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Migration assistant Pc to Mac

I recently purchased my first MacBook Pro. I used to own a PC & still do. I've been trying to transfer my windows files (documents,music,photos etc...) from my PC laptop to my new Mac without success. I've tried using Migration Assistant connecting my PC to my Mac using an ethernet connection & have followed all instructions regarding transfer process. I see the transferring process working. However at the end of process when I'm prompted to quit after process is finished. I can't find/see any of the transferred files be it music or photos. Can someone please help me out with this problem.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.3)

Posted on Apr 19, 2012 7:46 AM

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Posted on Apr 19, 2012 7:49 AM

Get a external USB drive and transfer the files manually, it's the best way.


Run a free OS X ClamXav scan on the files, they are likely corrupted or infected which can cause issues on the Mac or via Migraine Assistant.


Drives, partitions, formatting w/Mac's + PC's


 Most commonly used backup methods explained

14 replies

Apr 20, 2012 3:37 AM in response to ds store

TY for replying to my question. I followed your suggestion of getting an external Hard disk drive & was able to copy my photos from my PC to my MBP. However I'm having problems copying my Windows Music Files. I tried to copy a file as a test. A problem arises when I try to open the Music files on my Mac. It seems that Mac does not support Music files with WMA extension. I was under the impression that such files would be converted to mp3 when they are imported to iTunes. That used to work on my PC. However that does not sem to work on my Mac & I'm asked to download a Flip4Mac program at a cost of $24.99. Seems like simple transfer from PC to Mac is not that simple. Any Suggestions or help you might have would be appreciated.

Apr 20, 2012 7:06 AM in response to zujaber

zujaber wrote:

However that does not sem to work on my Mac & I'm asked to download a Flip4Mac program at a cost of $24.99.


Perhaps your WMA files are copy protected.



Seems like simple transfer from PC to Mac is not that simple.



The transfer is simple, the files are in a proprietary format, that's what's bad.



iTunes 10 can currently read, write and convert between MP3, AIFF, WAV, MPEG-4, AAC and Apple Lossless (.m4a).


The Windows version of iTunes can automatically transcode DRM-free WMA (including version 9) files to other audio formats, but does not support playback of WMA files and will not transcode DRM protected WMA files. Telestream, Inc. provides free codecs for Mac users of QuickTime to enable playback of unprotected Windows Media files. These codecs are recommended by Microsoft.[34]


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itunes#File_format_support


So head back to your PC and change the non-DRMed (not copy protected) WMA to MP3 and copy those to your Mac.


Or use software like this


http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/14645/easywma

Apr 20, 2012 7:14 AM in response to zujaber

I didn't see this mentioned and it's a critical item. Migration Assistant creates a new user account, log out of your existing account (click the Apple symbol in the upper left corner) and log into the new account, you should see your PC data in the new account. You also may find the Transferring files from one User Account to another. link very helpful!

Apr 22, 2012 3:51 AM in response to rkaufmann87

TY for reply to my question. I followed your suggestion & logged out of my primary Mac user account. I found 2 new accounts one named 'User' which I'm unable to access due to password problem. The other account I was able to access without password & found under downloads all my Photo files that I migrated through the ethernet Migration assistant process.

I've tried to repeat the process again trying to transfer only my music files from my PC. However I'm prompted to create a 'Unique user name & an account name. I've had no succees in using the new account name that was created before with my Photos. Trying to skip that option results in nothing being transferred. Any firther suggestions & help you might have would be greatly appreciated.

Apr 22, 2012 5:52 AM in response to ds store

"Perhaps your WMA files are copy protected."


How can I know/find if they are copy protected?


" So head back to your PC and change the non-DRMed (not copy protected) WMA to MP3 and copy those to your Mac.'


I have no clue as to how to change the the non-DRMed WMA music files to MP3 format on my PC.


I might end up purchasing the software you mentioned though I still don't understand how it works once I have my music files on a hard drive & want to move them to my Mac.

Apr 22, 2012 7:28 AM in response to zujaber

zujaber wrote:


TY for reply to my question. I followed your suggestion & logged out of my primary Mac user account. I found 2 new accounts one named 'User' which I'm unable to access due to password problem. The other account I was able to access without password & found under downloads all my Photo files that I migrated through the ethernet Migration assistant procysss.

I've tried to repeat the process again trying to transfer only my music files from my PC. However I'm prompted to create a 'Unique user name & an account name. I've had no succees in using the new account name that was created before with my Photos. Trying to skip that option results in nothing being transferred. Any firther suggestions & help you might have would be greatly appreciated.

How Migration Assistant works with files & settings is it's an all or nothing proposition. What I mean is if you choose to migrate your data files it's going to migrate all the data files, you can't tell it to migrate specific files. If you want to migrate specific files the easiest method is to move the files you want onto an external HD. Once on the EHD drag them from the EHD to the Mac. If you still are having trouble give AppleCare a call ASAP, you have 90 days of free AppleCare telephone suppport and they can usually assist on this type of thing. The phone number is in your manual or you can use the AppleCare Contact Info link. BTW if you have not bought AppleCare I'd strongly recommend it, it extends the warranty to 3 years and includes 3 years of phone support. You can buy it any time within the 1 year warranty, let it go 366 days and you're out of luck.

Apr 22, 2012 10:28 AM in response to rkaufmann87

TY again for reply. I would have in a heartbeat bought Applecare or taken an appointment for a one on one with an Apple store expert. Unfortunately I have recently relocated to Lebanon & bought my new mac from an authorized Apple dealer. They don't provide the support that is a given had I been in the USA or any other country that has Real Apple stores. I appreciate all the info provided by you & others. Guess I'll have to ask the store I purchased my Mac if they can help me out. if not then I'll have to start a new iTune library by copying about 400 Cd's one at a time. A daunting task that will take quite some time but still do-able. TY again for your help.

Apr 23, 2012 3:35 AM in response to zujaber

The bulk of my music files are in Windows Music Library 57.5GB. My iTunes Library only has 7.87GB of Music & about 32GB of TV shows & movies. The link you provided me is very helpfull. Unfortunately it won't resolve the problem of moving my Windows music file from my PC to my new Mac. Thanks again for your help.

Apr 24, 2012 7:51 AM in response to rkaufmann87

I have been able to resolve the Migration Assistant problem from my PC to Mac. I'm so relieved as I was giving up on being able to find a solution to my problem. I decided to start from square 1. I deleted the 2 accounts that were created on my previuos attempts of Migrating all files from PC to Mac using ethernet cable.


Once I had deleted those accounts I started again from the beginning to connect PC to Mac with an ethernet cable & followed the prompts from both computers using Migration Assistant & I started seeing my files beeing transferred from PC to Mac. It took 3hrs & 36 minutes for all my PC files (music,videos,documents,photos...).


I was still apprehensive as to what the end result of process might be. Once the process was finished. I disconnected the ethernet wire from my Mac & logged out from my Primary Mac account & was able to see a new account called 'User'.


Once I was able to login into 'User' account I found all my PC files using Finder. Every file was placed in the right folder on Mac. My Music folder has all of my music files. I can play all of them on my Mac. Those with mp3 format will open with iTunes. The others with WMA format will open with QuickTime. I still need to find a way to solve how to convert the WMA Files to MP3 on my Mac. But for now I'm comfortable with having all my PC files on my Mac. Now I just need to tweak things & I'm sure will need help in the coming days/weeks. Hope you can be of further assistance. Thank you again for your help.

Migration assistant Pc to Mac

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