Can I back up with Time Machine to a previously used hard drive?
I've just replaced an old MacBook Pro with a new one and used Time Machine to get the new MBP set up. All is well and it looks like my new computer is a mirror of the old (tested for a week now). If I turn on Time Machine with the new MBP using the same hardrive as the former, will the files remain and be accessible? Presently, I can only access the old files by going into the hard drive through Finder and even then, most are locked. Thanks in advance.
There's your problem. I'm betting that you are currently using the new account you made which is why you cannot access anything on the migrated account.
If it's not a major hassle at this point in time log out of the new account. Log into your migrated account. You should now be able to access all your files. Now comes the issue. Let's suppose you named your new account, "NewAccount" and the second, migrated, account was named, "Account." If this is the case, then log out of "NewAccount," log into "Account," then delete "NewAccount." This should put you back to your old account but on the new computer. You should have access to all your files.
Now, suuppose your migrated old account was called "Account," but you created a new account that you named, "Account." Then you migrated your old account but it now shows as "Account 2" on the new computer. Now you've go a bit of a problem because it isn't trivial to rename an account. In this case you should create a third account we'll call "Temp." Log into "Temp" and delete the other two accounts. Open Migration Assistant and re-migrate your Home folder, third-party applications and support files, and system preferences from the old computer. After the transfers have been completed log into the migrated account and configure it as your default for auto login. Now delete "Temp." You should now have one account with the same username as on the old computer.
It's my understanding that Time Machine should then be able to continue backing up as before, but just to be sure you need to visit Pondini's Time Machine FAQ for better information.
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This is more a network problem than a disk error..
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QUESTION.
Hallo , my question is ;whenever I delete a photo and restore it through Time machine and Western digital external hard drive , I am able to restore the photo but not the titles and descriptions . Western Digital inform me that it isn't their external hard drive problem and suggest that it is an Apple software problem ?
I am using a Macbook 4.1 , with Mac OSX 10.5.8 . I photo 7.1.5 , last modifie4d 01/05/2010 -universal . Should I be upgrading Iphoto ?
I hope that someone is able to help in this matter , as i have to restore 12000 photos !
Thanking you in anticipation.
Alan from WigtonHallo Kieth ,
I am not quite ready to restore the full iphoto library , as I have days of work re - imputting titles,descriptions and enhancement . I hope that your suggestion works , as I use my Macbook basically to work with digital photography. Through time , I will need to delete my library to recover more disc space and I would hate to have to spend more time re - imputting titles and descriptions all over again .
Thanks for your interest and advice.
regards - Alan -
I just bought an external drive to move and archive some files off my iMac to free up some space. I'm being asked if I want to use the drive to back up files with Time Machine. Can I use this drive to do both? (Back up with TM AND store other files?
Your input is appreciated.Technically you can but it is not a very good idea at all. The reason it is a flawed idea is if the HD fails (not really if but when) you will have defeated the whole idea of backup. A failure means you will lose the data files you stored on it and it's backup! A good backup plan has at least 2 forms of backup because backups can fail too. I would strongly recommend getting at least one additional external HD and use it for storing the data files you wanted off the internal HD and use the second for a Time Machine backup drive.
Personally I have 3 external HD's attached to my computer. Disk 1 is my Time Machine backup, Disk 2 is a Bootable Clone of my internal HD and Disk 3 stores my music, photography and movie libraries.
Please read these articles, they will discuss different backup strategies and I think you will see that each suggest redundant backups.
Backup Plan I
Backup Plan II
Backup Plan III -
Can't back up with Time Machine.
Hi, Im having troble with time machine. When I tried to back up today this error occured.
The problem may be temporary. Try again later to back up. If the problem persists, use Disk Utility to repair your backup disk.
Repaired back up with both Disk Utility & Drive Genius. Disk seems to be working fine. But, it won't back up.
Any help will be appreciated.This is more a network problem than a disk error..
Reboot.. the network.. restart in correct order.. modem router /TC.. clients with 2min gap.
If you have trouble reset TM and redo it.
See A4.. http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html -
Suddenly can't back-up with Time Machine
Time Machine has finally completely quit. I have followed most of the suggestions on various Apple forums, including reformatting the backup HD (several times), repairing both the back-up and main HD, settting spotlight to private, quitting Finder (using Tinker tool), etc. Followed Pondini's very useful steps repeatedly. I get different error messages from Time Machine Buddy most every time. The most consistent refers to indexing.
Below are the three most recent Buddy logs, in hopes somebody can help. Or suggest another backup solution.
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/Hitachi Orange/Backups.backupdb
Ownership is disabled on the backup destination volume. Enabling.
Detected system migration from: /Volumes/Macintosh HD 1
Backup content size: 498.4 GB excluded items size: 460.7 GB for volume Macintosh HD
No pre-backup thinning needed: 45.22 GB requested (including padding), 930.58 GB available
Waiting for index to be ready (101)
Indexing a file failed. Returned 200 for: /System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.5/Extras/lib/python/wx-2 .8-mac-unicode/wx/lib/inspection.pyc, /Volumes/Hitachi Orange/Backups.backupdb/Galloway Desktop (3)/2011-07-08-190340.inProgress/F18A8582-E9F7-4D93-9BA0-07DEB1749449/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.5/Extras/lib/python/wx -2.8-mac-unicode/wx/lib/inspection.pyc
Aborting backup because indexing of file failed.
Stopping backup.
Copied 60774 files (16.3 GB) from volume Macintosh HD.
Copy stage failed with error:11
Backup failed with error: 11
The one before
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/Hitachi Orange/Backups.backupdb
Detected system migration from: /Volumes/Macintosh HD 1
No pre-backup thinning needed: 37.67 GB requested (including padding), 877.17 GB available
Indexer unavailable (200)
Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 UserInfo=0x102e0a4b0 "The file “classes.nib” couldn’t be opened." Underlying Error=(Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=5 UserInfo=0x103004520 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Input/output error")
Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 UserInfo=0x102e0cf10 "The file “info.nib” couldn’t be opened." Underlying Error=(Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=5 UserInfo=0x103004520 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Input/output error")
Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 UserInfo=0x102e0cf10 "The file “keyedobjects.nib” couldn’t be opened." Underlying Error=(Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=5 UserInfo=0x103004520 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Input/output error")
Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 UserInfo=0x1005312b0 "The file “classes.nib” couldn’t be opened." Underlying Error=(Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=5 UserInfo=0x103004520 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Input/output error")
Copied 0 files (35 KB) from volume Macintosh HD.
Backup canceled.
And before that
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/Hitachi Orange/Backups.backupdb
Detected system migration from: /Volumes/Macintosh HD 1
No pre-backup thinning needed: 37.67 GB requested (including padding), 877.17 GB available
Indexer unavailable (200)
Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 UserInfo=0x102e0a4b0 "The file “classes.nib” couldn’t be opened." Underlying Error=(Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=5 UserInfo=0x103004520 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Input/output error")
Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 UserInfo=0x102e0cf10 "The file “info.nib” couldn’t be opened." Underlying Error=(Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=5 UserInfo=0x103004520 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Input/output error")
Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 UserInfo=0x102e0cf10 "The file “keyedobjects.nib” couldn’t be opened." Underlying Error=(Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=5 UserInfo=0x103004520 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Input/output error")
Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 UserInfo=0x1005312b0 "The file “classes.nib” couldn’t be opened." Underlying Error=(Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=5 UserInfo=0x103004520 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Input/output error")
Copied 0 files (35 KB) from volume Macintosh HD.
Backup canceled.
Any help would be most appriciated.
This is my iMac (Late 2010) running OS X 10.6.8, backing up to a 1Tb Hitachi external HD, connected directly (no hub) via usb.It's possible that the system was keeping some piece of the I/O error in memory and, after the underlying cause of the I/O error went away, something you did juggled the system's brain back to a non-error condition.
You are absolutely correct to remain suspicious of your HD. While it's possible that changing USB cables or zeroing out the disk might have solved the underlying I/O problem it's equally possible that you have a failing drive on your hands that may only be showing ugly symptoms sporadically. There is a small risk that you will end up with two sets of damaged data if a drive fails during data transfer so it was very wise of you to order another drive.
You might want to consider using Carbon Copy Cloner or Super Duper! to make a clone to your new drive. Having a TM backup and one or more clones, all on separate physical drives, is a very effective backup solution. That's the combo I use.
When my Mini's internal drive failed it took about five minutes to boot from one of my clones, restore a few files from my TM backup, set TM to back up the clone, set SuperDuper to back up to my second clone. After that, I was fully back in business by booting from my clone which allowed me to get the Mini's HD repaired when it was convenient for me. -
How can I back up with Time Machine using an Airport Express on LaCie D2 NAS
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Disks You Can Use
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How can I back up my time capsule contents to a different hard drive?
I want to back up my time capsule to a different hard drive so I have that extra layer of safety
There are a few ways to do this but none good.
Airport utility will do an archive of the disk.. just open to the disk tab and click archive. The target is USB drive connected to the machine. But it can only do full backup.. no incremental.
You can backup over network but not using Time Machine.. Carbon Copy Cloner is a $40 software that is well worth it. Super slow though doing this.
I recommend you backup using CCC direct from the computer to the target.. otherwise you can be backing up the same problem. -
Can i do work on my mac while it is backing up with time machine?
can i do work on my mac while it is backing up with time machine?
Doing backups should have hardly any impact on the Mac itself.. so if by work you mean typing a document or working with photos or something local it will have very little impact.. it is only internet connection that will be affected..
And incremental backups that are usually small should be over in a minute or two.. even by wireless. If your backups are huge each time.. there is something being backed up that should not be.. eg a parallels virtual disk. Or a local drop box. Where small changes internally to a file of very large size makes the TM do another whole backup. -
I replaced the original hdd in my early 2008 iMac. I can't move my files that were backed up with Time Machine to my new hdd using Migration Assistant. When prompted to select the "from drive", the ext. hhd does not appears as a selection. Please help!!
I'd recommend staring over, Pondini has created an excellent guide on how to use Setup Assistant. I'd recommend begin reading Pondini Setup Assistant tips where he talks about "Second Chance." Assuming your Time Machine backup is sound the restore should be very smooth.
Roger -
i got a macbook pro 2008 and can not back up using time machine. it eject my external hard drive everytime. does anybody has a fix???
Does your external hard drive have it's own power supply? It should.
Is your external hard drive formatted with the NTFS file system? It won't work.
It needs to be formatted either with Mac OS Extended or FAT32.
(There are drivers available to add NTFS support to OS X but their quality is unknown, especially the "free" ones.) -
Re Time Machine
I have an external hard drive with files I backed up manually over the past 2 years 1TB of memory.
I am finally taking the leap to use Time machine to back everything.
will I have to reformat that drive, thus wiping my previous back ups?
can I split it the drive in two partitions?
Also
as I have two separate Macbook Pro's- one older than the other.
OSX 10.68
the other is
OSX 10.75
can I back them up separately?
or even synch and merge files and folders etc? between the two?You CAN use a drive with files already on it to store Time Machine backups. But long term, that is not recommended. You do not need to reformat or re-partition the drive to do this. Once Time Machine Backups are established, you could remove the old files.
But do not delete Time Machines files with the Finder -- that can cause it to lose its place and lose everything.
With the cost of backup drives under US$100, it might be a better idea in the long run to get another drive. Best results from Time Machine is a drive about 3 times larger than the drive(s) you are backing up. -
The first time I connected my new My Passport portable hard drive to my MacBook Pro, the message asking if I want to use the drive to back up with Time Machine did not appear. I would like to set it up to do this. What would my next step be?
Drive Partition and Format
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
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. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Apply button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Security button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
Open Time Machine preferences to select this drive for use as the backup drive. Turn on Time Machine. -
Is there any way to create a time machine backup to an external hard drive with content already on it? I have a hard drive that i have used for pictures but when i try to run a backup it says i need to start from a blank drive. Can i get around it?
It would be much better if you had separate drives for the pictures and Time Machine backups.....but, if you want to use the same drive for both purposes, temporarily move the folder with the pictures to another location for safe storage.
Run the Time Machine backup on the hard drive and verify that everything is working correctly. Time Machine will format the disk for you in Mac OS Extended (Journaled) as part of the backup process.
Then move the folder with the pictures back to the hard drive with the Time Machine backups.
When you have tested to make sure that everything is working again, then and only then should you delete the folder with pictures from the temporary storage area.
Again....it would be much better to keep Time Machine backups on a drive just for that purpose, and other data on another drive for that purpose. This is clearly one of those times when the fact that you can do something does not mean to imply that you should do it.
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