I started Migration Assistant to transfer data from an older iMac to a new iMac. Chose Wi-Fi, peer to peer. It started out well, but after an hour it slowed to 2MB/s and says it need six more hours. I would like to stop MA and connect the computers another way. Can I? How?
iMac 21.5″, macOS 11.4
You will be better off letting it finish. Six or seven hours is not nearly enough. Give it a day, at least, before resorting to a wired connection — Ethernet or USB — which is certain to require correct cables and adapters appropriate for both Macs.
For reference: Transfer your data to your new iMac - Apple Support
You will be better off letting it finish. Six or seven hours is not nearly enough. Give it a day, at least, before resorting to a wired connection — Ethernet or USB — which is certain to require correct cables and adapters appropriate for both Macs.
For reference: Transfer your data to your new iMac - Apple Support
Please do the following:
When you buy a new Mac the easiest, quickest and most reliable method to migrate from the old Mac to the new Mac is to simply connect the old Mac's Time Machine External Hard Disk to the new Mac using a USB cable before you turn on the new Mac. You will likely need a USB A to USB C adapter, you can find them on Amazon for $10 or less. When you start the new Mac for the first time it will startup Setup Assistant (SA), SA will get to a point where it asks if you are migrating from another computer, select Yes and follow the on-screen prompts and it's done! It is THAT simple.
If you have already done SA on the new computer then simply connect the Time Machine External Hard Disk using a USB cable and launch Migration Assistant (MA) which is located in Applications - Utilities - MA. Then follow the on-screen prompts.
The ONLY difference between MA and SA is MA will create a new user account that you need to log into.
Both SA and MA migrate applications (not 32 bit apps), data files & settings. They do not migrate Mac OS itself. Some professional apps such as Adobe and Microsoft apps may require re-installing their apps as they will not allow them to be migrated. As long as you kept the security keys for installing their apps, it is not an issue.
Finally, never EVER use Wi-Fi when doing Setup Assistant or Migration Assistant. Why, it simply fails in most cases. Please read and follow the directions in Setup Assistant and Migration Assistant. If you do not have a Time Machine backup of the older Mac then create one! If you are not aware of Time Machine, please read Back up your Mac with Time Machine and finally if you need an External Hard Disk to use as a Time Machine External Hard Disk then many experience users on these forums prefer the OWC Mercury Elite Pro due to it's reasonable price, high level of quality and ease of use.
Glad it worked out for you. On your next Mac please keep the information I provided. Also, if you have not begun using Time Machine to backup your new Mac, please do so. If you are not familiar with Time Machine please read:
Back up your Mac with Time Machine
Time Machine will require that you use a dedicated External Hard Disk, many experienced users prefer the OWC Mercury Elite Pro. These drives and enclosures have a long long history of extremely high quality, reasonable pricing and the vendor provides excellent pre and post sales support.
DO NOT buy cheap EHDs such a WD, Toshiba, Seagate enclosures, why simple because they are cheap and have a high failure rate. That often occurs when you need your backup information. Backing up is absolutely critical so please be wise and if you are not already using Time Machine please do so ASAP to safeguard your data.
This is good information for anyone transferring data to a new PC via the Migration Assistant. In my case, however, I had already started the process via Wi-Fi and chose to let it run. The process was completed in about four hours and everything seems to have been transferred successfully.
As the evening progressed the Wi-Fi connection begin to speed up and the process was completed in about four hours. Letting the process continue was the right answer for me.
Migration Assistant
