I want to replace the hard drive on my IMac but want to know how to transfer from the time machine external hard drive to the replacement drive?

I have reached capacity on my IMac hard drive. It is a 250 GB drive. I have an external drive backing up using the time machine utility. My question is once I replace the HD on the IMac, how do I load the new drive with the back up from the external drive?

So many possibilities.
I am not an expert, but I have learned this much is doable:
Buy an external enclosure to re-use you old drive.
Buy a new external drive at least as large as as your intended new internal drive. Make it self-powered.
Download CarbonCopyClone (free download, relatively small).
Make a CCC clone of the original disk on the new external disk
Install the original disk in the external enclosure.
Install the new disk in the main system.
Boot from that new external drive that has the carbon copy clone. CCC will be installed on it and it will be bootable.
Use CCC on the external to directly clone back to new drive you install in the main system (the "bootable" flag will copy).
NOTE THAT AT NO TIME IS YOUR ORIGINAL DISK BEING OVERWRITTEN IN THIS PROCESS. YOU CAN ALWAYS GO BACK AND REINSTALL IT.
Step 1 makes your old disk resuable as a spare copy for "anything".
Step 2 gives you something to use as CCC for after the recovery process.
Step 3 gets the software needed for cloning
Step 4 makes a bootable saved copy of your current system
Step 5 shifts your old disk to a usable place
Step 6 positions your new disk
Step 7 boots your existing install of OSX (just from a different drive)
Step 8 puts your original install on your new disk.
Now you have a bootable larger hard drive, and a bootable copy on a drive large enough to save all you can store on your new internal drive. And you have your old disk to use for "anything".
Now you have TM backup in one place, and CCC backup in another.
Two backups is better than one, and one of your backups is bootable in case of system failure.

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I just had my hard drive replaced and restored everything from a Time Machine external hard drive backup and now my "note" widgets won't load. Any ideas ?

I just had my hard drive replaced. I restored it using a Time Machine backup on an external hard drive. When I open Dashboard none of my "note" widgets will load. The other widgets open, such as weather, weather radar, calculater, dictionary, stock... Even the iPhoto Mini widget works, just not the notes ( Sticky Notes and K-Notes ). Any ideas on how to fix this ?

I did some research and found the solution to my problem. So I hope it's okay to answer my own question.
When you reinstall the OS, your Preferences go back to their default settings. Apparently Preferences is where this widget information is stored. This Preferences folder is located in the user Library folder which is hidden by default. You can access it using "one, or the other" of the following actions.
Action 1:      (1) In the Finder, choose Go > Go To Folder
                     (2) In the Go To Folder dialog, type ~/Library
                     (3) Click Go
                                                      -- OR --
Action 2:     Hold down the option (alt) key when using the Go menu. The Library folder is listed just                            below the Home folder.
After opening the Preferences folder, the file that you want to locate for k-notes is named
widget-com.rakoth.lichlord.widget.k-notes.plist
After you locate it make note of the byte size of the file. Now, with the Preferences folder still open, open Time Machine and go back in time until you see a big jump in the file size. That will be your uncorrupted plist. Restore it and close Time Machine.
Then Restart your computer.
After following this procedure I brought up Dashboard and my blank k-notes were now refilled with the previous text and color that occupied them before I had to restore the OS.
This procedure also worked for Sticky notes, which in the Preference folder are named
widget-com.apple.widget.stickies.plist

How do I undo a Time Machine External Hard Drive?

Hello,
I have an old external that was the time machine for an iMac I no longer have. I am deleting all the data from the drive and would like it to be just a regular external once again. Everytime I plug it into my new mac it shows up as time machine. What can I do??

First Turn off Time Machine on your present Mac Then connect the drive and open Disk Utility. select the partition on that external and go to the Partition tab and select One Partition from the Partition Layout drop down. Type in a Name and select Mac Extended (Journaled) as the format and then click the Options button at the bottom of the partition layout area and make sure it is GUID. Close that options window and click Apply.

I was able copy the hardrive of my old macbook from "My Passport" onto the desktop on an older iMac. but i dont know how to make my hardrive and user name be the main one since someone had used it in the past and had their info on the comp. please help!

I recently broke my 2008 macbook. i was able to use an external hardrive to back up my data onto My Passport. I was going to buy a new computer but a friend told me sher had an older version of the iMac. (not sure how old but it doesnt have a camera if that helps) i was able to hook it up and turn it on but i ran into a few problems. 1) the "authentic" user or whatever it says is someone who previously used the computer. i added me as a user but im not sure how to make me the main user. 2) after hooking up My Passport, i was able to drag my files and copy them to the desktop.(i think i did it correctly) now, i dont know how to make my hard drive and applications and iformation the "main " info. The current apps on the iMac are super old versions of iTunes and iPhoto and such. 3) while trying to open the apps from my macbook on the iMac, it said it didnt have the right software to open these apps.
I am so computer illiterate so someone please help!!! Also, i do not have internet in my new apartment yet so if there is a way to make this happen without using the internet that would be preferred. sorry for the horrible spelling and poorly written paragraph.
THANK YOU!!

You are not going to be able to run your old system from the backup on this old computer as the hardware is incompatible.
You need to get a new computer or a refurbished one.

Time machine external hard drive requires repair every time I turned the computer off or after I ejected the external hard drive?

Time machine external hard drive requires repair every time I turned the computer off or after I ejected the external hard drive?

What kind of repair?

I have a new iPhone for work, set up on a new iTunes account (PC). I was told i can associate it to my home iTunes account (iMac) but don't know how. I want to save the work related apps as well. Any advice? Thanks

I have a new iPhone for work, set up on a new iTunes account (PC). I was told i can associate it to my home iTunes account (iMac) but don't know how. I want to save the work related apps as well. Any advice? Thanks

Thanks. I messed up with my husbands iphone because I was told the wrong thing. Now everytime I sync his phone it makes it look just like the other phone I had. Do you know how I can fix taht for his phone? Any settings I can turn off that will prevent all of my apps/contacts, etc from auto populating his phone?

Hi, I tried to download a bunch of my favourite TV episodes. I was unable to get them all due to lack of storage. I increased my storage but the downloads didn't come. I tried deleting the already downloaded and viewed episodes but don't know how.

Hi, I tried to download a bunch of my favourite TV episodes. I was unable to get them all due to lack of storage. I increased my storage but the downloads didn't come. I tried deleting the already downloaded and viewed episodes but don't know how.
I'm wondering if I should increase my storage again but I'm not sure that's the issue.

You need more storage on your iPad, however, it can't be increased. iCloud storage is ecternal to the iPad and is used for backup.
You need to delete some item on the iPad.
How much space is used by your Other? You may be able to reduce.
How Do I Get Rid Of The “Other” Data Stored On My iPad Or iPhone?
http://tinyurl.com/85w6xwn
With an iOS device, the “Other” space in iTunes is used to store things like documents, settings, caches, and a few other important items. If you sync lots of documents to apps like GoodReader, DropCopy, or anything else that reads external files, your storage use can skyrocket. With iOS 5/6/7, you can see exactly which applications are taking up the most space. Just head to Settings > General > Usage, and tap the button labeled Show All Apps. The storage section will show you the app and how much storage space it is taking up. Tap on the app name to get a description of the additional storage space being used by the app’s documents and data. You can remove the storage-hogging application and all of its data directly from this screen, or manually remove the data by opening the app. Some applications, especially those designed by Apple, will allow you to remove stored data by swiping from left to right on the item to reveal a Delete button.
There are some wireless external hard drives that can be used with the iPad.
Best iPad External Hard Drive Storage Options
http://www.unlocktips.com/2012/11/best-ipad-mini-external-hard-drive-memory-stor age-options/
iPad Storage Solutions
http://www.ipadstoragesolutions.com/iPadWirelessStorage.php
SanDisk Connect Wireless Media Drive http://www.sandisk.com/products/wireless/media-drive/
Another option:
Expand your iPad's storage capacity with HyperDrive
http://www.macworld.com/article/1153935/hyperdrive.html
On the road with a camera, an iPad, and a Hyperdrive
http://www.macworld.com/article/1160231/ipadhyperdrive.html
 Cheers, Tom

Installed GoFlex 1.5 TB external drive on my iMac running OS X 10.7.4 and error says Time Machine can't create a backup folder. Any solutions?

Installed GoFlex 1.5 TB external drive on my iMac running OS X 10.7.4 and error says Time Machine can't create a backup folder. Any solutions?

Well, to unmount the drive, you can use the Terminal application.
Start in Applications > Utilities > Terminal.
When the Terminal window opens, type - without the quotes and with the space at the end - this:
"diskutil unmount "
Then drag the icon of the unmounted drive from the desktop into the Terminal window - the drive location will be added to the end of the command above. It should look something like this:
diskutil unmount /Volumes/volumename
Then press enter (return).
That should unmount the drive. Now you can try the Time Machine process again with perhaps a different interconnect cable for the GoFlex.

TS3423 Mac book pro stops responding after Maverick OS restart. Currently have a circle with a line through it after 20+ hours. Tried to shut it down and use the Time Machine to restore but no response. How can I restore with Time Machine if it will not s

Mac book pro stops responding after Maverick OS restart. Currently have a circle with a line through it after 20+ hours. Tried to shut it down and use the Time Machine to restore but no response. How can I restore with Time Machine if it will not start?

sonjadg,
you can purchase a replacement pair of grey installation DVDs for your MacBook Pro from either Apple or iFixit. If Startup Manager is only showing an OS X Installer volume, then it sounds like the Mavericks installer had a problem midway through its installation process. To fix this, you’re going to need to erase your internal disk and reïnstall your original version of OS X from the grey Mac OS X Install DVD, use Software Update to get it back to 10.6.8 (presuming that your MacBook Pro originally came with Snow Leopard), and then restore from Time Machine.

I rented a movie yesterday on my mac then put it on my iphone decided i want to watch it on my computer but i dont know how to transfer it back

i rented a movie yesterday on my mac then put it on my iphone decided i want to watch it on my computer but i dont know how to transfer it back

iTunes Store Movie Rental FAQ - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1657
Can I play my rental on more than one device?
If you download a rented movie on your computer: You can transfer it to a device such as your Apple TV (1st generation), iPhone, iPad, or iPod if it’s a standard-definition film (movies in HD can only be watched on your computer, iPad, iPhone 4 or later, iPod touch (4th generation or later), or Apple TV). Once you move the movie from your computer to a device, the movie will disappear from your computer's iTunes library. You can move the movie between devices as many times as you wish during the rental period, but the movie can only exist on one device at a time.
If you download a rented movie on your iPhone 4 or later, iPad, iPod touch (4th generation or later), or Apple TV: It is not transferable to any other device or computer.

HT204089 I have a samsung smart TV and record free to air TV shows on my TVO I would like to purchase from iTunes a TV series called outlander but do not know how to transfer and save the episodes on my TIVO I will be using my iPad to purchase and downloa

I Have a samsung smart TV and use TVO to record free to air programmes .
i would like to purchase from iTunes using my iPad , a TV series called outlander but do not know how to transfer and save the episodes to my TIVO
please help

Many videos in the iTunes store are protected so that they can only be viewed on Apple Devices signed into your iTunes account. If that is the case then your TiVo will not be able to read the files. If you know how to get a video file onto your TiVo from a flash drive, then just plug a flash drive into your Mac and drag one of the videos from inside the iTunes window onto the icon for the flash drive on your Desktop or in the left sidebar of a Finder window. That will copy the actual file onto the flash drive.

Me and my partner are currently using the same apple id and have no space left on our devices. We are currently waiting on the iphone 6 plus to arrive and don't know how to transfer all data to the new phones.

Me and my partner are currently using the same apple id and have no space left on our devices. We are currently waiting on the iphone 6 plus to arrive and don't know how to transfer all data to the new phones.?

I don't know if I'm asking this all in a way that can be understood? Thanks ED3K, however that part I do understand (in the link you provided!)
What I need to know is "how" I can separate or rather create another Apple ID for my son-who is currently using "my Apple ID?" If there is a way to let him keep "all" his info on his phone (eg-contacts, music, app's, etc.) without doing a "reset?') Somehow I need to go into his phone's setting-create a new Apple ID and possibly a new password so he can still use our combined iCloud & Itunes account?
Also then letting me take back my Apple ID & password, but again allowing us (my son and I) to use the same iCloud & Itunes account? Does that make more sense??? I'm sincerely trying to get this cleared up once and for all----just need guidance from someone who has a true understanding of the whole Apple iCloud/Itunes system!
Thanks again for "anyone" that can help me!!!

HT201441 please help me try to contact the owner of this phone IMEI **** ICCID **** i got his phone now with me but i dont know how to contact them first time

please help me try to contact the owner of this phone IMEI **** ICCID **** i got his phone now with me but i dont know how to contact them first time i got it low battery contact me
I will explan more how i got this phone
Call me +**** Micky Thai
<Personal Information Edited By Host>

A long shot but you might try using the phone to send an email to the phone asking the owner to call their mobile phone. If the owner has a computer they may get the email and get in contact with you.
But Roger's suggerstion of turning it over to the police is the best bet.
OT

I've just downloaded the add-on - Quick Locale Switcher but don't know how to access it because there doesn't appear to be a button for it on the Firefox toolbar?

I've just downloaded the add-on - Quick Locale Switcher but don't know how to access it because there doesn't appear to be a button for it on the Firefox toolbar?

With any extension, look at the add-on page for that item in Mozilla Add-ons: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/<br />
*Answers can usually be found there: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1333/<br />
*Also the developer's home page for the extension (the link is on the above page): http://www.captaincaveman.nl/firefox-extensions-quick-locale-switcher.aspx<br />
*Also see if there is a forum on the developer's home page (there is for this one): http://forum.captaincaveman.nl/default.aspx?g=topics&f=12

Transferring data from Time Machine external hard drive to band new mac

My husband bought me a brand new Mac but then powered it up to play with it and bypassed the magic transfer option at the very beginning which would have allowed me to transfer my backed up info from my old mac to this new one.
Is there a process that I need to go through now to make sure this information transfers correctly or do I just plug in my external hard drive and let it do its thing.
My worry is that I do something wrong and Time Machine doesn't know that I need to transfer to a new mac, it sincs with the new mac and the old data gets somehow erased.
Paranoid? Oh yes!
Thanks for any help....

Time Machine transfers of backed up info to any Mac are not automatic, nor does any backed up info get erased from the Time Machine backup when you do a transfer. You have two options for copying Time Machine backup files to the new Mac:
1. Use Migration Assistant (found in Applications/Utilities) to migrate (copy) items to the new Mac. Select "From a Time Machine backup or other disk" as the migration method, then select the Time Machine backup of the old Mac, then select the items you want to transfer. You can select some or all of the user accounts on the old Mac, Applications (all or none), Settings files (Time Zone, Machine, and/or Network), & "Other" files & folders (which are any other root level files & folders not included in the above).
If you have already set up your network, time zone, etc. settings while playing with the new Mac then there is no particular need to migrate the old ones. If you migrate Applications, Migration Assistant will not replace newer versions with older ones, but it may transfer some old apps that don't work with Snow Leopard. This won't do any harm, but you may want to delete the incompatible apps as you discover them to save space on the new hard drive.
If you have created a new user account on the new Mac with the same name as some account on the old Mac, you will have to either give the old account a new name for the transfer or replace the new account with the old one, which will erase any user files you have created in the new account. Thus, you should save any such files to a backup if you want to keep them.
2. Use Time Machine itself to restore selected files or folders from the Time Machine backup of the old Mac to the new one. Open Time Machine from the Dock, choosing "Browse Other Time Machine Disks…" from the popup options. Again, choose the Time Machine backup of the old Mac, & then select whatever dated backup you want to restore items from.
All this is harder to explain than to do in actual practice -- for the first method you get on-screen guidance for each step & for the second the interface is pretty intuitive.

Time Machine, External Hard Drives, Drobos, questions....

I'm not sure if I'm posting this in the right place, but feel free to point me somewhere else if not. I'm a professional photographer transitioning into some video work and am currently working out a media drive / backup drive solution to suit the needs of a one man band. Currently I have a couple of 2TB MyBooks running, and backup from one to the other each night, which isn't the most elegant solution but has worked so far. I've just ordered a Drobo and hard disks to give me a little more peace of mind, but because the Drobo isn't known for being the fastest solution in the world (at least the basic model isn't), I'm also purchasing a G-Tech Raid drive to use as my active media drive.
I'm hoping the following is possible and hoping someone can answer a couple of questions I have about using the following setup. I plan to use Time Machine as a backup solution, which saves me continually having to copy and check files are all in the right place each night as I do at the moment when manually backing up. I believe it's possible to have the G-Raid drive, which is where all media will be placed when importing, as part of a Time Machine backup that will put the contents of my iMac (which is not much, just core software) and the G-Raid onto the Drobo, and keep things updated when files are changed, updated or deleted.
The first thing I wanted to check is that I'm right in the assumption that the above scenario is not a problem? I'm guessing not as it seems lots of people use variances on this method. But what I'm wondering is, what happens when I fill the 1 or 2 TB raid drive (G-tech), and want to change it out for another one, and the Drobo, which has more and expandable storage, is not full? If I remove the G-Tech drive and replace it with a new one, will Time Machine just carry on as normal, leaving all the original data that was on the older drive untouched on the Drobo and still accessible in the future?
Is it better to partition the Drobo and create a section that is the same size as the current media drive I'm using (500gb, 1tb, etc...) and point the Time Machine to use that section, and then switch to a new partition when putting in a new media drive, or is that unnecessary and overcomplicating things?
I'm assuming that a lot of people tend to have 1 external hard drive working as their media drive, and another running time machine and backing up whatever's on the media drive, and that these drives are the same size, and a swapped out for new ones simultaneously when full. But if you are using a much larger backup drive, like a Drobo, then what do you do in the above situations?
Basically, I want a simple solution that allows me to have a fast (firewire 800 max as I'm using an iMac atm), media drive attached and which is backed up to a drive with redundancy, like a Drobo, and where I can change out that media drive without a problem and changes made on it are mirrored on the backup drive (but where data doesn't get deleted on the backup drive if I need to change out the media drive). My data needs are met with the above mentioned drives and I don't yet need to start investing in more advanced systems to deal with what I'm doing, I just need a solution that is simple, doesn't require excessive time spent tweaking and monitoring things, and where my data is safe if a drive fails.
Finally, I'm guessing if the above scenario is possible then I'll be connecting the G-Tech to the Firewire 800 port and the Drobo to the USB, but I thought I'd ask whilst I'm here whether anybody knows if you can daisy chain the Drobo to the G-Tech via Firewire and still have it operating as a separate backup drive using Time Machine; if this method is possible would people reccomend it over using the iMac's USB port?
Many thanks in advance for any help or suggestions people can offer, and sorry that was such a huge ramble.

I'm not sure if I'm posting this in the right place, but feel free to point me somewhere else if not. I'm a professional photographer transitioning into some video work and am currently working out a media drive / backup drive solution to suit the needs of a one man band. Currently I have a couple of 2TB MyBooks running, and backup from one to the other each night, which isn't the most elegant solution but has worked so far. I've just ordered a Drobo and hard disks to give me a little more peace of mind, but because the Drobo isn't known for being the fastest solution in the world (at least the basic model isn't), I'm also purchasing a G-Tech Raid drive to use as my active media drive.
I'm hoping the following is possible and hoping someone can answer a couple of questions I have about using the following setup. I plan to use Time Machine as a backup solution, which saves me continually having to copy and check files are all in the right place each night as I do at the moment when manually backing up. I believe it's possible to have the G-Raid drive, which is where all media will be placed when importing, as part of a Time Machine backup that will put the contents of my iMac (which is not much, just core software) and the G-Raid onto the Drobo, and keep things updated when files are changed, updated or deleted.
The first thing I wanted to check is that I'm right in the assumption that the above scenario is not a problem? I'm guessing not as it seems lots of people use variances on this method. But what I'm wondering is, what happens when I fill the 1 or 2 TB raid drive (G-tech), and want to change it out for another one, and the Drobo, which has more and expandable storage, is not full? If I remove the G-Tech drive and replace it with a new one, will Time Machine just carry on as normal, leaving all the original data that was on the older drive untouched on the Drobo and still accessible in the future?
Is it better to partition the Drobo and create a section that is the same size as the current media drive I'm using (500gb, 1tb, etc...) and point the Time Machine to use that section, and then switch to a new partition when putting in a new media drive, or is that unnecessary and overcomplicating things?
I'm assuming that a lot of people tend to have 1 external hard drive working as their media drive, and another running time machine and backing up whatever's on the media drive, and that these drives are the same size, and a swapped out for new ones simultaneously when full. But if you are using a much larger backup drive, like a Drobo, then what do you do in the above situations?
Basically, I want a simple solution that allows me to have a fast (firewire 800 max as I'm using an iMac atm), media drive attached and which is backed up to a drive with redundancy, like a Drobo, and where I can change out that media drive without a problem and changes made on it are mirrored on the backup drive (but where data doesn't get deleted on the backup drive if I need to change out the media drive). My data needs are met with the above mentioned drives and I don't yet need to start investing in more advanced systems to deal with what I'm doing, I just need a solution that is simple, doesn't require excessive time spent tweaking and monitoring things, and where my data is safe if a drive fails.
Finally, I'm guessing if the above scenario is possible then I'll be connecting the G-Tech to the Firewire 800 port and the Drobo to the USB, but I thought I'd ask whilst I'm here whether anybody knows if you can daisy chain the Drobo to the G-Tech via Firewire and still have it operating as a separate backup drive using Time Machine; if this method is possible would people reccomend it over using the iMac's USB port?
Many thanks in advance for any help or suggestions people can offer, and sorry that was such a huge ramble.

I want to replace the hard drive on my IMac but want to know how to transfer from the time machine external hard drive to the replacement drive?

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