Frozen in Time Machine

Hey all,
I have a xserve (new within 2 months) and it is stuck "in time machine." You can not click cancel, no stars are flying by, nor can you really do anything else. I had this happen before and when I hard rebooted it would no longer boot up and simply went to a null screen. So where do I go from here? Does anyone have any experience with this happening? Thanks.

Oh, yeah and the blue lights on the front (I think refer to load) are all blue.

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Finder and desktop icons frozen after time machine backup

Finder desktop icons freeze every time after a Time Machine backup. *What's odd is that I can still use other apps, but I cannot select/open any item on the desktop*.
Adding to the strangeness, +is that what's left after the backup is finished is a blank space+ (beneath the HD icon). Typically, all the items on the desktop rearrange themselves to their original positions once the backup volume disappears (i.e. backup is complete).
I've run disk utility for permissions check, and all is well.
Would appreciate some guidance on how to fix.
This issue pre-dates the 10.5.7 update.

HI,
Try deleting these files.
com.apple.finder.plist
com.apple.desktop.plist
/Users/YourName/Library/Preferences. Drag that file from the Preferences to the Trash, empty the Trash and restart your Mac.
Carolyn

Desktop files frozen after Time Machine Backup

When I get home and plug my Mac Book Pro into the external hard drive time machine starts up and backs up. After time machine is finished I cannot click on any of the icons on my desktop. I have to switch to the login window (i don't actually have to log out, just switch to the window like I am changing users) and then login in again and everything is back to normal. If it doesn't happen on the first back up it happens on one of the subsequent ones.
I have the exact same configuration at home and at work so I my guess is the problem I am having is time machine because it only happens at home when my external hard drive is plugged in. It has never happened at work.
Any ideas?

I have the same issue, but I don't know it it's related to time machine. Perhaps. It happens after I disconnect my USB hub at work (including the TM backup disk). I assumed it was related to this, but maybe it's TM backup. I usually force quit finder, but maybe your "solution" is better.

Time Machine interface frozen. Must exit using command, option, escape.

When I enter Time Machine (from Finder, email etc) I am presented with the usual interface, but apart from the starfield animation, it is frozen.
The cursor can still be moved and background apps continue to run ok, but nothing happens when I click anything and there are no animations when I scroll over the timescale on the RHS of the screen.
The only way out is to use Cmd, Opt, Esc
Looking at my backup USB drive using Finder I can see that backups are working OK.
No antivirus software in use
Diagnostic on external backup drive (using the Mac Disk Repair utility) indicates all OK
Can anyone advise steps to troubleshoot and to resolve?
Thanks
Dave
I'm running Mavericks on late 2012 Mac desktop. Backup to 1TB G-Technology G-Drive connected direct to Mac by USB.

Hardware Information:
          iMac (27-inch, Late 2012)
          iMac - model: iMac13,2
          1 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU: 4 cores
          8 GB RAM
Video Information:
          NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX - VRAM: 2048 MB
System Software:
          OS X 10.9.1 (13B42) - Uptime: 1 day 2:27:12
Disk Information:
          APPLE HDD WDC WD10EALX-408EA0 disk1 : (1 TB)
                    EFI (disk1s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB
                    disk1s2 (disk1s2) <not mounted>: 999.35 GB
                    Recovery HD (disk1s3) <not mounted>: 650 MB
          APPLE SSD SM128E disk0 : (121.33 GB)
                    EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB
                    disk0s2 (disk0s2) <not mounted>: 120.99 GB
                    Boot OS X (disk0s3) <not mounted>: 134.2 MB
USB Information:
          HGST G-Drive Mobile USB 1 TB
                    EFI (disk3s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB
                    G-DRIVE mobile USB (disk3s2) /Volumes/G-DRIVE mobile USB: 999.86 GB (864.59 GB free)
          Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)
          Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub
                    Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
          DYMO DYMO LabelWriter 400
FireWire Information:
Thunderbolt Information:
          Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus
Kernel Extensions:
          com.trusteer.driver.gakl_driver_2          (1)
Problem System Launch Daemons:
Problem System Launch Agents:
Launch Daemons:
          [System] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [invalid] com.dymo.pnpd.plist
          [System] com.orbicule.witnessd.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [System] com.sonos.smbbump.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [System] com.teamviewer.teamviewer_service.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [System] com.trusteer.rooks.rooksd.plist 3rd-Party support link
Launch Agents:
          [System] com.orbicule.WitnessUserAgent.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [System] com.teamviewer.teamviewer.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [System] com.teamviewer.teamviewer_desktop.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [System] com.trusteer.rapport.rapportd.plist 3rd-Party support link
User Launch Agents:
User Login Items:
          iTunesHelper
          Dropbox
          Mail
          Canon IJ Network Scanner Selector EX
Internet Plug-ins:
          FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 12.0.0.38 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link
          DYMO NPAPI Addin: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link
          DYMO Safari Addin: Version: (null) - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link
          Flash Player: Version: 12.0.0.38 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link
          QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3
          Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9
Audio Plug-ins:
          BluetoothAudioPlugIn: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.9
          AirPlay: Version: 1.9 - SDK 10.9
          AppleAVBAudio: Version: 2.0.0 - SDK 10.9
          iSightAudio: Version: 7.7.3 - SDK 10.9
3rd Party Preference Panes:
          Flash Player 3rd-Party support link
          Trusteer Endpoint Protection 3rd-Party support link
          Witness 3rd-Party support link
Bad Fonts:
          None
Old Applications:
          DYMO Label:          Version: 8.5.0.1836 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link
          /Applications/iWork '09
          /Library/Frameworks/DYMO/DLS8/Addins
                    DYMO Excel Addin:          Version: 8.5.0.1836 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link
                    DYMO Word Addin:          Version: 8.5.0.1836 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link
Time Machine:
          Skip System Files: NO
          Mobile backups: OFF
          Auto backup: YES
          Volumes being backed up:
          Destinations:
                    G-DRIVE mobile USB [Local] (Last used)
                    Total size: 931.19 GB
                    Total number of backups: 72
                    Oldest backup: 2013-04-16 15:24:27 +0000
                    Last backup: 2014-01-27 15:48:05 +0000
                    Size of backup disk: Excellent
                              Backup size 931.19 GB > (Disk size 0 B X 3)
          Time Machine details may not be accurate.
          All volumes being backed up may not be listed.
Top Processes by CPU:
               4%          WindowServer
               2%          Mail
               2%          mds
               1%          EtreCheck
               0%          hidd
Top Processes by Memory:
          631 MB          com.apple.IconServicesAgent
          238 MB          WindowServer
          238 MB          Safari
          197 MB          Finder
          188 MB          mds_stores
Virtual Memory Information:
          1.49 GB          Free RAM
          3.92 GB          Active RAM
          1.69 GB          Inactive RAM
          917 MB          Wired RAM
          850 MB          Page-ins
          0 B          Page-outs

How can I exit out of the Time Machine window when it has frozen?

So I restored a backup from the 16th of June today from Time Machine. Just now I accessed 'Documents' folder from the 21st June backup and restored the file as I have made changes to Documents since the 16 th of June. Then I went back into 'Time Machine' to look for more files to restore.....and it has frozen on the Time Machine window with all the stars around the finder. How do I get out of time machine now? (Apart from shutting it down).

If it is frozen, there is no option (other than shutting it down) that I am aware of.
Barry

Time Machine Frozen During Restore

Hi All
I had a HD fail on me and have just had my computer back from the apple store. I have started to o a complete restore from time machine, but it has frozen with "less than a minute remains" on the screen and the blue bar at the end of the window. There are no options to cancel or to turn the computer off.
Can anyone suggest what I should do now to move forward???
Thanks in advance
Sathers

I shut down the machine after it sat at "Transferring Network Settings, Less than a minute remaining" for about an hour. I started it up and it acted as though the restore had finished. Hoping everything is actually working. Fingers crossed.

Time machine is frozen and will not allow force quit

Time machine is frozen in a loop. It will not force quit and it will not stop. It last backed up almost 24 hrs ago and is now slowing Safari down with only a beach ball as any sign of life.

Take each of these steps that you haven't already tried. Stop when the problem is resolved.
Step 1
The first step in dealing with a startup failure is to secure the data. If you want to preserve the contents of the startup drive, and you don't already have at least one current backup, you must try to back up now, before you do anything else. It may or may not be possible. If you don't care about the data that has changed since the last backup, you can skip this step.
There are several ways to back up a Mac that is unable to start. You need an external hard drive to hold the backup data.
a. Start up from the Recovery partition, or from a local Time Machine backup volume (option key at startup.) When the OS X Utilities screen appears, launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in this support article, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.” The article refers to starting up from a DVD, but the procedure in Recovery mode is the same. You don't need a DVD if you're running OS X 10.7 or later.
b. If Step 1a fails because of disk errors, and no other Mac is available, then you may be able to salvage some of your files by copying them in the Finder. If you already have an external drive with OS X installed, start up from it. Otherwise, if you have Internet access, follow the instructions on this page to prepare the external drive and install OS X on it. You'll use the Recovery installer, rather than downloading it from the App Store.
c. If you have access to a working Mac, and both it and the non-working Mac have FireWire or Thunderbolt ports, start the non-working Mac in target disk mode. Use the working Mac to copy the data to another drive. This technique won't work with USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.
d. If the internal drive of the non-working Mac is user-replaceable, remove it and mount it in an external enclosure or drive dock. Use another Mac to copy the data.
Step 2
If the startup process stops at a blank gray screen with no Apple logo or spinning "daisy wheel," then the startup volume may be full. If you had previously seen warnings of low disk space, this is almost certainly the case. You might be able to start up in safe mode even though you can't start up normally. Otherwise, start up from an external drive, or else use the technique in Step 1b, 1c, or 1d to mount the internal drive and delete some files. According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB of available space on the startup volume (as shown in the Finder Info window) for normal operation.
Step 3
Sometimes a startup failure can be resolved by resetting the NVRAM.
Step 4
If you use a wireless keyboard, trackpad, or mouse, replace or recharge the batteries. The battery level shown in the Bluetooth menu item may not be accurate.
Step 5
If there's a built-in optical drive, a disc may be stuck in it. Follow these instructions to eject it.
Step 6
Press and hold the power button until the power shuts off. Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed to start up, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Use a different keyboard and/or mouse, if those devices are wired. If you can start up now, one of the devices you disconnected, or a combination of them, is causing the problem. Finding out which one is a process of elimination.
Step 7
If you've started from an external storage device, make sure that the internal startup volume is selected in the Startup Disk pane of System Preferences.
Start up in safe mode. Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a Fusion Drive or a software RAID, you can’t do this. Post for further instructions.
Safe mode is much slower to start and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including wireless networking on certain Macs.
The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know the login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
When you start up in safe mode, it's normal to see a dark gray progress bar on a light gray background. If the progress bar gets stuck for more than a few minutes, or if the system shuts down automatically while the progress bar is displayed, the startup volume is corrupt and the drive is probably malfunctioning. In that case, go to Step 11. If you ever have another problem with the drive, replace it immediately.
If you can start and log in in safe mode, empty the Trash, and then open the Finder Info window on the startup volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name.) Check that you have at least 9 GB of available space, as shown in the window. If you don't, copy as many files as necessary to another volume (not another folder on the same volume) and delete the originals. Deletion isn't complete until you empty the Trash again. Do this until the available space is more than 9 GB. Then restart as usual (i.e., not in safe mode.)
If the startup process hangs again, the problem is likely caused by a third-party system modification that you installed. Post for further instructions.
Step 8
Launch Disk Utility in Recovery mode (see Step 1.) Select the startup volume, then run Repair Disk. If any problems are found, repeat until clear. If Disk Utility reports that the volume can't be repaired, the drive has malfunctioned and should be replaced. You might choose to tolerate one such malfunction in the life of the drive. In that case, erase the volume and restore from a backup. If the same thing ever happens again, replace the drive immediately.
This is one of the rare situations in which you should also run Repair Permissions, ignoring the false warnings it may produce. Look for the line "Permissions repair complete" at the end of the output. Then restart as usual.
Step 9
If the startup device is an aftermarket SSD, it may need a firmware update and/or a forced "garbage collection." Instructions for doing this with a Crucial-branded SSD were posted here. Some of those instructions may apply to other brands of SSD, but you should check with the vendor's tech support.
Step 10
Reinstall the OS. If the Mac was upgraded from an older version of OS X, you’ll need the Apple ID and password you used to upgrade.
Step 11
Do as in Step 9, but this time erase the startup volume in Disk Utility before installing. The system should automatically restart into the Setup Assistant. Follow the prompts to transfer the data from a Time Machine or other backup.
Step 12
This step applies only to models that have a logic-board ("PRAM") battery: all Mac Pro's and some others (not current models.) Both desktop and portable Macs used to have such a battery. The logic-board battery, if there is one, is separate from the main battery of a portable. A dead logic-board battery can cause a startup failure. Typically the failure will be preceded by loss of the settings for the startup disk and system clock. See the user manual for replacement instructions. You may have to take the machine to a service provider to have the battery replaced.
Step 13
If you get this far, you're probably dealing with a hardware fault. Make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store, or go to another authorized service provider.

Time Machine has frozen the iMac

I have just opened Time Machine for the first time from the dock and the computer seems to have frozen. It opened Time Machine and now I have a screen which says Cancel - Today (Now) -Restore at the bottom and I can see my inbox going back in time. But nothing responds to the mouse and when I press command alt esc together nothing happens either. I am running Leopard not Snow Leopard.
Please could some one help and tell me how to quit this Time Machine and get back to the normal screen? Apple Phone Help isn't available until tomorrow.
Thanks very much!

Hi, and welcome to the forums.
You may have to do a force power off of your Mac (hold the power button down until it turns off).
Disconnect your TM drive before starting up again.
Once your Mac is up and running, turn TM off (via TM Preferences), and reconnect the drive.
It sounds like your TM disk is either not set up properly, or something on it is corrupted.
Start by verifying the setup, via #C1 in the Time Machine - Troubleshooting *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum.
If that's all good, do a +*Repair Disk+* on it, per #A5 there.
If it finds no errors, or fixes all that it finds, try another backup.

Can somebody help me to restore my iWeb domain file from Time Machine (at the moment my whole life history is frozen online)?

I had to wipe my machine and create a new account. Now I can't restore my iWeb domain file and thus can't edit my site. When I do try to restore the file I'm told:
The operation can’t be completed because some items had to be skipped. For each item, choose File > Get Info, make sure “Locked” is deselected, and then check the Sharing & Permissions section. When you are sure the items are unlocked and not designated as Read Only or No Access, try again.
I've changed the permissions of the domain file/folder itself (within Time Machine) but I gather it wants me to change the permission of everything in there, which would presumably take hours and hours.
I've tried just dragging the domain file from the hard drive where the Time Machine backup is stored but the result of that is:
Can’t open file “~/Library/Application Support/iWeb/Domain.sites2.”
This is quite urgent because I am applying for a new job and can't display my latest work online. Any help much appreciated in advance.

Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. This will create a new library based on data in the albumdata.xml file. Not everything will be brought over - no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your albums and keywords back.
Because this process creates an entirely new library and leaves your old one untouched, it is non-destructive, and if you're not happy with the results you can simply return to your old one.

Restore with Time Machine is Frozen

Hi,
My imac wouldn't properly boot today. I was able get it to boot from my Leopard install disk though. I began a restore using my external Time Machine backup drive, but after about a half an hour, everything froze up. Now the fan on my imac is going very loudly and the screen is black. I would normally manually restart the computer in this circumstance, but I don't want to chance damaging my back-up drive if at all possible. Will manually restarting damage the back-up drive in this situation? How should I resolve this otherwise? Any help would be truly appreciated. Thanks!

Hi,
My imac wouldn't properly boot today. I was able get it to boot from my Leopard install disk though. I began a restore using my external Time Machine backup drive, but after about a half an hour, everything froze up. Now the fan on my imac is going very loudly and the screen is black. I would normally manually restart the computer in this circumstance, but I don't want to chance damaging my back-up drive if at all possible. Will manually restarting damage the back-up drive in this situation? How should I resolve this otherwise? Any help would be truly appreciated. Thanks!

Time Machine Frozen = Lost my external?

Hey guys,
Last night I came across my Macbook Pro to see that Time Machine had been "Preparing to back-up" for over 12 hours. Telling it to stop just got it stuck on "stopping back-up" instead, and ejecting the disk wouldn't work, so I had to settle on pulling out the connection from my computer (not recommended, I know).
Now whenever I plug the external hard drive into my computer, it spins and does something and even shows up in Disk Utility but never in finder.
*Does anyone know a trick to get my external working again?* I'd REALLY rather not wipe and start over.
For advanced users:
I do get this result in terminal with "ps -ax":
70 ?? 0:19.96 /System/Library/Filesystems/hfs.fs/Contents/Resources/../../../../../../sbin/fs ck_hfs -y /dev/disk1s3
...and my brother (works at a mac store) says that "fsck" means it's checking the disk, but over 8 hours overnight later and it's still going. *Is it in a loop? Does it need more time?*
Anything would help, even a recommendation to a different forum. Thanks =)

Hey guys,
Last night I came across my Macbook Pro to see that Time Machine had been "Preparing to back-up" for over 12 hours. Telling it to stop just got it stuck on "stopping back-up" instead, and ejecting the disk wouldn't work, so I had to settle on pulling out the connection from my computer (not recommended, I know).
Now whenever I plug the external hard drive into my computer, it spins and does something and even shows up in Disk Utility but never in finder.
*Does anyone know a trick to get my external working again?* I'd REALLY rather not wipe and start over.
For advanced users:
I do get this result in terminal with "ps -ax":
70 ?? 0:19.96 /System/Library/Filesystems/hfs.fs/Contents/Resources/../../../../../../sbin/fs ck_hfs -y /dev/disk1s3
...and my brother (works at a mac store) says that "fsck" means it's checking the disk, but over 8 hours overnight later and it's still going. *Is it in a loop? Does it need more time?*
Anything would help, even a recommendation to a different forum. Thanks =)

Attempted to backup using time machine. System has frozen. Concerned I'll loose current file.., Attempted to backup using time machine. System has frozen. Concerned I'll loose current file..

Can't back up past 14.87 of 40g, it freezes, can't exist, attempted to change file name in word caused freeze, also attempted to save file it freezes. All I get is a spinning color wheel. Never stops!

This sounds like a job for Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility.
You need to run Verify Disk on both your Macintosh HD and the time machine backup volume
Good luck
Bob
PS: If your machine is so unstable that it can't run from the usual book disk, then start it up from the setup disk. There's a copy of Disk Utility on this CD
B
Message was edited by: Bob Lang1

Time Machine Backup Frozen (10.5.8)

Hi everyone,
I am trying to create a backup of my hard drive with Time Machine, but every time I do it gets stalled. Sometimes it gets stalled during the backup, other times it just gets stuck during preparation.
The reason I need this backup is because I want to update to Snow Leopard (so I can buy Mountain Lion when it is available) and I want to be sure I won't lose any data on my computer. I am using a http://www.seagate.com/external-hard-drives/desktop-hard-drives/goflex-desk/?sku =STAC2000106 (2 TB). I have tried using Disk Utility to make a backup but that froze too.
Can anyone help me with my issue?

How exactly do I do that? (sorry, I've never done this kind of thing before)
I see people saying to delete the drivers, but I'm not sure how to do that.
EDIT: I saw someone posted the following,
Download Find Any File
Search "Seagate" and delete all files found
Empty Trash
Eject Drive and unplug USB
Reboot Mac
Plug USB back in
Should I just do this and delete all of these? - http://i.imgur.com/sFXDx.png

Can't fully restore my Time Machine/Time Capsule Backup to my newly-wiped SSD/HDD

On receiving my leased, Bootcamp-enabled MacBook Pro, I saw that there were no installation discs for Windows or OSX, and that there were 2 partitions (or so I thought) for Mac and Windows: 375GB each. As I produce music using software in both OSs, I wanted to create a 185GB FAT-32 partition to store my sound samples, projects etc. I attempted to create this partition by resizing (halving) my Bootcamp partition in OSX Disc Utility. The first time I attempted it, resizing was possible, but after the new partition was created, I had problems booting and so had to edit my GPT in order to boot again. Once ‘fixed,’ (by deleting the new partition) I couldn’t resize the Bootcamp partition to fill the 185GB gap, and that 185GB was ‘lost.’ The Bootcamp partition was 375GB but its used space + free space added up to 190GB
So the other day, I tried to follow what I thought was a more logical approach, which I was *sure* would work. My plan was to:
Use Windows Backup (and/or Clonezilla, or Disk Utility) to store an image of my Windows partition.
Uninstall/wipe the Windows partition using BootCamp Assistant, creating 1 big OSX partition
Use BootCamp Assistant to re-partition the HDD for Windows, OSX and ‘shared,’ and then re-install Windows, leaving 175GB for shared music production files
Restore the image/backups (approx 70GB) and carry on as before.
During the process, I deemed that this wasn't possible on my system for a variety of reasons: My laptop already had 4 partitions (Windows Recovery, Bootcamp/Windows, Mac Recovery HD, and Mac) and my understanding is that the MBR of my SSD only supports 4 partitions in its Bootcamp + OSX-compatible state. I have never got this '5 partition' strategy working.
I was unable to restore my Windows partition after re-installing Windows via Bootcamp. As a solution, I then decided to wipe the OSX partition (at that point the only 'visible' partition on the disk) and in-place re-install Mac OS X, with a view to installing Windows after OSX.
Once I wiped my hard drive, however, restoring my files and settings, didn't work as expected. Time Machine backups etc were inaccessible after a normal re-install. Re-installing with file transfer at setup froze at the 10% mark, with an estimated 200 hrs to go. The option to try a full-system restore via Time Machine is greyed-out. Even the Migration Assistant failed at a similar point. On the occasions where it claimed to complete successful (most recent situation) it seemed to neglect files, etc., and I'm now stuck at this stage.
I can view files/backups in Time Machine but I can't completely restore my computer to the state it was on 18th May...and 11 days without a fully-functioning laptop is really annoying. I wasn't able to ‘clean’ *or* ‘in-place’ re-install OSX using my existing settings and so I'm frustrated that Time Machine isn't a flawless backup & restore process. Migration Assistant didn’t transfer everything. Can I get things back to the way they were?
Things that haven’t restored correctly:
None of my icon customisations at the top of the screen were there (DropBox, Evernote, Google Drive, Kuvva, the way battery icon was displayed
Safari: Top Sites, History, Plugins
Logic Pro: Downloaded sounds, presets (10+GB), recent items, plugin settings/AU manager
Mail: Settings (and I’m assuming, the downloaded/cached mail: 7GB)
Trash can: Empty
All recent item lists apart from cloud-based services like Evernote, Notes, contacts
iTunes library
Dock view and settings
Settings for most programs
And I'm sure there are more!

Thanks Pondini; I'd hoped you'd reply. I'm still getting used to this tech, no can't even quote here.
Pondini wrote:
AkaraE wrote:
Time Machine backups etc were inaccessible after a normal re-install.
If you mean you installed OSX and created a user account, then couldn't find the backups, that's because they're treated as being from a different disk, until you either transfer your data or do a manual "associatedisk". See the blue box in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #19 for details.
Yet to try the associatedisk...didn't realise this was possible until reading your guides. The explanation makes sense now. On installing OSX it said transfers were possible after installation, so I put off transferring as the first 'restore' had frozen on 10%, thinking I'd do it afterwards.
Re-installing with file transfer at setup froze at the 10% mark, with an estimated 200 hrs to go
That sounds like damaged/corrupted backups. Try to Repair them, per #A5 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.
Yet to try...didn't realise this was possible until reading your guides
The option to try a full-system restore via Time Machine is greyed-out.
You mean, on the Mac OS X Utilities menu on the Recovery HD? I've never heard of that. That should always be selectable, so you can specify where the backups you want are located. Nothing happens when you click it? Can you click the other options there?
Even the Migration Assistant failed at a similar point. On the occasions where it claimed to complete successful (most recent situation) it seemed to neglect files, etc., and I'm now stuck at this stage.
Also sounds like directory or file problems on the backups.
This is just when I go into Time Machine/Star Wars. I can't just go to the latest backup and click "Restore" (which I assume would just restore my whole computer/HDD, although I have no experience in this). I can only select files and restore them individually.
Time Machine isn't a flawless backup & restore process.
There has never been any such thing.
I bought into the Time Machine 'hype' and thought it was an easy and reliable tool, but was a lot more difficult to do a full restore than I thought.
Trash can: Empty
Correct. Time Machine (like most backup apps) don't back up trash.
All the rest should have been backed-up and restored. Do you see them in the backups? What, if anything, was excluded from being backed-up?
As a non-native Mac user, I'm not sure where all these things are stored...perhaps in Library? I think that not having the full hard-drive just restore annoyed me...I felt that backing up my whole hard drive every hour should've allowed me to restore everything to as it was without a hitch, and when it didn't work I just tried a few things before posting on here.
If repairing the backups finds and fixes things, you might want to try again.
Gonna try now
If not, and if you can see the missing items via the Time Machine browser (the "Star Wars" display), you should be able to restore them selectively.

Frozen in Time Machine

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