Migration Assistant - External Hard Drive

Hi - I am trying to use Migration Assistant on a MacBook Pro to transfer my files from a La Cie external hard drive - which has all my files backed up from a 2005 mac book (photos, music etc) The migration assistant does not recognise the LaCie Hard Drive although it is connected to the MacBook via a cable and I can see the Hard Drive & associated files on the desk top.

Here's a link to Kappy's Basic Guide for Migrating to Intel Macs:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=435350&tstart=0
I'm not sure that Migration Assistant would be the best choice for what you want to do.
Good luck!

Similar Messages

Migration Assistant didn't migrate from external hard drive.

I selected copy applications and not copy files. It did something for over an hour but I'm not sure exactly what. It did copy MS OFfice which I already installed maybe a few other programs like Bbedit which was good but I need Quicken and Quickbooks apps which I will just reinstall from the CD.
Is there a way to uninstall programs or do you just delete them?
I wanted the email contacts from Mail and also from Entourage. It did not copy those lists, neither did it give me my iTunes music. Shouldn't Apple be able to get those contacts lists and the iTunes merged into the new computer apps? I also need the Quicken and Quickbooks data but there is probably a backup somewhere on the hard drive. I will look for it.
I would be satisfied with my emails and contacts. Maybe it can't do it from an external hard drive? In any case as I mentioned in another post. I had a g4 with a dead logic board so I took out the hard drive and put it in an external drive.
then I got a used g5 and now I want to transfer the address books and itunes from the external drive into the g5. How do I get that? Do I get it from a preferences file? Where is it? Is it in app data or in a plist somewhere?
I need my address books and I would also like to get all my old emails from both programs. THANKS,

The reason those components weren't copied is because they are not in the Applications folder. Those files that contain you mail, bookmarks, Entrourage data, iTunes library, etc. are all located in your Home folder and /Home/Library/ folder. Since you didn't copy any of that they are now missing.
Fortunately, this is not a disaster, but it will require some manual copying on your part. The following will outline what you want to transfer from the external drive:
Folders You Can Move to Your new Mac
From the Home folder copy the contents of Documents, Movies, Music, Pictures, and Sites.
In your /Home/Library/ folder:
/Home/Library/Application Support/AddressBook (copy the whole folder)
/Home/Library/Application Support/iCal (copy the whole folder)
Also in /Home/Library/Application Support (copy whatever else you need including folders for any third-party applications)
/Home/Library/Keychains (copy the whole folder)
/Home/Library/Mail (copy the whole folder)
/Home/Library/Preferences/ (copy the whole folder)
/Home /Library/iTunes (copy the whole folder)
/Home /Library/Safari (copy the whole folder)
/Home /Library/Calendars (copy the whole folder)
If you want cookies:
/Home/Library/Cookies/Cookies.plist
/Home/Library/Application Support/WebFoundation/HTTPCookies.plist
For Entourage users:
Entourage is in /Home/Documents/Microsoft User Data
Also in /Home/Library/Preferences/Microsoft
For FireFox:
/Home/Library/Applications Support/FireFox
/Home/Library/Preferences/org.mozilla.firefox.plist
Credit goes Macjack for this information.

Upgrading: Migration Assistant & External Firewire Drive w/ Image

Hello, and thanks in advance for your guidance with this inquiry! I am considering upgrading from my PowerBook 12" to a current MacBook Pro 13": If I back up the PowerBook to an image via Disk Utility or SuperDuper and onto an external firewire drive and restore it there, will I be able to then use Migration Assistant to transfer that data to the MacBook-or can Migration Assistant be used only to transfer data directly between the two laptops? Thanks again so much, and a quick reply is especially appreciated since I may be selling my PowerBook tonight! : )
Best Regards,
Robert

Migration Assistant offers the option of migrating data from "Another volume" or something like that, which includes external hard drives. I used that option to migrate data from an external USB drive to my daughter's new unibody MacBook last December, when it proved impossible to migrate directly via Ethernet or FireWire connection from her old Powerbook running Panther. We cloned her internal drive to the USB drive using SuperDuper, and then the migration from that drive worked flawlessly.

Migration from external hard drive

Hi everyone,
Im planning on upgrading to a MacBook Air 13' from MacBook (Late 06 running 10.7.5)
I would like to know if I unmounted my MB hard drive from the computer and put it in an enclosure with USB connection.
Would I be able to use Migration Assistant on the MBA with selecting Time Machine or other discs? Is this method considered as a 'clone' as I have read in several comments in this forum?
If not, is drag and drop the best option for me if it must be USB connecting method?
What I am mostly interested in moving over from the enclosed HD to MBA are :
Some applications (Hoping I can just migrate and use it on MBA as left off from MB)
Settings for the OS X such as Wifi Passwords,
iTunes - Music/iPhone back up/iPhone Apps
Documents
Thanks in advance!

Your idea of removing the MacBook hard drive and placing it into an external enclosure is not a clone but it will work. A clone is an exact copy of your computer's hard drive. You'd be using the hard drive itself. Since the MacBook's hard drive is easy to access and is a user upgradeable component there's no problem. But I think a better idea would be to purchase a USB external hard drive (assuming you don't already own one) and back up your MacBook with it using TimeMachine (or a clone program like SuperDuper!) and then migrate using it.
After migrating you will have to re-enter your passwords for email and you may have to reserialize a few programs. Depending on how you've been keeping up to date some of your software may need to be updated.

Migrating via external hard drive doesn't work

I'm migrating from a Powerbook G4 to an iMac G5. For iTunes, I copied all data onto an external hard drive and connected that to the new iMac. But I can neither import the files via the "add to library"* command in iTunes nor can I simply copy the files onto the hard drive of the new iMac. The error message is always the same: "The attempt to copy onto the volume "Macintosh HD" failed. This medium is neither readable nor writable."* Needless to say, that I don't have any problems with the hard drive except for this one. Why is that so?
*This is the translation of the German command/message - the English version actually might be slightly different.

Maverick,
Assuming that you're using the standard paths on your PB G4:
Just go to your user directory / Music: Copy the complete "iTunes" folder with all its content & all subfolder to your external disk.
On your G5 also go to your user directory / Music: Now replace the "iTunes" folder with the copy on your ext. disk.
Using this procedure all your playlists/playcounts ... will be migrated as well.
Wenn's komplizierter werden sollte, schick mir einfach eine private Mail an: [email protected]

How do I use migration assistance with hard drive reader for dead macbook

Hi,
My old mac laptop died without warning.
I took it to the apple store and they suggested getting a hard drive reader and using that to transfer
across my files.
I've connected it up and have requested the migration assistant to transfer the files. Last night it
said it would 27 hours to transfer and now this morning it is saying 72 hours. This seems to
be a very long time - is it correct? Can I make it go faster or is there another way?
I've got a bit of music on there but nothing excessive. I do have about 15,000 photos though.
I'm not very techy so any assistance would be very helpful
Thanks
Sarah

Hi, that's far to long, unless maybe it's USB1.1 speed.
If USB2 or Firewire, I'd start ober & try Disk utility>Repair Disk on the external drive.

Migration Assistant Issue - Hard Drive Memory Related

I've been trying several days to migrate my system from a 2009 iMac to a new MacMini with no success. I've tried Migration Assistant over WiFi, Ethernet to my AirPort images and directly in Target Disk mode (Firewire 800). Both machines are current and running 10.10.1.
When I first launched Migration Assistant on both machines the old iMac never sees the MacMini although the MacMini sees the iMac and generates the six-digit code.
I next tried connecting to the Time Machine backup of the iMac and encountered the persistent fault that I can't seem to solve. I can find the server and files but once I get to the screen where it asks what files to Migrate it always calculates not enough space to move the files. The MacMini has 846 GB available and I'd like to move 338 GB over from the iMac. I have no clue what is causing this.
When I deselect items such as Photos and Music nothing changes, in fact I can deselect all but 100 MB and it still says there's not enough Hard Drive space on the MacMini. I've made sure that there isn't a same user name and run Disk Utility Disk Permissions many times to ensure the hardware is good.
I manually moved the Music and Pictures and reduced the Time Machine image size to under 250 GB but I still get the same message each and every time. After spending $30 today on a Firewire 800 cable I'm at my wits end. Can anyone suggest where to go next? I've looked at the console log and don't see anything that can point me in the next direction...
Should I get on the console and call the Setup Assistant and erase my machine after I've taken hours to transfer the Pics and Music or is there a better way?

What data do you actually want to migrate? Is it just 'user data' or applications & other files?
For a user data only migration
If the iMac is still setup with the user account I would forget about the Time Machine disk or using Migration Assistant and try a manual migration. It is an involved process, but if the files copy OK you can create the user account & it should be fine.
Start the old iMac in a normal boot, login as an admin user, ideally in an account you do not want to transfer to the Mini (create a new one if you need).
Boot the Mini in Target Disk Mode and attach to the iMac.
You need to copy the desired user home folder(s) from the iMac into the /Users folder on the Mini.
Assuming this file copy works (it's unclear if the issues in MA are due to problems in your file systems) you can disconnect the Mini & reboot it.
If the copy fails use recovery mode to repair both Macs - repair the filesystem & permissions in Disk Utility & retry.
On the Mini open 'System Preferences > Users & groups' and authenticate. Double check the name of the user folder you copied over, this is the users 'short name' a.k.a 'Account name' it must not contain any spaces, the 'Full name' can have spaces.
Create a new user with the 'foldername' as the 'Account name'. If it is correct you will be prompted to 'use existing folder'.
Agree to use that folder & the OS will make the new user & assign the correct permissions to that home folder. If you get no prompt double check the name matches the folder in /Users.
Repeat for any other user accounts.
Reboot the Mini & try to log in as the new user.
I would not attempt to migrate applications via this method - too many files can be scattered all over the disk by Application installers, it's simpler to reinstall using the installers, grab new copies from the developer or from the App Store etc.
Network & System settings will also be left behind & iTunes will require you to authorise the Mac, but most other things should be fine inside the migrated user account.
If you are uncertain ask & I'll try to clarify, as ever backup important data before you begin, disconnect the backups to reduce the risk of accidentally deleting the wrong thing & good luck

I transferred data from my external hard drive to my restored Mac Book Pro via migration assistant and now my external hard drive in time capsule has red minus signs. How do I get rid of that without getting rid of any of my data?

I used Migration Assistant to transfer my data from my external hard drive via Time Capsule to my restored Mac Book Pro. When I now go into Time Capsule I there are red minus signs in the corner of all the folders that are contained in my back up. How do I get rid of this and access my previous back-ups?

Select the drive and Finder > Get info and at the bottom "ignore permissions on this volume"
You can copy the files, but the ownership on the files still belongs to the other user account, once your done copying, then perform a #6 Reset Users Permissions and that will set all the ownership to that account.
..Step by Step to fix your Mac
Another method is to copy the entire folder, then change it's permissions.

I'm attempting to transfer files, address book, etc from an external hard drive to my new Mac-mini using migration assistant. The external drive is showing up on my desktop but Migration Assistant is not seeing the drive when searching for devices

I'm attempting to migrate files, address book, maile, etc to my new Mac Mini using an external hard drive and Migration assistant. I followed the instructions on using Migration Assistant to do this but Migration Assistant is not seeing the external drive, which is displayed on my desktop

I've been chasing this problem all afternoon. I had to reformat my internal drive on my MBP and reinstall Mountain Lion Start up assistant wouldn't see my extrnal drive with the Time Machine files on it. After many tries, I skipped the restore there and let the system boot. I could see my external drive from Finder and the files looked OK. I was told to use Migration Assistant and it had the same problem.
I saw a hint on one of these posts that the icon that you see and is label Macintosh HD is actually your backup disk and it is telling you that it has a copy of your internal Macintosh HD. I went ahead and told it to continue and it started to restore my apps, settings, and documents. It's been going for a couple of hours, and is close to being done. I expect to see my old system restored when it is finished.
Wish that Apple would put some type of note that it is seeing the backup. That is most confusing and seems to be a problem for lots of users.
It's been a month or so since your post Did your get it to work?

Mac air with external hard drive - not being found on Finder, Time Machine, Migration Assistant

I have been using an external drive (Imation Apollo) to access only, old files from previous computer (PC) on a new Mac Air. I had not transferred them across to new computer (didn't want to do that) just accessing them from the HD. It had been working fine until recently. Each time the external drive had been connected Time Machine would come up and ask if i wanted to use this drive for back ups, and I always chose 'Decide later'. So, as yetI hadn't as yet configured Time Machine to do back ups.
Recently I noticed that the extrnal HD was no longer showing up on Finder. Slight panic as i have 5 or 6 yrs of work saved on that HD
Further investigations - it's also not showing up either on on Disk Utility, or on Migration Assistant.
I've done the following:
Tried HD in each of different USB ports - made no difference, HD still not showing up
Tested different Hubs in each port with HD attached - no difference HD not showing up
Tried USB flash drives in the USB ports - These are working fine and show up on finder
Tried the HD on other comptuters (a PC though, don't have access to another mac to do this test)- working fine, the HD is showing up and is accessable
Interrogated the Console logs to try to see if the act of attaching the HD creates a log entry - couldn't find anything
Rebooted computer via shut down, power disconnect - no difference
Reset PRAM - no difference still not showing up
Reset SMC - no differnce still not showing up
So I think I have established that all the USB ports are functioning correctly and able to access other external drive devices, using hubs with external powersource is not the issue, identified that the external hard drive is working OK, and it appears that the Mac itself is functioning normally.
What would be the reason the Mac now does not allow this specific external HD to be identified and accessed. The only possible things I can think of are
if I had in fact pressed 'Do not use' when Time Machine asked 'do you want to use this drive for back ups'. Would that mean that the Mac now totally rejects this HD from being a source of accessible files - I hope not!
I also think that my husband may have disconnected the hard drive from my computer to access some stuff and he just yanked it out rather than use the safe eject method. Could this create an issue? The Hard drive works fine on his PC.
Why is my Mac Air now rejecting this HD and what can I do to access my historical files now.
Any assistance anyone can provide would be very greatly appreciated!
Thanks
Anna

I can't answer why it isn't accessing it, but I have a slightly related issue w my back up drive starting to get noisy.
Realizing that redundancy is safety for critical data. I talked to my brother about my situation the other day & he said he has 3 small Western Digital portable HDs that he rotates for backup. He even keeps 1 in the safe deposit box.
I have read for some time that we should have multiple back ups & also have our critical stuff backed up off site. Amazon HD reviews had a woman telling about how she was very backed up on multiple computers & hard drives, but they were robbed or burgeled & all of them were stolen including her thesis that was on the computers.
Hard drives aren't that expensive. I just bought a new Western Digital 1 TB drive for $89.99. I plan to use it to back up the Seagate that is getting noisy & then maybe alternate them.
Also, when I came back to Mac, I moved practially all of my documents to Mac. I think I just dragged & dropped or something. Photos, Office, & pdfs do fine that way. & then you could back them up to a couple of different external drives & remove from your MacBookAir.
Unfortunately I think most of us do not back up until crisis & then it may be too late.
Also use Time Machine. For the 1st time in my computer life, my computer is well backed up--although now realizing the need for redundancy so will start backing up to at least 2 different HDs alternatly.
So, not sure why it isn't working & hopefully you have come up w a solution by now.
I think what I would do in a situation like this, since you can access it on the Windows machine would be to transfer the data to the Windows machine & then transfer it back to a different back up.
I'm looking into backing up what I still have in Windows using a thumb flash drive. I think it should all fit ok now that they have the larger drives & I don't have very much left in Windows format.

Can i use windows migration assistant to transfer files from my windows formatted external hard drive to my mac?

I have a windows formatted external hard drive and a macbook pro. I was wondering if i could use the windows migration assistant to transfer files from my external hard drive to the mac

No.
Just connect the drive to your Mac. The Mac can read most Windows formats (it cannot WRITE Windows New Technology File System (NTFS) formatted drives.

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.

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.

Migration assistant does not recognize external hard drive

I just had a new hard drive placed in my computer, and am trying to restore my old data using an external hard drive and migration assistant. However, after I click on transfer from time machine or disk, the external hard drive is not recognized. Help.

Boot into Recovery from the backup drive by holding down the option key at the startup chime. Select Restore from Time Machine. If that doesn't work, install OS X and then follow the prompts to transfer your data from a backup. If that too doesn't work, set up an account and then restore your data in the time-travel interface.

Mac does not transfer data from external hard drive when first set up and isn't listed on migration assistant

I've just had a new hard drive in my MacBook, luckily I had backed up everything on my external hard drive.
I've just got home and my MacBook set up as a new one and asked me if I wanted to transfer my old data from an external device. I clicked this option, and a box appeared with me to choose my device so I plugged it in and nothing. It was not listed so I couldn't continue. I clicked go back to continue without transferring any data and tried to use migration assistant. I plugged in my external HD again and it was recognised on the desktop with me being able to open it and see my old document, folders and iTunes etc.
I went on to migration assistant and that came up with much the same choice as the first time so I chose the option again to transfer information from my "other device" again there was an empty box so I cannot choose my device.
I then thought maybe I would need to install snow leopard again as when I got the computer back it was only running leopard and when I previously backed up my mac it was running snow leopard.
So I've now got in my snow leopard disk and put in my password to install leopard and it's not installing!
I'm very frustrated and now it's too late to call apple!
Any help would be appreciated. I don't want to go back to the store again as its 30 miles away!
Thankyou
Vicki

Thanks for the quick reply, Kappy. I did use Carbon Copy Cloner. When I returned the cloned data to the new hard drive I tried starting the computer and I got the logo and the spinning gear. It did not go any further. I also tried starting in safe mode and it would not go to safe mode. I have other bootable volumes on the external drive that I cloned the data to. When I tried migration assistant it would not list the volume that I cloned from the failed hard drive. I can see the users desk top, documents, pictures from the cloned drive.

Migration Assistant - External Hard Drive

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