Transfer data

di37 wrote:

Can I transfer data from my old mac that is backed up on an external hard drive to my new mac directly from that external hard drive? Migration Assistant failed for me.

Yes.

Failed how...?

The most trouble free way to move to a new machine, is using the Setup Assistant on the initial boot of a brand new machine— you have one shot here. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205749

The second best way is use the Migration Assistant.

How to move your content to a new Mac https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204350

3-2-1 Backup Strategy: three copies of your data, two different methods, and one offsite.

— How to create a boot clone https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-10081

—Back up your Mac with Time Machine: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201250

di37 wrote:

Thanks Leroy. During the transfer there was a message that it was transferring and showed a number around 2000 files with 1hr abd 45 minutes remaining. Same message on both screens. After 3 hours it was the ssme message with same number of files and same time remaining. I cancelled at that point.

It can take some time to transfer large amount of data—

The predictive times are notoriously inaccurate, I would try not cancelling and see if it finishes...