Using Migration Assistant to Move Data Files from one Account to New User

Is it possible or recommended to use Migration Assistant to move data files from an old user account to a new user account on the same volume/hard disk?

Migration Assitant cannot be used as a simple file transfer utility. MA can transfer an entire Home folder or entire Users folder but not individual files.
In general files in one user account cannot be moved to another user account as this would violate built-in security measures.
What you can do is to copy the files to an external device like a hard drive or flash drive. First log in to the old account. Then configure the drive to ignore preferences by Pressing COMMAND-I to open the Get Info window and check the Ignore permissions on this volume checkbox at the bottom of the window. Copy your files to the device. Log into the new account. Verify the external drive is still configured to ignore permissions (reset it, if not.) Copy the files from the external device into the Home folder of the new account. I would create a temporary folder for these files. If you still end up without the proper permissions you will need to make modifications that are easier done if all the files are in a single folder.

Similar Messages

  • I recently purchased an iMac and used migration assistant to get all files from my emac, but now I have three user accounts.  I only want one (perhaps two) accounts.  I want all my music, photos and word docs from old computer in one user name

    I recently purchased a mac and used a firewire to transfer my files onto my new imac with migration assistant.  Now I have 3 users.  I want one with all my main files (pictures, music, files from my old computer).
    I don't mind having an additional "family" account so my younger daughter can't mess us things, but I can't figure out how to get files from one to the next and then delete the one user name.
    Thanks,

    In order to delete other accounts you must be logged into an admin account. You cannot delete the account into which you are currently logged.
    When you started the new computer you were in the Setup Assistant. You created a new admin account before finishing the setup. You need to log into that account because it is an admin account. You can then delete the account you migrated from the old computer (and any other accounts you don't need or want.)
    Then create a temporary new user account with admin status - name it, Temp. Log out of the current account and log into the new account, Temp. Now delete the initial account you created in Setup Assistant. You now have one account, Temp. Now re-migrate your data from the old computer. When that is completed log into the migrated account, which should be an admin account, and delete the temporary account, Temp.

  • Use migration assistant to move Logic 8 from SL to ML or fresh install?

    I've got the first Intel MBP, and I've upgraded to a new mac mini. The old MBP has LP 802. Should I use Migration Assistant to transfer my Application folder to the new machine or install Rosetta and do a fresh install?
    Any advice would be appreciated.
    Thanks,
    Scorpii

    Scorpii wrote:
    The community members have different approaches, but one consensus is that installing Rosetta from the SL instal disc and then trying to install LP 8 works
    Rosetta is an unnatural addition to Lion or Mt. Lion and installing it can have serious consequences not initially anticipated later on; see this thread (start with the OP's first post):
    https://discussions.apple.com/message/21335549#21335549
    On the other hand, installing from Terminal does not have any "side-effects" so long as the user knows how to use Terminal, such as you do.
    If you decide to install Rosetta, you do so at your own risk!
    I do not understand your reference to "LP 802"
    As to Migration Assistant, what OS X flavor is installed on your first Intel MBP and on your new mac Mini (which you reference to ML, so I assume it is Mt. Lion but please confirm)?

  • I am trying to use migration assistant to transfer my files from my old Macbook to my new Macbook Pro, but it keeps messing up after I enter the passcode. Help?

    I have already updated my Migration Assistant program and changed my FireWall settings to allow all incoming connections, but Migration Assistant still isn't working. I get all the way to the passcode verification step, and then it stops working. On my new computer, a message pops up saying that it could not connect to my old computer. On my old computer, I can enter the passcode, but then the little spinny beachball shows up and then Migration Assistant loses its connection and begins to "look for other computers." How do I fix this? My old computer is operating on Leopard and my new computer is operating on Mountain Lion.

    You can do it wirelessly, but that will take some time... you could also purchase a Thunderbolt to Ethernet adapter or a Thunderbolt to FireWire adapter. That would certainly be faster. You should be able to purchase either adapter at your local Apple Store or at the online Apple Store.
    Good luck,
    Clinton

  • How to use Migration Assistant when trying to transfer from MacBook to a new iMac via Ethernet cable

    I've been trying to transfer data from my MacBook to my new iMac via Ethernet cable and I get to the point of the transfer starting. Then on my iMac the Migration Assistant shuts down and takes me back to my desktop. Any ideas on why this keeps happening?

    Start over, restoring the OS on the new machine, and follow the steps outlined in  Pondini's Setup New Mac guide using the Setup Assistant.

  • I use migrate assistant to move files from my old pc to the new Mac , but it creates the user account. How can i delete the unwanted user account.

    i use migrate assistant to move files from my old pc to the new Mac , but it creates the user account. How can i delete the unwanted user account.

    Welcome to Apple Support Communities
    That's the classic behaviour after using Migration Assistant and that's normal.
    To transfer the data from the new user account to your old user account, you can follow some steps. Here is all the information you need to do this > https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-5472

  • Using Migration Assistant to move files from old PC laptop to new MacBook Pro that has Windows 8 installed containing Outlook

    When using Migration Assistant to move files from old PC laptop to new MacBook Pro, that has Windows 8 installed containing Outlook, will emails, contacts and calendar entries be moved to Outlook on the new MacBook or into Mail, Contacts and Calendar?

    I doubt they will. But then I'm not sure as I used a migration program once about 18 years ago and totally FUBARed the system I had at that time and I've never used one again.
    For me the reason to have a new system is to start fresh. Installing only program that I now use and manually copying data over from the older system.
    Not sure your older version of Outlook, and the outlook mail boxes, are compatible with Office/Outlook for Mac 2011.
    A better place to ask this question would be on the MS Office for Mac forums.
    Hope it all works out for you.

  • Secondly, i used migration assistant to move everything from old laptop to new. when i used pages on new machine, 10.8.5 operating system, there is no click for file save as in the menu, only flle save. why?

    secondly, i used migration assistant to move everything from old laptop to new. when i used pages on new machine, 10.8.5 operating system, there is no click for file save as in the menu, only flle save. why?

    Hold down Option key while clicking on menu bar and Save as will appear.

  • I used the Migration Assistant to move data from my Time Machine to my new Mac.   Most data has been moved successfully but none of my iPhoto pictures have been moved.   Looking at my Time Machine now I find that the earliest back-up is dated after the Mi

    I used the Migration Assistant to move data from my Time Machine to my new Mac.   Most data seems to have been transferred successfully but none of my iPhoto pictures have been transferred.
    My Time Machine now shows the earliest available Back-up to be after the Migration Date.   My iPhoto pictures seem to have either been lost in the migration process or are locked in my Time Machine prior to the earliest back-up date now accessible.  
    Any advice on recovering my old iPhoto pictures would be greatly appreciated.

    First go to iPhoto Preferences, look in both General and Advanced tabs to make sure that things are set to import from camera into iPhoto.
    Then if that doesn't help, connect the camera and open Image Capture in your Applications > Utilities folder and see if you can use Image Capture to reset the import path from the camera to iPhoto.
    Image Capture: Free import tool on Mac OS X - Macgasm
    Message was edited by: den.thed
    Sorry John, I didn't see your post when I clicked the reply button. Dennis

  • I bought a new iMac today. I'm using migration assistant to move all my software, but the time just keeps getting longer. It says connect an Ethernet cable for faster data transfer. I did, but that doesn't seem to help. Any ideas?

    I bought a new iMac today. I'm using migration assistant to move all my software, but the time just keeps getting longer. It says connect an Ethernet cable for faster data transfer. I did, but that doesn't seem to help. Any ideas?

    m1doc,
    Are you migrating from a Mac or a MS Window machine? Either way you probably should be in touch with AppleCare, you have 90 days of free AppleCare telephone support. They can usually help on issues like this. If you don't know the phone number please use http://support.apple.com/kb/HE57 to help find the number in your country.

  • Has anyone used Migration Assistant to move services from one system running Server to a new system?

    So, I've purchased a Mac mini to replace my aging Mid 2009 mini on which I've been running Mavericks Server.  In trying to answer the question of how best to move services from the old machine to the new, I've stumbled into the fact that Migration Assistant can apparently migrate not just user data for workstations and laptops, but also service data for servers.  The problem is there isn't much detail in the docs about how good a job it does when going from one machine to another without changing OS releases.  There's a very detailed document in the KB about going from older versions of Server to new (OS X Server: Upgrade and migration from Lion Server or Snow Leopard Server) and a general doc on migrating from another Mac under Mavericks (OS X: How to migrate data from another Mac using Mavericks) but that has no details about Server.
    Has anyone used Migration Assistant to move services from one system running Server to a new system?  Are there any details that are particularly important to get right?  Are there things that require manual steps after Migration Assistant is done?
    There are other ways I could tackle the problem, of course.  I could simply swap drives between the systems, but the new system has two drives that are bigger, faster, and I intend to mirror them.  That would complicate such an approach.  I'd really like to keep the conversation constrained to a discussion of Migration Assistant as the primary method.

    yes. I migrated a server frm lion to mavericks following these notes a while back:
    OS X Server: Upgrade and migration from Mountain Lion
    i do not recall having any problems with it.

  • HT4413 I am trying to use migration assistant to move everything from snow leopard (10.6.8) to mountain lion (10.8.3) using a direct machine to machine ethernet cable connection but it stalls out at about 17 minutes remaining.  Thoughts on how to proceed?

    I am trying to use migration assistant to move everything from snow leopard (10.6.8) to mountain lion (10.8.3) using a direct machine to machine ethernet cable connection but it stalls out at about 17 minutes remaining.  Thoughts on how to proceed?

    Have you set both to never sleep?
    Is the source (old) Mac's software up to date (including the Migration Assistant for Mac OS X Snow Leopard update)?
    Is the old Mac healthy?  Have you run Verify Disk on it lately?
    The estimates are wildly inaccurate under the best of circumstances.  How long has it been stuck? 

  • Why can't I seem to use migration assistant to move applications from time capsule to iMac?

    I just want to use Migration Assistant to move select applications to my new iMac.  I can't seem to find a way to select only a limited number of applications to transfer.  I want to move applications such as a Canon Utilities and Image browser applications that came with my Canon camera that I bought.  I loaded the original software on to my Macbook Pro with the discs.  I can't do that with my iMac (obviously) so I'm hoping to get my canon software onto my iMac through migration assistant.  Please help!

    It is not as fine grained as that.. you select all or nothing.. At least from my experience using it.
    It works if you remember that all the applications will be imported to a particular user profile.. simple create a new user.. log in with that and accept what you have to to get the applications you want.. although I would suggest most things are available for download nowadays.
    You can also keep using your old MBP if it is still working and simply copy the files on the CD to the new computer via the disk in the MBP.

  • Permissions problem after using Migration Assistant - unable to copy files

    I have a PowerBook G4 and 2 iMac G5 desktops - one iMac at home and one at work. I've had the iMac at home and the PowerBook for a while. The iMac at work is one I've just inherited from another user. Both are exactly the same model - 2Ghz iMac G5 (ambient light sensor). All 3 machines are running Mac OS X 10.4.6.
    I decided to use Migration Assistant to transfer my Admin user account on the PowerBook to my work iMac G5, all of which worked great. So I now have an exact copy of the user folder from my PowerBook on my work iMac G5, and consequently the same combination of username/password.
    When I mount the drive from my PowerBook on my work iMac via AFP I can copy files from the PowerBook to the iMac. But if I try to copy the file back to the PowerBook I receive the error "The operation cannot be completed because you do not have sufficient privileges for some of the items". The file does appear on the PowerBook, but it is 0K and therefore useless.
    Worse, if I'm replacing a file on the PowerBook, I get the usual "An item named "blah" already exists in this location..." dialog. If I click Yes to replace the file it is wiped, but then the permission error pops up leaving me with a 0K file on the PowerBook and no original.
    If I mount the work iMac drive on my PowerBook I see exactly the same issue - i.e. I can copy to the local machine from the mounted drive. But I cannot copy anything back without receiving the permissions error.
    My home iMac G5 was not set up using migration assistant, but I do use exactly the same combination of username/password. It does not exhibit the same behaviour. I can mount the PowerBook drive on the home iMac and happily copy files back and forth with no permission errors at all. And the same if I mount the home iMac drive on the PowerBook - no problems.
    So I'm guessing that this behaviour is a result of using Migration Assistant to create the user account on my work iMac. If I log into another account on my work iMac, mount the PowerBook drive and copy a file to the PowerBook it works fine. The problem only occurs in the account created by Migration Assistant.
    Does anyone know how to resolve this, short of having to create a new user account on the work iMac and move all my files from one account to the other?
    PowerBook 12" G4 867Mhz & 2 X iMac 20" G5 2Ghz   Mac OS X (10.4.6)  

    Hi,
    you need to adjust the permissions for the files on your harddrive.
    I think you have serveral users in different groups that may result a permission conflict.
    - Put or copy your files you want to to a new folder.
    - Use this tool, its easy to use for ppl that are not familiar with unix permission setup over the terminal: http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/6440
    - give all files recursively all permissions (for testing) (777, owner, group, others)
    - then test the copy procedure
    this should help
    Regards Thorsten

  • Used migration assistant to move office 2008 and now i cannot open it

    I had an old MacBook from 2008, and now have a new MacBook Air. Was told to use migration assistant to move my applications. I did this and now when I go to open any programme from Microsoft Office 2008, it takes me to Microsoft Office Setup Assistant, over and over and over... Its saying that I don't need to register...
    Any advice or help?

    I migrated Office 2011 and other than forcing me to enter the license code again (all 2 million letters of it) everything went OK.
    Note that when I tried to open Parallels desktop 6 it wouldn't open and said that it wasn't compatible with Mountain Lion and the icon had a sort of greyed out look. I upgraded to 8 and it started working. I wonder if there is any issue with Office 2008 and Mountain Lion? Probably not but it's a possibility.
    You can buy an external superdrive too from Apple. I bought one for my 2010 Air. But CD sharing from another computer should work. I bring it with me when I travel to watch DVDs.

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