Help with Migration Assistant

Hi all,

I've recently been given a 24inch imac to replace my ageing 17inch intel. My issue lies in that i have the 17 inch running Snow Leopard and the newer mac is running Leopard. The newer mac has a clean install so on start up i am offered the option to migrate from the older mac. Obviously it will not allow me to do this due to the different os x's, so i have to create a new account and install Snow Leopard onto the newer mac. After doing this and using migration assistant via firewire, all the data such as itunes and Aperture photos etc are not in the correct place, photos are locked etc and it's a bit of a nightmare!!I have used the same account info on both macs but don't understand what i'm doing wrong?!! Any help will be greatly appreciated!

I hesitate to reply because I don't want to add to your nightmare; but this is what I think. Presuming you still have your old system intact on the 17", back it up via Time Machine to an EHD.

Boot up the New Mac with the OS Disc in and holding down C (letter C, not command). This allows you to connect up the Time Machine EHD from the old system and literally copy everything on to the new one - settings, accounts, emails, the lot. It will overwrite what is currently on the new one. This I have done on my last 3 iMacs without difficulty.

Of course, if by Migrating, you have transferred everything from Old to New (I'm ignorant about exactly how Migration works - is it a copy or a literal transfer?) with nothing on the Old, then my suggestion is useless. But if your Old 17" is intact with all info etc. still there, then my suggestion will work.

I wish you well and hope that my anxieties about replying are not realised.

Ian

Thanks for the reply Ian, much appreciated. I'm at work atm but will try your suggestions when i get home. I don't understand why it's got to be so complicated (in my head anyway!) to move files from one place to another, but i'm not the most literate when it comes to computers so there you go!

Steve