Migration Assistant & Admin Account

I did a clean install of Leopard on my G4 PB (I had cloned Tiger to an external drive). I brought up Migration Assistant with the external drive connected, followed the dialog choices, but I was confused by the option to bring the Administrative Account from Tiger into the Administrative Account of Leopard. I'm using the same name, which was brought out when I was taken through the steps. I wasn't given the option to replace--that was grayed out. So how do I handle that migration? Does the Administrative Account have to be migrated manually or is it done automatically (regardless of the name being different or the same)?

As I recall MA will not replace an existing account with an older one of the same name. Either it will refuse to migrate or ask if you wish to change the name - I think. You cannot have two different user accounts that have the exact same name. I do not believe MA can merge two user accounts into one.

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Migration Assistant & User Accounts

When using MA, for transferring a user account from an iMac G4 to a Mac Pro, I was going to transfer with the same Admin User name, bob on iMac and bob on Mac Pro. MA required that I change one of the account names. When migration was complete, I had two Admin accounts on the Mac Pro, of course (Wish I could have foreseen that!).
Now - what to do? Delete the transferred account and start over? Or, MOVE certain folders, apps, files and libraries to the Mac Pro's main Admin account?
If the suggestion is to MOVE stuff, what is the better way (I know that I will be looking at Permission changes)?
Also, will iTunes libraries, iMovie projects, Safari bookmarks be a problem to move manually?
Thanks in advance for any help . . .
bob

Hi Bob,
You won't be moving as much stuff as you think you will. Basically you'll just be installing apps that need to be on the boot disk because they put needed items in the system folder. There aren't really all that many apps that do that. Apps with code keys, well, you might want to try transferring preferences there, but I have a bunch and I just tracked down the keys again. Apps for me that needed a whole new install were PS4 and AE4, they tightly bond with the system, and can't be dragged from one HD to another. Most everything else, games, what-not, will work just fine dragged. Again though you need to know your codes, if applicable.
The bulk of your files from your old system you can hold on to any way you want to. You could keep them on the old drive or move them where you wish. You could do what I did,.. make a clone of your old system to an external drive and keep it around for awhile as a library of sorts. In the meantime you could wipe out the data on the old drive and have a nice new disk for daily use.
Chances are good that most of what Apple puts on your machine should stay there. Other apps from other manufacturers go by a case by case basis. Permission problems shouldn't be a problem. With every new install, or dragging a free floating app with no system folder ties, new permissions will be generated, just as when you first installed them.
Maybe your Mac can have two accounts with the same name, though I wouldn't try it. Since it's a new Mac why not just wipe out your disk and reinstall off the Install and Restore disks that come with your Mac? Then just start over again and make an account with a different name.
The problem as I see it with Migration Assistant is even if it goes without a hitch, can one be sure they are not importing things that will degrade the new Macs performance?
I didn't want to go the route I did, installing everything all over again onto a fresh system. But the more I tried to move my G5s "mind" to the Mac Pro, the more mentally disturbed the Mac pro became.
I guess peoples experiences vary, but in the end I felt good about the fact that I had a brand new computer without any of the miasma of my previous systems. And really, it's one of those things that are worse thinking about than actually doing. It's actually kind of fun and interesting to see how much gunk you thought you needed, but in fact, never needed at all.

After Restoring with Migration Assistant internet accounts are not working properly

Hello!
My Macbook Pro's HDD fried a week ago, so I swapped it for a new one. I had a backup from about 30mins before the issue happened, so I thought everything would go fine with Time Machine. Well, not quite. After installing Mac OS X Mavericks from the Disk Utility and telling the system to apply the latest backup on Migration Assistant during the installation, everything started up the way I left it, but several problems showed up and I have been trying to troubleshoot them.
Issues:
1. I used to have Facebook, Twitter and two Gmail accounts logged via the Internet Accounts preferences. Used the gmail accounts for notes, contacts and calendars. Now, they all show up on the menu, but when I click on any of them it tells me they aren't connected and asks me for their password. When I put it down, it gives me an "Unable to verify account" message. If I delete the accounts and try to reinsert them, I get the same message. What's even more weird: When I restart, they are all there again.
2. Notes doesn't update properly. It shows me all the notes up until like 4 weeks ago, and whenever I even click on the app's window, it tells me it can't connect to Gmail and asks me for its password again. Several other apps that require syncing, like Calendar, have the same issue.
Troubleshooting attempts:
1. It's not a problem with these accounts, as I've been able to sync them no problem if I create a new user. But I had some serious work being done and I don't really want to get a fresh start.
2. I tried doing a clean install and when the Migration Assistant showed up I asked to transfer everything except personal documents and data. It worked, but I lost all my personal files that are not on dropbox (not many, but there were a few important things). Also the wifi didn't connect at all, kept saying it was self assigning an IP or whatever. This did not happen before.
3. Not using migration assistant at all, but restarting the system and restoring a time machine backup, even an earlier one from that same day. Mac gets stuck on spinning wheel during boot :/
This killed my weekend's productivity already, as each clean install and time machine restoring takes 3hrs+. I don't know what to do at this point.
Macbook Pro, Early 2011, 13". Old HDD 320gb, new one 500gb. OS X Mavericks 10.9.4 (the backup is from 10.9.3)

ragob66,
Welcome to the Apple discussions!
Try this:
*Accessing Time Machine Backups From Another User Account or Computer*
Yes, you can do this using the Time Machine interface.
Attach the drive containing the TM backups to your computer.
Control-click the TM icon in the dock and select "Browse Other Time Machine Disks...".
Highlight the desired disk and click “Use Selected Disk”. This will now allow you to browse those TM backups via the ‘time travel’ window. From here you can restore what files you need access to. Bear in mind that any files moved will have the permissions of that previous user account. Thus you may be prompted for the user name and password of that previous account. However, once verified you should be able to adjust “Sharing & Permissions” in the files “Get Info” window.
Let us know if this resolved your issue.
Glenn

Migration Assistant created account without a Drop Box

I migrated a friend's account from old Pismo running Tiger to my Mac Pro running Leopard. The last time I had seen the Migration Assistant was years ago under Tiger, & it was crystal clear and idiot proof. The Leopard Migration Assistant has more stages to the operation, and a lot more choices, some of which weren't immediately clear to me. The end result was the account was created without a Drop Box! I thought I was telling it not to copy his Drop Box, and never realized I was telling it not to create it. Now, the question is, after this ridiculous Human Interface Failure, how can I create a Drop Box for this account? I need to move stuff across the User account barrier sometimes, and it is presently not possible.

OK, I noticed the Drop Box doesn't look right, so I will try your terminal commands, thanks.
Ooops - Looks like I have more problems. The Migration Assistant really screwed me up. When I opened the Terminal, it was displaying "Last login...." and it says my computer is now called my friend's computer. Also, I am not sure how to use your commands, because how does the computer know what folder it applies to, if I am in my account, and the drop box is in my friend's account? Did you mean for me to run the commands from within my friend's account?
Message was edited by: Gary P

Migration Assistant - two accounts

I bought a MacBook Pro for my wife and migrated her old account to the new notebook. I inadvertently set up the new system in a different name than that was on her old system (maiden vs married name). Therefore I now have to two accounts on the new system and really wanted one. The old account has all the old apps and not all the new stuff. Whereas, i can't access her itunes music library, etc on the new account. Is there a way to rename the new system and combine to the two or access files, etc from the old and bring over?

I've got the same problem. I set up a "new" account name (used 'Bob' instead of 'Robert') when prompted by my brand new Mac Pro 3.2 Ghz, then migrated all my stuff from my old Mac. I ended up with two accounts on my new system.
'Bob' account has none of my files. 'Robert' account has my files, iTunes lib., etc. but does not have full administrator privileges. for example, today I had to log out of 'Robert' and back into 'Bob' in order to have privileges to update the Mac OS.
Major hassle.

Migration Assistant- Duplicate Account Found

When trying to migrate my info from my external FW HD to my G5 I keep getting this same message.
If highlight the Rename or Replace or Do not transfer it justs keeps coming back with the same page "Duplicate Account Found"
How can i get around this so I can transfer all my files back on.
G5 2.3DP Mac OS X (10.4.8) G3 Pisimo 400, Maxtor 250gb FW, ipod etc

TM store wireless backups in a sparsebundle. You probably need to mount this sparsebundle before you can do any restoring. Open up Disk Utility (Applications>Utilities) and see if the sparsebundle appears in the left-hand column. If so, mount it, then try to do a restore.
~Lyssa

Migration Assistant restore of Time Machine backup is incomplete

Some app, I don't know which one, keeps messing up the disk drive catalog structure, forcing me to wipe the drive and do a complete restore. I just had to do it again today (third time in a year), but this time Time Machine isn't restoring the user accounts, only the applications.
A random check of the user accounts shows they've been fully backed up on the Time Machine drive and they show up in Migration Assistant as accounts that can be transferred, but they're not transferring. I'm getting no errors from Migration Assistant, it just finishes with the applications and says my files have been transferred.
Any ideas?

I had the same problems when migrating from Time Machine (same computer but the hard drive crashed so I replaced one). During the migration, I created a new user account for the TM backup because of the same account name with my new system. I found only the applications are migrated, all other things like user accounts, preferences and settings, documents etc are not transferred; and I'm not allowed to manually open backup documents. How can I deal with it?

Migration assistant won't migrate admin account

On my G5 I created the admin account (which is the account I usually use) with the same name, short name and password as the admin account on my older machine.
When I use migration assiatant, it brings up a "Duplicate Account Found" dialogue box which offers to rename the account I am transferring (which I don't want to do as the name is correct on both machines) and do not transfer the user account (which I certainly don't want as transferring the admin account is the whole point).
The option to replace the existing account with the one I am transfering (which might be the one I want) is greyed out.
What am I supposed to do? Don't Apple test the most obvious situation?
Beige G3 Mac OS X (10.3.5)

I found that I needed to create another temporary admin account and run the migration assistant from that account. Then the option to replace the original admin account was no longer greyed out.
I suppose one could enable root and log in as root as well to do this.

My iMac has two admin accounts (because I used Migration Assistant). How do I get the iMac to start up in the 2nd account?

My iMac has two admin accounts (because I used Migration Assistant). How do I get the iMac to start up in the 2nd account?

Welcome to Apple Support Communities
Open System Preferences > Users & Groups > Login Options, press the padlock at the bottom left corner of the System Preferences window and choose the second user account next to "Automatic login". Your computer will always log in to this user account whenever you start up Mac OS X.
If you haven't got anything in the first user account, you can remove it from System Preferences > Users & Groups after logging into the second user account

When I use migration assistant it won't let me use my account name that I'm signed in with. It requires me to select a different user name and then creates a separate account where my files live. Why can't I select the user name and account name I have?

I'm trying to migrate my music and pictures over to my new iMac. When I use the migration assistant it connects to my PC fine but it won't let me use the account name and username that I have created as the admin. It requires me to create a new user account - so then I have two separate accounts to log in to which i don't want. How do I get it to let me use the current account that I have to move my files to?
Thanks!

Migration Assistant creates a new account and migrates all the information you have requested to that new account. There is no way around that. However once migrated you can move the data to the account you want to. Here are some instructions for doing so:
Transferring files from one User Account to another.

I recently purchased an iMac and used migration assistant to get all files from my emac, but now I have three user accounts. I only want one (perhaps two) accounts. I want all my music, photos and word docs from old computer in one user name

I recently purchased a mac and used a firewire to transfer my files onto my new imac with migration assistant. Now I have 3 users. I want one with all my main files (pictures, music, files from my old computer).
I don't mind having an additional "family" account so my younger daughter can't mess us things, but I can't figure out how to get files from one to the next and then delete the one user name.
Thanks,

In order to delete other accounts you must be logged into an admin account. You cannot delete the account into which you are currently logged.
When you started the new computer you were in the Setup Assistant. You created a new admin account before finishing the setup. You need to log into that account because it is an admin account. You can then delete the account you migrated from the old computer (and any other accounts you don't need or want.)
Then create a temporary new user account with admin status - name it, Temp. Log out of the current account and log into the new account, Temp. Now delete the initial account you created in Setup Assistant. You now have one account, Temp. Now re-migrate your data from the old computer. When that is completed log into the migrated account, which should be an admin account, and delete the temporary account, Temp.

I have chosen to fil migrate from old ibook to new MacBook Pro using Time Machine after establishing admin account. I now have two admin. accounts and wish to delete the later one and transfer files manually. I am worried I will loose both accounts. ??

I have chosen to fil migrate from old ibook to new MacBook Pro using Time Machine after establishing admin account. I now have two admin. accounts and wish to delete the later one and transfer files manually. I am worried I will loose both accounts. ??

Use the Office for Mac and ignore using Parallels for that. If you have PC only apps you have to run that are MS Windows only then consider Parallels. Just transfer your main PC, using Migration Assistant. If you don't know how then simply read over Pondini's article called Lion or Mountain Lion Setup Assistant tips and look for the section on migrating from a PC. Millions have done what you are about to, it's far from leading edge these days, if you go to an Apple Store to purchase they will offer this as a service, something you might be interested in.

Migration Assistant, now two user accounts

Hi, I've just purchased a Macbook Pro. I've just completed the migration assistant and its transferred all my files, photos and itunes to my macbook but under a different user account to the one my computer was set up with. Any ideas how I can merge the two (transfer the info over) and delete the second one?
Many thanks, Louise

A = First user account created on the new machine (Admin)
B = User account migrated over (account status unknown)
1: Log into A and make sure B is a Admin user in System Preferences > Accounts
2: While in A, transfer files via the Users/Shared folder
Programs usually are installed into the Applications folder for all accounts to use, but some have particular settings saved into each user account.
Best thing is to just use the program again and make new settings which get saved in User B.
Once you have everything up on A, then delete B from the System Preferences > Accounts.
Optional: for more security,
it's best to create a new Admim user while logged into A, lets call it C, and then logging into C and changing A to Standard user from Admin, then using A all the time like normal.
It's a little more work involved using the computer when your accessing the Applicaitons folder (rarely), and having to manually check for updates, but your computer is much more secure as A is now a Standard User with little "powers" so in case something bad happens it can't do much to your computer (unless you give it your Admin password of course.)
https://discussions.apple.com/message/16276201#16276201

How to use migration assistant without creating dual user accounts

I want to use migration assistant to transfer apps, software & files on my macbook pro to my new macbook air. How can I do this without creating two user accounts for myself on the m-book air -- my account from the m-book pro & the one that the air makes me create as soon as I do start-up? Can I just use the same name & password for both? or will that make things go badly awry?
Thanks!

If you have not booted the MBA for the first time and gone through the Setup Assistant, then I would use the Setup Assistant to make the transfer before you even create another user account. However, if you've already created the new user account on the MBA, then create a new admine one with a different username than the account you will migrate. Log into this new account, delete the first account you made, then use Migration Assistant to transfer your account from the MBP.

Migration Assistant created admin user w/ Macintosh HD volume on desktop

Hi,
Summary:
MBP 17" (running Leopard) logic board died
Retrieved hard drive from MBP and put in USB 2.0 caddy
Bought Mac Mini 2.5 intel core i5 w/ latest Mountain Lion
Used for a couple of days as main Administrator user, set up a VPN etc, every working fine.
Made a back up using Time Machine on a USB connected My Passport Edge for Mac
Used Migration Assistant to transfer user account from MBP HD (with Leopard) - this was the main adminstrator (not root superuser) of the MBP
When prompted, renamed the Leopard user account to MacBook so no conflict with new Mountain Lion administrator user
Transferred everything but applications and download folder of the main (administrator) user on the MBP.
All appeared successful.
Restarted Mac Mini and logged into the User account created by Migration Assistant---all files there etc so far so good.
Then I noticed that this migrated user still had Admintrator rights and appears to have reset some of the global settings effecting the original ML admin user (the one I eventually want to carry on using)
First inkly of this was that the VPN server I set up was no longer recognised by Safari in any accounts on the machine.
Logged into original ML administrator user and changed the migrated MBP user to a 'standard' user with no rights to do change settings on the computer.
[still can't get Safari to recognise the VPN proxy server]
Decided I'd better make a back-up to the Time Machine on the My Passport, but had to follow these instructions http://pondini.org/TM/A4.html for a 'Full Reset of Time Machine'. Which did the job.
Then I logged back into the migrated MBP user account to look around. There on the desktop is a volume called 'Macintosh HD' (the same as the main computer default name that is used my Mountain Lion.
When I do a get info on this volume it tells me the following:
Kind: Volume
Created: Friday, 19 October 2012 (which is an odd date)
Modified: Today ...
Version 10.8.2
Formal: Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Capacity: 499.25GB
Available: 361.32GB
Used .....(127.93 GB on disk)
          Sharing and Permissions
               You can only read
               system Read & Write
               wheel Read only
               everyone Read only
Can I delete this volume off the desktop or will that mean I lose all the files and folders for this user? Why is there a 137GB volume on the desktop?
Also, as it's called Macintosh HD (the same as Mountain Lion's Computer name) isn't this likely to be causing some clashes?
I will eventually be deleting this migrated user, once I have all the emails, notes, etc off Entourage's Main Identity imported into Outlook 10. In the meantime this volume on the desktop is worrying me.
My question is: what should I do about this double Macintosh HD volume on the migrated MBP user account?
Thanks for your help.
Cheers,
Tracy

There are settings in Finder's Preferences to show Hard Disks on the desktop. So, that is likely normal. Deleting it would be bad.

Migration Assistant & Admin Account

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