Unable to use Migration assistant to access my Time Machine backup???

I recently had hard drive issues in my IMac G5, archive and install would not work and required an erase and install this happened twice over two months so I decided to install a new hard drive on my four year old machine, replaced a 160 with a 500 and beefed the RAM up to 2 gb -- a friend and Mac 'expert' did the installs for me... after bringing the machine home I went to reinstall all my files & profiles from time machine using 'Migration Assistant' - I choose the second option, and my external hard drive fires up but then in the Select System to Transfer screen it remains blank, I click on Time Machine and get 'A storage location for Time Machine backups isn't setup.' I click on 'Setup Time Machine' and it opens Time Machine with an On Off toggle, it is Off so I toggle to ON, then get a setup Time Capsule screen, I click on that, it opens Airport Utility and scans for my network, it finds my Airport Extreme and two Airport Expresses, but what does this mean? I have no idea what to do from there... Any suggestions would be appreciated

Should be, if the eMac is running 10.5.x be sure to turn off TM backups though.

Similar Messages

  • Trying to use Migration Assistant to restore from Time Machine backup but it keeps "Looking for other computers..."

    Hi!
    I just bought a new MacBook Pro 15" and I wanted to transfer my old files from a previous Time Machine backup done with my old MacBook Pro 15".
    Both computers have Mac OS X 10.8.2 (Mountain Lion) installed.
    I always used Migration Assistant without any problem to accomplish this task, but now I don't know why it's stuck on a screen displaying "Looking for other computers...". What? What computer? I'm trying to restore from a Time Machine backup on an external hard drive, so I don't understand what computer it is looking for.
    Do you have any idea to solve the problem?
    Thanks!

    At the screen in Migration Assistant titled "Select a Migration Method," select From a Time Machine backup or other disk.
    How to use Migration Assistant to transfer files from another Mac

  • Attempting to use Migration Assistant to restore a Time Capsule backup to a mounted partitioned drive?

    Had a power surge and my Mac Pro did not fare well. Was able to boot from one of the drives in read only mode, so I did a Time Capsule backup of everything on the drive. Reinstalled Mountain Lion. Booted the computer up and am trying to use Migration Assistant to take the Time Capsule backup and restore it to the 1TB drive. When I use Migration Assistant, it says that there is not enough space on the drive to do the restore. I looked in Disk Utility and saw that the start up disk is another one of the 1TB drives with about 600GB used, therefore not enough space to do the restore. I want to restore to the original drive, but it says it is a "Mounted Partitioned Drive". Can I use Migration Assistant to restore a Time Capsule backup to this mounted partitioned drive?
    Thanks in advance for any help - greatly appreciated.

    I am not sure, never had to go there, I have multiple bootable clones of the system online and off, and a couple 1500VA/900W UPS units powering everything.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427
    http://www.recovermymac.co.uk/data-recovery/time-capsule-data-recovery/
    This is a great article:
    http://pondini.org/OSX/SetupLion.html
    Most questions about TimeCapsule and TimeMachine are under Mac OS X forum as in -
    https://discussions.apple.com/community/mac_os/os_x_mountain_lion#/?tagSet=1468

  • Migration assistant does not recognize time machine backup

    Hi Guru,
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    we installed new Mac OS, and now I face a  problem: migration assistant does not recognize hard disk with buckup.
    Finder sees this disk, it has Backups folder.
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    I am conserned about restoring using setup assistant because I need to transfer personal files and applications only.
    You can do that in Setup Assistant.
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  • Time machine restore-just got a new hard drive, used migration assistant to restore to time machine but cannot find files.

    Sounds like i have a similar story to another user out there.  5 year old dropped my computer and hard drive was gone.
    I just got a new hard drive and used Go-utilities-migration assistant to restore with time machine-- it
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    Try restoring the specific files.
    http://pondini.org/TM/15.html

  • Migration Assistant or Install From Time Machine Backup?

    Hi,
    I have a question. I currently have an older iMac and I'm thinking of buying a new iMac. I'd like to transfer EVERYTHING on my old iMac to my new iMac, so that the new iMac is identical in terms of Applications installed, Mail, Documents, Dashboard setup, etc.
    Which is the best technique to use to do this? Migration Assistant or installing OS X from your Time Machine Backups? Why is one better than the other? Really, I want the cleanest, most accurate solution, so that nothing is lost, and so I can continue on from where I left off.

    Reuben Feffer wrote:
    what if I have an expensive piece of software installed on my old iMac? Will Migration Assistant copy that over to my new iMac, without messing up the number of activations?
    Yes, but depending on which you may need to deactivate and re-activate. This question would be better put to the software vendor. I am guessing Quark?
    Reuben Feffer wrote:
    And what about things like the way I've customised my Desktop, icon sizes, and such. Will they automatically be copied over to the new iMac, or will I have to start again from scratch?
    Not to worry, all your settings will be brought over. It will be identical to your old Mac.
    Read this on Migration Manager. for a fuller understanding.
    -mj
    Message was edited by: macjack

  • Migration assistant crashes when restoring time machine backup from mountain lion

    Hi
    I installed a new HDD in my MacBook Pro Mid 2009, installed the original OS again and tried to import using the Setup/Migration Assistant. It told me that since the time machine backup is newer, this can't be done. So I first upgraded to Mountain Lion (suspecting that I can install my SnowLeopard TM-backup there) and tried the same. The migration assistant started, found the image (on Tiime Capsule) and started to calculate the items that need to be transferred. After 17hours, I interrupted it.
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    For all I know, I have a TM-Backup of Mountaion Lion and a freshly installed Mountain Lion and I am using the Apple software for transfer - perfect world, no?
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    Thanks
    patPfe

    The migration assistant or the original backup?
    I tried WiFi, Ethernet and on the second attempt with a fresh backup on a USB drive.

  • Mavericks Migration assistant does not see time machine backup of older Lion Mac

    Used to have a Macbook Pro. It was stolen (circa July 2014). Luckily I had up to date Time Machine Backups. The Macbook Pro was completely up to date running the latest OSX Lion (circa July 2014) when stolen.
    Bought a new Macbook Air just now (Mar 2015).
    Plugged in the old Mac's Time Machine Backup Disk, Migration Assistant doesn't see the old Mac's Backups.
    So I setup the new Macbook Air without restoring.
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    Tried running Migration Assistant many time , but still it does not see the the  old Mac's Time Machine Backups. (although they continue to show in the drive if I navigate to it)
    Pls help so I can migrate the old Mac to the new Mac!!!!

    Thanks Turbostar.
    Well, I think there should be solution to use TIME CAPSULE restore as it should I mean I bought Time Capsule because it is easy to use and I really do not want to solve any issues or make any workarounds.
    I think APPLE should resolve this ASAP. Meantime maybe anybody knows any trick about this issue?

  • Migration Assistant won't recognize Time Machine Backup

    I recenly got my old thunderbolt-less macbook pro back from a repair and I can't seem to resotre my data. My external drive it reconized in finder, but not in Migration Assistant. I have updated to the newest OS and still nothing. I was tunning mavrics before the repair so this should be working right? Thanks for any help you can offer.

    A possible reason for backups not to be available in Migration Assistant is that the computer doesn't have a name, or the name is corrupt. Open the Sharing preference pane and check the name. If you can't do that, reset the PRAM. Credit to ASC member Csnote for this observation.
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    You'll have to reinstall all third-party applications from scratch, or restore them from another kind of backup, if you have one.
    You'll have another problem if this is a new computer, or if you erased the startup volume: The next time you back up, Time Machine won't recognize any files as being the same as they were before, and will make a full copy of all files. There might not be enough space on one or more of your backup volumes for that. There are different ways of dealing with that situation, depending on your needs. The easiest way is to set your backup drives aside, if possible, until you're sure you'll no longer need the data on them, then erase them and start over. Meanwhile start a new backup on one or more empty storage devices. If that solution isn't workable for you, ask for instructions.
    *If you don't see any snapshots in Time Machine, exit the time-travel view and then hold down the option key while selecting
    Browse Other Backup Disks...
    from the Time Machine menu, which has an icon that looks like a clock running backwards. Select the backups of your computer by its previous name. If you don't have the Time Machine menu, open the Time Machine preference pane in System Preferences and check the box marked
    Show Time Machine in menu bar

  • ISO x 10.8.3 migration assistant will not recognize time machine disk

    I recently had my computer wiped clean by Apple genius bar.  After updating the ISO X 10.8 software to 10.8.3, I attempted to restore files from my Time Machine backup to the computer.  Unfortunately, the migration assistant would not lock onto the Time Machine disk, as if it were not there. What can I do to restore my original files back into the repaired computer?
    My imac was purchased new in December of 2008 and the back up disc was connected to it in Aug 2009.  I think the original operating system was pre Snow Leopard - the only CD I have and dated 2010.

    I am conserned about restoring using setup assistant because I need to transfer personal files and applications only.
    You can do that in Setup Assistant.
    Migration Assistant doesn't accept Time Machine backups of the computer it's running on; it only accepts compatible backups of other computers. You can't migrate a system to itself. To restore files from the same computer, enter Time Machine in the usual way, or else boot into Recovery and either restore the whole startup volume or erase, reinstall OS X, and restore in Setup Assistant.

  • I transferred files and photos from MacBook to iMac via ethernet cable and using migration assistant. However every time I transferred, it created a separate user and it transferred all files and photos again and again. So now I have 3 users accounts ?

    I transferred files and photos from MacBook to iMac via ethernet cable and using migration assistant. However every time I transferred, it created a separate user and it transferred all files and photos again and again. So now I have 3 users accounts with all files and photos saved 3 times on same iMac !! Any idea how to avoid this ?

    Yes, you ran into a very understandable problem.
    When you use Migration Assistant, it cannot over-write the account that you happen to be using at the time. Upon migrating accounts, it will tell you that it is going to create a new one, but that message is easy to miss.
    If you have three identical accounts, log in to the account you want to keep, and delete the redundant ones in System Preferences > Users & Groups.
    Now that you know, the easiest way to migrate accounts is to use Setup Assistant when you first get a new Mac. That eliminates any possibility for this to occur, but most people are so eager to use their new Mac that they elect to migrate later.
    That's OK too, but in that case you would want to create a temporary account whose sole purpose is to run Migration Assistant so that you may migrate your old one with an identical name. Be sure to give the new account Administrator privileges. When that finishes you would log in to the newly migrated account, and delete the temporary account.

  • Migration problem: migration assistant won't migrate both user accounts from time machine backup

    My Mac was formatted due to some technical issues. Before handing to the lab- I backed it up using time machine ( and only that ).
    I had two user accounts on the Mac before handing it to the lab.
    One of them I never actually used -I'll call it the secondary.
    The second one was the main one - which I used  all the time - the principal account. All my data is there on that account.
    The Mac was formatted at the lab.
    Using the setup assistant I migrated one user from the Time Machine Backup.
    Only later I realized it was actually the account I never used.
    Since I never used it - I couldn't remember the login password and had to reset it, took a while.
    I then tried to to migrate the principal account - the one I actually wanted to migrate, in the fist place, during the setup procedure -  using the migration assistant.
    At the relevant window I tick the principal account- the mac does some thinking and then in the login window my only options are the secondary account and guest account, the principal account is not to be seen.
    I'm really really stressed and worried.
    BTW -when looking into the actual external disk used for the Time Machine at this path: computer name--> backups-->macintosh HD -->users--> principal account - I see all the folders and files with a 'no entry' icon next to them.
    clicking on the folders - I get the following notice - 'the folder xxx can't be opened because you don't have permission to see the contents''
    What's going on?
    I'm running on a 2.9Ghz intel core i5
    16GB RAM 1600MHz DDR3
    SW version: 10.9.4
    would appreciate any kind of help,
    Thanks
    Dana

    thanks,
    the thing is the Mac was behaving strangely - that's why I sent it to the lab in the first place.
    This Mac is just over a year old but it's content was initially migrated from the older mac.
    And it (the new Mac) wasn't working properly from the get go..
    It took ages for it to start up and wouldn't start up if any external disk was attached (via USB).
    I had to start it up and only then connect external disks.
    In the lab - They couldn't find and HW issues.
    So they formatted and reinstalled the OS - I think that's all they've sone in the lab
    The idea was to start afresh and slowly reinstall softwares - only those necessary.
    So, having said all that- does that change your answer?

  • I am unable to access prior Time Machine backups.

    I am unable to access prior Time Machine backups. I can see previous backups when I enter TM but they do not respond when I click on them. My TM is backing backups and at one time I was able to access them. I am logged on to my Mac Pro as the admin. I am running 10.9.5 and the TM disk is an internal 2 TB drive with 12 GB free.

    The 12 GB free may be the cause.
    Also see:
    http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html

  • Is it possible to use an external hard drive for time machine backup and also as a regular hard drive?

    Is it possible to use an external hard drive for time machine backup and also as a regular hard drive?

    I am using an external drive in the exact way that you described. You just keep it plugged in to the computer when you want to access the movies and files. In order to put files on it, just go to finder open up the drive under devices and drag and drop files onto the drive. It is just like using a usb drive with a terabyte of space.

  • After Mountain Lion update - problems synching contacts and accessing previous Time Machine backup

    I have just set up a MacBoook Pro with a new SSD drive to replace the internal hard drive. I made sure I had a current Time Machine then connected the SSD drive externally and installed Mountain Lion. I installed the SSD drive into the computer. Before restoring applications from the Time Machine backup, I enabled the root user, logged on as that and deleted all other accounts as I have previously had issues with creating a new account from a backup and making that the 'home' user.
    All went well except that a few seconds after I opened Contacts they all disappeared. They were replaced with two entries - one for Apple and one with the name of the home account.
    I tried to retrieve Contacts from the Time Machine backup. I could see all the past dates but they were all red and inaccessible.
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    I imported from the backup I had made but, after a few seconds they were replaced with the two contacts from iCloud. Nothing I tried would allow me to add the contacts and have them synch to iCloud. I finally found a workaround:
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    2  import Contacts from the export file
    3  select all contacts (ctrl-A) and drag them to the 'on my mac' account in Contacts
    4  connect the Internet and watch all the contacts disappear from the iCloud account
    5  select all contacts from the 'on my mac' account adn drag them to the iCloud account.
    6  watch them synch to iCloud
    I still don't understand the problem - perhaps someone can enlighten me - but here's the workaround if someone is having the same problem.
    And I still can't access the Time Machine backup that I used to setup the MacBook Pro. Looking at the files within the Time Machine the backup. it looks as though it is probably a permissions issue but I don't see why as the account I am using is the same name as the one used to create the backup. Any guidance would be appreciated.
    Jeff

    I think you went about this the wrong way. ok....
    Could you please try this... (1) Open Address Book - keep it as the main window.  (2) Enter Time Machine from the icon in the menu bar... do you have that icon? If not, Open System Preferences, Click Time Machine, put a check mark in Show Time Machine in Menu bar. Close System Preferences. Go back to your addressbook. Make it the primary application open. Now go to the icon in the menu bar that represents TimeMachine and click Enter Timemachine. You should see your stuff...
    if you dont...
    I would also try...
    Open system preferenes. go to the icloud tab. sign out. then sign in.
    jdxxs wrote:
    I have just set up a MacBoook Pro with a new SSD drive to replace the internal hard drive. I made sure I had a current Time Machine then connected the SSD drive externally and installed Mountain Lion. I installed the SSD drive into the computer. Before restoring applications from the Time Machine backup, I enabled the root user, logged on as that and deleted all other accounts as I have previously had issues with creating a new account from a backup and making that the 'home' user.
    All went well except that a few seconds after I opened Contacts they all disappeared. They were replaced with two entries - one for Apple and one with the name of the home account.
    I tried to retrieve Contacts from the Time Machine backup. I could see all the past dates but they were all red and inaccessible.
    I looked at Contacts in my account at iCloud.com - they were the same 2 contacts as my local machine. I went through the installation process again but made sure that there was no connection to the Internet on completion. My contacts were intact. I exported them to a file and turned on the Internet. A few seconds later, my Contacts were gone..!
    I imported from the backup I had made but, after a few seconds they were replaced with the two contacts from iCloud. Nothing I tried would allow me to add the contacts and have them synch to iCloud. I finally found a workaround:
    1  disconnect from the Internet
    2  import Contacts from the export file
    3  select all contacts (ctrl-A) and drag them to the 'on my mac' account in Contacts
    4  connect the Internet and watch all the contacts disappear from the iCloud account
    5  select all contacts from the 'on my mac' account adn drag them to the iCloud account.
    6  watch them synch to iCloud
    I still don't understand the problem - perhaps someone can enlighten me - but here's the workaround if someone is having the same problem.
    And I still can't access the Time Machine backup that I used to setup the MacBook Pro. Looking at the files within the Time Machine the backup. it looks as though it is probably a permissions issue but I don't see why as the account I am using is the same name as the one used to create the backup. Any guidance would be appreciated.
    Jeff

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