Issues with restoring a Time Machine backup onto new Macbook Pro Retina

I recently got a new Macbook Pro Retina and I've been trying to restore a Time Machine backup made today from my old Macbook Pro laptop. I didn't restore from the first start up (foolishly, seemingly) simply because of the trivial reason of wanting to see the system all clean and new.
I've tried the Migration Assistant but it gets stuck on "looking for source..", despite having the ex.HD plugged in and double checking the existance of the backup itself on the ex.HD.
I've also tried booting the laptop up in the 'restore' mode (cmd R) and restoring from there but it sends me in a constant loop of 'this backup was from a previous model of laptop' or something to that affect. It also doesn't display the recent backups at all, only displaying those from the beginning of this year for some reason. All backups are in the same place on the ex.HD so its not an issue with locating the backups.
Really stuck on this one! Would really appreciate some help!
Thanks a lot, and merry Christmas

Yes, you can restore to another machine if needs be.

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Cannot access Time Machine backups on new MacBook Pro

Hey, I'm new to the forums, just wanting to throw it out there.
But to the point- Yesterday, I purchased a new MacBook Pro. I upgraded from a regular MacBook. I want to keep my Music, Pictures, and other Documents, so I used Time Machine to make an image of the old machine. I want to copy those specific folders over individually, so I didn't use the option to restore from the Time Machine backup. When I copied my Music folder into the location I wanted it, I tried to open the folder, and received an error message saying:
"The folder "Music" could not be opened because you do not have sufficient access privileges."
I went through Get Info and changed Permissions to Read and Write for Everyone. I don't really know what to do from here... It also does this when I try to access the backups on my external hard drive. Please help me!

Hi, and welcome to the forums.
You need to Restore the files from the backups, not copy them via the Finder. Time Machine, as you now know, uses special "deny everybody everything" permissions on it's backups to keep us mere mortals from moving, changing, or deleting them, which can hopelessly corrupt them. Restoring one Mac's backups to another one takes a few extra steps.
TM keeps the backups for each Mac separate, and normally only shows the ones for the Mac it's running on, even if there are other Macs' backups on the same disk/partition.
Since you're on a different Mac, you need the (badly named) +Browse Other Time Machine Disks+ option to see the old backups. Start with a normal Finder window, then hold down the Option key while selecting the TM icon in your Menubar, or by control-clicking (right-clicking) the TM icon in your Dock.
You'll see a selection screen showing all the disks/partitions that have TM backups on them. Select the one you want, and you'll be taken to the normal TM "Star Wars" interface, where you should see all the backups on that disk/partition.
You can then navigate to a backup (presumably the most recent one), in the "cascade" in the center of the display (the first, lowest one, represents "now"). Navigate to the folder you want to restore, select it, click the "gear" icon in the Finder window's toolbar and select the +Restore to ...+ option. Then you'll get a prompt for the destination.

How do I restore from time machine on a new macbook pro ?

Hello,
My Macbook pro was stollen about 2 months ago and i'm currently debating on which Macbook retina I should get, the higher 13" or the higher 15" model. In either case, how do I go about restoring the system to which my old macbook pro was at ? i.e getting the same itunes songs files, iPhoto pictures etc.
I have read that if the version of the os x in the time machine was an earlier than that on the new machine it would cause problems. so how do can I work around that if i face this problem ?
One last question, how can I know the space needed on the new system for the restoration from the time machine?

The new machine will boot into Setup Assistant, and you'll be prompted to import the data from a Time Machine backup, among other options. A system-version mismatch is OK.

"Reconnecting" Time Machine Backups on New Macbook Pro

I recently got a new macbook pro and used Time Machine to set it up. Unfortunately, when I attempt to continue to use time machine backups, I get the warning that I don't have enough space.
I next attempted to use the Pondini B6 troubleshoot to reconnect my backups via the terminal (http://pondini.org/TM/B6.html), however upon attempting to execute the "sudo tmutil inheritbackup" command I received the following error message:
The backup "I***Mac" can't be inherited because it would conflict with "I***’s MacBook Pro" (with I***Mac being the name of my old laptop and I***'s MacBook Pro being my new one).
Does anyone have any suggestions? Should I just wipe my backup HD?
Thanks so much

It helps!
After this:
sudo tmutil delete "/Volumes/Time Machine/Backups.backupdb/Computername 2/"
sudo tmutil associatedisk -a /Volumes/Mac\ HD /Volumes/Time\ Machine/Backups.backupdb/Computername/Latest/Mac\ HD
I was able to go into Time Machine and see the backups that were in Computername that I hadn't been able to see via Time Machine (but could see from the command line).
And then I deleted a folder in TIme Machine (a profile inside ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox and the entire old backup in /Volumes/Time\ Machine/Backups.backupdb/Computername/ was deleted. Perhaps fat fingers? I dunno. I have a volume copy of the Time Machine volume, so I'll try again...

10.5.8 Time Machine backup migrate new MacBook pro...?

Hi all,
My venerable PowerBook G4 has died, but I take regular time machine backups.
If I purchase a new MacBook Pro, will I be able to migrate my data to it, if it's running Lion.
I undestand some of the old programs won't work - so be it, but I'm more concerned about my photo's.
Many thanks.

Yes.
Your best bet is to use Setup Assistant when your shiny new Mac first stars up. See How do I set up a new Mac from an old one, its backups, or a PC?

Cannot move iTunes library from Time Machine Backup onto new Macbook

I'm trying to move my iTunes library off my iMac onto my MacBook. I thought I could grab it from my Time Capsule but when I open the Time capsule it shows as a sparse bundle which I cannot do anything with.
Is this the best way to do it? I would imagine it would take forever over wifi...
Can I transfer using Migration Assistant and an ethernet cable? Does migration Assistant ask me to use an ethernet cable as an option?
Thanks

I forgot to mention the iMac is running snow leopard and macbook pro is Mountain Lion

I just restored my 13" MBP i5 at the apple store to the newest version of Lion after issues with a previous Time Machine backup from Snow Leopard- this time I created a new account and just ported files and folders, and now MS Office doesn't work. Help?

I just restored my 13" MBP i5 at the apple store to the newest version of Lion after issues with a previous Time Machine backup from Snow Leopard- this time I created a new account and just ported files and folders, and now MS Office doesn't work.
^^ that's the main problem. Here's the full history.
I bought a new 13" i5 MBP, early 2011 edition. I had an old white Macbook 2.14 ghz core2duo on Snow Leopard. I attempted to port over my time machine backup, but encountered problems in that my User was inaccessible from the new computer after the import finished, and I had to go in and change the root password, etc, and for some reason or another, I couldn't install any programs at all from that administrator's account. By "couldn't" I mean I could install them, but upon installation they would never boot. So, I took it to the apple store and did a clean install from the most up to date Lion OSX. Then, I created a brand new admin account, instead of trying to import the old one, and things seemed great. Then, I just imported my old files from the TM backup, but not any system settings, permissions, or user data. Just my Docs, pics, vids, apps, and itunes stuff.
Here's where things get weird again. I imported this stuff under the name "old", but all of these folders have a red negative sign on them, marking them as restricted. So, from my main admin account, I cannot even peruse these folders. Since I didn't import user data, I can't sign in to the "old" account to change permissions. I already tried to change the permissions from system preferences, but that didn't change anything. And now, for whatever reason, of all the apps that were imported then, MS Office is the only set of apps that does not work. When I click on it, it just says there was a problem and asks if I'd like to send a report to apple. I tried reinstalling it to no avail. I'm an English student, so i really need access to Word. Can anyone help? The Apple store is a major detour for me and would like to fix this issue myself.

Most likely you have Office 2004 which are PPC-only applications and will not work in Lion. Upgrade to Office 2011. Other alternatives are:
Apple's iWork suite (Pages, Numbers, and Keynote.)
Open Office (Office 2007-like suite compatible with OS X.)
NeoOffice (similar to Open Office.)
LibreOffice (a new direction for the Open Office suite.)

Help with Restoring from Time Machine Backup with new Hard Drive

Hello. Recently, my hard drive died in my 24" Early 2008 Aluminum iMac. Luckily, I had a time machine backup, and I took it upon myself to replace the 320 GB Hard Drive with a 2 TB Seagate Barracuda disk. The hardware replacement (although difficult) went fine. Now, I'm having a bit of trouble restoring the new drive from my time machine backup. The new disk shows up in Disk Utility with the correct capacity. I formatted the new drive with Mac OS Extended (Journaled) using my installation disk. My only problem is that the drive isn't showing up when I am choosing which drive I want to restore my time machine backup onto. I can pick out the backup I want perfectly fine, but I can't find the new drive. Any help?

UPDATE: I restarted it (Classic IT Crowd "Have you tried turning it off and on" moment) and the drive shows up on screen. Right now, I'm waiting for it to "Calculate disk size needed for restore" and I'll keep you posted.
UPDATE 2: Currently restoring. Let's see if it's successful.
Message was edited by: funman895

Help with restoring from Time Machine Backup from another computer

I was required to dump my Mac OSX on my MacBook Pro and convert to a windows machine to use a testing software that did not allow boot camp. Before doing so, I backed up my hard drive to a partition of my iMac via a wireless connection. I am now using a boot disk to try to restore my system from the Time Machine backup on the iMac. I have logged onto my wireless network, but the Mac OSX Installer just keeps saying "Searching for Time Machine Backups..." My iMac is on (typing this now) and is active on the network. What do I need to do to be able to see my Time Machine backup from my MacBook Pro?

Hi m,
I don't know if this would make a difference or not, but you could try booting the iMac in FireWire Target Disk Mode.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58583

My Time machine won't back up. Recently updated to OS x 10.7.5. Error message is as follows: "The backup disk image "/Volumes/Time Machine Backup/Scott's MacBook Pro.sparsebundle" is already in use." What is wrong and how do I fix it? Thanks.

My Time machine won't back up. Recently updated to OS x 10.7.5. Error message is as follows: "The backup disk image “/Volumes/Time Machine Backup/Scott’s MacBook Pro.sparsebundle” is already in use." What is wrong and how do I fix it? Thanks.

Have you tried restarting the computer? Also, see Time Machine Error from this pages sidebar under More Like This.

How to use my time capsule on my new macbook pro retina (time machine error)

Hello all,
I've been using my old mac for a while with my time capsule, but recently I bought the new macbook pro retina and I wanted to use the time capsule as the backup disk on the new one. However, whenever I try to run the backup, a message appears "The backup disk image “/Volumes/Data/XXX’s MacBook.sparsebundle” is already in use."
I wanted to override the settings so that the new macbook will use the time capsule for its backup disk instead of the old one, as I will no longer be using it.
I was wondering if anyone had this problem before and if anyone know how I can solve it?
Thank you

You could delete the old backup from your old laptop? If you need to keep it then you need to rename that folder so that your new macbook can creatie its own file in the same name.
Regards,
Ryan

How do I restore from time machine backup onto unmounted disk drive "disk0s2?" :-(

In trying to restore my MacBook Pro after a strange freeze, I seemed to have unmounted the main disk drive. So, I have no drive on which to restore my computer using my time machine backup. What do I do now???

Give this a try:
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions - Lion/Mountain Lion
Boot to the Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Repair
When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported then click on the Repair Permissions button. When the process is completed, then quit DU and return to the main menu. Select Restart from the Apple menu.
See if you are able to get the partition to mount. If not select the Terminal from the Utiilities menu. At the prompt enter:
sudo mount disk0s1
Press RETURN and authenticate. Your password will not be echoed. Press RETURN again. I'm assuming you have a disk with one partition. If that's not correct, then do not use the above command.

Restore iphoto library from crashed mini Time Machine backup on new mb pro

Hello,
My old mac mini is gone and I have a new macbook pro. Now I want to restore my iphoto library (260GB) from the most recent Time Machine backup but how can I do that without restoring the whole machine back? The problem is I don't have the needed space for the whole machine restore on my mb Pro. The new Pro is 500GB and the mini backup is 900gb. Even my user restore from the migration assistent can't complete because the space isn't there.

I Found it, i need to browse in finder to the time machine file in de folder where the backup is located. After I mount the file I can open timemachine with ctrl+click and open another timemachine backup. Select the mac mini backup and browse and restore. Wow I love, you only need to know how to do it thanks for the replys

Using time machine backup from my Macbook pro to my new IMAC 27

Hi just tried to do a system restore of my time machine back up from my macbook pro to my new Imac 27, and the imac won't boot. Can I use a time machine back up to restore all of my data to my new Imac 27? Any help would be great thanks.
Antonio Medina

It sounds like you've overwritten the new computer's installation of OS X with one that is an earlier and incompatible version. You need to erase the new computer's hard drive then reinstall OS X using the original installation discs that came with the new computer. After you complete the installation you will have the opportunity to use Migration Assistant to migrate your Home folder, third-party applications and support files, and network preferences from an external drive, another connected computer, or an attached Time Machine backup drive.
1. Boot from your OS X Installer Disc. 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.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID, then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. After the above process has completed quit DU and return to the installer. Complete your OS X installation.
5. When the installation is completed the computer will restart into the Setup Assistant. When you arrive at the point of setting up an initial admin account DO NOT use the same user (short) name that you have been using on your old system. Choose a temporary name to use such as Test or Temp, for example. At the end of the setup you will have an opportunity to migrate data from your TM backup. You can then migrate the Home folder, applications, network preferences, etc. Just do not do a full system restore, again.
6. When the migration has completed open Accounts preferences. Click on the lock and authenticate. Click on the Account Options button (bottom of the sidebar with account listing.) Change the Automatic Login preferences to use your migrated account. Click on the OK button and restart the computer.
7. Your computer should restart into your old Home folder with all your data. Open Accounts preferences, click on the lock icon and authenticate, select the temporary account you created then click on the Delete [-] button to remove it. Select the last option (immediate removal) and click on the OK button.

Time machine backup from damaged MacBook Pro

I was at a party on Saturday and a friend spilt some lager onto my MacBook Pro I quickly turned it upside down and left it over night I switched it on next day and it worked but now it won't switch on I suspect the main board is damaged. If I take my laptop to Apple would they be able to backup my hard drive to an external hard drive before they carry out any repairs or will I have to get the hard drive backed up before I take it to apple?
Cheers Niall

Usually a HDD survives liquid damage. You can take it out from your MBP and connect it to anther Mac and see if it has survived. If so copy the data to another external HDD.
If you bring it to Apple, make certain that the staff knows that the HDD should be copied before any work is done. If they are not aware of the situation, they could possibly wipe the HDD.
Ciao.

Issues with restoring a Time Machine backup onto new Macbook Pro Retina

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