said by Thinkdiff :

By changing the read-write attributes, you can access the files, sure, but you are actually disrupting the natural OS X setup:

When you run Migration assistant after the initial setup, it creates a new user. You can't access those folders because you are not logged in as that user. go to the Apple Menu, then go to Log Out and re-login as the migrated user. All the old files and settings will be accessible just as they were before you switched OSes.

That's why I recommend running Migration assistant right at the setup assistant. It eliminates this "problem".

said by teach

Badcat, do you still have two users or did you combine the files into one user? Just seems odd to have two me's, lol, but thinking about it as I type, it doesn't sound so bad.

Thanks guys for your help, you are better than Apple's help pages.
[/BQUOTE :

I just ended up with the one account, which is what I was hoping for. I had used the Migration Assistant when I first bought my iMac and it worked fine then too. I should mention that I only have the one account. I don't have multiple users. Don't know if that makes a difference or not.
--
"The stars are matter, we're matter, but it doesn't matter."

said by Thinkdiff :

The exception to this is when there are no users in the current system (at the first, initial bootup after doing a clean install of the OS). If there are no users to check against, it just automatically creates a new user using all the settings from the existing user on the external drive. That's why it's better to do Migration Assistant before you touch or set up anything else on the system.

said by sfogliatelle :

I confess being a tad too impatient to get all my previous files/folders loaded onto the new internal drive, and too embarrassed to appear to be asking for repeated assistance with an issue I didn't have the foggiest of clues about, Td.

As teach said, you and badcat are light years more helpful, intuitive and quicker (not to mention a heckuva lot friendlier) than any other mac-related forum I've been to!

Not to beat this dead horse into any more of a state of rigor-mortis than it already is, but you'd written before that "changing the read-write attributes, you can access the files...but you are actually disrupting the natural OS X setup", which got me to thinking (especially since it was in direct response to my post about my meddlesome altering of read-write attributes in files which I didn't have access to, the reason for which is now known)---seeing as how I haven't done the Migration thing with any of my previous Tiger Applications yet, and that the number of new installed apps on the new internal have been but a small, numbered few, would you suggest an erase and re-install of Leopard, only this time using the Setup Assistant?