Using Migration Assistance

[drewaz]

Really! What a pain in the a** that's going to be. You mean to tell me when using set up assistant it allows the computer to go to sleep??

well, I'm just guessing that's what the problem was. maybe someone with a little experience can tell us if MA keeps both machines awake.

If you can get set both machines not go to sleep (should be easy) before starting the migration it should work.
I would also bet that if I had unplugged then replugged the connection it would have started again. I wish I had thought about doing that.

 

[Joe1602]

well, I'm just guessing that's what the problem was. maybe someone with a little experience can tell us if MA keeps both machines awake.

If you can get set both machines not go to sleep (should be easy) before starting the migration it should work.
I would also bet that if I had unplugged then replugged the connection it would have started again. I wish I had thought about doing that.

Mine has frozen about 10 times tonight. Not related to the new iMac sleeping. It will say the transfer rate (like 100Mb/sec) and the time remaining (1 hour 30 minutes). Then 2 hours later, it says transfer rate 5Mb/sec and time remaining 12 hours. I have to unplug the ethernet and plug it back it to get it to restart. About 95% done so far.

 

[Weaselboy]

So to help clarify for the techno challenged (myself) I have a 2007 iMac. When the new iMac arrives I would set it up and plug it in but not turn it on. Then I would plug an Ethernet cable in the 2007 iMac and then connect that iMac to the new iMac (Ethernet to Ethernet). Then I would turn on the 2007 iMac and after it was on I would turn on the new iMac and then run Setup Assistant when it shows up on the screen, following the prompts to the migrating menu and just select the 2007 iMac as the source I want to migrate from, correct? I've used migration assistant once before and it went without a glitch just want the same thing if I try this. Thanks for the help.

Yes exactly. But don't worry about the order of powering them on. Just fire them both up and follow the setup assistant prompts on the new machine. The order of power up won't matter. I would also turn off wifi on the old machine so the migration does not try to run over wifi.

 

[photoj2754]

Yes exactly. But don't worry about the order of powering them on. Just fire them both up and follow the setup assistant prompts on the new machine. The order of power up won't matter. I would also turn off wifi on the old machine so the migration does not try to run over wifi.

Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for conforming this for me. Just want to make sure I don't have an unforeseen problem pop up when I do this. (Which seems to happen to me a lot)

 

[rainbowizard]

The setup assistant is just the process that runs when you setup a new Mac. You will select a language etc then it will ask if you want to import data from another Mac. If you select yes, it just runs the Migration Assistant application for you.

You definitely want to do the import when you first start as part of the setup assistant process like RK described.

Don't worry about the space used issue. Time Machine keeps all old versions of your files as long as there is disk space available on the backup drive, so it is very common for the space used on the Time Machine backup disk to be larger than the space used by the actual operating drive.

I agree with RK... if you have a USB drive Time Machine backup, use that as the source for the import.

I'm new to this Migration Process and want to clarify in my mind the correct process. I want to hook up my Time Machine via USB before I boot my new iMac for the first time and when I get to the setup assistant I select Migration Assistant and tell it to use the Time Machine drive? --Thanks

 

[photoj2754]

Plus I just realized that I have an ethernet to thunderbolt adapter that I can use. I just attach an ethernet cord to my old mac, plug it into the adapter and then plug that into the new iMac, right?

 

[Weaselboy]

Plus I just realized that I have an ethernet to thunderbolt adapter that I can use. I just attach an ethernet cord to my old mac, plug it into the adapter and then plug that into the new iMac, right?

Exactly.

I'm new to this Migration Process and want to clarify in my mind the correct process. I want to hook up my Time Machine via USB before I boot my new iMac for the first time and when I get to the setup assistant I select Migration Assistant and tell it to use the Time Machine drive? --Thanks

Yes... but during setup it does not actually call it "Migration Assistant" (even though that is what it uses). It will just ask if you want commove stuff from another Mac... and when you say yes it starts the Migration Assistant. So don't get confused when you don't see the words Migration Assistant.

 

[eoren1]

Dumb question but if the current iMac is on Yosemite, should I update to El Capitan before using the Migration setup on the new 2015 iMac?

 

[Weaselboy]

Dumb question but if the current iMac is on Yosemite, should I update to El Capitan before using the Migration setup on the new 2015 iMac?

Not a dumb question at all. It won't hurt anything if you update to El Capitan, but you don't need to. MA can handle migrating old OS to new (like from Yosemite to El Capitan), but not new to old (like El Capitan to Yosemite).

 

[eoren1]

Thanks Weaselboy!

One more less dumb question.

My current setup on a 2011 iMac is 128gb SSD external TB drive holds OS and apps. 1TB internal holds all data (documents, downloads folders, etc). Did that to eek out a bit of speed from the old iMac without having to open it up while it was still under AppleCare. Can't remember how I did the setup but I think I just told the OS that the user folder was to be stored on the internal 1TB HDD...

Am I correct in thinking that I can simply attach the current 128GB SSD to the new iMac and turn on the machine to start the Setup Assistant which will move all apps?

Plan was/is to clone the data (using CCC) from the internal HDD to an external 1TB USB3 SSD that will then be attached to the new iMac. I'm guessing I'll need to attach that at some point in the setup process so everything is found. Not sure if I should attach the 1TB SSD AND the 128GB SSD before first turning on the iMac.

 

[Weaselboy]

Am I correct in thinking that I can simply attach the current 128GB SSD to the new iMac and turn on the machine to start the Setup Assistant which will move all apps?

Hmm... I'm not really sure what will happen in this case. I have never tried to migrate a machine that has the user folder on another drive. My sense is if both drives were present and you were migrating directly from the old iMac, it would work okay, but with the drives pulled and just attached directly like you described, I dunno what will happen. Sorry I'm not more help, but the is an odd scenario I have not tested.

 

[eoren1]

Hmm... I'm not really sure what will happen in this case. I have never tried to migrate a machine that has the user folder on another drive. My sense is if both drives were present and you were migrating directly from the old iMac, it would work okay, but with the drives pulled and just attached directly like you described, I dunno what will happen. Sorry I'm not more help, but the is an odd scenario I have not tested.

Thanks. I figured I could try it and see what happens. If it works, great. If not, I had been thinking of doing a 'clean' setup anyway...

 

[myrtledog]

I plan on connecting via TB cable my older 2013 iMac to the new iMac once it arrives. I have about 900 GB on my current Mac.

Any idea how long I should expect the data transfer to take?

 

[driftless]

I recommend that you do a clean install instead of using MA/SA to take advantage of all of the benefits of a new iMac. With 1TB+ external drives well under $100 plus programs like iCloud, Dropbox, etc., doing a clean install is arguably faster than using MA/SA and does not transfer over all of the crud that has accumulated on your mac.

 

[gelie]

I recommend that you do a clean install instead of using MA/SA to take advantage of all of the benefits of a new iMac. With 1TB+ external drives well under $100 plus programs like iCloud, Dropbox, etc., doing a clean install is arguably faster than using MA/SA and does not transfer over all of the crud that has accumulated on your mac.

How does transferring from a backup prevent all the "crud" from transferring over to the new Mac? Thanks

 

[driftless]

You reinstall all of your apps fresh, from Adobe, Apple, etc. You then transfer your files from an external drive, Dropbox, etc. Your apps are the latest versions without anything else, all you need do is login again. One of the nice things about a fresh install, if you do it right, you should do a "spring cleaning" of your data and make sure that it is organized properly and cull what you should.

 

[hfg]

Hmm... I'm not really sure what will happen in this case. I have never tried to migrate a machine that has the user folder on another drive. My sense is if both drives were present and you were migrating directly from the old iMac, it would work okay, but with the drives pulled and just attached directly like you described, I dunno what will happen. Sorry I'm not more help, but the is an odd scenario I have not tested.

I believe you will see which user's folders are included in the first screen when it calculates sizes. If your "remote" user-drive is not included, you will have to move it over manually after the fact.

 

[rkaufmann87]

Really! What a pain in the a** that's going to be. You mean to tell me when using set up assistant it allows the computer to go to sleep??

Some of the people on this forum like to be dramatic and do things the hard way. All you need to do is start the new computer, connect your Time Machine via USB to your new Mac, turn it on and when it gets to the point where it is asking if you are migrating from another Mac answer the simple questions and let it run. VERY VERY VERY simple and dead reliable!

 

[AntnyMikal]

I did mine last night. From a mid 2011 MM to the 5k with a Cat6 Ethernet cable took about 4 hours for 400 gigs from start to finish. Figure I would post just for reference.

I actually thought I had a TB cable and didn't and all the stores were closed so I just used the cat6 cable from my PS4. Went faster than expected and was fairly easy and straight forward only only about 5-6 steps.

No freezes, both computers went to sleep multiple times with no issues.

 

[myrtledog]

No freezes, both computers went to sleep multiple times with no issues.

Great to know. Thanks!

 

[Guggiman]

Sorry if i'm a bit slow! Can I chose which folders to move? My current Mac Pro has a 2 TB drive and my new iMac has a 500GB SSD so I'm concerned about getting the right folders moved to the SSD.

 

[Weaselboy]

Sorry if i'm a bit slow! Can I chose which folders to move? My current Mac Pro has a 2 TB drive and my new iMac has a 500GB SSD so I'm concerned about getting the right folders moved to the SSD.

Yes... with some limitations. Once you start you will get to this screen where you can click to see the users folders. Then within that you could choose to migrate say Pictures but not Documents for example. But the choices in this screen are all you get.

 

[Guggiman]

Great! Thank you Weaselboy!

 

[PunkRawkPurl]

Forgive me if this isn't the correct thread to ask these questions... all relating to setting up new machine.

I have given considerable thought to how I want to set-up my new iMac up (picking up Tuesday), and am heavily leaning toward a clean install. I only have 2 apps that are not standard apple &/or subscription based Adobe which will be a snap to install. I have 3 questions:

1. if I am not migrating from TM, which prompts am I looking for during the set up? Will it ask if I want to set up as a "new computer"? At some point I am sure it will ask for my iCloud deets.
   
2. Any advice, when it comes time to transfer my selected files? I will be doing so from an external HD, my TM. I have large amounts of photos and music.
   
3. I currently have an external HD that I am using exclusively for TM on my MBP. Is there any reason I cannot continue to use the same external as TM for my new machine? Will I need to "reset" it in anyway? I will no longer use it for the MB.

 

[Weaselboy]

1. When asked if you want to move data over from another Mac, just say no... then you will be prompted to create a new user account.

2. Just enter Time Machine once you are in the new machine and restore one folder at a time. For example, the Pictures folder then the Music folder etc.

3. You can keep using the same one if you like.