HT204350 Files missing after migration assistance transfer

I used migration assistant to transfer files from my old to new mac mini.  After the transfer was complete, the files I transferred to my new mac disappeared from my new mac, including my hard drive icon.  But it shows that the hard drive space is taken up.  What happened and where are my files?

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  • Limited file access after migration assistant

    After migrating files from a TM to a new HD for my MBP, I needed help from the Apple Community just the find the things tucked away in a new user folder. Now I need help getting them to open.  Many folders have this little minus sign on them and say "You have no access" when I see their info. These are the most significant items and what I thought was the purpose of a backup. (Music, Pictures, Movies, Downloads, Deskstop, and my fav. "Silver Briefcase"), I have found the files on TM, so they do exist, but I am hesitant to click "Restore", as the files may already be on here somewhere. Please help make this "just work".

    geologyjoel wrote:
    Before getting this, I took it to a Mac-helper store. They had me make a new account and delete the two incomplete accounts so I could do a full restore and have only one account. They recommended restoring while in TM from that one account, shut down the computer, restart, open the restored account, and deleting this dumby-starter account. That didn't work: I got a "cannot complete this process. Error -8003".
    That should work if, instead of using Time Machine to restore the account in question, you use Migration Assistant to transfer it instead.  Restoring or copying the home folder from your backups won't work.
    Trying your method: Pressing Command (the apple) - R resutls in a "No" sign as in "No smoking", and then my computer shuts off.
    Do that after powering down. 
    Your profile says you're running Tiger (10.4.11).  We know that's outdated, since Time Machine doesn't work on Tiger, but we don't know what you are running:
    •  If you're running Leopard (10.5.x) or Snow Leopard (10.6.x), you need to insert the the OSX Install disc (per section (b) of #14 and hold the "C" key while starting up.
    •  If you're running Lion (10.7.x) or Mountain Lion (10.8.x), you need to start from your Recovery HD, per section (a) of #14.  Hold Cmd and the "R" keys while starting up (the Cmd keys are next to the spacebar on most keyboards).
    If that doesn't work, hold the Alt/Option key while starting up.  That will show all possible startup sources, something like this:
    If you're on Lion or Mountain Lion, you should see either "Recovery HD" or "Recovery 10-8" (the red arrow).
    If you're on 10.7.2 or later, your Time Machine drive may have a copy of the Recovery HD (the green arrow). 
    If there's an Install disc in your SuperDrive, it will be shown.
    Select the one you want (the gray arrow should move), then click the drive icon to start from it.
    EDIT:  please tell us what version of OSX your Mac is running. 
    It would also be a good idea to update your profile, by clicking "Your Stuff" at the top of this page, selecting "Profile," and editing the "My Products" section.
    Message was edited by: Pondini

  • Best way to transfer files without using migration assistant

    upgrading from snow leopard to mavericks goes ok, but migrating files hangs with "less than a minute to go". What is the best way to transfer user files without using migration assistant?

    I keep backups of essential documents in Dropbox, and then the files can sync when I reinstall Dropbox.
    For larger collections of files, for example, my Documents folder, or iTunes or iPhoto libraries, I transfer them from a Time Machine Backup- just by going into the backup manually and restoring the folders.
    If you have files that can fit on a flash drive, then you can use that, which is very fast.

  • After Migration Assistant, Time Machine refuses to use old backups

    I've got to say I'm pretty disappointed with Time Machine.
    I just dropped $2,000 on my second-ever Mac, a 15" MBP (Core i7 2GHz, 4GB RAM, 500GB 5200rpm hard drive, the stock low-end 15" config).  From what I'd heard about Migration Assistant, I believed it would easily move my stuff over to my new Mac.  For the most part it did, but a few things didn't transfer.  Other posts on the topic detail them accurately - Desktop icon layouts, some settings, Growl, etc.
    I told Migration Assistant to use my Time Machine backups, which have been happening without incident for a long time.  My oldest backup is December 2010.
    Now that my new MBP is about 99% set up like my old MBP, I am having a problem with Time Machine.
    I get the error "Time Machine could not complete the backup.  This backup is too large for the backup disk.  The backup requires 355.61 GB but only 176.44 GB are available."
    Looking at the Time Machine drive in Finder, I found that Time Machine is trying to create a new folder for backups and do a full backup.  Where there was once one folder, "[My Name]'s MacBook Pro," there is now an additional folder, "[My Name]'s MacBook Pro 2."  Time Machine is trying to back up into that second directory.
    Now, I get it that this is a different computer.  But really, if I use Migration Assistant to restore my Time Machine backup, I think it would be safe for OSX to assume that I want to continue using those backups.  What is especially disappointing for me is, there were things that Migration Assistant did not restore properly.  I probably haven't found them all.  That makes it CRUCIAL that I have my Time Machine backups, but it seems that Apple thinks it's perfectly normal for me to want to FORMAT my Time Machine drive after Migration Assistant did a half-*** job of migrating my data.  I need those backups now more than ever.
    I do also have an online backup, but I still don't feel very comfortable destroying six months of local backups just to make Time Machine work again.  Both MBPs were running the same (latest) version of Snow Leopard, so it stands to reason all that needs to happen is a very small incremental backup.
    I have been Googling for hours.  All I've found is a procedure for 10.5 that doesn't work in 10.6 where I get down into the Terminal and change a MAC address in a file on the Time Machine volume.  But that's it.  In fact it seems like there's no answer.
    Come on Apple, you do everything else better than the competition.  Why do I have to nuke six months of backups or buy a new 2TB external drive to make Time Machine work again?  I assure you I want to continue making incremental backups against my old Time Machine backups, and promise to hold you not responsible should I screw something up by grabbing an old system file or something from February.
    Would appreciate any help anyone could offer.

    Did you use Setup Assistant when your new Mac first started up, or skip that, create a user account, then use the Migration Assistant app in your Applications/Utilties folder?
    If you used Setup Assistant, when you started your first backup you should have gotten the message in #B5 of Time Machine - Troubleshooting.  It sounds like you didn't (or chose Start New Backup).  And no, the Leopard procedure doesn't work on Snow Leopard.  That's what #B5 is for.
    Usually, if you use Setup Assistant, Time Machine will still say it's going to do a full backup, and make room for it, but actually do an incremental backup (very, very slowly).
    Either way, it usually deletes a lot of old backups.    We're hoping that will be fixed in Lion.
    Once it's decide to make a new backup, there's no known way to prevent it.

  • How do i merge my user accounts after migration assistant

    Hello,
    How do I merge my user accounts after migration assistant from a time machine back up?

    I wonder how to plan what account and rights to have where?
    I had my old original account on my iMac, and then I "migrated" the data to a user account, in order to have some advantages with that setup. So everything worked approximately ok in this setup.
    And yesterday, I tried migrating to a new Mac, and suddenly I get aware of the fact that the rights on these two earlier accounts were important.
    And especially, after doing the migration to the new machine twice, until I got the Mail working, I am now totaly bewildered what solution to aim for? How to merge the two migrated admin accounts - keeping the original admin account is also important, since my file system har special rights for that one.
    Could anyone give me more ideas about how to proceed? I think I have working Mail on one of the two migrated account (with 100 000 mails or so, it seems so...). The other account is the one I would like to have.
    Also I think I want to use a normal user account, not an admin account for my daily use. And I have to see if things still work if I turn off the admin rights...
    Thankful for any advice!
    /groundliner

  • Login invalid on new MacBook after Migration Assistant

    Migration Assistant problem
    New computer: 15" MacBook Pro with Retina display (probably OS X Lion
    Old computer:  15"Macbook Pro running Mountain lion.
    My regular login password is invalid on the new computer after migration assistant - Not sure what to do.
    Any help is greatly appreciated.
    Thanks

    I managed to find a solution
    Here is the link:
    http://osxdaily.com/2010/08/10/forgot-mac-password-how-to-reset-mac-password/
    There are instructions to reset the mac password without a CD.  You set up a new admin account then you can reset the password to your original account.
    It solved the problem.

  • Missing hard drive space after failed migration assistant transfer

    When I first got my 13" macbook pro (about a month ago), I attempted to use Migration Assistant to move my files from my old 15" MBP. After starting the transfer, my old MBP locked up (or so I thought) & I had to quit the process. When I looked to see if anything transfered to the 13", I couldn't find anything, but there was hard drive space, maybe about 15 GB, missing. I looked everywhere I knew to look, in all folders all over my computer but came up emptyhanded. Although I've been using macs for years, I have little knowledge of all the inner workings/hidden files, etc. so I've reached the end of my abilities. I've searched all over & have been unable to find an answer. I had originally decided to just let it go & deal with a few missing gigabytes, but I just have to know what's going on. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

    Problem solved! Ran Disk Utility not in recover mode again, and it identified that the logical size wasn't right. Repair Disk while logged in - and at the upper level "Macintosh HD" on the left sidebar - fixed the issue, and I'm going to not attempt to run Boot Camp again for a while just in case :-p

  • Too many files and space used after Migration Assistant

    After running migration assistant to transfer my 2006 MacBook Pro (core duo) to my new 2010 MacBook Pro (i7), I noticed the amount of space used went from 87 gb to 144 gb. The number of files went from 816,834 to 981,311. Was this to be expected? That many new files and space used?
    One thing that happened on the first run was about an hour and half into the transfer it thinks it had lost the connection between the systems and would not restart. I had to quit the migration on the old system and reboot(power off and on) the new one. The re-run finished ok. It did think that the users on the old system were already on the new so I had it replace them. There were a few folders that indicated they were from the old mac and I deleted them.
    Also there were a lot of Disk Permission errors when I ran a Verify Disk Permissions which cleared up when I ran Repair Disk Permissions.
    Any thoughts/ideas on the disk space issue?
    running 10.6.3

    Solved.
    On the restart of the Migration Assistant, it duplicated my user directories and put them in a deleted users directory in /Users.
    I deleted that directory to free up the disk space.

  • Finder can't locate files after Migration Assistant

    So I did Migration Assistant from my old 2008 Macbook to my latest Macbook Pro.
    I had it so it's all under a new User Login which is the same as my 2008 User Login.
    I always sign in to that User on the new Macbook Pro.
    I know all my files are in there I just can't do a search on Finder. I type it in Finder but no result.
    How do I fix this?

    Click on the Finder icon in the dock.
    Click on the Go menu in the top menu bar: Crafty illustration below.
      Finder  File  Edit  View  Go  Window  Help
                                           ^^^
    Click Macintosh HD.
    Double-Click the Users folder.
    You should have a home folder for your first account that you set up during the setup assistant on the newer computer, and another for the home folder that was migrated.
    Most of the information you transferred should be in there.

  • HT2518 migration assistant (transfer files from windows PC to Mac)

    Hello,
    I found instructions on transferring my Windows file to MAC but when I search for Migration Assistant in the Launch Pad, I do not see this reference.  Can you help?

    Look in the Applications / Utilities folder.

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

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

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

  • Where are the files from my PC after migration assistant?

    I just completed the migration assistant from my Dell Laptop to my Macbook Pro.  Now I cannot find the files.  Where did they get stored on my Mac?

    In a new user account, created by the Migration.  Log off.  When you log back on, you should have a prompt to create a password for the new account.
    See the last few lines in OS X Lion: About Windows Migration Assistant.

  • Serious problem after migration assistant - any ideas?

    Hi folks-
    I bought an iMac this weekend and for various reasons did not configure with data from my MacBook Pro when I first turned it on, but waited until two nights ago to use Migration Assistant to transfer all but users.
    I updates both machines fully with Software Update first. MigAsst went fine until I hit the begin option and after a few minutes the iMac told me there was a problem with my MacBook Pro (MBP). I quit MigAsst on the iMac but even after an hour I couldn't escape it or quit the MBP, so shut down using the power button.
    When I restarted, I had a black screen with lighted keyboard and startup chime. I hard-restarted, same thing happened. Third time, I got the grey apple window with no apple for about ten minutes, then a light blue screen with the spinning spokes (not the rainbow) and a slightly darker window with no spokes. The two blue windows alternated back and forth for maybe 8-10 seconds each endlessly until I restarted.
    Since I live about 4 hours from the nearest Apple store and tech support was already closed for the evening, I restarted from the Snow Leopard disk and repaired permissions (there were many repairs) and repaired the disk (was told it was fine). I restarted and got the grey-blue-blue cycle again.
    I reinstalled the OS from the Snow Leopard disk and everything worked fine - I ran as many tests as I know how to, even perturbed the casing slightly wondering if it was a loose video card wire or something. Nothing. It all worked fine for several hours until after the second Software Update (which as I recall was only Java and iTunes), and now all I get is the black screen again. Also, now the green light on the power cable is not glowing even though the battery reads as fully charged and the keyboard and startup chime are all hunky dory.
    I'd think it was a video card issue, but there are too many incongruous symptoms. If I could at least start up from the OS disk again I could get my data off... Any ideas, diagnoses or suggestions would be much appreciated.
    With gratitude and blessings.

    The problem is described in a different post as well, and it is considered to be answered. However, the answers are not very satisfactory because they are complicated.
    The underlying problem is that MacOS is looking for a FileVault user, while after migration the user files are actually not within a FileVault bundle.
    I believe that there must be a setting to change the login properties for the user to not look for a FileVault user, but for a plain, non-encrypted user. So please, somebody from Apple answer this questions!
    Command line very welcome, because I only have a command line user right now. And oh, my MBA didn't ship with a boot DVD so I don't even have the chance to reinstall my system easily. Also, getting my data out of the FileVault on my current machine, transfering everything again (almost 250 GB) and then putting them back into FileVault seems a bit too much effort for what appears to be a simple bit set somewhere…

  • PC went to sleep 3 hours into a migration assistant transfer to MBA.

    Is there any way to recover?  The situation was complicated by the fact that while the screen was dark on the PC, I must have inadvertently hit the close box.  I turned off the sleep function on the PC (too bad the migration assistant didn't remind me, although it did tell me to turn off software update).
    The migration assistant on the MBA remained on the whole time.  When I restated MA on the PC, I was hoping it would resynch and continue on.  It did not. 
    If I restart it on the Mac, will I get a bunch a duplicate files or will it know where to pick up?  Any suggestions?
    Thanks.

    the system should have gone to sleep only after the migration was finished.
    compare folder sizes / folder to verify everything is there.
    to be on the safe side or if you spot data missing, I'd just start over from scratch.

  • Why can't I access files transferred through Migration assistant

    Hi all
    I have tried to use the migration assistant to transfer files from my pc which is about to expire (Hard drive is on its way out).  Ive had the Macbook for about 8 months and as I had never had a Mac before I wanted to get to grips with things before transferring everything over. 
    So after spending about 2 hours transferring files I now find I cannot access anything.  It has put everything into a separate account, which I understand and have read other threads about this so I know it is normal.  The problem is I cant get into that account as it asks for a password and none of my passwords work.  I was never asked to give a password for the new account so if its not a new one or one of my original ones how do I get in.  Also even if I do get into this new account can I transfer the files to my normal one?
    Im beginning to think I should have just copied everything over by flash drive. Anyone have any suggestions.
    Thanks in advance.

    From the main page for this forum (http://forums.adobe.com/community/creative_cloud) please see the announcement.
    Creative Cloud is experiencing issues at this time.  We are investigating and working to restore service as soon as possible.  This post will be removed once the issue is solved.

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