Migration Assistant or Fresh Install?

Getting ready to upgrade my iMac. I'd like to get some thoughts on using Migration Assistant for the new iMac VS. starting from scratch and reinstalling mountains of software, preferences, etc.
My home desktop computer is also my editing bay. I have used Migration Assistant probably since 2007, and have upgraded my computer every 12-18 months since then. No telling how much stuff is still lingering around from 2007.
So... make a new clone of this machine and save days of rebuilding time or are clones super reliable?

Clones are reliable and since Migration Assistant occasionally doesn't work properly, I'd go with a clone.

Similar Messages

Migration to a fresh install?

I was away from a computer for the better part of a year and now it is extreemly out of date and everyting seems broken(including pacamn). I'm currently leaning towards just doing a fresh install, but waanted to know what options I had for aiding the migration of my old setup (installed programs, configurations, etc).

Definitely agree with oboedad55 on this one. Trying to get your current build updated with all of the changes that has taken place over the last year is futile.
Not sure of your configuration but if HOME is on it's own partition, I would back that up and do the fresh install.
This link will walk you through how to perform the new install that is already configured with systemd and grub2.
http://lifehacker.com/5680453/build-a-k … he-process
It's easy to follow and I have already done 2 flawless installs using this link.
Best of luck
Last edited by ichase (2013-01-01 18:59:20)

I have new hard drive, should I use migration assistant before I install Snow Leopard or install Snow Leopard first?

I just had a new hard drive installed after a hard drive failure. I need to install Snow Leopard, Lion and VMware Fusion. Should I use migration assistant to reinstall my old files and applications first or should I install the new Operating Systems first? Some of the old files do have corrupt data and I will have to pick and choose what back-up files I re-install.

Pondini wrote:
memalyn wrote:
Some files were backed up on another external drive but not all.
How was that done? Drag & drop? An app like CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper?
Initially files were backed up on the iMac with Time Machine. I purchased a My Book external hard drive and after doing a full back up on it, I began doing all of my incremental back ups on it using Time Machine. Sometime later, I purchased a Western Digital external hard drive that included back up software on it called "WD Back-up" so I could use it to store all of my Music and Audiobooks on to keep my iMac and My Book free of those file types. The WD Backup software allowed me to pick and choose what files I wanted to back-up. I don't think I had been backing up Music and Audiobooks on the Mac anyway or maybe I was, I don't remember if I can selectively pick and choose files with Time Machine - I have not checked as I have not yet plugged it into my new hard drive. Once The My Book drive became full with regular back ups, around June or so I had to switch over to the WD Back up drive. I recall that I was very concerned that I could not do a full back up on the WD drive because if I did, I would have to reformat the drive and I did not want to do that, so I think I was able to selectively back up some additional files from my iMac but again, I do not know for sure since I have not looked at what is on the drive. I do know that if I was able to back up additional files I had to do it with WD Back up and not Time Machine, if that matters.
I know that the files in the partitioned drive and files associated with VMware Fusion are damaged. If I do a full restore, it will restore the VMware Fusion app and partioned drive
We need some clarification:
Do you mean there were 2 partitions on your internal HD? If so, how was the second one formatted? Was it backed-up?
No, there was only one partitioned drive. The way I understand it is the VMware Fusion software does the partitioning and the app resides on the Mac. After that was done, I then installed the Windows software on the partitioned drive. There is a critical file on the Mac under a Folder called Virtual Machines and in the Virtual Machines folder, the "Windows Bundle" or some such thing keeps locking each time the software crashes due to the problem files somewhere within the files in the VMware Fusion software that (I think resides) in the Windows environment that I cannot access. The Virtual Machine file on the Mac gets backed up so the Windows Bundles files get backed up and that includes all the screen shots (essentially backups) of the Windows environment. The Windows environment includes some of the apps and their data in Windows such as Quicken. Theoretically, the partitioned drive does not get backed up but in reality if the screen shots do, some of the partitioned drive does - corrupt or not. If you have a Quicken file open and a drop down screen in Quicken frozen when the system crashes, that is what gets backed up and there is no way you can get back into Windows or Quicken.
               If I do a full restore, it will restore the VMware Fusion app
If you restore an OSX volume, yes, that will restore all apps, but that's not necessarily bad. If necessary or desired, you can always delete or reinstall a suspect app. That way, all your other apps will be ok. For most users, reinstalling all apps is a considerable project. See Transferring Applications for an explanation.
Well, that is true. To reinstall VMware Fusion, Windows and Quicken would much, much easier than all of the Mac software I have. Plus, the VMware Fusion version I have is not compatible with Lion and my goal is to install Lion, so I will have to upgrade VMware Fusion no matter what. Further, I'm so aggravated with the dual operating system, I've been looking at products to replace Quicken, so if anyone knows of a good home, small business and home rental financial product they can recommend, I'm all ears!
               If I do a full restore, it will restore . . . and partioned drive
If there are 2 partitons, a full restore only restores the OSX partition. If a non-OSX partition was backed-up, it must be restored separately.
               Now that I've said I only have 1 partitioned drive, does that mean it will restore the partitioned drive? I would prefer it did not. It seems now that it would be much cleaner to restore the OSX drive. Would I be able to do that?
So, depending on the exact circumstances, your best be may be to restore the most recent OSX partition, then restore/copy those files that were backed-up on another drive; reinstall VMware if necessary; restore the other partition.
So . . . things may be a bit more complex than we though, but perhaps less dire.
More detail on the various partitions and backups should clarify things.

Using migrate Assistant after clean install

I want to erase my hard drive and reinstall Snow Leopard, then migrate some files from my Time Machine backup. I don't want to migrate everything, so how can a pick and choose from the Time Machine file what I want to install again.

Ok, now we have the rest of the story.
When you asked the original question, I was just thinking data files and such. Applications are a bit tricky
Using Time Machine to restore an application may not work as expected. Some apps store configuration data all over the place (ok, a few different places), so trying to restore them via Time Machine will be problematic and most likely fail. It would be best to re-install the apps from the original disks and upgrade them as required. However, some may work just fine restoring from the TM backup.
If the app was just a drag and drop into the Applications folder, restoring should work. If not, then you will have to find where it slung all of its configuration files and restore those, too. Primary locations are your Library/Application Support and your Library/Preferences. They may put them in the main Library/Application Support for stuff that pertains to all users. There are a few more options, but at this point, you'd be better off reinstalling.
As for your question above, yes, you've got it correct. Restoring from TM is a one-at-a-time thing, so it will be somewhat time consuming depending on how much you want to recover.

Migrate assistance / Mail application Problems

Hello,
I bought a new Macbook Pro Lion, after I powered the mac, went to utilities app to use migrate assistant app to install my time capsule back up.
Because I used the same name of the home folder whenI first booted the mac, it asked me to open a new user (standard user) in order to transfer from the time capsule back up to replace the admin user.
I did so, everything went fine, until I opened my first admin user and apparently the name has changed, and now in the users folder I can see 2 home folders one xyz and the other xyz1, so it is kind of confusing. the xyz has most of the folders but empty, as the xyz1 has everything but the application folder emply.
I opened most of my applications to check if the info were transfered successfully, from iphoto to itunes, etc.. mostly everything apparently was fine, but not MAIL, I open the mail, it took most the accounts but it does not show the main window for mail, and if it is open it does not allow me to quit the app, so I had to forcequit couple of time, and still when ever I try to open it, it doesn't work.
Now I m thinking about restoring my Macbook Pro to the factory setting, and start fresh, but I don't know from where and how to do that, can you please help me.
Thanks

Setup Assistant is usually recommended instead of Migration Assistant:
http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/19.html
Regards,
Colin R.
PS Cmd+R to get into Recovery mode where you can reformat your machine?

Migration Assistant Copied System Preferences from a Third HD!

I used Migration Assistant to copy files off an iMac and onto a new HD in a MacPro. I purchased a second HD for the MacPro especially for this occasion because I wanted to leave the original MacPro HD intact. At this point, I had two HD's in the MacPro. After installing Snow Leopard, Migration Assistant copied all files and users as expected but something very strange happened:
1. iMac is 10.6.5 but new HD has 10.6
2. System Preferences were taken from the existing HD in the MacPro
I knew there was something wrong because the desktop image was from the original MacPro HD.
What's more annoying is that I completely wiped the new HD using Disk First Aid and removed the original HD from the MacPro so I could start the entire migration process again. Before quitting Disk First Aid, I noticed that it said 800mb had been used even though I had zero'd out everything.
Again, for the second attempt I decided to remove the original HD from the MacPro and just leave the new drive in there, but it did it again.
1. Question - If I had assigned Migration Assistant to copy files from the iMac HD why did I end up with System Preferences from the original MacPro HD?
2. Question - After completely removing the original MacPro HD from the machine, why did Migration Assistant set up the new HD with the System Preferences on an HD that I had completely removed from the machine?
I know all I have to do is use Software Update to bring it back up to 10.6.5 but it's really annoyed me because now I am wondering about of all the 500 gigs and what files may have been affected (hopefully none). I've had a quick look through the contents but I won't be able to tell because there are so many of them. And do I really want to spend time digging around in the Library of the iMac to copy across the System Preferences to the new HD and then remove what shouldn't have been there in the first place? I don't think so, and I shouldn't have to.
I do wish Apple would have their software do what it says and not go digging around on another HD that was lying dormant for this exercise, especially after removing it for the second attempt. It's wasting so much of my time.
Any thoughts, opinions, excuses and remedies would be greatly welcomed.
Thanks in advance.
Message was edited by: inknpaper

inknpaper wrote:
I used Migration Assistant to copy files off an iMac and onto a new HD in a MacPro. I purchased a second HD for the MacPro especially for this occasion because I wanted to leave the original MacPro HD intact. At this point, I had two HD's in the MacPro. After installing Snow Leopard, Migration Assistant copied all files and users as expected but something very strange happened:
You mean you installed OSX on the new drive. Apparently you used a 10.6.0 disc.
Then, presumably, your Mac re-started (from the new disk), you set up a user account, then started +Migration Assistant.+
Migration Assistant doesn't install or copy OSX; whatever version of OSX you put on that drive is still there.
2. System Preferences were taken from the existing HD in the MacPro
Extremely doubtful.
You have an extra user account (the one you set up after installing OSX and before doing the Migration). Unless you changed it, that account will have the default desktop picture.
Are you sure the account you transferred has a different desktop picture than it did on the iMac? If so, is it the default?
What's more annoying is that I completely wiped the new HD using Disk First Aid and removed the original HD from the MacPro so I could start the entire migration process again. Before quitting Disk First Aid, I noticed that it said 800mb had been used even though I had zero'd out everything.
Yes; that's the partition map and empty directories.
1. Question - If I had assigned Migration Assistant to copy files from the iMac HD why did I end up with System Preferences from the original MacPro HD?
As above, I don't think you did. Be sure which account you're logged-on to.
For best results, start over, and use +Setup Assistant+ instead of +Migration Assistant,+ so you don't end up with extra accounts. See [Setting up a new Mac from an old one or its backups|http://web.me.com/pondini/AppleTips/Setup.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum), and note the green box there.

Why does my new iMac say Migration Assistant on old iMac needs to be upgraded?

New iMac: 2.5 GHz Quad core i5 running Lion 10.7.2
Old iMac: Power PC G4 running Tiger 10.4.11
Migration Assistant app is installed on the G4.
OX software is updated.
Connected via Ethernet cable.
But computers are not seeing each other and the new iMac says "Migration Assistant on the source computer needs to be updated".
Any ideas what is wrong?

You need to use the Migration Assistant on the new computer. You have to boot the G4 into Target Disk Mode - Transferring files between two computers using FireWire. Boot the new computer normally, and you should see a Desktop drive icon for the G4. Open Migration Assistant on the new computer in the Utilities folder.
How to use Migration Assistant to transfer files from another Mac
Migration Assistant tips and tricks

Can't use Migration Assistant to go from MacOS X Server to standard MacOS X

I have a MacBook Pro with 10.5.6. At one point, I installed Mac OS X server over the standard 10.5.6 and used it that way for awhile. However there were some shortcomings to using Mac OS X Server on this machine, so I did a full bootable back-up to another drive using SuperDuper and did an erase and install of standard 10.5.6. Here's where the fun starts.
The migration assistant, both during install and now that I'm fully updated, refuses to see the back-up drive with Server 10.5.6 on it, even though I can boot off of it and it appears perfect. I desperately need to migrate my documents and settings off of that backup drive. It appears to be an issue specifically with migrating from Server, since I've done this sort of thing multiple times before. Does migration assistant not work with migrating from Mac OS X Server drives? Or at least when migrating from Server to standard Mac OS X?

MA will transfer your current system preferences to the SSD regardless of where they come from.
BTW, you will need a special mounting sled for the SSD. You should find them at OWC.

Downloading Forms Migration Assistance(6i- 9i)

I have downloaded and installed 9iDS release 2(9.0.2). I need to install Forms Migration assistance to test migration of 6i forms to 9iAS.
While downloading Forms Migration Assistance, it is saying Patch 1 for 9iDS must be first installed and then only Migration assistance can be installed.
Could anyone please let me know HOW COULD I DOWNLOAD Patch 1 for 9iDS.
Thanks

Hi,
3 things.
1. The forms 9i is NOT available for the client/server environment. Therefore if your customer insists on client/server environment then you need to upgrade to forms 6i (which is the final client/server version of forms/reports developer).
2. There are OS patches that you need to apply if you want to run forms/reports developer 6i on solaris 2.6. The complete list is available in the 6i installation documentation (you might find it also on the internet). If you upgrade the OS to solaris 8, then there is no extra OS patches required for forms/reports developer 6i. We are running 6i on Solaris 8 (with no extra OS patches).
3. The last available patch for forms/reports developer 6i is patch #10 which can be downloaded from Oracle Metalink. I did apply this patch for 6i on solaris 8 client/server environment and has not seen any negative effect so far.
regards.

Use migration assistant to move Logic 8 from SL to ML or fresh install?

I've got the first Intel MBP, and I've upgraded to a new mac mini. The old MBP has LP 802. Should I use Migration Assistant to transfer my Application folder to the new machine or install Rosetta and do a fresh install?
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Scorpii

Scorpii wrote:
The community members have different approaches, but one consensus is that installing Rosetta from the SL instal disc and then trying to install LP 8 works
Rosetta is an unnatural addition to Lion or Mt. Lion and installing it can have serious consequences not initially anticipated later on; see this thread (start with the OP's first post):
https://discussions.apple.com/message/21335549#21335549
On the other hand, installing from Terminal does not have any "side-effects" so long as the user knows how to use Terminal, such as you do.
If you decide to install Rosetta, you do so at your own risk!
I do not understand your reference to "LP 802"
As to Migration Assistant, what OS X flavor is installed on your first Intel MBP and on your new mac Mini (which you reference to ML, so I assume it is Mt. Lion but please confirm)?

Fresh install and migration assistant

Hi all, I'm shortly to receive my MBP (getting ready to send it back for repair due to the possible whine)I'm wondering about 0 ing the hard drive and doing a fresh install of OSX minus the languages and printer drivers. My question is: will I still be offered the migration option once I've done that so that I can easily port the settings from my 14" iBook.
Thanks in advancve for any replies.
Ben

yes, the migration assistant will pop up, and btw you can call it anytime from applications

Using Migration Assistant to move files from old PC laptop to new MacBook Pro that has Windows 8 installed containing Outlook

When using Migration Assistant to move files from old PC laptop to new MacBook Pro, that has Windows 8 installed containing Outlook, will emails, contacts and calendar entries be moved to Outlook on the new MacBook or into Mail, Contacts and Calendar?

I doubt they will. But then I'm not sure as I used a migration program once about 18 years ago and totally FUBARed the system I had at that time and I've never used one again.
For me the reason to have a new system is to start fresh. Installing only program that I now use and manually copying data over from the older system.
Not sure your older version of Outlook, and the outlook mail boxes, are compatible with Office/Outlook for Mac 2011.
A better place to ask this question would be on the MS Office for Mac forums.
Hope it all works out for you.

Fresh install of Lion & migration from internal drive

Hello,
I recently did a fresh install of Lion 10.7.1 from a bootable DMG of Lion 10.7.1 I downloaded from the app store. Before I installed Lion I used disk utility from the installer to format my system drive in order to get a fresh install.
The installation went fine and I am now booted into 10.7.1.
I am trying to use Migration Assistant to migrate files over from a Time Machine backup that is on a separate internal hard drive in my Mac Pro. Unfortunatley MA does not recognize the drive as a source. The hard drive is visible to me in Finder, yet when I dig deep into the structure some of the folders are not accessible to me since I do not have read/write permission. I had to enable the permission for the drive initially but that does not cascade to the entire contents of the drive. I enabled root access in attempt to get around this didn't work.
Is my problem one of permissions or what else?
Thanks!

Try Lion Community and TimeMachine
http://www.apple.com/support/lion
http://www.apple.com/support/timemachine
Me, and I hope others, clone your system first! keep your drive you have even, as is, you may want or need 10.6.8 still. Format a new drive for Lion instead.
As for what TimeMachine holds and why Setup Assistant on first boot wouldn't import anything.... sorry.

After a Lion clean install, how do I retrieve my data from external back-up? Following Apple advice for use of Migration Assistant did not work creating similar issues leading to clean install.

After a Lion clean install, how do I retrieve my data from external hard drive?
Following Apple advice I used Migration Assistant which crashed new system twice which is why I had to clean install Lion in the first place.
Is there a sure way of doing it?
I have only a few programs that I will have to install myself and that should not be a problem.
I just want my data, music and photos back where I can use them.

Time machine backups. I went to migration assistant a few hours ago and limited my selection to "users", no need for applications, settings and other files. Stuff started moving over at a fast pace but has now seemed to stall.
I will let it run overnight as there are lots of songs and photos as well as a few movies.
If that does not work, then I will go into TM and try restore. I have restored some things in the past such a mail files and it has worked well.
The Apple fellow at the store told me to go right into TM, he may have had a point. I'll get it eventually.

How can we disassociate an Apple ID from a set of computers formated from a single computer using Carbon Copy Cloner and a single image and then Migration Assistant to install their old profile? The original ID is the Apple ID for all the stores.

Here is a bit more detail.
We were replacing old teacher machines and wanted to do it as efficiently as possible. Therefore, we set up one computer, through the OS installation and ran all updates, and then made a disk image so that we can use Carbon Copy Cloner to image all the other computers without having to run all the other updates. Once they were set up to a base level and assigned to a teacher we used Migration Assistant to import all their old files and items. Everything has been fine until recently the computers became aware of needing an update for one or two apps. The machine asks for the original computer's Apple ID for all updates. We have logged out of the apple id and back in with another to test if running the updates will work with that Apple ID and even after a refresh it still asks for the other Apple ID. How can we disassociate the Apple ID from those other computers so that the individual who owns the original is not needed each time there is an update or has to give out their Apple ID password?

There are two parts to this:
1) It may be that you should have an Apple Education Support person helping you with this. If you have enough computers for this to be a problem, you may benefit from a Server, a site license, and an occasional visit from an Education Support Specialist.
2) The brief answer, if you want Individual Apple_IDs to control each computer, is to buy new copies of Mac OS X under those new Apple_IDs and re-download and re-Install. Mac OS X is customized to the Apple_ID before it is downloaded.

Migration Assistant or Fresh Install?

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