Can I restore a new hard drive from a previous time machine back-up?

Hi there,
My MacBook Pro 13 inch is 4 years old.
The computer began to freeze/stop working, so I took it to an Apple care centre and they informed that my hard drive has crashed and has to be replaced.
Luckily, I backed up my old hard drive a few days before with an external hard drive using Time Machine. My question is: can I restore this new hard drive with my old time machine backup that is on my external hard drive? If so, how do I do this?
Thanks

Of course! If you couldn't, Time Machine would be rather worthless, now wouldn't it?
For instructions, see:
How do I restore my entire system?

Similar Messages

I can not find my seagate hard drive that contain my time machine back ups how do i do that?

my airport extreme can not locate my seagate hard drive with all my back ups how do i fix this i need to restore some settings?

As Bob says, that's problematical.
If you were backing-up to that drive while it was directly-connected to your Mac, and now want to move it to your Airport, there's an extra problem. See the blue box in #E2 of Time Machine - Troubleshooting.
If you had previously been backing-up to the drive over your network, the backups may be corrupted (that happens rather often, and is the reason it's not recommended). If so, you may be able to repair them, per #A5 in the same article.
Or, you may need to reset the Airport. See Resetting an AirPort Base Station or Time Capsule FAQ.

Can I restore my applications and data from a ML time machine back up to a machine running Lion?

Because of the horrible battery life with Mountain Lion (10.8.2), I am looking to downgrade to Lion. I have a Time Machine backup of my current machine, running ML. I do not want to restore all the way back to my last Lion backup, because that was a while ago. Basically, I want to backup my current ML hard drive, erase the computer, perform a fresh Lion install, and restore my apps/data using the ML Time Machine backup. Is the ML Time Machine backward compatiable with Lion?

jgian wrote:
Because of the horrible battery life with Mountain Lion (10.8.2)
I am unaware of any battery life problem with Mountain Lion. There are many problems with incompatible 3rd party software, but that is a different problem.
I wrote a little diagnostic program to help show what might be causing these problems. Download EtreCheck from http://www.etresoft.com/download/EtreCheck.zip, run it, and paste the results here.
Will the ML Time Machine be backwards compatiable with Lion?
No. 3rd party application may be fine. Most Apple applications and data will not work.
Disclaimer: Although EtreCheck is free, there are other links on my site that could give me some form of compensation, financial or otherwise.

HT201250 I had files stored on a hard drive that were not on my Mac. I used the hard drive for my first Time Machine back up, but it was not enough hard drive space to finish. Now those stored files are gone. Is there any way I can recover them?

I had files stored on a hard drive that were not on my Mac. I used the hard drive for my first Time Machine back up, but it was not enough hard drive space to finish. Now those stored files are gone. Is there any way I can recover them? No, they were not part of previous Time Machine backups, and I have checked both the hard drive the documents were lost on and the new one that I now use for backups. Any suggestions would be helpful, as the lost files are old pictures that are gone forever. :[ Thanks!

1. Yes, if both drives are formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
2. Reformat the drives if needed, open the Time Machine pane of System Preferences, and remove the drive with the pictures from the list of items set to be excluded.
(110331)

Down loaded Mavericks, will not install on my computer because it says "this hard drive is used for time machine back up".

Down loaded mavericks, it will not install on my computer because it says" this hard drive is used for time machine back up". So I used my old computer hard drive for back up and reloaded the program but it still says the first hard drive is being used.

Welcome to Apple Support Communities
Make sure you have selected your MacBook Pro's hard drive as the destination to install Mavericks. If so, you have the "Backups.backupdb" folder in the root level of your hard drive.
That's the folder used by Time Machine to store backups of your files, and the Mavericks installer understands that your internal hard disk is the Time Machine drive.
To fix this, open a Finder window, select the Go menu (on the menu bar) > Go to Folder, and type:
Then, delete "Backups.backupdb", empty the Trash and run the Mavericks installer. Finally, install OS X Mavericks

Restore To new hard drive from time capsule stalls at opening time mach

I installed new hard drive on 2008 imac that had mavericks. When boot command R to restore from time capsule the process finds the time machine disk but then gets stuck during the "opening time machine backup" step. Does this mean my time machine backup is corrupted? Ive tried 3 times with same result. Any ideas on what else i can try? Could i use migration assistant to recover pieces?

Ok first you give the information that you have a 2008 iMac with Iphone operating system of IOS-7.. What is on the iMac. If you don't have OSX 10.6.8 You cant Install Mavericks. So tell us what you have and then we can help.
Don

Restoring computer with new hard drive & Logic Board using Time Machine

My MBPro totally crashed and just got it back from Apple with a new hard drive, logic board, optical super drive, one new 1GB ram chip, and a new video display panel. My questions are two fold, first, have I had so much replaced on this machine that I need to use Migration Assistant instead of Time Machine to restore it?
Second, If I am suppose to be using Time Machine, I'm having no success! My TM backups were done on a network drive via Airport Extreme with a HD attached to it. Through the Snow Leopard disk utility, I can access the partition with the backup on it, but then it hangs on "opening TM backup". After about a half hour, I had to do a hard shut down (no other option). I did this several times, same result. So the question is;
Can I plug the HD directly into my MBPro and restore it that way? I'm not sure if I can do this as I know the backups are different for hard wired and networked drives.
Or can I use an ethernet cable and plug Airport Extreme with the external drive attached into my laptop?
Thanks for any help!

Arlee wrote:
My MBPro totally crashed and just got it back from Apple with a new hard drive, logic board, optical super drive, one new 1GB ram chip, and a new video display panel. My questions are two fold, first, have I had so much replaced on this machine that I need to use Migration Assistant instead of Time Machine to restore it?
no. you can do a full system restore from TM using the restore utility on the snow leopard DVD.
Second, If I am suppose to be using Time Machine, I'm having no success! My TM backups were done on a network drive via Airport Extreme with a HD attached to it. Through the Snow Leopard disk utility,
snow leopard disk utility?? what exactly are you doing? disk utility is not involved in restoring from TM in any way.
I can access the partition with the backup on it, but then it hangs on "opening TM backup". After about a half hour, I had to do a hard shut down (no other option). I did this several times, same result. So the question is;
Can I plug the HD directly into my MBPro and restore it that way? I'm not sure if I can do this as I know the backups are different for hard wired and networked drives.
no, this is not how you should do it. connect the AEBS by ethernet. then boot from the snow leopard dvd and use "restore system from backup" from the Utilities menu. it will let you find the backup on the network and do a full system restore from it.
Or can I use an ethernet cable and plug Airport Extreme with the external drive attached into my laptop?
Thanks for any help!

New Hard Drive- Should I use Time Machine for "fresh" install?

I have a first generation Early 2008 MacbookPro. Warranty just ended and I want to replace the hard drive w/ the Seagate Momentus XT Hybrid. I'm getting a bunch of spin wheel action and things are just running slowly/sluggish. I'm questioning whether or not I should just do a real "fresh" install and load my applications onto the new drive or use TimeMachine. If I use TM am I not adding all the stuff/files that are not needed? Am I adding bloat that I've collected over the past couple of years? Is it better to start w/ a new clean operating system? I do have CS5 and some photo programs that I think I can reinstall. Anyway I wanted to get people's perspective.
Message was edited by: mikked

It's usually best to clean your system up, and deal with any problems before doing major surgery.
With any other scenario, if something goes wrong, how will you know what it was, much less how to fix it?
I'd start with this: [Intel-based Macs: Using Apple Hardware Test|http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1509].
Then Verify your internal HD, and repair your Time Machine drive, per #A5 in [Time Machine - Troubleshooting|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Troubleshooting.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
Then run a +*Repair Permissions+* on your internal HD, via Disk Utility.
Then replace the drive, do a full system restore and run for a while to be sure the new drive and everything else is ok. See #14 in [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum), for details.
Then start deleting the apps and files you don't need.
Note that, unlike Windoze, leftover files and apps may take up a bit of space, but don't cause any performace problems, unless they're actually running.
The main problems with trying to transfer things selectively are:
Permissions. If you install OSX and set up a user account, that account, even if it has the same name, may not have permission to restore the files on your backups or other drives.
Applications. Simple apps can be transferred individually, such as by restoring from Time Machine. Complex ones usually can't, as their installers put other files in other places. If you don't know what and where they all are, and restore them, too, the app won't work properly, if at all. But if you have all the original discs (and serial numbers/purchase keys), you can just reinstall them.

How do I prevent my hard drive being used for time machine back ups?

I want to install Snow Leopard but it tells me that the OS cannot be installed because the disk is being used for Time Machine back ups. I don't recall setting up my hard drive to be used this way (why would I?!) but now I can't seem to

Did you have TM turned on at any time? If so, and if you had no external hard drive attached, could it be that it created its own backup on a portion of your hard drive? I don't use TM, but I believe I read that this may be possible. Take a look at Disk Utility (Applications > Utilities) and report what you see on the left - under the top heading, is there more than one partition showing, such as here:
(I have two partitions: one for Snow Leopard, the other for Lion) - what does yours show?

How do I restore a new Hard drive from Super Duper clone ?

The Hard Drive in my 2010 iMac died and was replaced with a new one. Thankfully I have a clone made with Super Duper of the old drive. Do I just clone back on to the new internal drive ? The new drive, installed by Apple has OS10.6.8 installed on it now (by Apple ), which is the OS on the clone. Do I need to completely wipe the drive before restoring with my clone ? All that's on the new drive is the OS. Don't want to make any mistakes here.....

1. Boot from your install DVD or Bootable Clone and open Disk Utility.
2. Highlight the new HD in the list of drives and select the Partition tab.
3. Under Volume Scheme select 1 Partition and click on the Options... button.
4. Select GUID Partition Table in the drop down window and click OK.
5. Set the Format to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and click the Apply button.
6. Once thats done then you can do a clean Install, restore from TM or the Bootable Clone.

Restore to New Hard Drive from Time Capsule

I replaced the hard drive on my Macbook Pro and now want to restore my Time Machine Backup to the new drive. The backup is on a Time Capsule connected via airport. If I choose to boot from an OSX install disk (without installing), and then go into utilities/restore system from backup it does not find the time capsule. So do I need to first install OSX before I can try to restore from the backup?

You shouldn't have to install OSX.
Connect to the Time Capsule via Ethernet if at all possible; it will be 2-3 times faster than even a good WIFI connection. Your backups may be found that way.
And be sure to use a Snow Leopard Install disc, not a Leopard one.
If the backups still aren't recognized, you'll have to install OSX. Then set up a temporary Admin account (different from any on your backups), and repair your backups, per #A5 in [Time Machine - Troubleshooting|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Troubleshooting.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
Then use +Migration Assistant+ to transfer your apps, users, and data, per [Using Migration Assistant|http://web.me.com/pondini/AppleTips/Migrate.html]. When your system reboots, you'll need to download and install the "combo" update to get back to the version of OSX you were running on. If that's 10.6.4, Info and download available at: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1048 If it's 10.6.5: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1324 Be sure to do a +Repair Permissions+ via Disk Utility (in your Applications/Utilities folder) afterwards.

How do you restore a new hard drive from a g drive

I recently had to replace the hard drive on my MacBook...and am now trying to restore my files from my terabyte G-Drive. Originally, I had to connect my Time Machine with my G-Drive, but not sure how to do that now. If you have any experience doing this or can give me the steps that would be great!! Thanks in advance.

This did't help...but I have already restored it...I perservered on my own and found that the procedure was straightforward on the "Finder>Help" pages. I just searched for "Restore my entire system and that's what came up.
Make sure you are connected to your external drive. Then, turn the computer off and then after you turn it back on at the gray window, hold down the Command and R keys, until the options come up and then select "Restore from a Time Machine Backup", then click Continue. That's all I needed to do....everything was restored to the last time I backed up on my G Drive with Time Machine
Now I just have to go back and get all the software updates since my last backup...

How do I restore a new hard drive from a time capsule backup?

Going tomorrow to pickup my iMac at the Apple store after a 1TB hard disk replacement. Time capsule backed up about 1 hr before the disk failure. What are the steps for doing this restoration properly? I'm very nervous about this process & I don't wanna start this process the wrong way. I have read horror stories in different threads about going at this the wrong way. Thanks in advance for any help

Since you will have a "new" iMac, If it were me, I would start right here....with info from top guru Pondini.
Time Machine -- Frequently Asked Questions
http://Pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
See # 19
Apple has some good info on restoration as well in Time Machine 101
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427

Can I partition a 1tb hard drive and also run time machine on that hard drive

I have a 1TB external hard drive which s currently running for Time machine only.
I was hoping to be able to partition the EHD so that 500GB would be for the Time Machine side and the other 500GB would be used as an ecternal storage [ a friend of mine has just lent me a 250gb hard drive with a load of tv series which i want to be able to copy].
Can anyone tell me if this is possible and if so how do i do it.
I know that Time Machine is running now but I don't mind starting all over again.

Yes it is possible, but it is generally not a good idea. That being said, if you decide to use the EHD for another purpose, partitioning it is the best solution. How big is your internal HD? It is recommended for a TM partition to be 2X as large as your internal drive, and it must be at least the size of your internal HD in order to be used.
In order to partition:
1) Connect the EHD
2) Open Disk Utility and select the drive
3) Click the "partition" tab and drag the original partition to its desired size.
4) Click "Apply" to create the secondary partition.
Resizing the TM partition will not erase it.

Lion installation problem- says hard drive is used for Time Machine back-ups!

I just purchased & downloaded Lion to install on my Apple laptop, but when I went to install it, I got the message:
"This disk is used for TimeMachine back-ups."
What the heck? As I use an external drive for TM back-ups, I'm really confused! How can I get Lion to install on my hard drive? I went so far as to turn off TimeMachine (see image, below), but it's still not working.
Any ideas? This is really frustrating!

Kathy,
Intel and Universal apps should be ok. You can check this massive list for specifics on any application incompatibilities.
http://roaringapps.com/apps:table/tags/_a/index_tags/_a
Just to confirm, was the problem Norton or was the backup directory present?
Glad your up and running now.
@Colin, Yeah it's the leftmost black and yellow. It's an image burned in my head from the old PC days.

Can I restore a new hard drive from a previous time machine back-up?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for