Backup system to Time Machine then Install Snow Leopard

I tried upgrading to 10.4.8 but snow leopard wouldn't install as it said "Time Machine" installed on drive. I checked preferences in "Time Machine" and it is set to backup to an external "G" drive, not my Mac HD. What gives?
I'm willing to backup everything to "Time Machine" then format the hard disk and do a completely "clean" installation of "Snow Leopard". I'm just scared I won't be able to put everything back on Snow like I had it on the old OS X. Can someone tell me how to upgrade above or how to restore my "Time Machine" backup after I do a new install.
Many thanks in advance.
Jim

junroe wrote:
I tried upgrading to 10.4.8 but snow leopard wouldn't install as it said "Time Machine" installed on drive. I checked preferences in "Time Machine" and it is set to backup to an external "G" drive, not my Mac HD. What gives?
Most likely, there's a Backups.backupdb folder at the top level of your HD. Hopefully, it's empty. If so, just delete it. If not, see how big it is and post back.
. . . then format the hard disk and do a completely "clean" installation of "Snow Leopard".
Why do you want to erase and reinstall everything? That's almost never required, or even helpful, on a Mac.
All you have to do is insert the SL disc and follow the instructions. It will install itself and delete Leopard, without touching your data. Takes about 45 minutes or so.

Similar Messages

  • Deleting "BAckups.backupd" folder(Time Machine) to install Snow Leopard

    Hi .. first time here. This community service is just fantastic. Useful source of help. Many real experts here. Wonder how many people come here FIRST for resolutions, before reading Apple's own support site. I being one of them .. If you can help with this ..
    I read in various posts to delete or thrash the "Backups.backupd" folder so that the installation of SNow Leopard can continue bypassing the error message of volume being used by Time Machine. I did that and installation of Snow Leopard proceeded beautifully. Thanks a lot.
    I have not used Time MAchine yet ..but will, as soon as I get Snow Leopard into production.
    After which, I read in Apple's resolution to "Move the "Backups.backupd" folder from the Trash to the desktop." - Do I need to do this ?? Or, this folder will be created when I eventually initialise Time Machine.
    Thanks & regards.

    V.K. wrote:
    where did you read that?? you definitely don't need to do this. what you need to
    do is empty trash.
    I think the reference is to Mac OS X v10.6: Cannot install Mac OS X v10.6 on a volume used by Time Machine for backups. I'm not sure how that applies if the OP has never used Time Machine, but according to this article, if there is an existing "Backups.backupd" folder, the trash should not be emptied unless it contains a backup that is duplicated somewhere else.
    BTW, in some recent topic, I mentioned that the error message occurs because of an invisible file & that only removing that would let the Snow Leopard install continue. This article apparently says I'm totally wrong about that, but I can't find the topic with my erroneous info in it to correct it -- the Discussions (& for that matter the Support) search engines seem to be having fits today, at least for me. If someone sees that topic, I would appreciate linking to it here, or at least a post in that topic letting other users know I my info was wrong.
    Thanks.

  • Someone meet the problem, I am not abble install mac OS 10.6 snow leopard on intel based machine, (intel core 2 duo, 2,8 ghz, 4GB RAM, 320 GB HDD, OSX 10.5.8) system every time wrote "OS X snow leopard cannot be install on this machine" please help, Majo

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    It is retail disk, i bought it in apple store. I also resetter PRRAM and SMC and checked disk. I also tried clean installation and upgrade, nothing works, after run installation program after few seconds wrote: OS X Snow Leopard cannot be install on this machine :-(
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  • I have a mid 2010 Macbook Pro running Snow Leopard and foolishly upgraded to Yosemite.  Is it possible to go back in time with Time Machine and reinstall Snow Leopard.  Then upgrade to Lion or Mavericks?  Any other ideas on how I can exit Yosemite?

    I have a mid 2010 Macbook Pro running Snow Leopard and foolishly upgraded to Yosemite. Now have numerous problems.  Is it possible to go back in time with Time Machine and reinstall Snow Leopard?  Then upgrade to Lion or Mavericks?  Any other ideas on how I can exit Yosemite?

    Once you get yourself back to Snow Leopard, if you still want to upgrade somewhat, I would suggest the following:
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    3. If you left yourself a free partition on your test drive, try a clean install of Yosemite and set everything up from scratch (do not migrate anything). This will allow you to see whether your problems with it were related to something in your Snow Leopard system.

  • Struggling to restore from Time Machine (2007 MacBook; Snow Leopard)

    The hard drive failed on my 2007 MacBook. I had it replaced and the shop also installed Snow Leopard (this was what  I was using prior to the fail).
    I tried a restore from Time Machine and while a huge chunk of my new hard drive disappeared,  I couldn't locate the files. I have since found them in the hidden /Volumes folder.
    I have also learned that to do a full restore,  I should have used my Snow Leopard install disk alongside the drive with Time Machine backups.
    So...
    1. Should I delete the restored file in the /Volumes folder and start again using the Snow Leopard install disk?
    2. I want to upgrade to Lion (this is the furthest I can go with this MacBook). Can  I do step 1 using a Lion install disk even though the Time Machine backup was created in Snow Leopard? (Confession: I'm not sure where my Snow Leopard disk is and I'm trying to avoid going through cupboards and boxes to find it)
    3. is it laborious and risky to try to restore everything manually from the /Volumes folder? Where do  I start if I decide on this route?
    Thanks in advance for any advice.

    I would try recovering the files manually first. If the result is unsatisfactory, then I'd boot up using the Snow Leopard DVD, run Disk Utility/Repair disk, erase and reformat the drive, and then install Snow Leopard. Reboot normally, and use Setup Assistant to restore from Time Machine. Completely update to 10.6.8 and then consider if you want to upgrade to Lion. There are no Lion disks - it is a download.
    10.6.8 Combo Updater

  • Can i do a time machine back to snow leopard from Lion?

    After hearing lots of good and bad about Lion, i've re-considered paying the 29 and doing an upgrade. Mostly because of the full screen two finger swipe feature. 
    would you agree that feature alone is worth the upgrade?
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    Lion has lots of good features, but the trouble is it has lost nice features too. You can ONLY tell what you think after a week or so of use.
    "Going Back To Snow Leopard" is a LOT of work - you will have to use the DVD install disk that came with your computer to erase Lion and install SL from scratch. That means saving your valuables in SL first (Time Machine or some other external drive export like Carbon Copy Cloner). It takes hours of your day, but can be done.
    Lion needs a lot of care (adjustments) to make it behave the way you like it - it is REALLY different at first, but there are ways to make it behave a LOT more like SL by tweaking options in System Preferences and so on. It also takes hours to index - leave your machine on for 24 hours after you first install Lion - it will speed up a lot quicker that way.

  • Time Machine "resets" after Snow Leopard install.

    This may be answered in other threads, if so I'd appreciate a pointer to them. I couldn't find an appropriate one in my searches.
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    Try the Snow Leopard forums. You are now in the Leopard forums. Wrong place for a SL question.
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  • Mac will not log in after time machine restore. Snow leopard

    I managed to delete 6000 photos by accident on my mac (it can be done), luckily iv kept up to date back ups with time machine, so I bottled off the snow leopard cd, followed utilities and did a system restore. Everything sempt to have worked well till I got to the log in screen, I typed in my password and it just keeps saying 'you are unable to log into the file vault user account "Alex" at this time, Logging in failed because an error occurred'. I know for a 100% fact my password is correct  and I went through the reset options and it still wouldn't work after completing it. Iv googled a few fixes but nothing seems to have worked correctly, I'm not exactly the biggest wiz with macs so I'm not 100% sure if iv done any of them correctly. Please if anyone else has had the same problem and found and fix can you help this is a huge inconvenience
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    something may be wrong with the backup you used to restore. something can also be wrong with the file system. i suggest you boot from the SL install DVD (make sure it's snow leopard, not leopard one btw). then start disk utility and reformat (not just erase) the whole drive using the partition tab. then quit disk utility and do a restore from an earlier time point. see if it works then.

  • Time machined store in snow leopard but, mac at leopard

    Old in on the tooth on PC but, learning mode on the Mac. Was running Snow Leopard but, it became very slow. So slow I could not use it. Decided I should go back to Leopard and stay there. Did a time machine of my system while on Snow Leopard. My goal was to keep all my data (20K+ images and videos over the last 8 years), emails, bookmarks, email, and contacts.
    I would wipe my mac then, just have Leopard installed and restore the files. Not as easy as I expected.
    Now I have Leopard installed, kept my user accounts in the Previous system folder and have my time machine backup of the entire system on an external drive.
    Would like to restore the accounts and the associated videos, email, etc mentioned above.
    Searching for items with Snow Leopard and Leopard in it is pretty useless. I would basically like life as it was before Snow Leopard but, all my data intact.
    Would like to know if there are any tutorials out there for something like this ? Or will end up in the Apple store for an hour....
    TIA

    polar315 wrote:
    Old in on the tooth on PC but, learning mode on the Mac. Was running Snow Leopard but, it became very slow. So slow I could not use it. Decided I should go back to Leopard and stay there. Did a time machine of my system while on Snow Leopard. My goal was to keep all my data (20K+ images and videos over the last 8 years), emails, bookmarks, email, and contacts.
    I would wipe my mac then, just have Leopard installed and restore the files. Not as easy as I expected.
    Now I have Leopard installed, kept my user accounts in the Previous system folder and have my time machine backup of the entire system on an external drive.
    that is not wiping your drive clean. you did an archive and install which is not recommended while downgrading. i would suggest you do an erase and install to get a really clean system.
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    1. during the original computer setup after the install you'll get an option to migrate from a TM backup. choose to migrate user data ONLY. do not migrate applications. those will need to be reinstalled by hand. You can also migrate later using Migration Assistant located in /Applications/Utilities.
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    to do that control-click on TM in the dock and choose 'browse other TM disks".
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    see this link on what to restore.
    http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=6185507
    one correction to this link.
    ical data is stored in ~/library/calendars.
    Would like to restore the accounts and the associated videos, email, etc mentioned above.
    Searching for items with Snow Leopard and Leopard in it is pretty useless. I would basically like life as it was before Snow Leopard but, all my data intact.
    Would like to know if there are any tutorials out there for something like this ? Or will end up in the Apple store for an hour....
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  • Upgrade HDD using Time Machine, but no Snow Leopard DVD, only Leopard installation DVD = kernel error on startup

    Hi guys and girls.
    Background
    I have a MacBook Pro (March 2009 vintage).  It was loaded with OS X Leopard on a 250GB HDD.  When Snow Leopard was released, I upgraded using a DVD bought from Apple.  In time, I added an external USB HDD to use for Time Machine Backups.  I am now, however, knocking up against the capacity limit of the original hard drive.
    Given the above, plus the fact that I no longer appear to have the Snow Leopard DVD (upgrade version I believe) - what is the recommended way to get back to my old setup (files, OS, settings etc), but with my new, larger HDD?
    So far I have tried:
    1. Formatting new HDD as Mac OS Extended (journaled), GUID partition having booted using my original (Leopard) installation DVD.  I then selected the latest Time Machine (Snow Leopard) backup.  After a couple of hours of restoring from that backup, the system restarted, but had kernel errors on bootup.
    2. As above, but when formatting, chose to zero all data.  This had the same end result.
    Questions:
    1. Are the kernel errors I'm experiencing due to the mismatch of booting off Leopard and restoring a Snow Leopard backup?
    2. Would finding my (or even a) Snow Leopard upgrade DVD help?  If so, how?
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    4. As above, what is the recommended way of doing what I'm trying to do, given the limitations of release DVDs etc.
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    Simplest thing would be to buy the retail SL installation disc ($20 USD) and use it to do the migration. There might be an issue trying to use a SL TM version with Leopard.

  • External hard drive & time machine (updating to snow leopard)

    I have just bought a non-Apple external hard drive, but haven't used it yet (still packed up!). I am about to update to Snow Leopard and wondered what was best to do with backing up my hard drive (mixture of music, important files etc.).
    Is it worth using time machine, or just back up the files myself, or a mixture of both? Also what about partitioning etc?
    Guidance would be appreciated to a new Apple user, and moderately literate computer user!

    definitely back up the whole system. do not back up piece meal. that's bad for a number of reasons. First, it's VERY easy to miss something important that way. second, if your snow leopard install goes bad or you want to go back to leopard for a while for whatever reason (say, some apps you use are not yet SL compatible), it's very easy to do if you have a full backup and quite unpleasant if you don't have one.
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    Message was edited by: V.K.

  • Lion can't see Time Machine drive that Snow Leopard does

    We just set up a backup system for our group. It's a 8 Tb Pegasus drive attached to a Mac Mini Server. I have set up 4 Macs running Snow Leopard with no problems at all. Two systems are running Lion and I can not get Time Machine to see the backup drive. We are connecting via AFP on a network.
    Any ideas or remedies? Thanks!

    If I'm understanding correctly, your 4 SL machines work fine with the drive. Your Lion machines do not seem to able to see the drive in TM.
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    I briefly flipped through a manual on the Pegasus... and it doesn't even offer any hints on time machine or shared usage. I guess there isn't anything particular on the disk side to do besides plug it in and the disk arrangements.
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  • Can i restore my mavericks time machine to a snow leopard os?

    I want to downgrade to SL from Mavericks. Can I restore my mavericks time machine files for use on a snow leopard?

    I don't think there's any difference in the way TM operates, so 10.6 should be able to read the backup: however, note that many of your OS preference files will have been overwritten with new syntax that only Mavericks understands. So many of your settings won't work and the files may cause problems.
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  • Missing iPhoto files after time machine restore from Snow Leopard

    My Snow Leopard machine HD failed the day after my new MacBook Air (Lion) arrived.  Migration assistant allowed me to use Time Machine to restore my iPhoto files from my external HD.  However, many of the photos are apparently gone, although the thumbnails remain (selecting the thumbnail results in a big exclamation point in a triangle).  I've tried repairing the iPhoto Library and updating the thumbnails, but still many photos can't be found.  I think I may have to fix the old machine, then try to restore that way, but would like to access the photos now.  Any suggestions?

    Back up no matter what,  then
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    Target disc mode. You should be able to move the entire iPhoto Library

  • Time Machine failing on Snow Leopard

    Hi all
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    Hi there,
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    Time Machine: Troubleshooting backup issues
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3275
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