Migration Assistant cant find external hard drive Best Buy backed up for me when laptop crashed.

My mac's hard drive somehow failed and I took it to Best Buy where i bought it from and they backed it up to an external I had to buy and now when I go to the migration assistant it cant find it. What can I do?

Migration assistant will only work with drives that are a) contain original Mac systems, b) are exact clones of such drives, or c) Time Machine destination drives. For example, with a clone, you would see an Applications folder, a Library folder, System and Users at the top of the hard drive. If Best Buy just copied files onto the external, you can't use it in Migration Assistant. However, once you complete setup of the new system (without migrating) you can manually copy user files (not most applications though) from wherever they are on the external to the proper places on your new drive.
Matt

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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!

How do I use a backup of my previous system in migration assistant from an external hard drive?

I had to redo my system completely because Snow Leopard broke my Parallels and then when I went back to Leopard my entire system got all screwed up. So I archived and reinstalled Leopard. Transferred the entire Previous System file to my external hard drive then erased and installed a fresh install of Leopard then upgraded to Snow Leopard. Now I'm trying to restore my Previous System on my computer and I can get the Macbook Pro to recognize the external hd in Migration Assistant and in Disk Utility it appears I would have to transfer section by section. I'm trying to prevent that. I don't have money to buy Super Duper or anything else at the moment so Migration and Disk U. seem to be my only options unless you know of anything else.

Carbon Copy Cloner or SilverKeeper - CNet Downloads or MacUpdate.

Cant find external hard drive

Have saved photos and docs from old PC to external hard drive.
Have plugged into mac and it cant find it. I have all the appropriate boxes checked in the finder options.
Any ideas/suggestions appreciated.
Please give basic and easy steps.. im a new mac user.. OS X 10.8.2 thanks in advance

if i change the format will i lose all data on the DH.
I need to be able to access the files on the mac
Is it possible to have an external HD to be used on a mac and pc interchanging often ??

Migration Assistant finds external hard drive but says it has 0 kb in profile

I'm trying to transfer all my stuff from one MacBook to a Macbook Pro. I have been saving Time Machine back ups on an external hard drive for a few years on the original MacBook, running 10.6. I know it has been backing up properly because all of the files are there when I browse the backups folder.
When I go to Migration Assistant on the MacBook Pro and choose back up from Time Machine or other disk, Migration Assistant recognizes the external hard drive, but when I click through, it shows my user profile and says it has 0.0 kb in it. Also says 0.0 kb for Apps and Documents / Files.
If I do Mac to Mac transfer through Wifi, it finds the entire profile and all of the files. That takes too long, though, and I thought the purpose of having my stuff on a hard drive was to make this process really easy.
Appreciate any help anyone can give me about getting this to work right. Thanks.

I did this just yesterday yesterday. I put a new disk into a G4 iMac, installed a fresh copy of Tiger on it and then migrated the user folders across from the old drive that I put in a firewire enclosure. Obviously if you go for an Intel Mac then you will have to be careful with the applications.

I was unable to access migrate assistant to reinstall my hard drive. I didn't know if it would work but I used the time machine restore button that opens up in the space movie. The computer said it would download it to "Volumes". Now I can't find it.

I was unable to access migrate assistant to restore my hard drive. Out of desperation and ignorance I opened up Time Machines space page and selected my most recent backup and pushed restore. The system accepted it and said it would intall in in "volumes". I was unable to figure out what that meant but I went a head a tried it. The download took four hours and then puff it was gone and so was my data. I can't find the back up anywhere. The only thing I think it might be is that I had named the hard drive a different name than the original (don't ask me why). Have any ideas?

Choose Go to Folder from the Finder's Go menu and provide /Volumes/ as the path.
(71792)

Migrating iTunes library from external hard drive to new laptop

Hi there, I am wondering if anyone can help me please? I am a complete newbie to this forum thing, I am just getting into this cosmic sharing world but find myself utterly frustrated with iTunes and my new laptop - with little help on the Support pages, so i am venturing into the unkown and seeking help from anyone out there.........slightly scary for me, this really is my first post on a forum - so be gentle with me :0)
On my old steam driven laptop I had to move my iTunes library to an external hard drive, my 250MB hard drive just wasn't enough (I know pathetic wasn't it). All ok there and I have been using it no problem. I have now upgraded (finally!!) to a new wonderful laptop (with webcam and all sorts!)but I am at the end of my tether trying to get my iTunes library from my external hard drive to appear in the Library on the laptop. boo hoo.
I have tried changing the file location in the Advance section of preferences, i have tried choosing the library after holding down the shift key on start up (you see not a complete numpty). They all appear to work as i don't get any error messages, but the songs just don't appear in the library. Am i being a complete numb nuts here? what am i missing?
If anyone can help i would be really grateful as this is spoiling the euphoric feeling i have of my lovely new laptop!
cheers Latte

tonybassplayer wrote:
Thank Chris I have just done that. How do I now get them in to Itunes ?
If you simply copy the iTUnes folder to /Music/ and launch iTUnes, everythign will be there. No need to import anything.
This will work the same with iPhoto.
Simply copy the Photo library to /Pictures/ folder and launch iPhoto.

Migrating music to an external hard drive for access by Windows

Existing discussion thread link: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1715002?start=0&tstart=0
Hi,
I have a large (~212GB) iTunes music library that was created using iTunes on Windows. All music files, etc are held on an external drive. Now I want to be able to access my existing music library from my MacBook Pro running iTunes on OS X. When I launch iTunes I hit the key so I can select which library file it should use. I'm not currently able to select my iTunes library on the external hard disk.
I've tried following the steps covered in an existing discussion thread that I have found, Migrating music to an external hard drive for access by Windows & Mac, but that hasn't worked for me unfortunately. The linked post suggests renaming the library file (.itl) to remove its extension but the library is read-only. I've also tried doing the same when the external hard disk is connnected to my windows laptop and then switching back over to my MacBook Pro. But this has also not worked yet.
Any suggestions? Thanks.

Existing discussion thread link: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1715002?start=0&tstart=0
Hi,
I have a large (~212GB) iTunes music library that was created using iTunes on Windows. All music files, etc are held on an external drive. Now I want to be able to access my existing music library from my MacBook Pro running iTunes on OS X. When I launch iTunes I hit the key so I can select which library file it should use. I'm not currently able to select my iTunes library on the external hard disk.
I've tried following the steps covered in an existing discussion thread that I have found, Migrating music to an external hard drive for access by Windows & Mac, but that hasn't worked for me unfortunately. The linked post suggests renaming the library file (.itl) to remove its extension but the library is read-only. I've also tried doing the same when the external hard disk is connnected to my windows laptop and then switching back over to my MacBook Pro. But this has also not worked yet.
Any suggestions? Thanks.

Help me out plz Imac cant find my Hard drive

hello im new to imac so plz help me out here my imac specs:
model: MA199LL
intel based 1.83 core duo
160gb serial sata
My problem is i turn it on and pop up the question mark, i know that it mean that cant find my hard drive, i already tried to put the restore cds and goes fine till i need to select the destination to restore or install clean copy, my hard drive is not there i tried looking on disk utility nothing there, i tried cleanning the pram using command option P R, nothing still the same it just cant find my HDD, tried as well shutting off for 30min then turn back on again , nothing, i've seen some cases that ppl saying that they open the imac case and the hdd was umplugged? dont know if its possible dont know what else to do plz help me out? thx

What message are you receiving? You can find DiskWarrior at the Apple Store or here - http://www.alsoft.com/index.html. It's about $100US.
You can boot from the DiskWarrior CD - http://www.alsoft.com/DiskWarrior/details6.html
If DiskWarrior does not resolve the issue, then you can try an Apple Repair Station. You've lost nothing in your attempt to self-resolve because you should own the DiskWarrior software anyway.
Good Luck,
-d
Message was edited by: deviztate

I recently purchased a Mac Book Air and wanted to know what would be the best external hard drive to buy as far as the brand and GB or TB are concerned? I will basically just be storing music, papers, and a lot of pictures.

I recently purchased a Mac Book Air and wanted to know what would be the best external hard drive to buy as far as the brand and GB or TB are concerned? I will basically just be storing music, papers, and a lot of pictures. Also, how should I go about charging my computer? Should I wait until it is close to dying and then charge it?

I have had good success with HGST and Seagate HDDs. I suggest a HDD that is powered by the MBA eliminating the need for an AC cord. They now come up to 1.5 TB in capacity. In my opinion, one cannot have too much storage. If necessary, let your bank account be your guide.
Ciao.

Just got Prosoft drive genius 3 software, and it's telling me that the external hard drive that i am using for my time machine back up drive needs to be defragmented. is it wise to do this or should i not??

just got Prosoft drive genius 3 software, and it's telling me that the external hard drive that i am using for my time machine back up drive needs to be defragmented. is it wise to do this or should i not??

Let's hope a couple things: that you have bootable clones of your drives also; that the backup drive for TimeMachine has over 3x capacity of the data you plan and are storing. I would also switch TM backup drives so you have a 2nd.
Fragmented free space affecting performance happens when the drive is too full which may mean there isn't enough free space for a full backup set.
1.5TB for backing up 500GB, while WD Green 3TB is $140 and WD Black 1.5TB is, about the same price.
I'd be worried about the integrity and directory, and whether you can afford to lose that drive. Defragging is also a very slow operation. the ideal: to just clone a drive, or start over with another drive and wait. cloning TM volumes has not been done or has it? SuperDuper hoped to but I don't think they or Bombich's CCC made it there.
Trouble with highly fragged is when free space gets to 20% normally, 1/3 or so though for TM volumes, and finding where and a chunk of space for the file being written. Does TM use large spare image files of like 2GB?
Best would be to ask in the TimeMachine section Snow Leopard
https://discussions.apple.com/community/mac_os/mac_os_x_v10.6_snow_leopard?view= discussions#/?tagSet=1009
where there are some good FAQ and tutorials, and people that know the ins-and-outs and shortcomings.

Restore iPhotoLibrary specifically from EXTERNAL Hard drive Time Machine back up?

My laptop Photo Library is corrupted somehow. I tried to restore from a prior in Time Machine on laptop and made the mistake of not saying to keep BOTH copies, but after trying for 3 hours of telling me it was doing it through various windows, a little one popped open saying something about permissions and it opened an old iPhotoLibrary from 2 years ago! ... I do have that one now and am copying it off my laptop as fast as I can to FLICKR
cuz APPLE has become a PHOTO sinkhole... (We are talking 20,000 pics folks with scanned in family pics from 100 yrs ago!)
I think I have a good copy on my External Hard Drive Time Machine back up from about 3 weeks ago. How do I use that to Restore from
or should I just wait for this PHOTOS thing to come out?
NEXT Question is there a convenient way to split it into MULTIPLE ones..eg KEEP old stable photos in one or more.
and use another for all the new ones not editted or sorted yet? I do see there is a new Option under iPHOTO/File menu to just switch
libraries but, of course, you cant even see that if your Library wont open!

For TM help post in the forum for your OS - and see https://www.apple.com/support/timemachine/ and http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html and http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
Depends on undisclosed information
With the current OS and iPhoto you switch library using the switch library command - with any version you can switch libraries by holding the option key down while you launch iPhoto which brings up the select library window
And generally it is not a smart idea to have multiple iPhoto libraries - it generally has no advantages and makes things much more difficult and complicated and often leads to user errors that cause major problems
If you want to anyway the most convent way to split libraries is to use the paid version of iPhoto Library Manager - http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/ -
LN

HT201250 I want to add another external hard drive to be backed up by time machine how can I do this?

I recently had an external hard drive die on me. It had all my work files on it, so it was really important to me. When I went to retrieve the lost files from time machine, it didn't appear to have backed up anything from that external drive (and before anyone asks it's a different external drive to where my time machine files are backed up onto). I sent my old hard drive away to a data recovery company, and luckily they were able to retrieve all the data. Now I want to check that my new external hard drive does get backed up this time, but I can't seem to find out how to include this in the back up as it doesn't appear to be doing this automatically! Any ideas on how? Many thanks

Check System Preferences/Time Machine/Options to make sure the external drive isn't excluded.

Have old MacBook Pro running tiger 10.4 want to save date to external hard drive and buy newer MacBook and still use same drive. Any suggestions, most WD drives say nothing about os tiger 10.4.

Have old MacBook Pro running tiger 10.4 want to save date to external hard drive and buy newer MacBook and still use same drive. Any suggestions, most WD drives say nothing about os tiger 10.4. The OS compatibility is much newer on the data. Totally confused. Not a computer person.

I haven't checked reviews recently but there's a difference between bare drives and drives with enclosures. Western Digital made some of the most reliable drives last time I checked, though the enclosures weren't all that great. It is convenient to get both in one package but I usually buy a highly rated enclosure and then put a highly rated drive in it myself. OWC sells some good enclosures but if they put a so-so drive inside of it then the package is only as good as its weakest component. If you get a package from them, ask them what drive is inside (some vendors have no idea what's inside - went to an Apple Store recently and they couldn't tell me what was inside some of their Apple brand enclosures). My first thought if buying a new drive would be to buy a OWC enclosure with a WD drive, but chek around because I may be out of date.
10 years ago Seagate was one of the best drives. Now they rate poorly in reviews.

Do I need to keep my external hard drive connected at all times for time capsule?

Do I need to keep my external hard drive connected at all times for time capsule?

Hi,
I have a similar question. I have backed up my external hard drive through my computer, onto my TC. When I go into TM, it doesn't show the external hard drive unless it is connected to the computer. Can I access the info from the external hard drive that is on the TC if I don't have the hard drive plugged in? If so, how can I do that?
Thanks,
Bernadette

Migration Assistant cant find external hard drive Best Buy backed up for me when laptop crashed.

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