Macbook was stolen, how do I restore time machine to new Macbook?

My Macbook Pro was stolen recently. Luckily before that I backed up all of my files onto a USB external hard drive, and I also recently bought a new Macbook Air. How do I restore all of my old Macbook Pro settings from the USB hard drive onto my new Macbook Air? I tried using Migration Assistant but the Migration Assistant won't detect my external hard drive as a time machine backup. I've tried right clicking on Time Machine in the dock and clicking "Browse other time machine disks" but it still won't detect my external hard drive as a time machine backup. I can see my old username and folders (ex. desktop, applications, downloads, library, etc.) but they all have a red thing next to them and when I click them it says "you don't have permission to access this content". My old macbook was stolen so I don't know how to grant permisions for me to access it. What is the best way to load all my old settings from my USB hard drive onto my new Macbook Air?

Pondini's excellent resource provides some useful reading:
http://pondini.org/OSX/Setup.html

Similar Messages

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    PowerfulLamp wrote:
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  • Restore Time Machine to new Macbook?

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    should work.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427

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    Skip
    Message was edited by: V.K.

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    lhbilly wrote:
    *My Mac Book Pro was stolen.* It had some Time Machine backups, but Time Machine had stopped working about 6 months before it was stolen. I had stopped using the USB drive since TM would never complete. (2 issues)
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    The old MacBook Pro definitely did not have Snow Leopard but the MacPro does to which I want to copy the data. It probably had Leopard. But honestly my user data is not necessary, just primarily the data, pictures, DVD projects, etc.
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    Bergers wrote:
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    It usually means you are running Mavericks but have an earlier version of iPhoto. Open the App Store and upgrade your version of iPhoto to the Mavericks version.
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  • Getting a new macbook to replace old one...how do i use time machine to res

    my current mac book is acting strange
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    ironknee wrote:
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