadcore i5. and again, please explain what 'applications' are again. I used to know, but my head is so wrapped around all this BS now....
d) can I just migrate again, but the proper stuff, TO my orginal user account on the new i5, or no?
e) If I eventually get all my stuff - whichever way - to the one and original user, can I simply delete the other user from this 'puter?
Thanks for the help. Mac sellers REALLY should tell customers this, about doing it upon setting up. Or apple should simply rewrite the program to include just being able to do what you do at set up, anytime.

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.

Migration assistant freezes - PLEASE HELP ASAP

I am trying to run the migration assistant on a new imac i7 that I received. The "old" machine is an i5 ,and it is transferring about 500gb of data. It ran for many hours, and has been stuck on "19 minutes" remaining for about an hour now. What should I do?
Am I going to have to redo the entire transfer? (I hope not - it took HOURS, AND HOURS!)
I'm sure it isn't "good" to simply power off, or unplug one of the machines while the migration assistant is running. What should I do? Need to some asap, as I need to get the machine up and running.
Thanks for your help!
-Rick
twitter.com/Rick_Smith

Thanks for the feedback. I actually just followed the directions on the new i7.
I took it out of the box, powered on, went through a few menus, and then selected the option to transfer settings from another mac. It never asked for updates, or anything.
It simply asked me to hook up a firewire cable (fw 800), and then restart the "old" computer and hold down "t" as it restarted. It did that, the new machine "found" the "old" one, and it started transferring.
I had about 500 gb of data on the old machine. So it's taken a long time, but then it got to 19 min remaining, and has been stuck there every since. I really hate doing a hard restart, but it looks like I have no choice...
I guess I"ll go try that..
**fingers crossed*

Hello, I need help with my macbook pro. It looks like I cannot install anything anymore. Everytime I try to install a new software, use the migration assistant or click the lock to make changes, it simply does not react.

Hello, I need help with my macbook pro.
It looks like I cannot install anything anymore. Everytime I try to install a new software, I simply get stuck during the installation type process. I put in my password, it does accept it, but it does not go any further.
I tried to reset the password, put no password, repair the permissions, the disk but nothing will do. I nearly got stuck with the log in screen but finally succeeded in disabling it.
So I thought I might try to create a new account but I cannot click the lock to make changes. It simply refuses to react.
I am now thinking about using the migration assistant to save all my settings, data and so fourth, but again I get stuck when I have to type in my password. It accepts it but nothing happens...
I guess it has something to do with the authorization process, but can't find anything on the internet about it... Can you help me out?
I am running Lion 10.7.3.
Regards,
Nicolas.
(I apologize if any grammatical/structural mistakes were to be found, english is not my mother-tongue. )

You probably won't like this suggestion, but I suggest you reinstall Lion.
First, backup your system. Next, reboot your system, press/hold the COMMAND-R keys to boot into the Recovery HD. Select 'Reinstall Mac OS X'. If you purchased Lion as an upgrade to Snow Leopard, the reinstall process will install Lion 10.7.3. If your system came preinstalled with Lion, you might still get Lion 10.7.2. Both installs are a total install of the OS. None of your apps or data will be impacted. Just the OS.

I bought a new iMac today. I'm using migration assistant to move all my software, but the time just keeps getting longer. It says connect an Ethernet cable for faster data transfer. I did, but that doesn't seem to help. Any ideas?

I bought a new iMac today. I'm using migration assistant to move all my software, but the time just keeps getting longer. It says connect an Ethernet cable for faster data transfer. I did, but that doesn't seem to help. Any ideas?

m1doc,
Are you migrating from a Mac or a MS Window machine? Either way you probably should be in touch with AppleCare, you have 90 days of free AppleCare telephone support. They can usually help on issues like this. If you don't know the phone number please use http://support.apple.com/kb/HE57 to help find the number in your country.

How to migrate when Migration Assistant isn't helping

I'm helping a friend move from her old MacBook (OS X 10.4.11) to a new MacBook Air (OS X 10.7.1). Her home directory on the MacBook is Filevault-protected.
The first thing that I tried was using Migration Assistant to migrate via wi-fi. However, the two machines just stall at the "searching for other computers" stage. Neither computer is ever able to see the other (I had a similar experience migrating a Snow Leopard MacBook Pro to a newer machine, making me think that wireless migration just doesn't work).
I tried on a non-Apple wireless network, and on a network using an Airport Express. I also tried having the Air create an ad hoc network, and connecting the MacBook to that. In all cases, Migration Assistant on the Air was not able to detect the Macbook and just stayed at "searching for other computers" indefinitely.
The Air doesn't have a Firewire port, so a Firewire connection is not an option. I believe that it's not possible to connect two machines using USB and have Migration Assistant work over the USB connection.
I don't have the USB-to-Ethernet adaptor, so Ethernet isn't an option. The MacBook is running OS X 10.4.11, so making a TimeMachine backup is not an option.
I used Carbon Copy Cloner to create a disk image of the MacBook's disk on an external drive, in the hope that Migration Assistant could import from that. However, Migration Assistant on the Air won't migrate user data from a Filevault-protected home directory.
It looks to me as if the best route is for me to remove Filevault protection from her home directory, image the disk to the external drive, and then migrate from that image.
However, my understanding is that disabling Filevault protection requires free space on the hard drive equal to the size of the protected user home directory (at least temporarily). There simply isn't that much space available.
Is there a way that I can duplicate the user's home directory to the external drive, removing FileVault encryption as I go? Or can I clone the user's home to the external drive, and then strip FileVault from the copy there?
Any suggestions or tips would be gratefully received.

Also, I want to add that in the accounts section I DO NOT see two accounts there. I have been reading the forums and some suggested that after using MA it creates another user profile and all the files should be there. However, I do not see another profile. Also, I think it is strange that it took less than 1 minute to transfer my files! Help!

Need help with Windows Migration Assistant, as a window pops up and I don't know what to do?

Hiya, so I just purchased a macbook pro and I want to transfer files using Windows Migration assistant.
However whenever I go to do it, the mac connects to the computer and the computer always stays on 'trying to connect to mac'
and sometimes this windows pops up where it says:
'Email
There is no email program associated to perform the requested action. Please install an email program, or, if one is already installed, create an association in the Default Programs control panel.'
I'm confused as I have an email program on the pc ( Windows Live Mail)
However I don't know what it means to create an 'association' and I have gone into default programs control panel to try find this associations and have however I don't know how to make this association as I've searched for the program Windows Migration Assistant, however it isn't there and I'm not sure what to do.
Please help?

OS X 10.9 Mavericks/ 10.10 Yosemite
1. Repair Disk http://support.apple.com/kb/PH5836
2. Reset PRAM: http://support.apple.com/kb/PH14222
Best.

New MBP. Used migration assistant in setup Safari crashes on launch OS10.7.4 Safari 5.1.7 Had Safari 6 on system I migrated from. help?

New MacBook Pro. Came with OS 10.7.4
Used Migration Assistant in initial set up
Safari crashes immediately on launch
System I migrated from, had Safari 6
Don't see any way to reload or to update Safari 6 on the new MBP
Software Update says all software on this computer is up to date

Updating to Safari 6 for Lion may help.
Click here > Safari Quits Every Time Opened: Apple Support Communities
Then click the link posted by: gregoryfromcork
That will automatically download this file > Safari6Lion.pkg.download
Now quit Safari.
Go to your Downloads folder and double click that file and follow the instructions for installing.
Then restart your Mac, try Safari.

HT4796 I am trying to copy my itunes library from my Vaio to my new iMac. Migration Assistant finished copying the music, but I can't find any of it and it isn't in iTunes. Help?

I just purchased my new iMac yesterday. I finally got Migration Assistant to transfer all of my music (around 65 GB), but ow it is nowhere to be found on the Mac and they have not been added to iTunes. Help?

In your case, it would be better to have transferred the library to an external drive from the PC. Then, connect it to the iMac and put the library onto the Music folder.
You used Migration Assistant, and it creates a new user with the transferred data.
Open  > Log Out, and log in the new user. Then, open a Finder window, choose Music in the sidebar and you will see the iTunes library. Now, you have to move the iTunes library to /Users/Shared (select Go menu -in the menu bar- > Go to Folder, type that and copy the iTunes library to it). Finally, log in the other user, go to the same folder and move the library to the Music folder.
After doing that, open System Preferences > Users and Groups, choose the user created by Migration Assistant and press the - button to remove it. This is easier if you have an external drive

Used Migration Assistant to successfully transfer PC files to Mini. However file creation or modified date does not transfer. Date of creation is listed as day of transfer. I would gratefully appreciate any help in solving this,

Used Migration Assistant to successfully transfer PC files to Mini. However file creation or modified date does not transfer. Date of creation is listed as day of transfer. I would gratefully appreciate any help in solving this?

I have the same problem; used Migration Assistant to transfer all my pix from PC to MacbookPro, however dates of pix were not transferred. Date created as the date of transfer. Cannot sort my pix according to date.
Anybody has an answer?

HT2518 When I try using Migration Assistant an error appears on my pc... "An error occurred while preparing your information for transfer." My mac just continues searching for the pc and yet both are on the same wifi. Please help!!!

When I try using Migration Assistant an error appears on my pc... "An error occurred while preparing your information for transfer." My mac just continues searching for the pc and yet both are on the same wifi. I'm not getting anywhere! Please help!!!

Simple...
http://www.apple.com/uk/support/mac/app-store/contact/

I used migration assistant and my ethernet cable to move data and apps from my 5-yr old Intel-based iMac to my brand new Intel-based iMac running OS Lion. The old machine was running OS 10.5.8. Not all my files transferred (or I can't find them). Help

I used migration assistant and my ethernet cable to move data and apps from my 5-yr old Intel-based iMac to my brand new Intel-based iMac running OS Lion. The old machine was running OS 10.5.8. Not all my files transferred (or I can't find them). I've seen recommendations to select the old computer in System Preferences, but that didn't work. Help. Thanks!

IMO, wrong choice. Start over, using a FireWire cable and following the steps in Pondini's Setup New Mac guide.

Help! Migration Assistant Woes!

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