How to use time machine to migrate a user from one mac to another

Question

Level 1

10 points

How to use time machine to migrate a user from one mac to another

I have a brand new iMac that was set up about a week ago which contains information from my old PC. I did a time machine back up and now I am trying to import that user to my new macbook air.

Using Migration Assistant, I imported from the user from the Time Machine backup (iMac) to the Macbook Air using my external hard drive.

When I restarted the computer, all that came up on the Macbook Air was the test account I created, not the user from the other Mac. The data is on the computer because the space on the hard drive was taken up. I just don't know why the user isn't showing up.

Can anyone help me to resolve this issue?

iMac, Macbook Air, Mac OS X (10.6.5)

Posted on Dec 2, 2010 7:26 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Dec 2, 2010 7:49 AM in response to stevem902

Hey

You could try and boot the iMac into target disk mode.

Then you could copy the entire hard drive over using SuperDuper, ive done this a few times.

If your new iMac has a newer OS then the old one you should be able to upgrade it after you do the transfer with the install disk.

After that you would have ALL your applications and settings from the old machine.

Pab

Reply

Answer 2

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Dec 2, 2010 8:53 AM in response to stevem902

stevem902 wrote:
I have a brand new iMac that was set up about a week ago which contains information from my old PC. I did a time machine back up and now I am trying to import that user to my new macbook air.

Start over. Don't use Migration Assistant; use +Setup Assistant+ instead.

See #19 in [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum). You'll need to start from the USB Startup drive, erase the internal SSD, and install OSX. When it restarts, after the Welcome video, transfer your data.

Reply

Answer 3

stevem902 Author

Level 1

10 points

Dec 3, 2010 9:43 AM in response to Pondini

I imported the user from another iMac. The user accounts had the same name. What I should have done at that point is DELETE the old user on the computer I was importing to.

What I did to resolve the issue was create an admin account on the new computer.

Delete the old account that I was replacing on the new computer

Run import from time machine backup again.

Worked like a charm!

Reply

Answer 4

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Dec 3, 2010 9:52 AM in response to stevem902

stevem902 wrote:
I imported the user from another iMac. The user accounts had the same name. What I should have done at that point is DELETE the old user on the computer I was importing to.

What I did to resolve the issue was create an admin account on the new computer.

Delete the old account that I was replacing on the new computer

Run import from time machine backup again.

Make sure. You have an extra account, and the one you migrated may not be recognized as the same one as on the old Mac. If you need access to that user's files on the old Mac; the backups; or any other drives, be sure you do. That's the possible downside to +Migration Assistant+ vs. +Setup Assistant.+

Reply