Can't restore to my MacBook Air from Time Machine

Dear All,
If anyone can help me solve this I'd be very grateful.
My MacBook Air's (MBA) hard drive had to be replaced (S.M.A.R.T. issues). All well and good, I backed up regularly by Time Machine before I took it to be replaced.
However, as the MacBook Air only has one USB port, I couldn't plug in the external HD that had the Time Machine back ups on it plus the SuperDrive with the Snow Leopard Installation Disk on it (you actually use the disk's Utilities section to Restore System From Backup). So there went that solution.
I tried using a multi-USB plug-in but this has NEVER worked with the MBA - it just doesn't recognize that anything is attached to it.
So I thought - ok - never fear - how about Migration Assistant? I tried using that to restore from a Time Machine backup, but it wouldn't recognize my external HD either.
Getting a bit desperate - because I have both a MBA and an iMac, I figured I would use the iMac's Remote Install OSX option in Utilities (Applications) - connecting the two computers over an AirPort network as it suggests - it all goes well on the iMac up to a point, but then the MBA never actually connects to the iMac and so I can't go any further.
I was going to use the remote install disk and then use it's Utilities option as mentioned above.
I just don't know what else to try and have reached my level of computer knowledge now.
I take my MBA to work at the office every day so I really need it up and running as it was.
Does any kind soul out there have a solution for me on this one? - and if it's highly technical would you mind explaining it step by step in layman's terms as I'm no IT genius ;-D
Thanks ever so much
Clair

ClairHL wrote:
I tried using a multi-USB plug-in but this has NEVER worked with the MBA - it just doesn't recognize that anything is attached to it.
This is a guess, but if you're referring to an bus-powered USB hub, I'd try a hub that has its own external power supply.

Similar Messages

  • I can't restore 'library' with support files from Time Machine

    backup - I can't restore 'library' with support files from Time Machine - Ask Different
    Due to an accident, my entire applications folder with all the support files, including plists and caches got deleted.
    I tried restoring by files from the most recent Time Machine backups but I cannot retrieve my applications with the support files.
    I even tried it with migration assistant on a new image.
    Is this impossible?
    Must I start from scratch?
    Details of the ‘accident’
    I was using this app called ‘AppCleaner’ that also automatically deletes related support files which are normally left behind if one simply trashes an Application.
    In the search view, I typed the app name and I selected all the apps in the results using Command + A. Unfortunately, this selected every single Application in the Applications Folder in the background and I trashed and deleted all files.
    Anyway.
    I tried to restore the applications and library from my Time Machine Back-ups but failed to do so because I didn’t have enough space to restore. (I have a 11inch Macbook Air 2012 64GB SSD
    When I tried to restart in recovery mode, I had the same problem, I was disallowed the option to restore using my time capsule backups because my SSD didn’t have enough space for the backup.
    I then tried to restore it to a totally different but new image on a 64GB USB3.0 Sandisk USB Stick, but the process stopped after hours of being stuck around 30.4 percent and the computer was unable to boot, leaving me with a persistent verbose message suggesting it couldn’t identify the os, kernel or anything.
    I finally tried restoring the state using migration assistant on the very same SSD that had my files missing. This happened successfully and I have all my applications in the applications folder.
    But now I have 13GB free (I had 2GB before) and all my application support files, saved states, preferences, caches and customizations are gone.
    Basically, it feels like I just got a new macbook with my documents and itunes folder loaded on to it.
    How can I get my apps back to the pre-deletion state or is this impossible? Do I have to start from scratch? I thought my Time Machine Backups would restore it to exactly the same state, am I wrong?
    Screenshots:
    Message was edited by: Arsenenger

    Can you simply navigate to your Time Machine backup with the Finder? Treat it like an external hardrive and just look for your old Applications folder. /Applications/
    Also, quite a few apps put config and support files in ~/Library/Application\ Support/
    So you may be able to get the files from there as well.

  • Can I restore a iPhone back up from time machine and if so how?

    I have upgraded my iphone to IOS 7 this morning. However as I was backing up my phone, the cable I was using was removed from the macbook.
    I now have a iPhone back up that is corrupted, and when i try and restore my settings to the new IOS7 upgraded phone, it will not allow my old settings to be placed on the phone.
    I am therefore thinking of using an old back up from Time Machine, but do not know how to access itunes from time machine. Everytime I try and enter iTunes from my Time Machine vault it says Mac OSX requires the application and therefore cannot be restored.
    Please help or tell me what I should be doing instead.
    I have a feeling I will lose my app data and have to manually sort my home screens. Luckily all my contacts, emails, photos etc are synced to iCloud, but the back up of my iphone isn't as I don;t have the upgraded space on ICloud and have a iPhone thta has 16GB on it.
    Cheers in anticipation of your help
    Stephen

    Hi Lawrence. Thanks so much for that advice - I'm really grateful. I hope you don't mind me asking a couple more questions: I have found that folder via Finder - I clicked on Library then App Support then Mobile Sync and within that, there's a folder called Backup and within that, 4 files. I also tried accessing it via the Go/go to folder method you suggested (in case that revealed more which remain hidden unless I use your route) but I couldn't make that route work.
    I presume I'm looking at the correct files but please advise me if it's still possible that I'm not.
    I had already tried to look at these backup files in Time Machine. They appear to be backed up, going back a year. If I can restore one from yesterday, that should solve my problem. However I've looked through them randomly going back a month or more, and they all seem to have been created in 2013, and last modified then. Only one of the files has a more recent 'last modified' date. But surely Time Machine has captured each backup of the iPhone going back over time?   I'm baffled.
    I hope the above makes sense. I'd be really grateful for any further advice.
    steve

  • How can I restore an old iPhone backup from Time Machine?

    Hi there,
    I lost my iPhone 4S but have a extra iPhone 4 (used for travel) that I would like to restore the 4S backup to.
    The problem is that the backup of my 4S has somehow disappeared from itunes and the only one that shows up is the iPhone 4 backup even though they are set up as different devices with different names. I know that the backup for my 4S is included with my Time Machine backups (on external harddrive) but I can't find the files. Also very strange is that I don't have the folder "MobileSync" in /Library/Application Support/MobileSync on my computer. I can't find that folder anywhere.
    My computer is less that 6 months old and I know that I have not deleted that folder or any other that are preinstalled.
    I'm using OS X 10.9.4 and I don't want to restore my hole computer from Time Machine, just the files that hold my 4S backup.
    Also note that I have not backed up everything from my 4S phone to iClould so that's not an option.
    I've tried everything including:
    - Restoring the settings on the iPhone 4 to factory settings and then connecting to itunes.
    - Deleting itunes and restoring it from Time Machine at a date that i knew had the original iphone backup.
    Who ever can solve this for me deserves a gold medal. I'm truly desperate. I've searched all forums and haven't found a solution for this.
    Thanks.

    caxx wrote:
    Also very strange is that I don't have the folder "MobileSync" in /Library/Application Support/MobileSync on my computer. I can't find that folder anywhere.
    Correct.
    You need to go to ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/.
    The ~ indicates your User folder not the top level /Library/ folder.
    Click on the desktop, then hold Option and go to Finder menu Go and Library will be there (only when holding Option as it is hidden).

  • How can I restore my contacts and bookmarks from Time Machine?

    A few weeks ago a friend tried to help my wife with a problem on her Mac and unwittingly in the process fiddled with my iMac so that I now have her contact list and her bookmarks and I can't find any way to get my iMac back to the way it was. I have a Time Machine backup, conscientiously kept, and a SuperDuper backup as well. Can somebdy please tell me how to restore my computer to its former state?

    To restore your contacts, quit the Address Book or Contacts application. Triple-click the line below to select it:
    ~/Library/Application Support/AddressBook
    Right-click or control-click the highlighted line and select Services ▹ Reveal from the contextual menu. A Finder window should open with a folder selected. Restore the selected folder, or its contents, from a backup.
    To restore your Safari bookmarks, repeat with this line:
    ~/Library/Safari/Bookmarks.plist

  • How can I restore a .aplib Aperture library from time machine?

    When I try and restore my Aperture I get folders instead of a single .aplib file.  Does anyone know how I can restore the .aplib file so I can open it?

    How are you trying to resore it?  If you enter Time Machine, find the version of the library you want to resore select it and click restore you shouke be good to go.
    If a library of the same nae still exists in folder you're restoring to you'll get a window asking what you want to do, keep current, keep both or just keep the restored version.
    If on the other hand you are opening the Time Machine disk and going to the folder with the library in it and trying to just drag it out all bets are off.
    Message was edited by: Frank Caggiano - What OS version?

  • How to share 1 time capsule to 2 macbooks air, using Time Machine?

    How to share 1 time capsule to 2 macbooks air, using time machine??

    You don't need to do anything.. both computers can use the TC and will create separate backups. It is simply designed to work with Time Machine.

  • I restored my safari bookmark playlist from time machine.But it again missing after sometime.Again I restored the same thing happns again.plz help

    I restored my safari bookmark playlist from time machine.But it again missing after sometime.Again I restored the same thing happns again.plz help

    Triple-click the text on the line below to the clipboard, then copy it to the Clipboard (command-C):
    ~/Library/Safari/Bookmarks.plist
    Quit Safari.
    Select
    Go ▹ Go to Folder
    from the Finder menu bar. Paste (command-V) into the text box that opens, then press return.
    A folder window should open with a file named "Bookmarks.plist" selected. Move the selected file to the Desktop, leaving the folder open.
    Relaunch Safari. It will open with the default set of bookmarks. Delete them all. Select
    File ▹ Import Bookmarks
    from the Safari menu bar. Import from the bookmarks file you moved to the Desktop. Arrange the bookmark folders as you wish.
    If Safari now performs normally, you can delete the old bookmarks file. Otherwise, quit Safari again and put back the file you moved, replacing the newer one with the same name. Close the Finder window and post again.

  • Can i access my old macbook pro's 'Time machine' saved on time capsule with a new laptop

    How can i access my old macbook pro's 'Time machine' saved on time capsule with a new laptop.
    Also why can i only EITHER have the capsule attched to the internet OR have it as my backup external hard drive?? Things are not running smoothly can someone please help?
    Many thanks,
    Cirsflan

    Answered in your other thread.. keep to one. Just confusing running two threads with the same question.
    https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4863146?tstart=0

  • Can you open files on a pc from time machine?

    Can you open files on a pc from time machine?

    You have to be more descriptive. Partition what?
    File sharing can be accomplished many ways,.
    Network
    Usb flash drive
    External hard drive
    NAS
    DVDs
    It is as simple as copying/saving from one computer/drive to another computer/drive.

  • HT4927 How to restore photos in mountain lion from time machine ?

    How to restore photos in mountain lion from time machine?

    I have tried doing this but it dosen't work.
    I opened time machine. I picked the file from the date needed.
    I restored it (I told it to keep both).
    Then when I double click on the file it opens a treminal window.
    I have also tried opening iphoto while holding down the option key.
    This file is not slectable.....
    Any thought or ideas?

  • Can you restore a slideshow in iPhoto using Time Machine without restoring the entire iPhoto library?

    Can you restore a slideshow in iPhoto using Time Machine without restoring the entire iPhoto library?

    Afraid not.
    Regards
    TD

  • Successfully restored my MacBook Air from Time Capsule

    This is one occasion where the Superdrive is useless.
    Here's why if you have an Air and a Time Capsule you should have bought the USB->Ethernet adapter. Don't leave home without it
    Yesterday it seemed my Air got screwed up so I had to restore from my Time Capsule. This was non trivial at first because if you try to do it wirelessly it will take forever. This was a complete restore from the Install application not a selective file restore. It's not exactly clear how that's done but what you do is boot Leopard install DVD and then select under Utilities "Restore from Time Machine Backup" and follow the steps. Now the trick is that if you do it wireless it will take a very long time so in my case I wanted to do it over ethernet to the Time Caspule. Well doing that will take up the one USB port the MacBook Air has and you cannot boot into the Installer App via DVD and then remove the Superdrive thinking that it only needs the Time Capsule to do the restore. It seems to need to load more from the DVD during the restore step. So the only way this can be done with a device like Time Capsule is to use Remote Disk which frees up the USB port such that it can be plugged into the ethernet LAN port of the Time Capsule with the USB -> Ethernet adapter.
    Doing it this way dramatically improves the restore time.
    If anybody knows how this can be done over ethernet when you don't have another computer to use for Remote Disk I'd like to know about it. From what I could tell you always have to have the DVD available during the restore step which because the Superdrive has to be plugged into the MacBook Air's port only will take up all available ports.

    I ran into this exact issue when I first purchased my MBA. The solution I came up with as is follows:
    I partitioned my TM drive into two partitions. The first partition is 8gb and the second is the remainder of the disk. I made sure that the drive was set up to be bootable from an Intel Mac. I then made a backup of my install disk onto that 8gb partition again verifying that it was bootable. You can do this by creating a disk image of the install disk and then restoring that disk image to the TM drive.
    I now have a full install disk on my Time Machine drive and can do a full recovery with just that drive plugged in.

  • How do I restore MacBook Air with time machine

    I've done backups to time machine but have no clue how to restore. I have a problem with Open Office hanging up and it doesn't help to delete it and download again.

    From Apple support article: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1427
    To restore individual files see Restoring specific files or folders.
    Restoring your entire system from a backup
    Hold down the Command and R keys at startup to start the computer from the Recovery system. The Recovery menu that appears includes the option to restore from a Time Machine backup. If you are using Mac OS X Snow Leopard, start your computer from the installation disc. Then use the "Restore From Time Machine Backup" utility.
    The Recovery system explained: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718

  • Restore data to different laptop from time machine

    Hello! All my data from my old macbook was saved in TM on an external HD. Now I bought a macbook air and would like to restore some of my old data from the external HD (TM) to my new laptop. The air has less memory than the old macbook had. How to choose the data I need for restoration onto my macbook air?

    Apple does not make a device suitable directly to do what you want.
    There are NAS devices from the big three that provide proper raid disks, mirrored backup, rsync and itunes servers.. although the itunes may not do what you need. Netgear Synology Qnap.
    But the solution often adopted by Apple fanbois.. is to use a Mac Mini as a media centre. You don't need a brand new one.. even a 2ghz C2D from a few years ago will work well enough.. you need to add disk capacity via firewire.. would be preferred as it is much faster than USB.

Maybe you are looking for