I used the migration assistant to transfer files from my PC to my Mac but it recreated my user profile from the PC and I wanted to transfer the files to the new different user profile I've setup on the Mac. How can I transfer everything now?

I have an older Windows laptop and I am switching to a new MacBook Air. The main user on the Windows laptop is going to be different than the main user on the MacBook. I used the migration assistant to transfer data to the MacBook but it recreated the whole older profile on the new Mac when I just wanted to pull everything over into the new user profile I had already created on the new MacBook. How can I go about putting the data over into the new user profile and erasing the older other user profile it recreated? Would I erase the old user profile on the new Mac and start over with the migration assistant using some setting I missed that lets me pull the data over to the new main user on the MacBook? Or is there a way to rename the old user profile on the Mac to match what I want the new username/password to be somehow?
Or would it be best to back the data I really need from the old PC onto an external HD and then copy it over to the new Mac from the external HD?
Looking for advice on how to best go about this. On the old PC I had multiple profiles and it was awkward. On the new Mac I just want a single profile for the primary user and both users will just share the same user profile. I wasn't sure if the Migration Assistant only let you recreate entire profiles or if there was a way to just import data from the old PC's primary profile into the new Mac's new primary profile with some setting adjustment.
Data would be docs, pics, bookmarks, music. Fairly basic.
Thanks for any and all advice,
-Crosscourier.

Look in the /Users/ folder.

Similar Messages

WHERE is the migration assistant? I had assumed it would be under applications, but it isn't there. This is to be used to transfer files.

I have a MAC OS X 10.7.5 with 3.5 GHz Intel Core i7, 8GB 1333 MHz DDR3. I was trying to ask what seemed like a simple question about transferring files. When I got to the page, it says to use the MIGRATION ASSISTANT. However, this is NOT in the applications file, which is where I would assume I would find it. There is NOTHING in the instruction sheet that says where to go to get it. I see that others have asked the same question, however, I did not see it was answered (said file was "locked"). Have now spent over an hour trying to ask this (including time spent trying to login).

Choose it from the Finder's Go menu, or open the Applications folder and double-click it.
(112967)

I am waiting for a new iMac with two drives: SSD conventional hard drive. How can I transfer only a certain number of applications to the SSD and the rest to the physical hard disk drive?

I am expecting a new iMac (i7 with SSD). How can I transfer only certain applications along with the system, library etc. to this limited (space) HD and other applications to the conventional disk HD in order to save space on the SSD?
Thank you,
Gilles

Tom Lassiter wrote:
I have the same scenario, using an SSD for my start-up drive. I have copied my Applications folder to a mechanical hard drive and created symbolic link to it. The symbolic link resides on the SSD and works properly.
That may not be the best solution. Many updaters expect apps, especially Apple apps, to be in the /Applications folder on the OSX drive; if there are updates, the apps may not be found, thus may not be updated. I don't know if the installers/updaters will follow a symbolic link or not.
DItto some apps, especially Adobe apps, won't even work if they're anywhere else. Again, I don't know if they'll follow a symbolic link, either.

HT204350 How do I know if the migration assistant is actually working? I got as far as a screen that says it is "Transferring your information" and there is what looks like a progress bar but that has moving blue diagonal lines rather than any progress

The fan on my target computer is whirring away and so it sounds like something is happening. But there doesnt seem to be any way of telling from either the traget or the source computer if the thing is actually working. How many hours should I wait before concluding that something has gone wrong? I have over 100GB of data so I am not expecting it to be fast!
Is it normal for the source computer to just drop out of migration asssistant at the begining, or should there be some sort of indication that it is working? What about if I use activity monitor is there any clues I should be looking for there?

Hello gatormommy97,
If that migration happens to still be chugging along, you're in luck. We've got step-by-step instructions for performing an Erase & Install on the new MacBook Pro. This will restore it to 'factory defaults,' just like it came out of the box for the first time, allowing you to start fresh with an alternative migration method.
OS X Mountain Lion: Erase and reinstall OS X
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11273
Cheers,
Allen

HT4972 I just got done successfully syncing my iPhone for the first time to my mac but when I clicked update it had a notice and I want to know if it will delete my music if I continue to update.

The pop up says
"Updating to iOS 5.1.1 will delete all of the apps and media, including iTunes Store purchases, on your iPhone. To preserve your content, apply this update on the computer where you sync apps, music videos, and photos.
Updating on this computer will only preserve contacts, calendars, text messages, and other settings. Please do not interrupt the update, which may take an hour or longer to complete. iTunes will verify the software update with Apple."
What do I do now? My only options on the pop up are cancel or update.

After the update you sync your content back to your phone. It should all be in your iTunes library & thus there should be no issues putting it all back on your phone.

I just bought a new iMac and used the Migration Assistant to transfer my files. Initially, all was working, but now a week later, I get the message that the application manager is missing, and I cannot get Photoshop and InDesign to launch. I do not want t

I just bought a new iMac and used the Migration Assistant to transfer my files. Initially, all was working, but now a week later, I get the message that the application manager is missing, and I cannot get Photoshop and InDesign to launch. For my personal use, I did not a need to join Creative Cloud. Have you any suggestions for a work-around?

Try to install Adobe application Manager from below link and check
Adobe - Adobe Application Manager : For Macintosh : Adobe Application Manager : Thank You

HT4796 I need to transfer my iTunes library, email and a few clean files from my PC to my new Mac. I was about to use the Migration Assistant, however I am concerned that viruses on my PC will tag along. Should I be concerned?

I need to transfer my iTunes library, email and a few clean files from my PC to my new Mac. I was about to use the Migration Assistant, however I am concerned that viruses on my PC will tag along. Should I be concerned?

No.

HT2518 I USED THE MIGRATION ASSISTANT TO TRANSFER MY PHOTOS FROM A PC TO MY NEW MAC. HOWEVER, THE PHOTOS ARE NOT ORGANIZED AT ALL. DID I DO IT WRONG OR DO THEY JUST TRANSFER OVER IN A BIG BATCH INTO IPHOTO?

I used the migration assistant to transfer my photos from PC to mac. The photos were not organized at all. They were in the all files section in my finder. I just clicked and drug the pics file to iphoto and the are just in there in a big bunch. Was there a way I could have had them transferred over in there folders from PC?

The Apple Support Communities are an international user to user technical support forum. As a man from Mexico, Spanish is my native tongue. I do not speak English very well, however, I do write in English with the aid of the Mac OS X spelling and grammar checks. I also live in a culture perhaps very very different from your own. When offering advice in the ASC, my comments are not meant to be anything more than helpful and certainly not to be taken as insults.
Do you know where the actual photo files are located on your laptop? If so, you can transfer them to the Mac over a LAN or by saving them to an external HDD, thumb drive or burning them to a disk. Then you can import the photos to the iPhoto app that came on your new Mac.
It would be the same process for the videos, however, it would depend what type of video files they are, as to which Mac app might allow you to view them.
BTW, since your Mac is new you need to Accept the iLife apps; iPhoto, GarageBand and iMovie into your Mac App Store/iTunes account. Open the MAS, sign into you account, go to the Purchased pane and accept the apps.

Why are the files I migrated over from a backup hard drive locked and inaccessible on my new used Mac Book pro? I used the migration assistant. Running Snow Leopard on a core duo.

My laptop got pinched and I bought a used Mac Book Pro, put a larger hard drive in it and performed a clean install of Snow Leopard on the new drive, after which I used the Migration Assistant to bring over my applications, settings, documents, etc., from my backup hard drive. This hard drivekis not a Ti e Machine drive, it's one I use to clone my computer to regularly with Carbon Copy Cloner. When the migration was complete all my documents, the desktop,and other folders are locked and won't allow me to access them. What to do? Thanks for the help.

Graham Giles wrote:
Have you seen this type of problem before? I think it could be a serious issue for anyone in a similar position.
No; but then, I've not had occasion to use TDM. I've been using firerwire drives for over 10 years, both FW400 and FW800, with no issues except a bit of instability using a B&W G3 machine.
TDM should be safe. Using cautious, manual copying of files from the Target machine to the Host machine should not result in unexpected loss of files or damage to the Target drive's directories. It should behave exactly the same as if it were an external (to the Host) firewire drive.
• I don't suppose there is anything I can do to 'put back' lost items from a separate Time Machine drive which has an up to date backup on it.
There is probably a way to do that - seems to me that's one of the reasons for a Time Machine volume.
On the other hand, if the Time Machine volume is rigidly linked to the now-absent OS on the original drive, there may be no way to effectively access the files in the TM archive.
I know that using a cloned drive would work well in this instance.
I have no experience with Time Machine, so perhaps someone who has will chime in with suggestions.
With the machine in TDM with the other machine, have you tried running Disk Utility to see if you can effect repairs to the drive?

HT2518 After using Migrate Assistant, I made several accounts for every attempt to migrate files from PC to Mac. How can I put all accounts together into one? How can I transfer the files from the other accounts to my primary account?

Okay, so I did the entire Migrate Assistant process to transfer all my files and what not to my MacBook. Problem is that I did it on seperate occasions and now I have several accounts.
How can I transfer my files from the other accounts to my primary account and delete the other accounts?

Problem is that I did it on seperate occasions and now I have several accounts.
If you had read carefully, Migration Assistant asks what you want to do in this event. That would have precluded the redundancy.
Part of the fundamental design of OS X is to separate user accounts so that one user can't interfere with another. It's not possible to directly merge an account with another, but you can copy whatever you need to the Shared folder - it is in your Users folder.
Log in to one account, prefereably a smaller one, and drag the files and folders into Shared. Log out, log into the account you want to be "primary" and drag the files from Shared into their appropriate locations. When you have copied everything you need delete the redundant account.
Do this for each of them.
Or, you can just run Migration Assistant again and follow the prompts that address the situation you described. It involves creating a secondary, temporary account from which you can administer the transfer. When it is complete you delete the temporary account(s).

Where are the files saved after successfully using the Migration Assistant from PC to a Mac?

I just used the Migration Assistant from PC to Mac but I can't find where the files were saved? I thought the process was supposed to create a new user account...Why can't I see it on the login screen?
Please help ! I've formatted my PC so I wanna make sure that my files are not lost

Have a read here:
http://pondini.org/OSX/MigrationProblems.html
http://pondini.org/OSX/Transfer.html
Might be better/best to start the thing all over and using the Setup Assistant instead of the MIgration Assistant this time:
Using Setup Assistant on Lion
Stefan

I have transferred a load of files from my PC to my iMac using the migration assistant. The message on both machines say that the process was successful bu tI can not find the files on the mac. Any ideas?

I have transferred a load of files from my PC to my iMac using the migration assistant. The message on both machines say that the process was successful but I can not find the files on the mac. Any ideas?

When you use Migration Assitant it creates another user account and puts your files there. Please log out of your normal account and log into the new account. Had you use Setup Assistant when it asked if you were migrating that would not have occured. You have a couple of options, combine the two accounts (not recommended) or start over, use Setup Assistant and have everything in one user account. Here is a link to Pondin's guide for Lion Setup Assistant tips however if you want to combine the two accounts he has addressed that in
http://pondini.org/OSX/Transfer.html

HT4796 I could not find the files I transferred to my MAC from PC after using the Migration Assistant.

Where do I find in my iMAC the files I tranfered from my PC using the Migration Assistant. I could not find a setting to what folder I could to set to transfer it before I started to transfer.

Migration Assistant creates a new user on your system and puts the files in that users home folder. Setup Assistant would transfer the files into the user folder of the user account created when originally setting up your Mac. Setup Assistant is what runs when you first turn on and setup your Mac and Migration Assistant is in the Utilities folder inside the Applications folder.

Getting a new macbook, but can't use the migration assistant??!

I have a 13" black macbook, purchased in early 2007 and cannot resist the new 13" MacBook Pro. I need it! Problem is, I have already sold this black mac and need to ship it out before I can get the new Pro. Therefore, I can't use the Migration Assistant Utility to transfer info from old to new mac. Is there any way I can save files, music, and applications on an external hard drive? Would applications be able to be transferred from this mac to the hard drive and then to my new mac pro? Any other suggestions?(iDisk is too small to hold everything)
Thanks for your help.

Clone your system to your external drive using either SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner. You can then attach the hard drive to your new Mac and it will treat it like a previous Mac for the purposes of Migration Assistant.
Matt

HT4889 Is it possible to use the migration assistant to transfer only some documents and data? For example, I was to transfer my music, but not my word documents. There doesn't seem to be any options to customise what you are transferring - its all or not

Is it possible to use the migration assistant to transfer only some documents and data? For example, I was to transfer my music, but not my word documents. There doesn't seem to be any options to customise what you are transferring - its all or nothing

LBraidwood wrote:
Is it possible to use the migration assistant to transfer only some documents and data? For example, I was to transfer my music, but not my word documents. There doesn't seem to be any options to customise what you are transferring - its all or nothing
Yes, that's why I recommend one have more than TimeMachine as a backup because if certain files or folders are corrupted on the TM drive, your not logging into your migrated user account or not be able to transfer it what so ever.
Then it's a REAL PAIN and costs $99 to bit read the TM drive to get the files out, then it's mess to go through and sort all the empty placeholders from the real files as TM doesn't save duplicates in each state, just uses the previous state's copy if there are no changes.
If you create the same named user account on the new machine, and simply transfer files via a USB thumb drive and place say music contents into the Music folder, then it will work too.
Look into making clones of your boot drive, the benefit here is it's bootable, you can access the drive directly to pick and choose files, run the computer just like before etc.
Most commonly used backup methods explained

I used the migration assistant to transfer files from my PC to my Mac but it recreated my user profile from the PC and I wanted to transfer the files to the new different user profile I've setup on the Mac. How can I transfer everything now?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for