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Mac OS Lion - Migration Assistant non-functioning on Windows 7

One of the reasons I purchaed Lion was to migrate my primary Windows settings, like email, etc to my Mac automatically.


I used the Migration Assistant on Windows 7 64-bit Ultimate, but I get the error "An error occurred while preparing your information for transfer". No further details were provided.


I wanted to finally do the my main work, email, calendars, etc on my primarily on my Mac - that is why I was looking for to the automated Migratiomn Assistant in Lion.


Anyone knows how to help with this issue - it would be greatly appreciated...


Please help me get away from Windows!!


Thanks,

Mike

iMac 27 inch, Windows 7

Posted on Jul 23, 2011 12:39 PM

Reply
13 replies

Jul 26, 2011 5:43 AM in response to menloe24

I have the same error. I thought it might be the VMware Fusion migration software, I tried disabling it and a bunch of other services, to no avail. (Even MS Security Essentials.) I then installed the Mig Asst on my wife's laptop (quite similarily configured PC) and it works fine, so I don't think it is a network config issue. I also tried uninstalling and reinstall Mig Asst, no luck. I guess I could try uninstalling VMware all together, but at this point I think I'll just migrate my data the old fashion way. Too bad the app doesn't spit out a better error message. It is probably a lame problem like it hit a file it didn't like while scanning the HD.

Jul 26, 2011 12:52 PM in response to twoehr

More info.


I found the Migration Assistant log. Look in "C:\Users\username\AppData\local\temp" for SystemMigrtion.txt.


For me the problem appears to be with the calendar in Outlook:


Monday, July 25, 2011 11:33:08 AM: Loading Outlook calendars from msg store Outlook/0 ('Personal Folders')

Monday, July 25, 2011 11:33:08 AM: Loaded IPM Calendars 'Calendar' by EntryId

Monday, July 25, 2011 11:33:09 AM: --------------------------------

Monday, July 25, 2011 11:33:09 AM: Profiler thread has crashed!

Unhandled exception.

Monday, July 25, 2011 11:33:09 AM: --------------------------------

Monday, July 25, 2011 11:33:09 AM: Source:

Monday, July 25, 2011 11:33:09 AM: --------------------------------

Monday, July 25, 2011 11:33:09 AM: SMNativeLib

Monday, July 25, 2011 11:33:09 AM: --------------------------------

Monday, July 25, 2011 11:33:09 AM: Message:

Monday, July 25, 2011 11:33:09 AM: --------------------------------

Monday, July 25, 2011 11:33:09 AM: Attempted to read or write protected memory. This is often an indication that other memory is corrupt.

Monday, July 25, 2011 11:33:09 AM: --------------------------------

Monday, July 25, 2011 11:33:09 AM: Stack Trace:

Monday, July 25, 2011 11:33:09 AM: --------------------------------

Monday, July 25, 2011 11:33:09 AM: at SMOutlookSupport.MapiEventRow.LoadRecurrenceStruct()

at SMOutlookSupport.MapiEventRow.LoadRecurrence()

at SMOutlookSupport.MapiEventRow.InitWithRow(MapiContainer parent, MapiRow row)

at SMOutlookSupport.OutlookMessageCache.CalenadarsForProfile(String profileName, MapiContainer rootContainer)

at SMOutlookSupport.OutlookMessageCache.AllCalendars()

at SMProfiles.Calendars.AllCalendarsForUser(String shortname, String sid)

at SMProfiles.SystemProfiler.GetCurrentProfile(Boolean& cancel)

at SMProfiles.SystemProfiler.Initialize()

at FormsAssistant.MainWindowController.InitializeAppThread()


I am going to do some clean-up on my PST and see if I can eliminate the error. I'll report back how I make out.

Jul 26, 2011 2:15 PM in response to menloe24

I got mine working. It was a calendar entry in Outlook. I don't know exactly what one, but after I deleted a block of them the Migration Assistant didn't crash anymore. My data is migrating as I type. (Unfortunately I forgot to plug the net cable back in to the iMac, so it is going over wifi.)


So Mike, open up the log file I mention in the previous post, look for where the error occurs. You then need to fix the data source in question.

Aug 26, 2011 6:33 PM in response to menloe24

VMWare reports that Migration Assistant doesn't work in Lion! 😠 They suggest a work-around using a stand-alone convertor, copying to an external drive, and then importing into Fusion.


Here's what they say about it:

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=display KC&externalId=2003715


That procedure is awkward and tedious at best. They really should make the problem well-advertised, rather than wasting everyone's time.

Aug 27, 2011 6:51 AM in response to Gracie Mansion Macs

Yes the Migration Assistant for MAC does not work on Lion. The Migration Assistant for Windows still does (data migration). In lieu of MA for Mac, to virtualize your Windows PC into a VM and move it to Mac go here:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3197916?answerId=15775093022#15775093022


I did not find it worth running the MA on Windows since I was virtualizing my PC anyway. Other than performing a file transfer the real unique thing is sucking calendar and contact data out of Outlook and I didn't need that. I use Gmail calendar which I had sync with the Mac Calendar and Address Book. If I could do it again I would virtualize the PC, and then copy the data I wanted out of the VM and onto the Mac.

Sep 18, 2011 3:50 PM in response to menloe24

I found an answer to the errors on Windows Migration of data to the Mac. Like notes above, I downloaded the Windows program, ran it and it said there was an error assembling data and I read the .log file and it was OUTLOOK which was the problem.


Instead of deleting data in Outlook, Find the section of the program which allows you to COMPACT the data. Don't forget to do both the main and archived files. That not only compacts the data, it removes the errors. All ran smoothly after that.


Here's where to find it:


File (drop down) to

Data Management which opens data files.

click thd data file and depending on the version of outlook, you will need to click settings or something else to get to the window which has the COMPACT NOW option. It takes a while to run, so don't get frustrated. Just keep an eye on the hard drive light and let it finish. There is no "ta da - I'm done" message, it just goes back to the prior window.


John

Dec 8, 2011 9:11 PM in response to Gilinator

It seems there is no way around deleting calender entries. I tired every other solution including some things from Microsoft themselves like a program called scanpst. Nothing worked except for deleting entries. I took Twoehr's advice and found the log file which pointed me to the Archived Calender. A band-aid solution would be to make a backup of your outlook, start deleting small chunks of entries remembering where you leave off, until it all goes through. For me it was no big deal so i trashed all the Archived entries that were more than 2 years old and all is well. Hope this helps...



The program scanpst gets installed when you install outlook and thats worth a shot if nothing else is working.

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook-help/repair-outlook-data-files-pst-and -ost-HA010075831.aspx

Dec 9, 2011 7:02 AM in response to ibort

Definitely try scanpst first, it didn't work for me, but it is worth the shot.


If you bite the bullet and try to find the corrupt entry the fastest way is to delete half of the suspect data and retry the migration. When you've deleted the bad data the migration will work. This will be trial and error, but you'll be selecting the largest chunk of data possible each time, reducing the overall effort. The first time you delete half, the second time you'll delete a quarter, and so on.


  1. First make 2 copies of your PST, so you have three in total, the third is your "safety".
  2. Open the original file. Set the view to list and then delete as close to half as possible. (Being able to recall what ones you deleted.)
  3. Then try to migrate the data. If it works the bad data was in the half you deleted, if it doesn't then the bad data is still here.
  4. If the migration worked, you'll need to delete this file and go back to a copy and delete half of what you didn't before, repeating the process to find the bad data.
  5. If the migration didn't work, make a copy of this "smaller" file, and then delete half the data in this "smaller' file and repeat the process to find the bad data.
  6. Note that at the end of every cycle, you'll either start again with the same file, meaning you need to make a copy of it, or you'll delete the file and go back to the one you used previously and delete the "other" half of it. This is where it can get tricky and it is handy to have that third original copy in case you screw-up.
  7. Eventually you'll find the bad entry. When you do, go back to a virgin copy and delete just it. You'll now have everything but the bad data.


As you can see, you need to be really willing to not lose data to go through this effort. If this is too complicated, don't worry, try something simpler like deleting groups of data instead, like birthdays, holidays, etc then following this iterative process. Either way it'll be faster than random or smaller chunks of data. I'm not certain, but I believe what I found to be bad in my file was either a birthday or holiday entry. So try that first.

Dec 18, 2011 11:02 AM in response to Komakino

Thank you for the tip on checking out the log file. I found out my problem is also related to my old PST files' calendar entries. I simply rename my PST files and force the migration assistant to ignore the PST files.


After a frustrating 24 hours, it is now finally migrating. They really should reclassify the migration assistant to a beta version. Even though PST files are notorious for corrupiton, I expected better error handling capability.


Paul

Mac OS Lion - Migration Assistant non-functioning on Windows 7

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