Rather than restoring an entire set of files settings and apps, the Migrate Wizard can be used to import part of your Time Machine content.
If you accidentally click through too fast on the Migrate Wizard steps, and choose to restore everything, fear not.
The new user you have created in the Migrate process will have all the files settings etc from which you can choose. (If you started the Migrate process from the Guest account, it still creates the new user over the top of the Guest account (huh?) - so that is one to watch out for.
But how do you access the files of the new user? Login as the newly created account I hear you say. Yes, but what if the password for that old restored account is long lost?!?!
Using sudo chmod -R 777 in the terminal is a bit scary, so an easier way is to navigate to the folder of the new user. (Log back in to your own user).
The simplest method is to drag the folder with a red no entry sign pops up this authorisation dialog
which appears to do the trick!
I wasn't sure if this method allowed all the sub folders to be copied..
So I also tried a slightly longer-winded way of changing the permissions:
From the folder in question, choose Get Info.
From there the trick is to unlock the padlock (bottom right)
And then ADD your account as a Full read & right permission using the + and the Privilege spinner
With that done, the drag an drop copy still prompts for authorisation, but appears to recursively copy everything.
Let's say, that you are moving into the modern way of doing things - and want your mail collected by IMAP instead of POP. (Yes, I know ther are some of you who resist!)
A lot of customers are discovering that this is the way to go to avoid having to find their message amongst all the spam and flotsam on multiple devices... And more importantly see what was Sent in reply to that important email last week when you were in Honlulu and your partner replied on your behalf..
I accomplished this (on Mavericks on an iMac), but with a few provisos and heart-stopping moments.
The pop settings had been set to delete all mail on the server after a month, and there were two xtra accounts with history back about 3 years (2016 to 2013).
After checking the amount of mail left on the server and making sure I had the passwords correct (using webmail), I deleted the two accounts in Mail.
What I forgot to do was drag the contents into folders created under the On My Mac section.
I created the two new IMAP accounts (the trick here is to purposefully put a wrong password in - or else you will simply get a POP Yahoo account created).
So I resorted to Time Machine - which I knew had been backing up OK.
Two tricks I learned here - place your cursor in the Folder or Mailbox that you want to restore before pressing the Time Machine. Either restore an entire mailbox, or select individual mail within a box.
Allow all the items to load BEFORE pressing Command-A to select all though!
Then Restore and wait a good amount of time to allow the process to complete as there is no indication of its progress or success. In future I may open a terminal to see if there any encouraging logs coming through...
The most important trick is to close Mail, and re-open it, and you should see a new folder at the bottom of the list called Recovered Messages, andRecovered Messages-1 -2 -3 if you have tried it a few times like I did (These new folders not be visible if you have a lot of folders), and copy and paste the items back into the IMAP Inbox, (or perhaps just into an On My Mac folder if you prefer - in case the IMAP server deletes them as they are not on the server) - as reported in this excellent page here: http://pondini.org/TM/15m.html
Ok. So I am the iExpert? Scenario 1 Neighbours kids come to me for help on their new iPod to redeem a $20 voucher. The catch: kid is twelve and has no email yet and no credit/debit card. Oh, and its Saturday afternoon when I should be mowing or watching America's Cup! Payment: 1 bottle of cheap red.
Scenario 2 iMac, iPad, iPhone, setup with 7 (yes seven) email accounts from 4 different providers must all be visible on all devices including the sent, trash and drafts, oh, and must work overseas, oh, and a new assistant must be able to use one of the accounts. Payment: $60 hourly rate
Scenario 3 Retired gentleman is tired of his old Windows7 stuff, but likes his new iPad and iPhone, so gets me to help him order the latest greatest iMac and AppleTV. Now "just" have to it all up so he can "do" stuff like photos, music and so on. Payment: $60 hourly rate
Which would you prefer.. And how would you go about it?
Lessons 1 An AppleId is required, and user must be 13 years old (so amend accordingly the first time you try, or it will fail when you try again!) A credit card is NOT required. However to get past this step during the AppleID sign up, you MUST do it on the iPod by selecting a free app to install from the App Store. (The option is missing if try from iTunes on iPod or on the computer) horror
2 Patience, perseverance, perspicacity. Get a new gmail account. Use this as the main coalescing point, and use the Chrome interface exclusively. No more trouble. Oh, and never change passwords again ;)
3 Read up on what AppleTV can do ahead of the job. Oh, and use all your cunning obtained from past experience mixed with enthusiasm for the product, hubris for the wonderful outcomes.
When it comes to Internet Radio you can set your PC or laptop to stream stations, but let's be honest, who wants the laptop next to your bed, or on the kitchen shelf. Or next to the tv? For these applications, a dedicated box that does just one thing, and does it well is what's required.
I started researching devices for listening to internet radio. (The last - and only - model I have sold is unfortunately no longer available - Freecom's MusicPal. Which is a shame as it was exceptionally easy to use, and, it just worked. And came in at a good price.
I even shot my own review video, but before I could upload, found a more than adequate description by Freecom themselves:
Oh! I see that I did actually get around to uploading my review and have had a massive 454 hits (please don't watch, my head might swell). A more independent review by Micheal Sherlock describes it's functionality well.
What's new in the current iteration s the ability to access podcasts - which takes the radio concept further to an on-demand radio - sort of like a tape recorder ;)
However, for a better sound quality device, I would have to look further into the Squeezebox:
Reading around this topic of choosing a device, it seems that the important thing is not to tie yourself in to a particular portal for accessing the stations, as they inevitably will either charge at some stage, or will cease to exist. Look for the DAB+ certification - this ensures you can get to the current popular standard and lots to choose form see Digital Audio Broadcasting Plus.
It also seems that most are running on the same basic chipset, and its just the housing, speaker, connectors and firmware that vary in quality.
And most are NOT available in New Zealand..
So while casting around for alternatives, I see that its no longer fashionable to restrict one's self to a device without a screen, even when just listening to the radio. There are a multitude of "tablety" devices with varying screen sizes that can pretend to be radios.
How many of which we can locally, and whether they will still work next year without requiring firmware updates is another question. I found a few that I had no idea were competing with the iPad. (Don't get excited, there are likely not available here, and the prices are US$.) To see these reviewed just search on tablets at http://reviews.cnet.com/
Experiment with internet radio on your PC, where your beloved can hear it, and might get interested. Then you can casually comment that "the iPad can do that internet radio stuff, too" !? (Internet Explorer has been trying to lure us there for ages - their default bookmarks includes the MediaCenter-centric link to http://www.windowsmedia.com/radioui/home.aspx, but there are many others.
No, I don't work for Apple. Unfortunately.
Back to the dark side (where I am more comfortable!), you could go for Windows7 's killer app, the Homegroup - which when it catches on, will make keeping and finding media content in the household a breeze. At the moment, its just too hard. We all have Gigaturdes of stuff, but can never get to it or find it - let alone share it reliably.
It seems to be what "everyone" is doing this year.. chucking it all in with your old Windows computer in favour of something more "reliable". Despite the price, it appears to have got through to Joe and Jackie Blogs that the initial outlay is more than compensated by the simplicity, longevity and overall troublefree-ness of owning an Apple. Or should that be a Mac? Oh, and you don't need to spend another hundred on a good antivirus - OR DO YOU?!
ESET is just about to release ESS for the Mac (so far only the Business edition) - despite it apparently being already possible)
Even businesses are being tempted over to the less-dark side.
What prompted me to write this was a customer-friend who has been running Ubuntu without intervention for the last three years (!) but had finally needed updating to get Facebook's uploading areas to work. So I dutifully upgraded to the latest Ubuntu version (which required a repartitioning and reinstall and copy home folder and resize partition and etc etc long story.) Due to repartitioning, space was getting low, so I cloned up form 40 to 200Gigs successfully. Then relaised the CD drive was a reader which was going to make burning tricky. Burnt one CD and the drive died, just about to replace it and the customer pops in to make sure I hadn't done any work on it - as she has just waltzed home with a new iMac... say no more.
Except now I will be supporting their Mac for free, instead of supporting the Linux for free.
Maybe this is why Microsoft has stayed ahead - users are used to paying for support and repairs!?
Now just try and get an Apple Authorized Dealership...
I found a few that I had no idea were competing with the iPad. (Don't get excited, there are likely not available here, and the prices are US$.) To see these reviewed just search on tablets at 