Transferring files from old macbook to new

I'm trying to transfer files and programs from old macbook pro to new one, but run into problems using Migration Assistant, and time machine. Not sure what to do differently...

Probably the most straightforward way to get iTunes onto your new computer is to network the two and copy your iTunes folder across. This works fine if you have been using iTunes to completely manage your music and all your songs are in iTunes Music not in different folders. Connecting two Mac computers using Ethernet
Another way is to put your original computer into target disk mode and copy the data over Firewire: How to use FireWire target disk mode
Copying the whole folder brings with it the iTunes Music folder and also the iTunes Library (iTunes Library.itl in Windows) database file which holds all the information about your songs (Playlists, Ratings, Play Counts, Last Played, Date Added, etc). You'll get more information including the Folder/File structure in this article: What are the iTunes library files?
When you copy the iTunes folder make sure you put it into the same location on the new computer. This has to be the exact same place, on a Mac this would be in Username/Music/. When you open iTunes on the new computer it will be the same as on the original one Songs, Playlists, Play Counts, Ratings etc. When I moved iTunes a while ago for my daughter I was also using the same version of iTunes, not sure how important that is but it's probably worth keeping them the same.

Similar Messages

Just transferred files from old macbook to new macbook pro and can't find my documents or music files itunes or garageband

Used emigration assistant and can't find my files. Applications and programs transferred fine but can't find word docs. picture or itunes songs.

Call Apple, you have 30 days of free support.
I tell you this because Apple doesn't think anything is wrong with Migration Assistant, but it's loaded with problems and we volunteers are tired of handling their problems for free.
Call them, make Apple fix it, it's their screwup.
Once they see it's costing them money, perhaps they will quit using it or fix it.
Sorry about the rant, but you can help solve the problem, Apple doesn't pay attention here, it's moderated and that's about it.

Transfer iTunes files from old MacBook to new MacBook Pro

How do I transfer just my iTunes files from a MacBook to my new MacBook Pro?

The best bet is for you to transfer your iTunes library to the new Mac with the Migration Assistant. When you first fire up a Mac and it asks if you want to move your data, that’s one chance, but you can also set up the new Mac as pristinely new and use Migration Assistant later. Just launch it from the Utilities folder and tell it what you want to do—you can transfer your library over Wi-Fi, but if both Macs have a FireWire port, it’s much faster to connect them that way and use Target Disk Mode. (Start up the old Mac holding down T, which mounts it as an external drive on the new Mac for Migration Assistant to mine—but Migration Assistant walks you through the whole process.) Migration Assistant doesn’t have a setting specifically for iTunes, but if you migrate your user account’s Music folder, that’ll contain both your media and your library database, which stores those preferences you want to transfer.
Migrate your Music folder to your new Mac. (Which we obviously can’t do here because the MacBook Air is a few hundred gigs light…)
If you’d rather do it manually, first move the files in your home folder’s Music/iTunes/iTunes Media folder from the old Mac to the same location on the new Mac. Then export the iTunes Library database from your old Mac—go to File > Library > Export Library. Move the resulting XML file to the new Mac. Open iTunes, choose File > Library > Import Playlist and select that XML file.
Why not use Home Sharing within iTunes, you may wonder? I found out the hard way when recently combining songs from multiple laptops and external drives into one, new, started-from-scratch mega-library on my new iMac: Home Sharing is great for actually moving music, videos, and apps from one machine to another over the network, but it doesn’t move the metadata. My ratings and play counts were wiped out.

Will apple store transfer files from old macbook to new?

will apple store transfer files from old mackbook to new

If you mean that you are going to an Apple Store to buy a new Mac, and you want to know if they will transfer your data for you then the answer is "maybe." Many stores will do that for you, but some may not. Good idea to ask first.

Transferring account files from old MacBook to new MacBook Pro.

I have an '06 MacBook and just purchased a new MacBook Pro this afternoon. When I was setting my new MBP up, I chose the option to move files later with Migration Editor through a Time Machine back-up. However, when I did this, it created another account(or copied my old account) instead of simply adding on to my new one. I've seen similar questions and problems on here and other mac forums, but I'm still unsure of a few things. When I logged into my moved account on my new MBP, it gave me the option to update. On my old MacBook, I had upgraded to Snow Leopard, so it was as up-to-date as it could be. After completing these updates, this moved account appears to have everything that the new account has, such as FaceTime (One app that my MacBook didn't have) along with all of my old files.
I've seen people ask about merging accounts and such, but it seems that that's not possible. So I guess my question is, would it be okay for me to delete the new account I made when I booted up my new MBP? Will I lose anything? It seems like that shouldn't be a problem since my moved account appears to have everything the new account had along with all of my old files and such. I'm just a bit paranoid about deleting the new account and then later on finding out that the moved account doesn't have all of the new stuff like I thought.

It is possible to merge accounts but it is not easy nor foolproof. The easier solutions:
1. Remove the account made in Setup Assistant and change the username on the migrated account.
See Mac OS X- How to change user short name or home directory name.
See Macworld | Changing the short username in Leopard - use the last procedure, "The Full Monty."
2. Log into the migrated, renamed account and delete the account made in Setup Assistant, then re-migrate your data.

Cannot migrate files from old MacBook to new MacBook Pro

I have been trying without success to migrate files from my old MacBook to my new one. The Migration Assistant doesn't work. The new Mac recognizes the old one but the old one cannot see the new one. The old MacBook has OS 10.5.8 and the new MacBook Pro has 10.8.1.
Then I tried migrating from my Time Machine backup, with the external drive still connected to the old MacBook, but it kept telling me I didn't have enough space to copy anything, even when I unchecked everything except my Documents folder.
I went to the Apple Store and one of their "geniuses" told me I could connect the external hard drive directly to the new MacBook Pro and migrate the files from there. That didn't work either; I got an error message about incompatible software.
The genius also told me that I could back up the new MacBook Pro to the same external hard drive with Time Machine that I'd been using and that I'd be able to restore from backups from either computer, but that's not true. I cannot see any backups on the drive except from the new computer. Time Machine does recognize that there is space in use on the drive but will not show me any of the content.
Does anyone know how I can migrate my files, short of copying them to a flash drive and doing it the old-fashioned way? Thank you!

It is possible to merge accounts but it is not easy nor foolproof. The easier solutions:
1. Remove the account made in Setup Assistant and change the username on the migrated account.
See Mac OS X- How to change user short name or home directory name.
See Macworld | Changing the short username in Leopard - use the last procedure, "The Full Monty."
2. Log into the migrated, renamed account and delete the account made in Setup Assistant, then re-migrate your data.

Can't transfer files from old macbook to new retina?

Hello, I am well aware that the macbook pro retina does not have a firewire 800 port, but rather thunderbolt. Unfortunately I didn't know of this when I asked an apple employee about how to transfer files from my old broken macbook pro (leopard) to the new retina I bought. He only told me to get a firewire 800 wire. So now I have the firewire 800 cable but I cannot connect it to a my macbook pro retina. Is there any way I could transfer files from my broken mac to this one? To be more accurate: my broken macbook pro is just that the screen is broken, otherwise I would just transfer the files by usb; but since you cannot access the computer at all except for turning it on I am unable to do this.
I do have an alternative theory, if anyone thinks it could work please let me know. My mother has a mac desktop, with a firewire 800 port. Could I transfer my files onto her computer and then transfer those via usb to the new macbook retina? Or is there a way to connect the old broken macbook to the new one? I apologize if I sound very confusing right now, it's just that I finally got my new computer and I cannot transfer my files onto it. Thank you for your help.

I used wifi to transfer two users and system preferences during setup, since that was a relatively small amount of data. To transfer my main account (40Gb or so), I turned off wifi on my old laptop, ran an ethernet cable to the ethernet-thunderbolt adapter to mbp-r, ran migration assistant on both - worked fine. I didn't feel like waiting for the firewire adapter.

Transferring Files from Old Computer to New Computer

I upgraded my iTunes to 9.1.1 on my old computer (and new computer). On the old computer, I have everything organized in playlists. When I transferred all my music from my old computer to my new computer (via ipod), my playlists do not show up. All the songs are in Music on the top of iTunes. Is there anyway to transfer the itunes exactly as it appears on my old computer to my new computer? Would a USB transfer cable take care of this problem? Please help

Hi there,
what you did is only transfer all of the MEDIA files into your new computer's iTunes. There is no problem with doing this, but all the media files include are well, the media obviously, and the tagging info (which displays name/artist/album/etc.) If all you do is move the media files onto the new computer and load iTunes, a new copy of iTunes (with no playlists/ratings/play counts and new settings) will load up, and put your content in it.
If you wish to preserve your playlists/ratings/etc, you need to import the iTunes Library File as well. This is by default located in your iTunes directory. So instead of just moving everything from "iTunes Media" (default location), it is best to move the ENTIRE "iTunes" folder, with the Library file and your media files.
However, one trick may still work. If you transfer JUST the Library file over (iTunes Library.itl), transfer it to your new computer, REPLACE the current iTunes Library file with the old one (so delete the new one, put the old one there). Open iTunes while holding SHIFT down the whole time, until a screen pops up asking you to find a library. Select choose library, and go to the location of the Library file we just moved. Select it, and if all goes well your playlists should be there!
You might come across one issue however, and that is if you changed the relative location of your media files. For example if you USED to have it on an external drive "my Music" and now it is on the internal drive in a folder labeled "iTunes Music", the computer may not be able to find your songs because it is looking in the wrong place. If that happens, and you are willing to lose your play counts and ratings, it actually might be more of a time saver to start over again and make your playlists from scratch.

Issues with transferring files from older MacBook to new Macbook Pro

Hi there. I am trying to transfer my files from an older MacBook (OS 10.5) to my new MacBook Pro but there is no firewire and it didn't like the file sharing 'afp' address I tried. My Time Machine is saved on a HD with only firewire so that doesn't help. I have an ethernet cord but can't find how to use it to connect them..am so frustrated. I remember Migration Assistant being so smooth and easy in the past but this is not smooth nor easy. thanks in advance for your help!

It may mean to Snow Leopard, which is more in line with current systems though it's still older. Not sure a cable is going to do it for you if ethernet and wifi failed.
http://www.amazon.com/version-Leopard-computer-processor-required/dp/B001AMHWP8/ ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1390515676&sr=8-1&keywords=snow+leopard

Reoccuring HANGING problem with transferring files from old MACBOOK

ok, so I recently bought a iMac and i wanted to transfer my music and photo files from my older (waterdamaged a while back but still works fine) macbook. I've tried basically every method to try and get this done.
I've tried migration assistant, transferring the files through a shared wireless network, through firewire/disk target mode, but all of those methods i tried resulted in hanging very early on in the transferring and copying operation.
I believe it must have something to do with my macbook's hard drive, but i have no idea what to do at this point. Could someone please help me?

the thing is tho, the hard drive had no problems copying and transferring for over a year after the damage, while i continued to use it. I don't a reason why it wouldn't work now when i finally want to move a larger number of files at once (itunes music folder, iphoto library)

Transferring files from old computer to new one

I just purchased an HP Envy 700 series and am trying to transfer my files from my old computer. My problem is that the old computer has a fried motherboard so I put the old hard drive in an external case and hooked it up to the new computer to transfer the files. When I try to access the "users" folder on the old drive I get a message telling me I don't have permission to access the folder. Is there anything I can do to get past this?

The OS on the old computer was Windows 7 Home and the new one is Windows 7 Pro.
I have developed a work around for my problem. I put the old hard drive in an external case and then hooked it up to my laptop. I then lower the User Account Control setting to its lowest setting (after I turn off my access to the internet) and then I am able to access all the files in the account that was blocked before. It is tedious trying to transfer many GB's of data using a thumb drive but it is getting done.

Transfering files from old mac to new mac

I just bought a iMac G5 and started it up and it asked if I wanted to transfer files from my old mac. I selected yes. And it began transferring. It looked like everything was going fine until I checked on it about 30 minutes later and it looked like it hadn't progressed at all. I checked on it another 30 minutes later and it said 1 hour 6 minutes remaining and hasn't moved since. I don't understand why it's not going further. And it's taking forever! Am I just too impatient. I'm transferring 5GB from my old PowerPC G4 mac using a firewire cable. Any help is much appreciated. I have no idea why it's not working.

A couple of other things to consider Emille,
1. Make sure your data is really going through the firewire cable and not a wireless network. Going through an ethernet or firewire cable would be much faster. It may have been possible that even though you had a cable connected, It may have tried to do it wirelessly anyway.
2. Were either of them going to sleep?
3. Make sure no other firewire devices are plugged in.
Joe

Transferring Files from Old iMAC to New iMAC

I just a new iMAC. I went through the setup process that transferred the files and user YoungFamily from my old one to my new one. Great.
BUT, now when I try to get into the new iMAC it prompts me for a password for YoungFamily... I never set one up as its a home computer and doesn't need one. So, I'm wondering what the password would be.. I can't log in to the new machine! 8-(
Andy

Hi Andy,
See this support topic, under subhead "Resetting the original administrator account password"
-mj
[email protected]

Transfer Files from Old MacBook to New MacBook Pro

I'm just about to take delivery of a new macbook pro which will have Lion OS on it.
My present MacBook is running 10.6.8 and I have a Time Capsule on my network which contains backups of this MacBook.
Is there a procedure to folow which will allow me to add the new MacBook Pro onto the network and then transfer over all my ITunes Libray , Photos, contacts, Emails, Vidoes, etc?

Have a look here...
Setting-up a new Mac from an old one, its backups, or a PC
Using Migration Assistant on Lion
Migration Assistant tips and tricks

Stuck transferring files from old iMac to new

Have new iMac connected to old via FireWire as directed during initial setup of new iMac. Transferring no more than 180GB and the transfer is stuck claiming About 7 hours and 15 minutes remaining. Old iMac was running fine (slow, but fine) and this has been stuck for the last hour or so. Unsure as to OS as the Mac is still in setup mode.

Well, there is very little drive activity from the old iMac BUT I restarted it and started the process over, de-selecting some of the items. Same results though I let it sit for a couple of hours and now it claims there is five hours left. VERY slow but making progress. My guess now is that the iMac's drive was SO fragmented that it is taking an inordinate amount of time to transfer.

Transferring files from old macbook to new

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for