Migration Assistant issues and losing files (Mt. Lion on new hard drive)

I just, by either dumb error or providence, migrated the contents of my backed up hard drive, which has my Mt Lion and all applications folders, to a new hard drive. The old and original drive on my 2008 Quad Mac Pro was starting to worry me. All of the applications and systems files appeared to have migrated flawlessly, and my calendar updated and my 20,000+ emails were restored. All of the programs/applications work. Everything appears normal, except data and obvious missing files. (Note I had installed Mt. Lion over Leopard and Snow Leopard previously, and did not rewrite the drive before I did that.)
The size of this new drive is substantially less than the last one. On the latter, I counted more than 50 gigs of data, on the volume with all of the primary OSX documents. That is what I see in the Time Machine backup right before I did the Migration Assistant. The size of the same volume on the restored new hard drive that has my OSX is about 31 gigs.
I did NOT run (by accident and perhaps curiosity) the Time Machine restore backup using disk utilities. Again I did, by accident or curiosity) Migration Assistant.
What does appear lost are all of the Windows documents that were accessible on my portioned drive on my old hard drive, accessible only via VMWare. (I had all of those previously backed up, brute force, before doing this, and I'm not worried if I don't access them now since I have them if I need them). This was about 18 gigs of data I guess.
Does anyone else have experience with using Migration Assistant and losing files that may have been on a partitioned drive (running Windows) and accessible by VMWare? I can still rewrite over the new drive I just formatted and do it all over again using disk utilities and running this from a boot jump drive I created before, but this time using Restore/Time Machine. I just had heard from one source it was best to download Mountain Lion first, and then do a Time Machine restore, which I ended up actually not doing.
Thoughts appreciated.

Similar Messages

All of my computers have had hard drive issues and I can't authorize the new hard drive. What can I do?

I have itunes on 5 of by 8 computers and 6 of the 8 had hard drive issues.
I was unable to deauthorize any of the computers and now I can't watch or listen to any of the tings I've purchased from the iTunes store.
Help
Tsuki56

Can you not deauthorize all?

HT201250 My macbook pro crashed and I had to install a new hard drive. I restored from Time Machine backup all the files from my old hard drive onto my new one.

Does it really back up the whole new drive or does it only back up what's been added? It seemed like it was doing the whole thing when I tried it. I stopped it. Don't want to use up all the space on my external. Is there something else I need to do or did I mess up by not doing the migrating thing? thanks!

If you installed a new hard drive, it has nothing on it and yes TimeMachine is going to take forever to restore everything back.
I guess you'll have to erase and start over again now.
Too bad, you should have made bootable clones in addition to TimeMachine, they can restore in a hour or two depending upon content, they are also option key bootable.
TimeMachine has to go through and calculate all the files it needs to bring forward, the files are strewn all over the drive. The read heads are moving all over the platters all the time from fast sectors to slow ones, not matching what's occuring on the internal drive.
With a clone the files are defragmented and optimized, the drive reads one file, moves the heads a tiny bit and reads the next all the while transferring exactly to the internal drive, they are more in step with one another, thus it's much faster restoring from a clone than TM.
Most commonly used backup methods

How to add files from iPod to new hard drive after krasch?

My hard drive recently crasched. I use my iPod as back up. But now, I cannot find out how to copy the files back to the new hard drive on the computor. The iTune program only advices me to delite all information on the iPod to substitute it with the much lesser library on the computer. Obviously it must be possible to copy in both directions. But how do I do it?
Dell Latitude Windows XP Pro

bebelyn wrote:
Thank you for your advise. That's one thing I learned. Not to assume that people know about backing up. I would have recommended it a long time ago. That's one thing that Apple or other computer stores should offer, external backup package or combo to make people aware of it's importance. Just a thought!
Anyway, I do have a little background in troubleshooting. I thought it's a Mac security issue. I would want to try other options before deciding in opening the computer and taking out thehard drive as it is not as convenient as opening a PC.
Apple does make external hard drives available at the Apple Store, however it is an end users responsibility to backup their system. Apple does offer classes to new users and their 1:1 service too, whether the subject of backing up is mentioned in these I do not know. The subject of backing up as a class "subject" may be something you may want to mention to Apple a www.apple.com/feedback.
Many users go through the same pain as your friend, myself included! However once you go through the pain, it is a lesson seldom forgotten.
Many experiences users on these forums have redundant methods of backing up. When it comes to backing up redundancy is wise, why because a backup can (and often do) fail too. For example, in addition to using Time Machine, I also have another EHD that I use to create a bootable clone of my computer. That way if both my internal drive and TM back fails the worst that will happen is I have a system I can boot from that is a day or so old and continue running until I get all my systems fixed.

How can i backup my iPod Touch 4g and save my apps onto a new hard drive without having to save onto the current hard drive first?

How can i backup my iPod Touch 4g and save my apps onto a new hard drive without having to save onto the current hard drive first?
My current hard drive is filled up and i'm going to buy a new, bigger hard drive. How can i change the save and backup destination for iTunes so i can backup and transfer my purchases(apps) onto the new hard drive? Without having to backup and save my apps onto the current hard drive because there's no space left on it. Thanks!

have you tried following the steps given here on the apple's knowledge base site may be they can help you
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1414
here is a video from youtube as well
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wH_1qkHkZi0
also this tutorial
http://www.imore.com/how-to-setup-backup-restore-update-use-icloud

My laptop crashed and I had to get a new hard drive. How do I get the music from my Ipod back into my itunes library?

My laptop crashed and I had to get a new hard drive. How do I get the music from my iPod back into iTunes Library?

See this excellent user tip from another forum member turingtest2 outlining the different methods and software available to help you copy content from your iPod back to your PC and into iTunes.
Recovering your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device
B-rock

I had Iphoto on my computer when i bought it and now had to reinstall a new hard drive do i have to buy it again?

I had Iphoto on my computer when i bought it and now had to reinstall a new hard drive do i have to buy it again?

reinstall from the original source
Could be
1 - the restore disks that came with the computer
or
2 - the iLife DVD that you purchased
or
3 - the app store - log in under the Apple id used to purchase the software or to set up the computer - look under purchases - you might have to unhide or accept the Application first
LN

Recent Migration Assistant issue and question

Just purchased a MacBook Pro and DID NOT utilize the MIGRATION ASSISTANT at startup and initial set-up. Wish I would have. I did not have FIREWIRE with me to accomplish.
Anyhow - went ahead and initialized start-up and registration ect.
Just did a complete MIGRATION from my older eMac that is updated with OSX Leopard via FIREWIRE tonight - two days later. Had to rename my USER FOLDER to be different as the name I have established on the new MBP.
It MIGRATED the entire HD off the eMAC as expected quickly and easily I might add.
I assumed it merged the new APPLICATIONS such as SAFARI - iTUNES ect... and simply updated them on the MBP Hard drive.
Not the case - it seems that I have two different versions of each application file - new and old - and for example iTunes using old LOG IN file transferred my iTunes Library - but when I LOG OFF and log back on using the new USER NAME - my iTunes does not show my old Music Library ect...
Same thing with SAFARI - the old application has all the previous bookmarks ect...but not the newer version.
I even have two different DESKTOP BACKGROUNDS with my two different USER Files folder ID's. The DOCKS are different with both USER files also - different shortcut icons showing up in each.
WEIRD?!?
I have my PALM PILOT application that transferred as well and I had previously installed the software this morning so now I have two different PALM applications.
QUESTION: - What or How do I merge these two into one single DESKTOP or am I forced to toggle back and forth by logging on and off under two different user names ect.?
What about iTunes and Safari - is there anyway to merge them into one functioning application instead of two. Any way to DISCARD or TRASH one and still leave the other intact?
Do I actually have two program applications now installed on the HD? I looked in the Application on HD and only one Safari, iTunes, Palm Pilot ect...show up there.
Need help!
Chris Kaiser

Not weird at all. You migrated a PPC system to an Intel system. A perfect situation for disaster. You have but one viable option.
Boot from the OS X Installer Disc One that came with your MBP. Do an Erase and Install which will wipe the disk clean and reinstall the proper version of OS X for the computer.
When this is completed reinstall all your third-party software from scratch. If you have PPC only versions then upgrade them to Intel versions if you can. All third-party contextual menu items, preference panes, startup items, internet plug-ins, and the like must be replaced with universal binaries as the PPC versions will not work and may crash OS X.
You can reinstall pre-bundled software from the Install Pre-bundled Software installer located on the OS X Installer Disc One.
A Basic Guide for Migrating to Intel-Macs
If you are migrating a PowerPC system (G3, G4, or G5) to an Intel-Mac be careful what you migrate. Keep in mind that some items that may get transferred will not work on Intel machines and may end up causing your computer's operating system to malfunction.
Rosetta supports "software that runs on the PowerPC G3 or G4 processor that are built for Mac OS X". This excludes the items that are not universal binaries or simply will not work in Rosetta:
Classic Environment, and subsequently any Mac OS 9 or earlier applications
Screensavers written for the PowerPC
System Preference add-ons
All Unsanity Haxies
Browser and other plug-ins
Contextual Menu Items
Applications which specifically require the PowerPC G5
Kernel extensions
Java applications with JNI (PowerPC) libraries
See also What Can Be Translated by Rosetta.
In addition to the above you could also have problems with migrated cache files and/or cache files containing code that is incompatible.
If you migrate a user folder that contains any of these items, you may find that your Intel-Mac is malfunctioning. It would be wise to take care when migrating your systems from a PowerPC platform to an Intel-Mac platform to assure that you do not migrate these incompatible items.
If you have problems with applications not working, then completely uninstall said application and reinstall it from scratch. Take great care with Java applications and Java-based Peer-to-Peer applications. Many Java apps will not work on Intel-Macs as they are currently compiled. As of this time Limewire, Cabos, and Acquisition are available as universal binaries. Do not install browser plug-ins such as Flash or Shockwave from downloaded installers unless they are universal binaries. The version of OS X installed on your Intel-Mac comes with special compatible versions of Flash and Shockwave plug-ins for use with your browser.
The same problem will exist for any hardware drivers such as mouse software unless the drivers have been compiled as universal binaries. For third-party mice the current choices are USB Overdrive or SteerMouse. Contact the developer or manufacturer of your third-party mouse software to find out when a universal binary version will be available.
Also be careful with some backup utilities and third-party disk repair utilities. Disk Warrior 4.1, TechTool Pro 4.6.1, SuperDuper 2.5, and Drive Genius 2.0.2 work properly on Intel-Macs with Leopard. The same caution may apply to the many "maintenance" utilities that have not yet been converted to universal binaries. Leopard Cache Cleaner, Onyx, TinkerTool System, and Cocktail are now compatible with Leopard.
Before migrating or installing software on your Intel-Mac check MacFixit's Rosetta Compatibility Index.
Additional links that will be helpful to new Intel-Mac users:
Intel In Macs
Apple Guide to Universal Applications
MacInTouch List of Compatible Universal Binaries
MacInTouch List of Rosetta Compatible Applications
MacUpdate List of Intel-Compatible Software
Transferring data with Setup Assistant - Migration Assistant FAQ
Because Migration Assistant isn't the ideal way to migrate from PowerPC to Intel Macs, using Target Disk Mode or copying the critical contents to CD and DVD or an external hard drive will work better when moving from PowerPC to Intel Macs.
Basically the instructions you should follow are:
1. Backup your data first. This is vitally important in case you make a mistake or there's some other problem.
2. Connect a Firewire cable between your old Mac and your new Intel Mac.
3. Startup your old Mac in Target Disk Mode.
4. Startup your new Mac for the first time, go through the setup and registration screens, but do NOT migrate data over. Get to your desktop on the new Mac without migrating any new data over.
4. Copy the following items from your old Mac to the new Mac:
In your /Home/ folder: Documents, Movies, Music, Pictures, and Sites folders.
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)
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
Credit goes to another forum user for this information.
If you need to transfer data for other applications please ask the vendor or ask in the Discussions where specific applications store their data.
5. Once you have transferred what you need restart the new Mac and test to make sure the contents are there for each of the applications.
Written by Kappy with additional contributions from a brody.
Revised 3/12/2008
In the future you should post questions about the MBP in the MacBook Pro forum. This is the Mac Pro forum.
Message was edited by: Kappy

Can't install mountain lion onto new hard drive after old one had to be replaced

My macbook pro, purchased 12/11, had a faulty hard drive. We thankfully were still under warranty and had it replaced. I then accessed the old drive via USB connector to reinstall my pictures and some file folders and apps to the new hard drive. Now I am trying to reinstall the mountain lion update, and it says I can't install the the hard drive that appears as a choice as I use it for time machine backups? Also, when the laptop tries to do a time machine backup, that stalls out as it says the hard drive is on the do not back up list, which incidentally won't let me select it to take it off of the do not back up list. Help!!!

Have you followed these instructions, specifically formatting your new HDD?
http://support.apple.com/kb/ph11273
Ciao.

How do I download mountain lion onto new hard drive

My IMac 2.4 mid 2007 was starting to get very slow in opening applications. I rebooted the machine, it displayed the apple and then a circle with a line through it and would go no further. I have put it down to the hard drive, and have purchased a new one. My question is, how do I install mountain lion that I have already purchased to the new hard drive. I would appreciate any help on the matter

You need to get your computer up to at least 10.6, using the original installer for your Mac, or a retail copy of 10.6.3. Then update to 10.6.8, and using the App Store, sign in with your AppleID, go to Purchases, and re-download and install 10.8.
Matt

How can I reinstall Mountain Lion on new hard drive?

I've had to install a new hard drive as old one was failing.
Have loaded Snow Leopard from disc onto the new drive but can't install Mountain Lion which I was running prior to drive failure; very frustrated.
Have tried several options.
1. Tried to reboot from OS X Utilities but whenever I restart, holding the cmd + R keys, I can only ever get the standard screen. I've tried pressing keys early in restart, later in restart, keys on either side of the keyboard, cmd + alt/option + R but still can't get to the OS X Utilities.
2. Having given up on 1 I've tried to download ML from my purchase history in iTunes. I can see the purchase recorded but there appears to be no way to get to a reload option - at least not in the iTunes loaded from Snow Leopard
3. I tried downloading ML updates, hoping that might allow me to bypass 1 and 2. The download wasn't recognised by my machine.
4. I've be willing to just buy the **** OS again from scratch but iTunes won't allow me to do that either, at least not using my current Apple ID.
Does anyone have any bright ideas? I hate bloody computers.
Mike

enigmatix wrote:
Csound,
Do you have any suggestions why I can't open OS X Utilities.
Thanks,
Mike
How old is your Mac, if it came with 10.6 installed it is too old to have Internet Recovery (command-option-R) And as it has a new hard drive you won't be able to use Recovery (command-R) either until a new copy of Mountain Lion is installed and ceates a recovery partition on the drive.

Problems installing OS I have an iMac 21.5 (Mid-2010) and in trying to load a new hard drive, after choosing the installation disk the apple logo comes up and then stops and the keyboard and mouse goes dead. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Problems installing OS
I have an iMac 21.5 (mid-2010) and I'm trying to install a new hard drive. When I choose the installation disk the Apple logo comes up and it stops there. Then the mouse and keyboard goes dead. I'm trying to install 10.6. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Since you have a new hard drive, there is nothing on it, so you need to boot from an external source (and probably format the hard drive before installing an OS). Are you booting from the 10.6 install disk? Better yet - do you have a bootable backup clone or at least a Time Machine backup?

Migration Assistant Issues and Tips

So I had to restore my MacBook Pro after it didn't shut down properly and wouldn't start up.
I'm using Lion, latest patches.
I wanted to share what I've learned in the event someone encounters a similar situation like I did.
I tried searching Communities but I couldn't find much that helped me out.
Operating system wouldn't load at all.
I am using a Time Capsule with Time Machine.
If you are trying to restore from Time Machine (and you had to reload the OS) I suggest reloading it after you've logged in.
When you are prompted to create a user account, do not create one with the same name you used before. Create a
temporary account and call it temp.
Use the temp account to restore only the Users first. Do not select any other options like Applications, Settings and Other Files.
(Doing this can leave you in the dreaded 'Transferring files to support applications' hanging forever state - I figured out what causes this which
I will explain later)
The restore of Users from Time Machine/Time Capsule was successful for me.
I then re-started my laptop and pressed the 'Option' key during start up to get in to the recovery drive. I am doing this only to access the disk
utility to 'Verify and Repair permissions'. - Which needed to be done as it reported some permissions needed to be fixed.
I then rebooted back into Lion.
I installed EACH section one by one.
I chose not to restore Applications. I have a list of all the programs I've installed - luckily - and I have the original disks so I can re-install them. I think you can restore Applications successfully despite what some people have reported/suggested.
The reason why I restored each item, Users, Applications, Settings, Other FIles, one by one is because I was running into an issue. I was running into an issue when I tried restoring all 4 options mentioned above.
I found out one of the things that causes the 'Transferring files to support application' status message to hang there forever. It would cause Migration Assistant to run and never completely shut down on its own. I opened up Activity Monitor and found that after Migration Tool and Migration Assistant are done their thing, a program called 'SHOVE' runs. And it runs FOREVER. It won't stop. It sucked up my CPU usage too. I also had my Console open and was watching 'All Messages', and I could see that SHOVE was doing something with temp files, but it was never stopping.
--- I believe restoring the option 'Other Files' is what causes the 'Transferring files to support application' hanging. So don't restore that. Or if you really want to restore it, open up activity monitor and watch for the SHOVE process. I co-related it with the Disk Activity tool, once I saw Disk Activity DROP, either flat line or become really low then that's when I Force Quit the SHOVE process.
If you use Activity Monitor to Force Quit the SHOVE process, then Migration Tool and Migration Assistant will finally say that everything has been restored - BUT BUT BUT. It doesn't do so if you tried to restore everything all at once. Even after I rebooted. You MUST restore each item separately.
After I used Activity Monitor to force quit the SHOVE process, I noticed in my Console/All Messages reported that Migration Assistant exited properly.

BA88 wrote:
Hi,
Hi and welcome to the forums.
What I am trying to do is migrate all of my old stuff, from a hard drive image on an external hard drive (firewire).
How was that made? Is it really an image, or a backup of some sort (Time Machine, CarbonCopyCloner, SuperDuper, the Restore tab of Disk Utility, etc.)?
I get a network error. I have tried migrating whilst still in the boot mode on the OXS DVD
That's via +Setup Assistant+ when it first starts up, per [Using Setup Assistant|http://web.me.com/pondini/AppleTips/SetupAsst.html]?
I don't understand why you're getting a network error if you're migrating from a FireWire drive. Are you sure the connections are snug and secure? Have you tried a different FireWire cable?

Time Machine and File Transfer to a new hard drive -- Permissions

24May2011
Apple Discussions:
        I have a 2 TByte external hard drive that I use to back up a 1TB internal hard drive. I use time machine.
        I got a serious warning that my 2 TB drive is going bad and i need to reformat the disk AFTER I store the files on the drive.
        I bought a new 3TByte external hard drive. I copied some important non-Backup files from the defective 2TB drive, but I can not move the backup folders. I do not have permissions to copy the backup directory.
        I want to transfer ALL the data from the 2 TB drive to the new 3 TB drive. Then re-format the 2TB and use that for file storage. I want to use the copied back up folder on the 3TB and use teh 3TB to for time machine backups.
        I tried to change the permission on the Backup Directory on the 2TB. It has been two days and I have no indication that anything other than the horizonal barber pole is happening.
        How do I copy the back up folder to the new 3TB so I don't loose any old files Ihad backed up on the defective 2TB.
        Thank you for your help.

Sure that's pretty simple to do. Follow this link for the step by step instructions.
I used it about a year ago and it worked like a charm.
Regards,
Roger

HT4461 Hello I have just installed my license for OS v 10.6.3 and installed the upgrades on a new hard drive. I would like to upgrade to my license for Lion. How do I do this (through the Apple Store I guess). Cheers

Hello, I have just installed my license for Mac OS v 10.6.3 and installed updates including security updates.
I have a licence for Lion that is sitting on Apples computer somewhere.
How do I access my account and install Lion on my machine?
Beyond that I want to upgrade to Maverick but given I work out the first step upgrading to Maverick should be easy.
Thanks, Julian R A

Welcome to Apple Support Communities
OS X Lion could be purchased from the Mac App Store (and now, at the Apple Online Store). Once you purchase it, you can download it as many times as you want for free.
Open  > Software Update, and install the most recent Mac OS X version. It should be Mac OS X 10.6.6 or newer. Then, open the Mac App Store, go to Purchases, log in with your Apple ID and download OS X Lion. Make a backup before upgrading and check that your apps are compatible > http://www.roaringapps.com
You can upgrade to OS X Mavericks from Mac OS X 10.6.6 or newer without any problem, so upgrading to OS X Lion first is a waste of time. Open the Mac App Store and download OS X Mavericks

Migration Assistant issues and losing files (Mt. Lion on new hard drive)

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for