Migration Assistant vs. Cloning

I apologize for spamming this forum a bit with the same topic but I'm not really getting the answers I need and the particulars of my problem keep changing. I have an G4 MDD DP 1.25 OS X 10.4.11 with a "master" 80 gig unix hard drive, and a 300 gig ATA "slave" mac os journaled extended drive. I'd like to transfer everything to my G5 DP 2.0 OS X 10.4.2 with 120 gig Mac os Journaled extended hard drive. Carbon Copy Cloner and SuperDuper will not work because both drives have to have the same format, or simply won't work with Unix. I just tried Migration assistant, which didn't work with two of the more important app's I was transferring (logic and Mlan connector for my digital mixer). So does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks so much for your time!
p.s. All my app's are on the master hard drive, while all the audio files associated with Logic are on the slave drive. I also bought both machines used so there is no apple care.
Also I have two external hard drives in case that could factor into a solution

I'm not sure what you are calling Unix, but Mac OS X is itself a Unix based operating system. If you have a partition that is some form of Linux, while another Mac OS X that complicates matters though.
Migration Assistant will take applications and data from one Mac of a chip series to another Mac of the same chip series (G3, G4, G5) (Intel Core Solo, Duo, Xeon). If they are of different chip series, Migration Assistant has a tendency to slow if not fail. It also has difficulty with migration of anything but to a newer or the same Mac operating system. Migration to an older operating system may not work, and doubtful if it works to anything but a Mac operating system.
Cloning can only be done between two Macs of exactly the same vintage and series, and naturally with applications that have the correct number of licenses, as well as operating system.
Barring those two, you'll be forced to do a piecemeal migration between Macs, such as described here:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=435350&tstart=0
Message was edited by: a brody
Message was edited by: a brody

Similar Messages

HDD Clone VS Reinstall + Migration Assistant

I am trying to clone a 250GB hard drive with Mac OS X to another [same model] iMac with a new, blank, 320GB hard drive (bootable).
However, the 250GB installation is a slow mess, and I was wondering if it would be a better idea to install OS X from the install CD on the 320GB and then use the Migration Assistant to copy programs and settings over.
From the user's point of view, would there be a noticeable difference if the it was a fresh install with Migration Assistant rather than if I just used Carbon Copy Cloner?
Also, if I did decide to clone, can I clone from a 250GB to a 320GB and still be able to use the entire 320GB? (it I format it first)
Thanks in advance.

Thank you for all your help.
Your information on cloning with Super Duper has been extremely helpful considering I take that route, however this conversation has strayed from my initial or intended question:
From the user's point of view, what are the differences between a fresh install with Migration Assistant, and cloning the entire hard drive?
(e.g. known apps that don't work, settings/prefs that are missing )
The reason I ask is because:
- The iMac's failing hard drive (ticking, beach ball) could have corrupted system/app data
- OS X is very slow (not taken care of, tons of apps, etc)
- The iMac has like 150GB of millions of files/pics that can be erased
I personally want to do a clean install for performance, stability, free space and other reasons, however I am not the one who uses the computer and would like to prevent extreme changes that might break applications or lose settings.
It's a trade off...

Cloning VS Migration Assistant VS Time Machine restore

Dec 2006 MBP, disk has never been defragged or re-formatted from day 1, so it's pretty cluttered up.
New HDD coming in today, what do you think is the best way to transfer my system, apps and files to the new drive in a clean way?
(running OS X 10.5.8 now, think I want to do an upgrade to OS X 10.6 while I'm at it...
Should I do that before/after transfer? How does that affect Migration Assistant or Time Machine?)

My preference would be to make a bootable clone on my internal on an external. The clone will allow extraction of users, files, apps, and data at the end of an erase and install. Also, if your Sno install goes bad, then you can clone back to your internal to get back where you started. My preference for installing Sno is an erase and install.
Upgrading ought to be pretty much as good as, as good as, or better than (depends on who you talk to) erasing and installing, and having done so everything still should be in place except for archived incompatible programs after the install. Having a bootable clone is just as important in the case of upgrade as in the case of erase and install.
You bootcamp partition won't be affected under either install method. But, keep in mind that if you want to change its size, then erasing and installing will give you the opportunity to do so. No migrating needed for the Boot Camp partition.
Message was edited by: donv (The Ghost)

Can I do a clean install of 10.5 and use migration assistant from backup ?

I want to install OS 10.5 on to my Macbook. If I do a clean install rather than an archive and install can I then use migration assistant to transfer my accounts and emails from the cloned Superduper backup I have made on an external drive?
Or is Archive and Install better?

I think 99.9% of the people know what you want to do by "clean" (ie, erase or reformat) and that insures there aren't any file or directory problems when you start, that the new OS is all that will be taking up space. Clean has two connotations: Windows or OS 9. There are lots of words that are "no longer used" but everyone knows what "initialize" or reformat means and does.
If you said, "Scratch that" you could mean, "scratch that idea" even though you can't actually scratch anything. And the idea isn't in stone (scratch out) or written with a pencil where you could erase the word or line. Or draw a line through words to "scratch out the line." There can be multiple meanings. Some languages have 5 words for "blue" to denote different shades of blue, and meaning.
Your drive is 60GB which is on the small side so that is one more reason to reformat.
And because installers will create and delete a lot of files, and scatter around, I would do another SD backup (and leave your old backup as is) so you have a copy of Leopard you can boot from and that would be just Apple OS (maybe after applying the 900MB of updates required to get to 10.5.4+).
Migration Assistant has posed some problems for some with how account data is imported into a new group account. Check out http://www.macfixit.com

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.

New hard drive: Do I need to reinstall OS X if using Migration Assistant?

I have a new internal hard drive on the way, along with an enclosure to use the existing hard drive as an external drive.
Here's my question: Do I need to install OS X on the drive in order to use Migration Assistant to move the data over? I think I do...
And yes, I've made another backup too!
Thanks in advance!!!

I would use Mike Bombich's CarbonCopyCloner or Shirt Pocket software's SuperDuper (former is freeware, latter will allow a free full clone, but has a small shareware fee for full featured use). Both are excellent programs with a long and very well regarded track record of use.
What you will want to do is put the new drive in the enclosure, and check it's partition scheme. Use Disk Utility, and, if it is not already GUID partition and HFS+ (journeled) formatted, then use Disk Utility to make it so.
I would then run software update on your machine with the old drive (might as well be sure it is all up to date), and repair permissions. Then attach the new drive and run CCC or SD and make the clone (read the instructions for whatever program you end up using).
Then, IMPORTANT STEP, reboot the machine with the cloned drive still plugged in, and hold down the option key while it boots. You should be presented with a choice now of which drive to boot from. Select the external drive, let it boot, login and check that all is as it should be (just to be sure it went smoothly).
At that point, swap the drives and you should be good to go.
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html
http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html

Migration Assistant Question (From 10.4.11 to 10.5.5)

I have a question regarding Migration Assistant in regards to upgrading from Tiger to Leopard. I do backups of my entire internal HDD onto an external firewire drive using SuperDuper. I do not make a bootable drive, I backup to a disk image that can be mounted. My question is thus: when I upgrade and choose Erase and Install (if I want to), would I be able to use migration assistant on the disk image (once it is mounted) to move all my files over? Or would I have to make the external drive bootable in order to do this?
Any help you could give me would be great!
Message was edited by: pr0digal

Migration Assistant only works with Firewire drives, not disc images stored on Firewire drives. You would be better off re-cloning your drive directly to the Firewire drive to make a bootable image.
However, you need not do that to upgrade on the same computer. You have two upgrade options: Upgrade Install or Archive and Install. The latter puts a fresh install of Leopard on the hard drive without erasing the drive, and it saves your old system in a Previous System Folder. There is an option to transfer your user account(s) and network preferences. I would recommend using this option. The procedure follows:
How to Perform an Archive and Install
An Archive and Install will NOT erase your hard drive, but you must have sufficient free space for a second OS X installation which could be from 3-9 GBs depending upon the version of OS X and selected installation options. The free space requirement is over and above normal free space requirements which should be at least 6-10 GBs. Read all the linked references carefully before proceeding.
1. Be sure to use Disk Utility first to repair the disk before performing the Archive and Install.
Repairing the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger.) After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported, then quit DU and return to the installer.
2. Do not proceed with an Archive and Install if DU reports errors it cannot fix. In that case use Disk Warrior and/or TechTool Pro to repair the hard drive. If neither can repair the drive, then you will have to erase the drive and reinstall from scratch.
3. Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When you reach the screen to select a destination drive click once on the destination drive then click on the Option button. Select the Archive and Install option. You have an option to preserve users and network preferences. Only select this option if you are sure you have no corrupted files in your user accounts. Otherwise leave this option unchecked. Click on the OK button and continue with the OS X Installation.
4. Upon completion of the Archive and Install you will have a Previous System Folder in the root directory. You should retain the PSF until you are sure you do not need to manually transfer any items from the PSF to your newly installed system.
5. After moving any items you want to keep from the PSF you should delete it. You can back it up if you prefer, but you must delete it from the hard drive.
6. You can now download a Combo Updater directly from Apple's download site to update your new system to the desired version as well as install any security or other updates. You can also do this using Software Update.

VMware Fusion 3 Migration Assistant to migrate physical PC onto existing VM

I posted this on Twitter: VMware announces VMware Fusion 3 details for Mac OS http://bit.ly/43BLHJ
Good to see Fusion 3 coming. I have a question about its Migration Assistant and wonder if anyone can answer based on their use of the assistant in version 2.x
I wonder if it means installed applications on a physical PC are also copied over fully functional to the new virtual machine or just user settings and documents from the PC?
I have an HP Pavilion 17" laptop I despise (noisy hard drives and fans actually can bring on headaches). So this would be good to migrate to my MacBook Pro.
The problem then is, is there a way to migrate the external physical PC onto a VMware based set up I already started using or if that set up will become redundant? Anyone have ideas?
Imran

According to the Migration Assistant dialog, programs, computer settings, and documents will be copied. It requires that both the Mac and the PC be on and connected through the same network.
For your info, VMWare also offers a free stand-alone utility that does what I think you're looking for. It's called VMWare Converter, and it can be found here:
http://www.vmware.com/products/converter/
(For all I know, this is what the migration assistant uses.)
It can be run from the system you want to convert or (more ideally) you'd run it to copy the system that you want to convert, without the operating system actively running (basically, run the converter from another computer and have the hard drive with the OS to be virtualized mounted). It takes a while, but it ultimately produces some virtual machine files that can be used by VMWare.
I've used it once before, when I was switching my fiancee over from a terrible HP Pavilion laptop (15") to a Macbook. It was rather incredible - her entire system was cloned perfectly, and easily accessible through VMWare Fusion. Some useless utilities could be removed (things like special keyboard control software and Intel's wireless client manager, as the hardware that those programs utilized was no longer there) but otherwise all data and programs were copied perfectly. You'd never know that it was a copy of a real machine, it was so perfect. Really fantastic stuff.

G5 iTunes to Mac Mini / Migration Assistant

I see suggestions indicating that the Migration Assistant is the way to go . The effort to back up the 72 G library has not been successful via Bombich cloning to a the new hard drive in the second slot .
My issue is resolved by this , I enjoy my ease of accessing the accumulation of data as I have organized it over these many years .
The over ten thousand audio files have been combed through once before to collate material by removing duplicates plus finding extensive missing and misplaced files into current values , or click and play . This took a dedicated effort of some few months of tedious file by file verification , of which the improvement of finding , selecting , removing , placing and replacing of errant files provided little enjoyment of that work , beyond the result .
I have tried many approaches of replacing , duplicating , the media folder . My understanding of the central filing apparatus has proven to be of little value as nothing has enabled me to open up a iTunes application on anything other than the "original" iTunes application in the G5 towers home folder resembling my preferred cataloguing .
I wish to make my entire 71 G file structure a candidate for the iCloud solution .
What is the key media file to organize the iTunes folder as it is found in the G5 Towers Home folder when transferring the iTunes Library to a new hard drive keeping the iTunes application in its familiar or G5 appearance .
Thanks in advance for patience in providing a slow person a trail of breadcrumbs .

Erik Naso wrote:
I just bought a Mac Mini and have two years worth of Time Machine backups. Can I continue to use this drive
Possibly.
will Lion create duplicate new backups of the files.
If you used Setup Assistant (preferred) or Migration Assistant to transfer from the G5's backups to the new Mini, you may get this prompt when the first backup starts:
See #B5 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting for details. If you do get the prompt, and select "inherit," TM will just do an incremental backup. That will be fairly large, of course, for the new version of OSX and default Apple apps, plus whatever new apps you've installed.
However, in my testing, I was not able to get it to do that from Leopard backups. I filed a Bug Report in June and have exchanged follow-ups with Apple but have no real answer yet, so can only assume it's supposed to work. It may have been fixed in later versions of Lion.
the drive isnt big enought to have two full backups of both computers.
There wouldn't be a need for that; at worst there'll be the existing G5 backups plus one new full backup of the Mini, not 4 full backups. Besides, do you really need two years worth of backups?
Consider getting a new drive for the new Mac's backups. You can still view and restore from the old backups, via the Browse... option, per #E2 in the Troubleshooting article.

Migration Assistant Trouble

Hello all, I have a very sticky problem. I recently upgraded the hard drive in my Macbook Pro, before I did this I used 'Carbon Copy Cloner' to make a copy of my drive, I didn't make a disk image, I just copied the entire drive over to my external drive, then I installed my new hard drive, installation went fine, when I booted up again I had to install Leopard again, obviously because it was a new drive, when I tried to use Disk Utility in the install the drive would hang so I said forget it and just installed the rest of the way. Once I was on the desktop, I opened Disk Utility and checked my external for errors, apparently, there were a few, I fixed them all, then opened up 'Migration Assistant' (this is of course after the drive was indexed) I selected to transfer an account, clicked mine from the external, and waited, and waited, and am still waiting three hours later, my account shows up, everything is there (minus the applications folder, the MOST important part) and it just says 'Calculating' no pinwheel, its not 'not responding' and the external drive is working, I can hear it so SOMETHING is going on... I don't know what to do! should I wipe the external, swap to my old drive and try again? this time with a disk image? sorry for writing so much I just never know what step you guys WON'T need to know. Thanks in advance for any help...

that sounds very strange. do you have any files/applications open that reside on the internal? if not possibly you have a failing internal drive. try formatting it while booted from the leopard install DVD. insert the DVD, reboot and hold "c" at the chime. this will boot you into the leopard installer. once past the language screen start disk utility from the utilities menu and try formatting the internal drive from there. if you succeed, reboot from the external and try cloning again.

Using Migration assistant to transfer data from one disk to another

I will install a new SSD disk but I would like to make a clean install with Mountain Lion but after that migrate data from the old HDD, that it is now installed in the place of the optical drive, to the new. I would like to know how to do that correctly and also if there is any advice to do this better.

I agree the best solution is to install clean then install programs then copy data over for a true new clean install.
But I still don't understand why you said setup assistant isn't a option either. It certainly is a option and in my opinion a much better option than migration assistant. Which is what the original poster was asking about.
As for cloning I have read it is best when going from standard drive to ssd it is best to do a new clean install instead of cloning. So I wouldn't consider cloning a option in this case. But that is my opinion from the reading I have done. I was thinking about installing a ssd in my mac notebook.
Thanks.
OGELTHORPE wrote:
The simplest or most efficient way is to clone the new SSD. If the OP chooses to be selective about which data to retain, drag and drop is the simplest and most efficient.
Ciao.

Migration Assistant & Iphoto

Hello,
I just got a new Imac and I am trying to use Migration Assistant to copy my pictures from Iphoto
from my Powerbook. I am running Leopard 10.5.4 on the Powerbook.
I copied the files and got a bunch of weird photo album names (ex: Album.999000.ipmeta) and I can't find any pictures anywhere. It also added me as another user and it created a bunch of folders all with red underlines.
Is there an easier way to do this - I remember this being really time consuming when I upgraded previously on my Powerbook and tried to get the photos of my external drive that was cloned.
I don't want to copy all the contents from the Powerbook just certain files and programs.
Hope this makes sense.
Thanks !

If you are migrating from a PPC to an Intel Mac, then you should read this:
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, G4, or G5 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, copying the critical contents to CD and DVD, an external hard drive, or networking
will work better when moving from PowerPC to Intel Macs. The initial section below discusses Target Disk Mode. It is then followed by a section which discusses networking with Macs that lack Firewire.
If both computers support the use of Firewire then you can use the following instructions:
1. Repair the hard drive and permissions using Disk Utility.
2. Backup your data. This is vitally important in case you make a mistake or there's some other problem.
3. Connect a Firewire cable between your old Mac and your new Intel Mac.
4. Startup your old Mac in Target Disk Mode.
5. 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.
If you are not able to use a Firewire connection (for example you have a Late 2008 MacBook that only supports USB:)
1. Set up a local home network: Creating a small Ethernet Network.
2. If you have a MacBook Air or Late 2008 MacBook see the following:
MacBook (13-inch, Aluminum, Late 2008) and MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2008)- Migration Tips and Tricks;
MacBook (13-inch, Aluminum, Late 2008) and MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2008)- What to do if migration is unsuccessful;
MacBook Air- Migration Tips and Tricks;
MacBook Air- Remote Disc, Migration, or Remote Install Mac OS X and wireless 802.11n networks.
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/Calendars (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 Macjack 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 1/6/2009

What is transferred with Migration Assistant?

I'm getting a new Mac, and am planning to use Migration Assistant to transfer my files. But I'm not to sure what transfers during this process. Since my current Mac has two users, can I choose to transfer from one of the users? Do all files transfer, or are there limitations? Does my Windows transfer?
Thank you in advance.
P/S: Sorry if I have any mistakes, English is not my first language.

It transfers one user account, it does not transfer Windows, the new Mac should not have any accounts on it when you start the migration.
Windows can be cloned using Winclone and restored later (read the Winclone instructions)
I would not use MA at all for this, I would use Winclone to clone Windows to the OSX partition and then delete the Windows partition, then I would use CCC to clone the OSX partition from the old Mac to the new Mac and restore Winclone.

Migration Assistant -- Not Finding Users?

Had to re-install 10.4.7 from install disks on my mam's 1.83 GHz dual-core iMac (Erase and Install). Carbon Copy Cloned the original start-up disk to an external FireWire drive.
After installation, Mig. Asst. gave me the option to "Transfer from Another Volume on this Mac". Chose the relevant volume. Now it has been looking for the Users on the cloned volume for 30 mins, with the spinning bar-circle whizzing round and round...
is there any way to transfer users and settings manually?
TIA

It's working now, after deselecting the 'Spare' volume in the MigAsst. (Don't know what it was supposed to do, anyway, or why it's made a difference).
Seriously, what a hateful, dispiriting experience this has been. Just because I wanted to upgrade to Snow Leopard. Apparently MacOS will let you partition your entire HD as a Master Boot Record without warning you that you can install Tiger on it, but you won't be able to update it to Leopard or S/L... so you have to buy an external HD, clone your Tiger HD, erase and install Tiger (GUID partitioned this time), restore from the clone using Migration assistant...
...And this is supposed to 'Just Work'?

Migration Assistant & Admin Account

I did a clean install of Leopard on my G4 PB (I had cloned Tiger to an external drive). I brought up Migration Assistant with the external drive connected, followed the dialog choices, but I was confused by the option to bring the Administrative Account from Tiger into the Administrative Account of Leopard. I'm using the same name, which was brought out when I was taken through the steps. I wasn't given the option to replace--that was grayed out. So how do I handle that migration? Does the Administrative Account have to be migrated manually or is it done automatically (regardless of the name being different or the same)?

As I recall MA will not replace an existing account with an older one of the same name. Either it will refuse to migrate or ask if you wish to change the name - I think. You cannot have two different user accounts that have the exact same name. I do not believe MA can merge two user accounts into one.

Migration Assistant vs. Cloning

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