Migration Assistant & User Accounts

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

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

Similar Messages

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    ragob66,
    Welcome to the Apple discussions!
    Try this:
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    Message was edited by: Gary P

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    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH14081
    Cheers,
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