Migration assistant using up hard drive?

I recently got a new imac 24in with 320 GB hard drive . I used Migration Assistant to transfer my data and files from my old imac . My old imac had an 80 GB hard drive and had 20 GB free. My new imac (after the transfer) says I only have 206 GB free. How have I already used up over 114 GB of hard drive space when my old system only needed 60 GB? I really only wanted my iphoto library, itunes music and some saved documents. What should I do to recover some disc space?
Thanks.

This is down to a combination of several factors:Hard Disk Manufacturers. Who list hard disks in decimal notation rather than binary (and data is stored in binary).
(320 x 10003) / 10243 = 298.02GB
File System. The HFS+ file system takes up a small about of space, this is the way the computer looks up where to find data on the disk.
Software. Around 16 - 20GB is taken up with Leopard itself, iLife 08 (especially GarageBand), iWork trial etc etc.
So your iMac does hold 320GB but some of it has already been used. This is the same on any and every computer that you buy, it perhaps more obvious on new large hard disks. If does seem like you should have a few more GB free though so download Whatsize (link) to easily examine where that space is.
regards
mrtotes

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Migration Assistant with External Hard Drive

Can the Migration Assistant be used with an external hard drive which has a complete install of OS X on it?
I am finally upgrading my old iMac for a new iMac. I plan on harvesting the old iMac's 60 GB drive and put it in an external enclosure for added storage. Though the old one's firewire ports work fine, I thought it might be easier to migrate the old iMac's settings from the "new" external drive rather than going through the targeted disk mode and all.
Thanks for any opinions,
Michael
iMac DV, G3 400 MHz, Grape Mac OS X (10.4.8)

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 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.

Can I migrate from mavericks to mavericks server. Have tried using a hard drive but the but the sever does not find the migration backup when it's searches. Any help out there?

Can I migrate from mavericks to mavericks server. Have tried using a hard drive but the but the sever does not find the migration backup when it's searches. Any help out there?

Is the HDD in the 2009 15" MBP dead? (The original source of your data) If not, you might want ot take it out and put it in an enclosure.
You might try spotlight on know files to see if that gives you any clues where your data is located.
You might down load from the Internet OmniDiskSweeper (free) and open it. It should show you all of the files you have on your MBP and enable to locate them.
Ciao.

Using external hard drive connected to desktop as time machine disk for laptop

I recently purchased an external hard drive for the purpose of backing up my laptop and desktop macs. Both are running Mountain Lion (10.7.5). The desktop is physically connected to both the hard drive and to my modem. I have enabled pretty much every sharing option on both the laptop and desktop. When my router crapped out I began just using the internet sharing capabiilty.
I have been able to chose the desktop as the disk for backing up my laptop, but I want to use the hard drive (connected to the desktop) as the disk. I cant figure out how to do this yet. I can easily access the hard drive by using either the "connect as user" option. I thought that perhaps I could broadcast the connection somehow as an airport connection, but I don't know how to, or if this is even possible.
The desktop is a mac mini, and the laptop is a macbook pro. Both were purchased in mid 2011.

This may assist you:
http://pondini.org/TM/4.html
Ciao.

Is it possible to use multiple hard drives with iphoto?

I am pretty new to Mac's so bear with me, I used to use multiple hard drives on my pc with my photos seperated by catagory in different hard drives. Is it possible to run iphoto with multiple hard drives without the photos loading onto my Imac? If so, How do I set it up. I have tried importing to a external drive, but when I check the file path of the photos it shows my Imac hd in the address. I seriously dont know why I cant just add the external hard drive as a library and have Iphoto work, Help

There are instructions - and not the caveats - on how to do what you want below.
However, you'e not quite grasping iPhoto:
I used to use multiple hard drives on my pc with my photos seperated by catagory in different hard drives.
When you do this, you're using the Finder (or file manager) to categorise the photos. All well and good, but why? That's exactly iPhoto's job. iPhoto is a database designed to help you manage your pics - including categorising them.
Anyway:
*How to do it:*
Simply go to iPhoto Menu -> Preferences -> Advanced and uncheck 'Copy Files to the iPhoto Library on Import'.
*What Happens:*
Now iPhoto will not copy the files, but rather simply reference them on your HD. To do this it will create an alias in the Originals Folder that points to your file. It will still create a thumbnail and, if you modify the pics, a Modified version within the iPhoto Library Folder.
*Some things to consider:*
1. Importing and deleting pics are more complex procedures. You have to to put the files where they will be stored before importing them. When you delete them you'll need to remove the files from the HD yourself.
2. You cannot move or rename the files on your system or iPhoto will lose track of them on systems prior to 10.5 and iPhoto 08. Even with the later versions issues can still arise if you move the referenced files to new volumes or between volumes.
3. Most importantly, migrating to a new disk or computer can be much more complex.
4. *Because iPhoto has no tools for managing Referenced Files, if, for some reason, the path to the photos changes then you could find yourself resolving aliases for +each photo in the Library+ one by one.*
My own opinion:
I've yet to see a good reason to run iPhoto in referenced mode unless you're using two photo organisers
If disk space is an issue, you can run an entire iPhoto Library from an external disk:
1. Quit iPhoto
2. Copy the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to the External Disk.
3. Hold down the option (or alt) key while launching iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library' and navigate to the new location. From that point on this will be the default location of your library.
4. Test the library and when you're sure all is well, trash the one on your internal HD to free up space.
If you're concerned about accessing the files, There are many, many ways to access your files in iPhoto:
*For Users of 10.5 and later*
You can use any Open / Attach / Browse dialogue. On the left there's a Media heading, your pics can be accessed there. Command-Click for selecting multiple pics.
Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!
You can access the Library from the New Message Window in Mail:
Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!
*For users of 10.4 and later* ...
Many internet sites such as Flickr and SmugMug have plug-ins for accessing the iPhoto Library. If the site you want to use doesn’t then some, one or any of these will also work:
To upload to a site that does not have an iPhoto Export Plug-in the recommended way is to Select the Pic in the iPhoto Window and go File -> Export and export the pic to the desktop, then upload from there. After the upload you can trash the pic on the desktop. It's only a copy and your original is safe in iPhoto.
This is also true for emailing with Web-based services. However, if you're using Gmail you can use iPhoto2GMail
If you use Apple's Mail, Entourage, AOL or Eudora you can email from within iPhoto.
If you use a Cocoa-based Browser such as Safari, you can drag the pics from the iPhoto Window to the Attach window in the browser.
*If you want to access the files with iPhoto not running*:
For users of 10.6 and later:
You can download a free Services component from MacOSXAutomation which will give you access to the iPhoto Library from your Services Menu. Using the Services Preference Pane you can even create a keyboard shortcut for it.
For Users of 10.4 and later:
Create a Media Browser using Automator (takes about 10 seconds) or use this free utility Karelia iMedia Browser
Other options include:
1. *Drag and Drop*: Drag a photo from the iPhoto Window to the desktop, there iPhoto will make a full-sized copy of the pic.
2. *File -> Export*: Select the files in the iPhoto Window and go File -> Export. The dialogue will give you various options, including altering the format, naming the files and changing the size. Again, producing a copy.
3. *Show File*: Right- (or Control-) Click on a pic and in the resulting dialogue choose 'Show File'. A Finder window will pop open with the file already selected.
If you really want to spread your photos across volumes like this, Aperture would be a better fit.
Regards
TD

Wish to halt Migration Assistant using Wireless

I just began moving my wife's user information from her one year old iMac to her new Macbook Pro using Migration Assistant over a wireless connection. Although I knew it would be slower than a hard-wired connection, I had no idea it would take 7+ hours to transfer her information.
The firewire cable I have fits the iMac but not the new MacBook Pro. I have a hardwired cat-5 network I can use if there is a way to stop the Migration Assistant without messing everything up. Is it possible to stop the process in mid transfer and start again using a different (faster) connection? Or should I just let it go and check to see if it completed in the morning?

Stalled at 49 minutes. Would not proceed. I force quit the iMac's Migration Assistant and then hard booted the MBpro. Reconnected the two using a cat 5 cable. The MBPro launched install and when Migration Assistant came up I selected ethernet option using cat5. I relaunched Migration Assist on iMac and entered the required numbers. The MBPro said it found an interrupted migration... would I like to continue. I said yes.
It completed the migration of information in about five minutes. So all looked good at that point. Unfortunately, it stalled again when it asked for an Apple ID and password. I entered both, but the options to continue or go back are not available (grayed out). I can select Learn More, but that doesn't offer anything other than text explanations.
So I swallowed hard and rebooted again. It launched the install process again. I chose to skip the migration assistant when asked (I'd already moved the user information previously), and I took it to a desk where I could plug in a cat5 connection directly to it that had internet access. This time it took the log in information and confirmed all the information on the apple web site for my wife's userid. It passed to the end of the install process. The only unusual thing is that my wife now has a userid/name for this MBPro as an admin AND her original userid/name from the iMac as an additional user. One with her first name only and the other with her whole name. It seems to be okay. I can just set it up to go to her other name from the iMac as default and keep the one set up with the install as her admin/back up name.
So all is well. It completed the migration/set up with all the issues resolved. Rebooting midstream did not create a problem after all. I did not have to reinstall the OS. I am very relieved. My wife thinks I'm a hero. I can live with that.

My external hard drive is 'seen' by my iMac and I can go into the Finder and open files and folders. I am using the hard drive for Time Machine back up. However Time Machine says it can't find the drive. Same thing has happened with Final Cut Express.

My new LaCie external hard drive is 'seen' by my iMac and I can go into the Finder and open files and folders. I am using the hard drive for Time Machine back up. However Time Machine says it can't find the drive.
The same thing happened recently between Final Cut Express and my other LaCie external hard drive used as the Scratch disk. It fixed itself.
I've run out of ideas. Help would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

have you done some searches on FCPx and time machine? Is there a known issue with using a TM drive with FCPx? dunno but ...wait...I'll take 60 sec for you cause I'm just that kind of guy.... google...." fcpx time machine problem" Frist page link
http://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/fcpx-bug-best-practices-for-using-external-hard- drives-and-final-cut-pro-x/
You cannot have time machine backups on your hard drive if you intend to use it in FCPX.
booya!

HT201250 If I use Time Machine on my MacBook can I use the hard drive on the same MacBook as the back up drive ?

I want to use Time Machine but instead of using a hard drive outside of the MacBook, would I be able to use the hard drive that is in the computer?
Would I be able to use a memory stick ?

It defeats the purpose of having a backup if you keep it on the same drive. That's your safety if your drive fails.
Also, you should allow about double the space of the volume you are backing up.
EDIT: Time Machine does keep local snapshots on your drive
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4878
See this for more good TM tips...
http://pondini.org/TM/Home.html

HT201250 I had files stored on a hard drive that were not on my Mac. I used the hard drive for my first Time Machine back up, but it was not enough hard drive space to finish. Now those stored files are gone. Is there any way I can recover them?

I had files stored on a hard drive that were not on my Mac. I used the hard drive for my first Time Machine back up, but it was not enough hard drive space to finish. Now those stored files are gone. Is there any way I can recover them? No, they were not part of previous Time Machine backups, and I have checked both the hard drive the documents were lost on and the new one that I now use for backups. Any suggestions would be helpful, as the lost files are old pictures that are gone forever. :[ Thanks!

1. Yes, if both drives are formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
2. Reformat the drives if needed, open the Time Machine pane of System Preferences, and remove the drive with the pictures from the list of items set to be excluded.
(110331)

My macbook 13 inch late 2007 model got soaked in wine I bought a pro to replace it , I want to use my hard drive on it as an external , I already purchased the case , now the motherboard I understand gets bad but not the hard drive , right?

my macbook 13 inch late 2007 model got soaked in wine I bought a pro to replace it , I want to use my hard drive froom the old one on the macbook pro and use it as an external , I already purchased the case , now the motherboard I understand gets bad but not the hard drive , right? but everything else still is in there right. ?
I got my case from owc computing
thye used a cloner last time I got the hard drive from them , but the apple had to be working. and now it's just not going to turn on wine is sticky forget about
no worries I enjoyed it for 6 years could have gone longer I have all this extra gig ram memory, and a new digital drive for ith had broke
all I want it my hard drive available at owc and make it a usb drive and acc3sss my stutt ? thansk any ideas and also on how I could sell or use the parts I can salvage, and yay my new pro ix 17 inches silver sleek full ms office i life and i work. included 389 awesome price , no need for new this does awesome . rather than buying an optical drive for 200.00 I got a new computer to me and better for a lot less.
I am gratefful , just please help on the hard drive question as external ,
thanks
just didnt want to make this sound like a sob sitiuation and also inspire others what can be done.
and I then will be able to upgrade to Snow Leopard and i life 2011.

Well as I suspected I love OWC company I pulled out the mac hard drive , they offered me a Macdrive free trial program to check your drive on PC Windows and yesSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS it all there nothing lost
woohooooo , thank you but nothing is dead, when you have faith , this was a prayer answered big time I wanted a pro so much and I get to use my 500 plust 250 plus 120 GB drives all of them
ladies and gentlemen and I get to keep the 2 GB in from my macbook 13 inch and sell all the parts
yipeee
thanks for the support, now the case is Solved. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I want to know about time machine if i can use the hard drive that i use for time machine back up as a normal hard drive too or if it's only for time machine

I want to know about time machine if i can use the hard drive that i use for time machine back up as a normal hard drive too or if it's only for time machine
and if it yes i want to know if i have 1TB hard disk to use the 500gb for time machine and the other 500gb for normal use

thank you very much because i am considering to buy the porsche design hard disk 1TB and i want to have it for normal use and for time machine is a pitty to give 1TB for back up only again thanks and i know seperate the back and the working jobs are better but the i have to have 2 hardisks and i want only 1

Using external hard drive with both iMac and PC

I own an old Dell PC and an iBook, and will soon replace the Dell with an iMac.
I recently bought a 250GB Western Digital external hard drive to back up my data. I would like to use this hard drive to back up all of the files that are on the PC (which I will soon be getting rid of) and also use it for backing up the files on the iBook and, when it arrives, the iMac. In other words, neatly back up all my info onto the back-up drive.
My question is this: can I do this? If not, what is the best way to consolidate all of the data from all of these computers into one place? Will the fact that some data comes from a PC and some from a Mac be a problem? Can you move back-up drives fromone computer to another? The photos on my PC are saved in Picasa, whereas the photos on the iBook are in iTunes. My iPod music files are all on the PC in iTunes.
Any advice about backing all this stuff up in a user friendly way would be greatly appreciated.
By the way, I have heard that there are ways to reformat external drives, to partition them, and to "raid" them. Can someone explain what this all means?
Thanks.
iBook G4

Hello,
Your best option would be to store the files from your PC on the drive with the drive in the FAT32 format. Then, copy the files to your Mac's Internal hard drive.
Now, once the files are stored safely on your Mac's internal hard drive, you can safely reformat the external drive as a Mac OS X Extended (Journaled) drive. That will be the best format to use for long-term purposes with your Mac.
Many OS X file types (such as many PKG files) cannot be stored / written to a FAT32 volume. So, a FAT32 drive would not be suitable for backing-up an entire OS X hard drive (or even many of the system updates that you might download).
So, that's how I'd do it. Use the drive as a FAT32 just long enough to get the files moved to your Mac.
Once the drive is re-formatted in the Native Mac format, then you could copy the files back to it, and any other Mac files that you wanted to back-up to it for safe-keeping.
Personally, I would re-partition it in at least two pieces on the Mac. One to hold data / personal files for safe-keeping, and a second bootable partition for a full system / OS X backup.
You can read a bit more about this in some of my previous discussions here:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2536703&#2536703
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2597825&#2597825
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2632566&#2632566
Read through each of those three discussions and you'll see how they all come together and provide you with a good solution for backing-up your hard drive.
I hope you don't mind my linking you to those other discussions, but it just seemed more practical than re-typing what I had already said all over again
Also, if you are getting one of the new Intel iMac systems, and you want to be able to create a bootable backup as described in those posts, be sure to format your external hard drive using the new GUID format. That will provide you with the best solution.
I hope this helps.
Let us know if you have other questions.
P.S., if you'd like, go ahead and click the "Helpful" or "Solved" buttons on any of the posts / replies above if you feel they were helpful or adequately answered your question.

Why can't my Mac Pro use my hard drive(s)?

Ok, so I'm using a 2008 mac pro (some specifics are listed at the bottom) and I'm having trouble with my hard drive(s). The hard drive I've been using is full, and sometimes the System Information will show that is full of Audio, Movies, Photos, Apps, Backups or it's just chuck full of "Other."
But the problem is that my computer stopped using one of my hard drives a while back. It was called "Bay 5." I've opened up the computer to look at the hard drives and I actually have three. Ever since I lost Bay 5, I lost my Adobe Creative Suite and I've gotten a notification that says "The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer." But the drives are the same type as the Macintosh HD, only with 500 GB each. I've clicked "Initialize" on this notification (sorry, I tried to take screen shots but suddenly my computer says "You don't have permission to save files in the location where screen shots are stored") and it pulls up the disc utility and has a drive called "Media," (but only half the time). Bay 5 is not there and neither is the other drive that's there.
Wow, that screen shot thing is new. Maybe you guys could help me with that problem, too.
I'm lost. I've looked at 15 min. long youtube videos but none of them have helped. I just want to be able to use those hard drives. I've tried holding the D key at start-up so that the computer can do the Hardware check (or whatever it's called) but it just pulls up a flashing folder with a question mark.
I'd really appreciate some help.
Processor: 2 x 2.66 GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon
Memory: 4 GB 667 MHz DDR2 FB-DIMM
Software: Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5 (11G63)

Buy Carbon Copy Cloner and some new drives. Make sure you have two backup sets and are using TimeMachine as well.
Reset SMC
You have a 1,1 2006 model. It is low on memory, which is cheap at $25 2x2GB now on Amazon
Consider that drives fail and you may have some drives that are more than 4 years old.
If you want, and have the money, consider investing in Disk Warrior 4.4 or 5.0
Data Rescue 4 has a demo and would try to find files, would need a recovery drive volume of course also.
Invest in an SSD for system boot drive, $119 / 250GB, and use a WD Black 1-2TB for data $120, another for TimeMachine.
Adobe CS needs more memory that you have.
AHT is not going to help and is on the OEM DVD with 10.4.x that it came with but what you need is boot from another drive or recovery mode and use Disk Utility (and or Disk Warrior). Single User Mode and 'fsck" is also useful as would Safe Boot. But you need a working copy (clone) backup too.
I like to have a nice small "Emergency" boot drive with just the minimum for system maintenance, 20GB is fine, some users create a USB flash drive but FireWire or USB2 work well. Or just designate and create a small 20GB volume on any of your other drives.

How do I use external hard drive

how do I use external hard drive and Photos? I keep getting a msg that there is not enough free space on your photo library volume - i even bought 500Gb of space on iCloud.... that didn't even work please help

1. Drag the library to a volume formatted as Mac OS Extended, launch Photos with the Option key held down, select Other Library, and choose it. Alternatively, drag it to the Photos icon in the Dock.
2. iCloud storage space is separate from that on the computer.
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Migration assistant using up hard drive?

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