HT3231 Migration assistant is slow

Why is this process so agonizingly slow! I am trying to migrate data from a 3.06 Ghz iMac Core 2 Duo with 4GB RAM to a brand new MacBook Pro i7 quad-core with 8GB through a direct connect ethernet at gigabit speed. It is taking forever!

Just go ahead and quit the migration - force quit if you must. You're not likely to damage anything. It's best, if you can, to have the two Macs physically connected, even if it's just to the same router with Ethernet cables. Or using FireWire and Target Disk Mode. Once you have both Macs connected via Ethernet or FireWire, try Migration Assistant again. It's been a while since I last used MA, but I know that it didn't take more than 2 hours to completely move about 100GB from my PowerBook G4 to my 'new' (at the time) MacBook Pro.
Good luck,
Clinton

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Windows Migration Assistant very slow via ethernet cable but after 36 hours .......

I am using Windows Migration Assistant to migrate from my 3 year old HP laptop running Windows 8 to a brand new iMac using an ethernet cable..
The pairing went well but, after 36 hours the laptop tells me there are 13 hors to go and iMac says 8 hours +. What am I doing wrong?

Welcome to Apple Support Communities
Wi-Fi and Ethernet are very slow ways and I don't recommend to use them unless you have to transfer small sizes. If they are big, don't use it.
What you can do is to make a Time Machine backup on your old hard drive, so get an external drive to do it. See > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427
After making the backup, connect the external drive to your new iMac and use Migration Assistant to restore your files. If you haven't set up your iMac yet, Setup Assistant will ask you to restore the backup.
You have to restart both iMacs before doing this, so migration will be stopped

New I5 Imac, quit Migration Assistant system slow

Hello All!
I just bought a new I5 Quad Core Imac. I was using Migration Assistant to transfer the files and data from my Core Duo Imac. About 2 hours into it I noticed the Duo went to sleep adn I had to quit teh Migration. I decided to reboot the new Imac and do everything on my own. The mac works, but it is very slow on may tasks. For example, my Itunes library is on an external HD and when I play a song it stops and pauses periodically. There is also frequent messages when I move files saying I dont have permission. I even think my WiFi is slow. I used Disk Utility to reset the permissions and it says some of them cannot be repaired.
Please help.

I see, well in your haste I'm guessing you goofed up your OS some how. My recommendation is if you have all your critical data backed up on an EHD that you start over. In this case I would recommend doing a reformat and re--install of OS X and iLife, then move the data you want from the EHD to the internal HD. How you would do that is:
Insert the OS X Install disc that came with the computer and restart holding down the Option Key. Then choose the Install Disc to boot from. Next choose the language then choose the Utilities menu and open Disk Utility. Once in Disk Utility select the internal HD on the left pane and click the Erase tab. Then ensure Format is set to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and then click Erase. This will wipe the internal HD totally clean. Once that has been done (takes about a minute) exit Disk Utility and continue with the Install of OS X. Once OS X has been re-installed use the iLife Install Disc and reinstall iLife. Once iLife has been installed then run Software Update and let the system download and the updates for your system. Once you have all of that done then you can begin moving the information you want from the EHD to the Internal HD.

Migration Assistant very slow

Anyone know if there is a way of speeding this up or is this just the norm. Been doing this all week. An older iMac with about 450gb to transfer onto a new macbook pro usb-usb ... took 28 hours. Now doing an old iMac to a new iMac 1.6tb this time via ethernet. Started this morning and its predicting 109hours.......Thoughts to speed this up very much sppreciated.

Welcome to Apple Support Communities
Wi-Fi and Ethernet are very slow ways and I don't recommend to use them unless you have to transfer small sizes. If they are big, don't use it.
What you can do is to make a Time Machine backup on your old hard drive, so get an external drive to do it. See > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427
After making the backup, connect the external drive to your new iMac and use Migration Assistant to restore your files. If you haven't set up your iMac yet, Setup Assistant will ask you to restore the backup.
You have to restart both iMacs before doing this, so migration will be stopped

Migration assistant really slow

I also decided to use migration assistat to transfer files from my MacBook with tiger to my new
MacBook with snow leopard. I had no cables so am doing it wirelessly. It has been going for about 10 hours and also seems stuck however mine is giving me no indication of time remaining. Just the status bar that hasn't moved for awhile. I would love to cancel it and just transfer the files using my external hard drive. Not sure if I did something wrong or if it just that slow. I can't be without a computer for numerous days.

I used Migration Assistant to populate my data onto a new iMac being restored from a Time Capsule. I think it was about 250 GB. The restore was performed over ethernet (not wireless) but I should point out that it's true gigabit ethernet (1000 BaseT).
The restore took almost exactly 3 hours.
I should probably point out some math before you jump to conclusions. Regardless of network or bus speed, it's not possible to copy data faster than the maximum read or write speed of the hard drives. Most hard drives are going to have a maximum sustained transfer rate of maybe 45-50 MB/sec (some may advertise around 80 MB/sec this assumes completely contiguous data. Throw some randomized head-seek time in there and that will quickly degrade to about half of the max theoretical speed.
If you divide 250 GB by 40 MB/sec, the transfer works out to about 1hr 45mins. My transfer really did take 3 hours which works out to an effective transfer rate of only about 23 MB/sec. I suspect this is probably due to overhead of all the traversal required to reconstruct the data from the Time Machine backup format.
If you were to do the same transfer over 100 BaseT (100 Mbps ethernet) then the network would become the new bottleneck and it would not be possible to get a transfer faster than 10 MB/sec (and more likely 9). This would have turned a 3 hour transfer into a about 7h 40mins.
But you're not even using 100 BaseT ethernet... you're doing wireless. If it's wireless G then the max theoretical speed is 54Mbps (5.4 MB/sec) BUT... it's half-duplex. You'd be lucky to get 4 MB/sec. At that speed a 250 GB transfer would take about 17 hr 20 mins.
With that in mind... you said you've been waiting 3 days? Your transfer is hung. I helped a relative do the same thing several months ago, but after telling him what he needed to do he ended up trying to do the transfer over wireless. The sustained traffic load on his sub $50 wireless router ended up crashing the router and he was making no progress at all. The router had to be rebooted NUMEROUS times before he ultimately gave up, finally put the two machines in the same room so he could directly connect them and do the transfer via wired method. Over wire the transfer didn't take long at all (maybe 30 mins. But he didn't have much data.)

HT3231 Migration assistant troubles: some documents could not be transferred

I recently erased my hard drives and reinstalled Mac OS X on my MacBook. I attempted to use Setup Assistant to restore my old user ID with its files, but received the error message:
Errors and Warnings:
- 2013-02-23 22:17:10 -0800 Some documents for [username] could not be transferred
- 2013-02-23 22:17:10 -0800 [username] could not be created
I then continued on through the setup process and created a new user account instead, assuming I could fix the problem later. I then installed the latest combo update via Software Update and attempted to use Migration Assistant to restore my backed up files, but received the same error message.
I need some advice on how else to fix this problem, thank you.

Hmm, let try a new Admin user...
To find out if it's system wide or user specific, try this...
Open System Preferences>Accounts, unlock the lock, click on the little plus icon, make a new admin account, log out & into the new account.
Does it work in the new account?
If you can't do that...
Reset OS X Password Without an OS X CD...
http://theappleblog.com/2008/06/22/reset-os-x-password-without-an-os-x-cd/
Admin Hack...
http://www.hackmac.org/?q=node/4
Starts up like the first time you buy a new Mac, but after filling in all that info again, you should have access to the computer and the other Users & files will still be there... give the new User a different name than an existing one.

HT3231 Migration Assistant and vmware virtual machine

I would like to use Migration Assistant to move my information from a MacBook Pro to a new MacBook Air. Before I perform that, I would like to make sure I don't migrate any problems in the new machine.
How do I choose for example NOT to migrate the VMWARE virtual machine in my older MacBook Pro so that the new MacBook Air becomes lighter?
Thanks

During the setup of your MacBook, it will ask you to restore a backup, so choose the option to restore data from another Mac and follow its steps. You will be able to choose what you want to restore.
If you haven't modified anything, VMware stores virtual machines in Documents folder, so the only thing you have to do is to untick the Downloads folder and the virtual machine won't be migrated to the MacBook Air. See > http://pondini.org/OSX/SetupLion.html
If you are going to migrate applications, it's important to check that they are compatible with Mountain Lion. PowerPC applications aren't compatible and you will be wasting space if you transfer these apps

HT3231 Migration assistant doesnt see external hard drive

Mac OS 10.7.5 Intel 2 gHx Core 2 Duo. Just replaced a crashed hard drive. Migration assistnat doesnt see external hard drive, although it is on desktop and working fine. Connected by USB. I have a backup on the external drive. Too large to place on internal hard drive. So frustrating! I looked at forums online, no help. Any ideas?

1. Definitely 10.7.5
2. I'm not convinced it is a TM drive. It has been used as such, but I am not sure of its current status. Of note, Time machine is currently using it, but I get the sense that it only uses part of the drive. The file I want to use is in a seperate directory of the external hard drive than backups.backupdb, where Time machine is currently writing. The file I want to use is called "Untitled - 2012.01.16-10.17.00.766.FullBackup" and the file type is package. Of note, Time machine let's me have the option to restore the stuff it has been writing for the last few days. Migration assistant, however, is not so cooperative.
3. I have been opening migration assistant, putting in password, choosing "from a Time machine backup or other disk", and then it shows only "Mac OS" as an option under "select your system".
Thanks for your interest and help!

Migration Assistant Sooooo Slow

I'm using migration assistant to transfer files from a Mac Book Pro with a 1/2 TB hard disk to a new iMac. I'm doing this via WiFi because that was the only option offered me by migration assistant. After running for 23 hours, it's barely 1/4 done. Is there anything I can do to speed ths up?
- Dan

There is an adapter that has a FW800 on one end and a FW400 on the other, then you use a FW400 cable. I have one with my MacMini, but I can't remember whether it came with it or whether I bought it at the same time knowing that I had a FW400 iSight camera and a FW400 Epson scanner.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/TW748LL/A?fnode=MTY1NDA3Ng
This would be better if you don't have a FW400 cable: http://store.apple.com/us/product/H7041ZM/A?n=firewire&fnode=MTY1NDA3Ng&s=topSel lers
P.S., if your MacBook Pro has an Ethernet port, you colud also use an Ethernet connection between the two. It would also be better than WiFi.

HT3231 Migration Assistant problem

How do I migrate data from a PowerBook G4 running Max OS X 10.4.11 to a MacBook Pro running Mac OS X 10.8?
The MacBook Pro keeps telling me I have to update the Migration Assistant on the PowerBook, but I can't!

Laura,
Please let me know, if the target disk mode worked for you - pretty much have the same problem. I did what Wjosten proposed and connected my Powerbook G4 with a firewire cable and started it in target disk mode. The connection works - I have no problem seeing my target disk on my new Macbook Pro and I can open any file on the target disk. But still, when I start the migration assistant, it does not recognize the disk - it has been really frustrating to me. Please let me know, if you came up with a solution. I asked this question yesterday in a separate thread but got no answer...
Thanks

HT3231 Migration Assistant: How to tell whether it is working

How do I know Migration Assistant is working?
I have followed the outlined steps in the dialogue box as far as they take me - the 'continue' is greyed out; only 'go back' is accessible.
But there's no spinning wheel, no indication whether everything's ok.
I spent 7 hours thinking all was well when in fact nothing was going on.
I've restarted, and again, it doesn't look like anything is happening.
Please help.
I'm desperate to get this new Retina up and running . . . it's been a 4 year wait!
Thanks in advance.

Answer found:
http://pondini.org/OSX/MigrateLion.html

HT3231 Migration Assistant

Both my macbook froze at "one minute left to complete migration" for over 2 hours. Force quit both & restarted. Now both are stuck at "looking for other computers..."

If you've been stuck on 15 minutes for 12 hours, I'd just reboot and see what actually migrated.
If everything didn't come over (which I kind of doubt) then you can start the operation all over again.
Me? I'd just hit the old power button and reboot. It's very unlikely that you'll 'hurt' anything doing that.
Clinton

MacBook Pro i7 running incredibly slow - could it be Migration Assistant?

My new MacBook Pro i7 is running super slow - generally, everything is slow to open, it hangs, t stalls and crashes completely - I thought this could be something to do with Migration Assistant, any ideas?
I used Migration Assistant to copy the user account, docs and apps from my Mac Pro. It's fantastic, the Migration Assistant, in that in copies everything and sets you up to hit the ground running - but this brand new laptop is seriously lagging behind.
The only problem with my theory is that my Mac Pro isn't slow and as it is, although a lower spec than the MBP, the Mac Pro is faster - so what could Migration Assistant have copied across that makes it run slower?

Alternatively, boot the MBP with the shipped install disc, reinstall the software, and then use the setup assistant to migrate your stuff from the MP. See Best Practices for details.

Should Migration Assistant be this slow?

Hey gang-
Just got a brand new late-2013 iMac to replace my mid-2007 iMac.
Migration Assistant is currently in progress, but I'm amazed at how slow it is going.   It started about 30 minutes ago and is showing 36 hours 45 minutes remaining!   The source computer is a mid-2007 iMac and the new machine is a 27" late-2013 iMac Core i7.   The drive on the old iMac is 650 GB capacity with about 600 GB data total.   The new iMac has the 3TB fusion drive.
The 2007 iMac is in Target Disk mode and connected via its Firewire 800 port to the new iMac's Thunderbolt port using an Apple Thunderbolt to Firewire adapter.
I've done many such migrations over the years and never seen one this slow.   Any thoughts?
Thanks!
Dave

Thanks everyone!
As it turned out, the Migration actually took just over 6 hours.   For the first two hours, the 35+ hour estimate persisted.   Then suddenly it changed to about 3 hours.   Then back to 30+ hours!   Finally the estimate seemed to fall in line with the progress bar for about the last hour.   Not too bad I suppose for about 600GB of data and the move from Lion to Mavericks.
All in all the migration seems to have worked very well. I guess the bottom line is don't be too concerned by the time counter unless the progress bar seems stalled for a long time as well.
Thanks again!
Dave

HT3231 iLife 11 overwritten by migration assistant

After using migration assistant (first thing after starting the iMac)to move my data from a 10.5.8 iMac onto my new 10.8.2 iMac, I have iLife 8 instead of iLife 11. Seems I have overwritten iLife 11 (in case that was already installed).
How to update iMovie, iPhoto etc. to the latest version (without buying again). I assume iLife should be included when purchasing a new Mac ...
Thanks

@Shootist007. Thank you for your solution. I will try as soon as I solved other problems; I already tried to update the apps but I cannot access the App Store (not reacting) ...
As well some other OS-near apps like Mail and Preview won't start and if I want to change security settings the Settings app won't react anymore ...
On top all the access rights mixed up again - why did I changed a (slow) running system?
@mende1: Thanks for the tip not to delete apps that are not anymore in iLife11. I assume I still could copy them from the old Leopard system ort a backup ...

HT3231 Migration assistant is slow

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