Deleting and restarting Time Machine Backup

I just bought a new iMac and am giving my Mac Book Pro to my daughter. I deleted many of the applications and files on the Mac Book Pro. Can I go into the Time Capsule and delete the Mac Book Pro backup then have Time Machine backup so I get a fresh back up?

Can I go into the Time Capsule and delete the Mac Book Pro backup then have Time Machine backup so I get a fresh back up?
Yes, you can.
However, it will be much, much easier if you simply erase the Time Capsule disk rather than try to delete the MacBook Pro backup....which will take hours. The erase procedure will only take a few minutes in contrast.
This assumes that you do not have backups from other Macs on the Time Capsule.....which will also be wiped clean if you erase the Time Capsule disk.

Similar Messages

How can I delete all the Time Machine backups to make room for more? And how do I force the trash to empty?

I moved a bunch of my husband's files from his Macbook (which is dieing) to my iMac. I created a user for him on my iMac so he'd be able to keep his stuff separate from mine. All is working great except my Time Machine is now unable to backup. The total of used space on my hard drive (including the recently added user's files) is about 420 GB. The amount of capacity of my external hard drive is 999GB. I think Time Machine failed because there was all of a sudden so much more data and a new full backup would be more than the unused capacity of the HD? Regardless I don't need any old backups. I have all my files and all his files. So I moved all the backups from the external HD to the trash. Apparently that's a no no. I can't fully empty the trash now and that is making my iMac crazy slow.
1) Can anyone tell me how to force the trash to empty?
2) Is there a way to delete the whole external HD and start over with a new full backup via Time Machine? In Disk Utility I try to erase the partition and get an error "Volume Erase failed with the error: Couldn't unmount disk." Then I try to Unmount it and get another "Unmount failed. The disk Backup iOmega could not be unmounted. Make sure that all applications and files are closed on this disk." I turned off Time Machine and tried again but with the same errors.
The external HD is called iOmega. It only connects to the iMac with USB. Any help is much appreciated!!!!

Try this instead:
Drive Partition and Format
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. Select the backup volume from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
3. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.)
4. Click on the Erase button.
You will need to reconfigure Time Machine preferences for the backup.
FYI: Never remove Time Machine backup data except through the Time Machine application. If you aren't sure about using Time Machine then visit Pondini's Time Machine FAQ for help with all things related to Time Machine.

Problem moving/deleting files from time machine backup

I recently ran into some problems with my hardrive and had to get it replaced at the mac store.
Unfortunatly, i only ran a partial time machine backup on the hardrive before i lost it.
Fotrunatly though, it did manage to save some important stuff, but now for the next problem....
I have dragged my files from my external hardrive with the partial time machine backup onto my new desktop but it wont let me do stuff with them
this includes;
asking for my password whenever i want to delete one of them
saying "cannnot be modified" whenever i try to drag the files to a new location.
as you can imagine, this is a bit of a pain.
anyone have anything similair?
help would be great
thanks
Chris

That is not how you restore from a Time Machine backup.
Repairing the permissions of a home folder in Lion is a complicated procedure. I don’t know of a simpler one that always works.
Back up all data now. Before proceeding, you must be sure you can restore your system to its present state
Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the page that opens.
Drag or copy — do not type — the following line into the Terminal window, then press return:
chmod -R -N ~
The command will take a noticeable amount of time to run. When a new line ending in a dollar sign ($) appears below what you entered, it’s done. You may see a few error messages about an “invalid argument” while the command is running. You can ignore those. If you get an error message with the words “Permission denied,” enter this:
sudo !!
You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning not to screw up.
Next, boot from your recovery partition by holding down the key combination command-R at startup. Release the keys when you see a gray screen with a spinning dial.
When the recovery desktop appears, select Utilities ▹ Terminal from the menu bar.
In the Terminal window, enter “resetpassword” (without the quotes) and press return. A Reset Password window opens. You’re not going to reset the password.
Select your boot volume if not already selected.
Select your username from the menu labeled Select the user account if not already selected.
Under Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs, click the Reset button.
Select  ▹ Restart from the menu bar.

Can I delete this random time machine backup?

Hello -
I'm trying to finally get my act together to upgrade my OS from Lion to Mavericks (which means, I think, I need to do Mountain Lion as an interim step?) so I need to do a Time Machine back up before I do that.
I back up this laptop to our Time Machine Capsule but it's run out of space. When I look at the drive, I see my computer and my husbands, but then also a random backup file that is dated two years ago (and is huge)? I opened terminal to try to see to what the files were referring and it stated the same MacBook that I'm trying to Time Machine now, just from Dec 2012.
Thank you in advance!
Do you think I am safe to delete that file to create space on the drive? Here's a screenshot of what I'm seeing. Thank you!
Then, when I click on the big string of numbers (usually indicating a backup,) here's just a partial screen capture?

I just wanted to update all after my experieces:
Time Machine was not the problem. The problem was a defective WD external firewire drive (WD Green drive) which has since been replaced under warantee. Thank you WD for your comiitment.
Whenever I used this drive, I could hear it chugging and chugging away during mount and whenever I was accessing the drive.
I finally checked the drive (WD My Book) with DISK WARRIOR and the thing was toast. Tons of unrepairable hardware errors.
Thankfully the drive was under warantee and after receiving a replacement from WD (no issues with RMA replacement process, kudos to WD) have had ZERO issues with time machine and the replacement drive.
Initial 1st time- time machine backup was ~ 5 hours. (~120 GB of info). (I added the drive to spotlight 'do not index' prefs prior to setting up time machine.)
-This was a HUGE time difference. My prior initial backup with the defective drive was 3 DAYS, yes, DAYS.
If you are having these kind of problems, check you drive with Disk Warrior (Disk Utitlty does not cut it). If Disk Warrior reports problems, it is a hassle, but replace the drive.
Good luck. Karma +1

Deleting folders on Time Machine backup disk

How do I delete certain folders on the TM backup disk? There seems to be a tool in time machine to do that, but it doesn't seem to work.
I've tried choosing a folder (safari cache ~/Library/Caches/Safari), then selecting tools/delete all backups of "Safari". Then nothing happens. It asks me to confirm the delete but it doesn't do anything else. No disk activity. No freed space on the backup disk. The folder remains there even though I close time machine and re-enter it.
The folder is currently excluded from Time machine backups but I'd like to get rid of the old crap in there.
/hv

~/Library/Caches is not backed up by TM so there is nothing to delete there.
To see the list of things that TM never backs up Quciklook
/System/Library/CoreServices/backupd.bundle/Contents/Resources/StdExclusions.pli st

How do i reformat imac hard drive and restore time machine backup?

How do I reformat my iMac internal hard drive and restore from a Time Machine backup?
I have an iMac 20" Mid 2007 with a problematic hard drive.
IntelCore 2 Duo, Processor speed 2 Ghz
800 Mhz Bus speed
4 GB RAM
250 GB Western Digital Hard Drive
10.6.3
Was getting a question mark upon booting up, so I booted from a 10.6.3 Snow Leopard CD and ran disk utility. Repair disk was interrupted with an error message. 'Disk utility can't repair disk. Backup files, reformat disk and restore backed up files.'
1. Should I select Erase, Mac OS Extended Journaled, Erase?
2. If I do this, won't I lose my networkability, and therefore lose access to Time Machine backups?
3. If it were you, would you go ahead and replace the hard drive? Not sure I should trust this hard drive!
4. If I need to replace the hard drive, can you send instructions?
Thanks!

Clean Install of Snow Leopard
     1. Boot the computer using the Snow Leopard Installer Disc or the Disc 1 that came
         with your computer. Insert the disc into the optical drive and restart the computer.
         After the chime press and hold down the "C" key. Release the key when you see
         a small spinning gear appear below the dark gray Apple logo.
     2. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue
         button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
         After DU loads select the hard drive entry from the left side list (mfgr.'s ID and drive
         size.) Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window. Set the number of
         partitions to one (1) from the Partitions drop down menu, click on Options button
         and select GUID, click on OK, then set the format type to MacOS Extended
         (Journaled, if supported), then click on the Apply button.
     3. When the formatting has completed quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed
         with the OS X installation and follow the directions included with the installer.
     4. When the installation has completed your computer will Restart into the Setup
         Assistant. Be sure you configure your initial admin account with the exact same
         username and password that you used on your old drive. After you finish Setup
         Assistant will complete the installation after which you will be running a fresh
         install of OS X. You can now begin the update process by opening Software
         Update and installing all recommended updates to bring your installation current.
Download and install Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1.
If you have your Time Machine backup drive connected, then you can use Setup Assistant to migrate your Home folder, application support files, and third-party applications and system preference files. I recommend doing this via the Setup Assistant when the option appears.

Deleting a Partial Time Machine Backup? Trash?

OK so the other night I left my computer alone for a bit and it started making a backup that I didn't want. When I came back to my computer it was half done so I told it to stop backing up. Long story short I had put a clone on the drive and forgot to tell time machine to not backup to that same drive. So now I have a partition with a clone and a partial time machine backup. I want to remove the backup.
I can't find it within the actual time machine window, since it wasn't a finished backup. Also, I read online somewhere that I shouldn't try to delete in the trash, cus a) that can cause problems supposedly and b) it takes forever.
Does anyone know how I can do this?
It is currently sitting in my trash, but I haven't actually deleted it from there yet.
Thanks

The issue is that it may take days for the removal to occur if it occurs at all mainly because the backup contains a disc image file with all the data then a bunch of incremental backups that contain some files and some hard links. The system has a real problem when it tries to delete a file that is pointed to by a link but the file is stuck inside an unmountable disc image.
Trust me. Erasing the volume is your only safe bet.

Need to reformat hard drive and restore Time Machine backup. What's the safest way to proceed?

I have a Mac desktop, purchased in 2007. We upgraded last year to Snow Leopard. It has been slow for a few days, and yesterday wouldn't go past the gray screen. Tried booting in recovery with no success, same for safe mode. Even tried fsck -fy. Eventually went to the Snow Leopard install disk and tried to repair disk, but got an "Disk Utility can't repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files" message. I've got Time Machine back ups on an external hard drive, but I want to make sure I do this right and don't make things worse. What steps do I need to take?

In most of the cases, that Disk Utility message means that the hard drive is damaged.
However, you can try to erase the disk and restore the Time Machine backup to see if it works. Follow these steps:
1. Insert the Snow Leopard DVD and press the C key while your Mac is starting.
2. Go to Utilities menu > Disk Utility, select Macintosh HD on the sidebar, go to Erase tab and erase the disk. If there's an error during this step, take the Mac to an Apple Store to get a new hard drive.
3. Close Disk Utility, go to Utilities menu, choose the option to restore a Time Machine backup and follow the steps.
If the computer is slow after doing this, take the Mac to an Apple Store as soon as you can

Macbook Pro to Mac Mini data sharing, sync, and/or time machine backup?

I currently have a MacBook Pro and am about to buy a Mac Mini. I do a good deal of multitasking on the MBP I and would like to use the Mac Mini as the "home base" of my dealings and my MBP as an extension of it, the way it should be. In short, I will have a desk for the new Mini but I don't really intend on ever being physically at it. Rather, I will be on my MBP or remoting in to it from a PC. At any rate, as an example, is it possible / what would be the best solution for being able to work on my iWeb site via my MBP if it's housed and stored on my Mac Mini?
Secondly, since I will now have 2 mac machines, there is a data question at hand. Specifically, is there a good way to sync all information and settings bewteen two macs running Snow Leopard? If so, what/how, if not, what would be the best option for accomplishing this type of goal?
Lastly, since I will now have 2 mac machines, how should I handle the time machine backups? I have a 2tb ext hard drive serving as a time machine backup for my MBP right now but how would I go about doing the same for the Mini? Should I / can I use the same drive for the mini or does it have to be a seperate time machine backup?
(For the record, I do have an additional 2tb ext hard drive that I would be happy to use as a sync point for all of this data if needed should it be possible to "share" data, apps, etc between the 2 machines. I would be able to broadcast it wirelessly via a device called pogoplug.)
I feel like there is a better and more efficient way to integrate what it is that I'm trying to do here. Any thoughts on the matter?

There are numerous solutions to sync information on two or more Macs. Try doing a google search for "Mac sync" or something along those lines.
As for Time Machine backups, you could connect an external disk drive to your Mac mini and use it as a Time Machine disk for the Mac mini and if you share it out, you can probably also use it to do Time Machine backups of your laptop, but I personally have not tested that yet so I cannot say with certainty that the sharing part will work.

Is there a way to recover files deleted from a time machine backup

My time machine backup drive was full so I wanted to delete some of the Virtual Machine files created with VMWare Fusion from the time machine backup. I accidentally deleted them all, instead of just some older ones, so I want to know if there's a way to recover or salvage the files I deleted from time machine.

If is possible do you have a Time Machine backup, What type of files are missing?

WRT1900AC and Apple Time Machine backups

I just bought this router, am getting a 27" iMac running OSX Mavericks, and wanted to put storage on the router to use for Time Machine backups. I have the latest firmware, but, the PC Magazine review of the router stated that it doesn't work with TIme Machine. Is that still true, or will it work now?
Thanks!

I can confirm the WRT1900AC DOES NOT work with a hard drive connected to it's USB port as a time machine disk. I have a 2Tb drive formatted in Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format, which is required by the Time Capsule utility to function properly, and the disc is visible using the SmartWiFi interface. However, when I enter the Time Machine Preferences on my Mac, and select the "Choose Disk" option, the drive does not appear as a option.
This is a terrible shame, since now I have to connect my old Time Capsule in Bridged Mode just to use the backup option on my wireless network. Other than this and a few minor quirks, the router is a stellar piece of equipment.
Hopefully Linksys will address this with a future firmware or once the open source software has been properly developed and this will be a perfect device.

How do I set up external storage and a Time Machine backup?

I am trying to organize my external storage for a new iMac with an 500G SSD drive. I have a new thunderbolt G-Raid drive and an aging Airport Time Capsule. I was thinking of storing music and pictures, as well as a Time Machine backup of the SSD, and storing a Time Machine backup of my music and pictures on the Time Capsule. Is this reasonable? Will I need to partition the G-Raid? Are there any special issues of which I should be aware?

Although it's getting a bit dated since the owner passed away this site given to us by the late, great Pondini will answer all of your questions about Time Machine and more http://pondini.org/TM/Home.html

Data Loss -- maverick kills mbp17 and related time machine backup

We started several days ago to install Maverick on our MBP17 / 8GB. The installation runs fine and we are excited to use the new maverick OS.
B U T
After reboot the system becomes unusable because all available memory was eaten up by kernel_Task and mds_Stores immidiately.
We contact apple support and the answer was incredible: "You should not use Maverick because it is new and the first version"
End of support. Ticket is still open and no answer is arriving to us.
Unfortnately we need our system for real work and we lost already some days !!!!. So we started a reovery process by our own knowledge.
Now we started to recover our system from Time Machine backup at our OS X Server ML. Things are becoming worse !!!!
First time recovery runs fine ( despite the duration of more than 8 hours ) but system doesn't boot. OOhps !
Second Timme recovery was done using Ethernet and gives us a booting system with Mountain Lion after 7 hour.
But the Time Machine Backups for this MBP17 at our server are no longer Available. Back volume missing, in use or whatever as error message is known to Time Machine.
Two Years of data are gone
Thank you Apple it's worse than your card application and even more worse than windows 8 upgrade process

Try a new post in the 10.5 Time Machine forum.
DALE

Upgrade to SSD and restore Time Machine backup

Hi, I tried to install a new SSD on my MacBook Pro Late 2008, but I can't restore previous backup made with Time Machine.
I tried two way:
1) restore backup from bootable DVD, but in the selected disk the system can't find the backup;
2) restore from migration assistant, but the system does not recognize the external disk as Time Machine backup.
In past I restored many time the backup, but in the same HD, now the transfer to HD to SSD seems doesn't work.
Please help me!

I'm having the same problem
I've just installed a SSD on my Macbook Pro (late 2011) and i'm having real problema on restoring backups from my old HDD.

Can both the old(migrated from another external HD) and new time machine backup be read on iMac?

HI,
I lately migrated the time machine backup from an external HD(WB) to a new one(G Drive). If I connect the new one i.e. G Drive to my iMac for Time Machine, will there be a new folder created in G Drive? Will it be a new backup i.e. backup everything on iMac? Can the old time machine backup be read when I enter Time Machine on my iMac? Thanks in advance.

Hi, best info I can find on it is here...
http://pondini.org/TM/32.html

Deleting and restarting Time Machine Backup

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