Is a Time Machine back up sufficient if I have a USB pen drive with Mavericks from which to reinstall the OS?

I have used SuperDuper to make bootable back ups in the past, but if Time Machine backs up files on the fly it seems unnecessary to make a full back up from time to time. The bootable backup is easier to restore, but takes up another disk. The chances of both the computer's and the Time Machine disks failing simultaneously are, one hopes, fairly remote.
Any advice or comments appreciated.

Yes you can always boot in recovery mode and restore from the TM backup. If your data is important to you then you should have a secondary backup on another drive for safety. Drives are cheap and you just never know what's could happen. Lightning strikes in a home can fry more than one piece of equipment at one time. If you can't afford a large enough drive for a secondary backup, then a smaller drive could be used to backup just your data files using SuperDuper.
I only have one backup drive myself. But my backup drive is partitioned with TM on one and a SuperDuper clone on the other partition. Even a TM backup can become corrupt or fail. I also just like to have a bootable SD clone in case my internal fails. I can boot from the external SUperDuper clone partition and continue on until my internal could be replaced.

Similar Messages

  • 190 GB Time Machine Back Up...I only have a 80 GB drive with 60 GB used up?

    Why in the world is Time Machine backing up 190 GB while I only have 60 GB used on a 80 GB drive?
    No external drives are attached?
    Sean

    No I do not.
    This was a one time back up is what I am saying. I do not know how it is backing up 190 GB when like I said I do not have 190 GB to back up. It means it is duplicating information some where.
    Oh well maybe a update will fix some of the problems with this thing.
    Sean

  • I am trying to get space on an external hard drive which has some old time machine back up files that I do not need but can not eliminate, even by going into the time machine, clicking on the backup file to be eliminated and using the drop down eliminate

    I am trying to get space on an external hard drive which has some old time machine back up files that I do not need but can not eliminate, even by going into the time machine, clicking on the backup file to be eliminated and using the drop down menu with the gear box symbol to eliminate

    I cannot find this 300GB "Backup" in the Finder, only in the Storage info when I check "About This Mac".
    You are probably using Time Machine to backup your MacBook Pro, right? Then the additional 300 GB could be local Time Machine snapshots.  Time Machine will write the hourly backups to the free space on your hard disk, if the backup drive is temporarily not connected. You do not see these local backups in the Finder, and MacOS will delete them, when you make a regular backup to Time Machine, or when you need the space for other data.
    See Pondini's page for more explanation:   What are Local Snapshots?   http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
    I have restarted my computer, but the information remains the same. How do I reclaim the use of the 300GB? Why is it showing up as "Backups" when it used to indicate "Photos"? Are my photos safe on the external drive?
    You have tested the library on the external drive, and so your photos are save there.  
    The local TimeMachine snapshot probably now contains a backup of the moved library.  Try, if connecting your Time Machine drive will reduce the size of your local Time Machine snapshots.

  • How can I restore files from a time machine back-up of my iMac to an EXTERNAL hard drive connected to MacBook Pro. Using Migrat

    I would like to restore files from a time machine back-up of my iMac to an EXTERNAL hard drive connected to MacBook Pro. When I tried using Migration Assistant it only gives me my internal hard drive as an option to restore to. The internal hard drive on my macbook isnt large enough to store the files.

    Welcome to Apple Support Communities
    OS X can only restore data to the drive where Time Machine backed up files from.
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  • HT201250 How do I get Time Machine back on my dock? I made a mistake and removed it from dock, somehow ended up in trash, what do I do

    How do I get Time Machine back on my dock? I made a mistake and removed it from dock, somehow ended up in trash, what do I do?

    Uh…you're saying two entirely different things here. If you removed Time Machine from the Dock, it could not be in the Trash. But if you removed it from your Applications or Utilities folder and put it in the Trash, that's a problem.
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  • I have bought a time capsule to use as time machine device. Until now I have used a external hard disk. How can I transfer the the old time machine datas to the time capsule?

    I have bought a time capsule to use as time machine device. Until now I have used a external hard disk. How can I transfer the the old time machine datas to the time capsule?

    This is really difficult to the point of not really worth it.
    Keep the old TM backups in archive.. and start afresh on the TC.
    Time Machine has a different way of backing up on Network drives cf Local drives.
    Pondini does have a method to do it... but I would not recommend it.
    http://pondini.org/TM/18.html

  • Can Time Machine back up my iTunes Library stored on external hard-drive?

    Is it possible to set Time Machine to back up my iTunes music/movie library that is located on another external hard drive (in addition to backing up the other files on my iMac computer)?

    If the drive is connected and not in the excluded list it should backup automagically

  • SSD/HDD Time Machine Back Up Issue

    I am having an issue with my 2010 13" MacBook Pro.
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    The SSD runs my OS (Mountain Lion 10.8.4) and Applications, while the HDD is where I store my Home Folder.
    I did a Time Machine Back Up in March using a SeaGate external hard drive, with no issues.
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    I am unable to write to any external USB as I do not have 'permission to perform some actions'.
    I am unable to connect to external servers via VPNs.
    Finder does not open a new window when slected, I am forced to press 'Comman+N' every time.
    Numerous other issues.
    I have read that it's an issue to do with ACL's, but since my Home Folder is not on my Startup Disk, there is no way for me to do this.
    I am the only account on the computer, and both drives have 'Read & Write' permissions.
    Does anyone know how to fix this issue?
    Please feel free to ask for more details.
    Thanks.

    Please read this whole message before doing anything.
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    Third-party system modifications are a common cause of usability problems. By a “system modification,” I mean software that affects the operation of other software — potentially for the worse. The following procedure will help identify which such modifications you've installed. Don’t be alarmed by the complexity of these instructions — they’re easy to carry out and won’t change anything on your Mac. 
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  • How do I install my time machine back up on a new hard drive because the old one died?

    Hi! My MacBook hard drive died, so I had a new one installed. Now, I am hoping I can transfer my Time Machine back up on it without having to do it manually. I was running Leopard on it. Can I boot from the Time Machine back up or will I have to install Leopard on it first? I'm not extremely computer savvy so , of course, I am looking for an easy way to do this! Thanks for any suggestions!

    The Time Machine backup is not bootable
    You will have to install Leopard first

  • How do I recover my Bookmarks from a Time Machine Back Up

    I just upgraded from a 2 year old MacBook running Snow Leopard to a new MacBook Pro running Lion. Because of the problems Apple has between these 2 operating systems, I can not use the automated Migration Assistant to migrate over any of my old files, user info, or settings to the new machine. I'm having to manually pull over document files and applications from my Time Machine back up disk.
    I can't seem to find my Bookmarks from the old computer in my back up files. On the Time Machine drive, I've looked in User, Application Support, Library, amongst many others. Not seeing it anywhere. They don't seem to be in Time Machine at all, or rather they're only there if I do the automated migration for all of my programs and settings. Which of course is not possible, because it leads to massive disk permission errors and a corrupted hard drive on the new machine. One thing I'm realizing i should have done was make a manual back up of my bookmarks in Firefox before I wiped my old machine. If I didn't do this, am I screwed?
    If anyone has ideas I would love some help, I really really don't want to lose years of bookmarks.
    Oh, and whatever you do, don't buy a Mac with OSX Lion unless you want to waste LOTS of time fixing Apple's mistakes. This whole process has been a disaster so far. There are all kinds of issues with the transition to Lion, I'm 40+ hrs in now. Apple now has their very own version of Vista.

    The following has instructions: OS X Mavericks: Restore items backed up with Time Machine
    The following is old but specific to iPhoto and may help: iPhoto '11: Restoring from Time Machine with iPhoto '11 (9.2 or later) and OS X Lion 10.7.2 (or later)
    Also, see http://www.imore.com/how-set-and-restore-time-machine-backup

  • How to restore Time Machine back-up if not even Recovery Tools work?

    After a hard and unexpected crash on 2012 macMini I tried everything from this list: OS X Yosemite: Ways to start up your Mac Only 2 things worked: hardware test (via Ethernet: option+D; everything passed) and detailed status mode (command+V) which listed a bunch of errors concerning booting (missing or corrupted files and/or folders). Which is probably the reason I couldn't launch Recovery Tools - neither locally nor directly via Internet (Ethernet plugged in,  option+command+R). I would get the message that the Tools are launching, but after the Apple logo showed up followed by the spinning circle, the screen would go light grey 4-5 seconds into the process and the thin black progress bar would appear. It would grow to 1/3 of its length, stop for several seconds, then the computer would restart, the bar would show up again, grow to 1/3 etc., etc.
    Assuming that nothing else could be done I started the mini in the target mode (T), plugged it into my old 2007 mini and re-formatted the internal drive, thinking that I could either try Recovery Tools again (no luck) or just clean install Yosemite on the 2012 mini first and then use my Time Machine back-up to restore my files. Unfortunately 2007 mini can only install Lion - even on the external drive - but nothing higher (so I can't upgrade to Mountain Lion, Mavericks and finally to Yosemite). And 2012 would not start with Lion on it. Still no luck with Internet Recovery Tools btw (same symptoms).
    The only other thing I can think of is finding a newer Mac and use it to install Mavericks or Yosemite on my 2012 mini. If this fails, it's a trip to the Apple store.
    If anyone has any other ideas, please share.
    (2012 has no CD/DVD drive)

    Your description of Internet Recovery sounded much like Safe Mode, not Internet Recovery. I don't think you will see an Apple at all. It should be a spinning Globe. Or, when you say "spinning circle" was that the globe spinning?
    From the App Store on the 2007 mini, can you download the Yosemite installer?
    That's about all I can think of besides taking it to an Apple Store.

  • Getting Time Machine back up to a Sparsebundle on external HDD (Drobo)

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    Thank you for the video link. I did it pretty much exactly the way the young man explained. The one thing I didn't do was click "customize" as he does and unclick the multiple language support and he also clicks "rosetta" to support older programs. I wonder if that's the issue? The guys at Macmall told me that I would need to update the o.s. before I restored. I did that originally but have since (as mentioned before) erased the main drive. I noticed that when he does his install, his external drive does not show up on the list in which you want to install the o.s. on... should I unplug my external? I'm just trying to look at ever detail. I know the recovery file is there. The one thing it (the external) did say before I started posting here was "in progress". I'm not sure what that means? I promise I'm not an idiot. I consider myself an above average user. I usually help other that have issues... but I've yet to restore from a Time Machine back-up and I'm looking forward to learning how to do it.... the right way. I appreciate all of the advice. I have some pretty important files on my external back-up. I am really hoping that this is possible. I'm beginning to think the external is where the issue lies. The "in progress" next to the file name concerns me. I know there's a lot of data on the drive because it's nearly half full. So there's stuff there....
    Deep breath in...... reeee laaaaaaaxxxx

  • Trying to restore Time Machine back-up from WD MyBookLive - whats the Password?!

    Hi all,
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    I think you are not restoring your files in the correct way.
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  • Having trouble restoring old files from an external Time Machine back-up to a new internal hard drive...HELP!

    O.k. So my main hard drive died on my iMac and I had to replace it. I have my old system backed up on my external with Time Machine. How do I access it to get my old files back on my new hard drive? I have read multiple forums and I have yet to find a solution. I was told that when I first turn the computer on and get to the third screen, it would ask me if I wanted to restore from a previous back-up. It did but it didn't show my external until I went through the set-up and got to my home screen. The drive showed then. It also asked to install updates...and I did. So everything is up to date. I have not turned time machine on yet because I'm affraid that if I do, it will erase my old back-up on my external. I tried using the Migration Assistant in Utilities and all I get is the spinning wheel when I tried to get that to work. So now I am here asking for help. I'm not very hopeful that I'm going to be able to get all of my old files back...  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

    Thank you for the video link. I did it pretty much exactly the way the young man explained. The one thing I didn't do was click "customize" as he does and unclick the multiple language support and he also clicks "rosetta" to support older programs. I wonder if that's the issue? The guys at Macmall told me that I would need to update the o.s. before I restored. I did that originally but have since (as mentioned before) erased the main drive. I noticed that when he does his install, his external drive does not show up on the list in which you want to install the o.s. on... should I unplug my external? I'm just trying to look at ever detail. I know the recovery file is there. The one thing it (the external) did say before I started posting here was "in progress". I'm not sure what that means? I promise I'm not an idiot. I consider myself an above average user. I usually help other that have issues... but I've yet to restore from a Time Machine back-up and I'm looking forward to learning how to do it.... the right way. I appreciate all of the advice. I have some pretty important files on my external back-up. I am really hoping that this is possible. I'm beginning to think the external is where the issue lies. The "in progress" next to the file name concerns me. I know there's a lot of data on the drive because it's nearly half full. So there's stuff there....
    Deep breath in...... reeee laaaaaaaxxxx

  • Setting Up a New Mac From Two Different Time Machine Back-ups?

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    Follow the steps in Pondini's Setup New Mac guide using one computer as the source on first boot. Then, hook up the second computer and use the Migration Assistant to transfer the second user account and nothing else. Don't use the TM backup because it's much slower doing it that way than directly from each machine.
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