Can I restore a time machine backup to a new hard disk

I've just had the HDD replced in my iMac 24 under Applecare Warranty. The data had been backed up on an external HDD using Time Machine.
The only way I can see to restore the data is reinstal the OS and do a migration. This seems unwieldy, to say the least.
Can I restore the backup direct to the iMac somehow?
The backup was done when the iMac ran 10.6. It has come back with 10.5 installed.

Take a look at Pondini's excellent TM articles, particularly this one -
http://pondini.org/TM/14.html
You should be able to restore your system in full if you backed up system folders as well as your data and applications.
Otherwise, Use the retail Snow Leopard DVD to install Snow over Leopard (no erasing required), then use Setup Assistant from the new installation to migrate from TM.

Similar Messages

  • Can you restore a Time Machine backup to a newly formatted disk.

    I am planning on reformatting my MacBook's hard drive, and then restoring my files to it, because of a problem I am having with Boot Camp telling me to reformat my disk and try partitioning again. Can I do this with Time Machine (i.e. wipe everything off my hard drive and then restore it with a Time Machine backup)? Would I just boot up from my Snow Leopard disk and then click on "+Restore Time Machine Backup+"? I am new to Time Machine, and haven't even performed my first backup, so please forgive me if this is a stupid question.
    Also, if I can do this, would it leave it exactly as it was before I reformatted or would I have to download all the updates again (e.g. my computer has Mac OS X v.10.6.2 installed. Would it restore to that or would it restore to v.10.6.0, the version that is on my Snow Leopard disk)?
    Thank you.
    James.

    yes, you can do it with TM but it would be safer to do using a bootable clone. to do it with TM boot from the SL install DVD, reformat the internal drive using disk utility in the utilities menu. quit disk utility and select 'restore system from backup" from utilities menu. follow the instructions.
    but as I said, it's better to use a bootable clone. make a clone to an external drive using CCCloner or Superduper. then boot from the external, reformat the internal using disk utility and clone the clone back to the internal.
    either method will give you your current system back so you won't have to reinstall anything afterward.
    Message was edited by: V.K.

  • How do I restore a Time Machine backup to a new hard drive in an iMac 5.1?

    Hi all,
    I recently had a hard drive failure in my mid-2006 iMac 5.1 and have now installed a new drive.  The iMac was previously running an up-to-date version of OSX 10.7 - Lion.  However I've struggled to restore the machine from its Time Machine backup, trying using both Setup Assistant which has never allowed me to overwrite my startup files with the restore, and several attempts using Migration Assistant and following Pondini's Migration Problems tutorial, which worked partially, but has left me with a series of files/folders, many of which have Permissions problems.
    The most recent attempt, using Migration Assistant is giving me a new error message:
    You can't transfer from your other Mac to this one because your other Mac uses a newer version of Mac OS X.  You must upgrade this Mac before you can transfer from your other Mac.
    I'm getting it that the Time Machine data is more current (in terms of OSX) than my desktop machine - which I have prepared using my Snow Leopard start-up disc (but wonder why this is the first time that I'm getting told this on attempting to restore).  But how do I get my iMac to a state whereby I can restore from the Time Machine?
    I can't upgrade the Mac using Software Update as this will only get me to OSX 10.6.8 (which is where I currently am, although some applications don't seem to want to work in this state - App Store, Safari on occasion); I can't download OSX 10.7 from the App Store as it is no longer there, and I can't install OSX 10.8 as my iMac is not compatible with this release.  I seem to be stuck in an infinite loop from which I don't seem to be able to get out of.
    Can anyone help at all?
    Many thanks in advance for any contributions & apologies if I've omitted any crucial information that might be needed to help me out.
    Paul

    Thanks den.thed,
    Apologies for not replying back sooner - I've been away.
    Although your suggestion helped me in getting a copy of Lion that I could use, it didn't help with the restore from Time Capsule issue.  I had to download the Lion app onto my MacBook & then transfer it across but it wouldn't let me upgrade my OS for some reason, so I ended up wiping the iMac completely and restoring via my Snow Leopard install disk.  For some reason, this time, it let me have the option of using Setup Assistant to access the Time Capsule for a complete restore.
    Now, over a week later, with various bits of tweaking and reinstalling some apps that didn't seem to come across, I have my system back.
    Thanks for the help anyway.
    Cheers,
    Paul

  • How Can I Migrate My Time Machine Backups To A New External Hard Drive?

    I have a external hard drive that has 500 GBs left, but I want to buy a larger drive.

    ivan wrote:
    How Can I Migrate My Time Machine Backups To A New External Hard Drive?
    I have a external hard drive that has 500 GBs left, but I want to buy a larger drive.
    Hi iVain
    Fire up *Disk Utility*, click the Restore tab, then drag your old and new TM drives into the Source and Destination fields. Click Restore, and a complete copy of your old TM files will be made on the new drive. Go to TM preferences and select the new drive, and it will continue backing up just as it left off.
    Hope this answers your question. See:
    http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2595485&tstart=0

  • HT1379 I had to restart by resetting the NVRAM/PRAM.  Now I have a window showing OS X Utilities.  My options are restore from Time Machine Backup (which I could do), Disk Utility to repair or erase, get help online or reinstall OS X.  What should I do?

    I had to restart by resetting the NVRAM/PRAM.  Now I have a window showing OS X Utilities.  My options are restore from Time Machine Backup (which I could do), Disk Utility to repair or erase, get help online or reinstall OS X.  What should I do?  The problem began when I tried to restart my computer and the only thing I saw was the grey screen, Apple logo, and the timer; the computer wouldn't restart from there.

    I searched through trouble shooting options on the Apple Support page and was able to make it this far.

  • Can I transfer a Time Machine backup to a new empty hard drive, without installing Mountain Lion again?

    Can I transfer a Time Machine backup to a new empty hard drive, without installing Mountain Lion on that new hard drive?

    Yes - I just did it the other night. Took five hours, but it finally finished and is working great.
    I sort of followed the instructions found here -->> http://pondini.org/TM/18.html.
    Also, if you want to have dual backups, see -->>
    http://pondini.org/TM/27.html.
    I say 'sort of' because I used Carbon Copy Cloner to do a block-level transfer. I just didn't want to get hung up with a Finder copy.
    Give CCC a try - you have to enable the block copy in Preferences before using this method, but I was quite happy with it. I used it to move over 1TB of TM backups from a FireWire 800 drive to a 2TB Thunderbolt drive. 5 seconds short of taking 5 hours.
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    Clinton

  • HT201250 when restoring a time machine backup to a new computer, does it affect the new operating system on the new computer

    when restoring a time machine backup to a new computer, does it affect the new operating system on the new computer?

    That depends on how you do it.
    By far the best, easiest, most reliable method is to use Setup Assistant when your shiny new Mac first starts up, to transfer your apps, users, data, etc.   That doesn't disturb either the OS or basic Apple apps that came with the new Mac.  See Using Setup Assistant on Mountain Lion or Lion.
    There is a facility to restore an entire system from Time Machine backups, including the version of OSX on the backup, but that's for use when your internal HD has been erased or replaced only.  It's not a good idea to restore the full backup of one Mac to a different one.  Depending on the circumstances, the installer may not allow it.  Even if it does, the Mac may not start up, or may kernel panic, or not work properly.

  • How do I encrypt my Time Machine Backup on the External Hard disk

    I have taken a backup of my data onto an external Hard Disk. I have used the Time Machine application to take the back up.
    I want to encrypt this time machine backup on the External Hard disk. Any suggestions???

    jcorroon wrote:
    The Encrypt Backup Disk is greyed out for me. Any suggestions?
    Many thanks!
    Have you selected the disk?
    You can only encrypt disks that are directly-connected (ie, not on a network), with the GUID partition map scheme.
    Put your mouse pointer on the dimmed checkbox, and after a moment an explanation should appear.

  • I am trying to do a full Time Machine Backup to a new external disk. The backup starts, and it says "Time remaining about 4 days." That seems like a very long time, but the real problem is that the computer "logs off" after a few hours, and the b.u. stops

    I am trying to do a full Time Machine Backup to a new external disk. The backup starts, and it says "Time remaining about 4 days." That seems like a very long time, but the real problem is that the computer "logs off" after a few hours, and the backup stops. The system preferences are set to "Never" for Computer sleep and Display sleep. The computer does not ordinarily log off automatically, but it has done this twice since I started the Time Machine backup.

    If you have more than one user account, these instructions must be carried out as an administrator.
    Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:
    ☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
    ☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
    ☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the icon grid.
    Make sure the title of the Console window is All Messages. If it isn't, select All Messages from the SYSTEM LOG QUERIES menu on the left. If you don't see that menu, select
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    Enter the word "Starting" (without the quotes) in the String Matching text field. You should now see log messages with the words "Starting * backup," where * represents any of the words "automatic," "manual," or "standard." Note the timestamp of the last such message. Clear the text field and scroll back in the log to that time. Select the messages timestamped from then until the end of the backup, or the end of the log if that's not clear. Copy them (command-C) to the Clipboard. Paste (command-V) into a reply to this message.
    If all you see are messages that contain the word "Starting," you didn't clear the search box.
    If there are runs of repeated messages, post only one example of each. Don't post many repetitions of the same message.
    When posting a log extract, be selective. Don't post more than is requested.
    Please do not indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.
    Some personal information, such as the names of your files, may be included — anonymize before posting.

  • Can't restore latest Time Machine backup after drive replacement- only the very first.

    My 13" Macbook Pro running 10.8.5 had a bad hard drive which had to be replaced. After the new drive was put in I tried to restore everything to the new drive with Time Machine but could only restore the first backup I ever did after getting the computer, which was over a year ago.  I can drag and drop files but I would rather have all my preferences and bookmarks etc.  How do I restore the latest backup which was only about a week ago?  Thank you.

    Not yet; I'm not sure if Migration Assistant is quite right. Since I posted the question I ran across this youtube video
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYUem-QfYBs
    which suggests that I need to start up from a bootable external disc in order to restore a Time Machine backup to the same computer that the backup came from when the drive is replaced.  The video actually seems to describe my issue exactly.  The only confusing thing is I don't know why I would have been able to restore the very first Time Machine backup if I need to boot from an external disc.  More investigation needed.

  • Can't restore latest time machine backup

    I have just had my the hard drive in my macbook pro replaced and am trying to restore from a time machine backup.  I back up regularly (about once a week) to an external hard drive, but the most recent option for backup is October... help!
    I can see a backup from yesterday if I navigate the hard drive in finder, but it won't show me this option in the restore from time machine backup prompt.

    Welcome to Apple Support Communities
    It looks like you want to have the whole backup restored. In this case, instead of using the Time Machine app and restoring files individually, you need to use Migration Assistant (in /Applications/Utilities).
    If you do not have anything you need on your new MacBook Pro's hard drive, there's even a cleaner way of restoring the backup. Hold Command and R keys while your Mac is starting up to start up into OS X Recover, select the option to restore a Time Machine backup and follow its steps. The backup you select will be restored and your Mac will be the same as before replacing the hard drive

  • Can't restore from Time Machine backup error message

    My hard drive on my Macbook failed a few days ago. Just makes a clanking noise and won't boot up etc... I installed a new drive, formatted it, and selected restore from Time Machine backup from the installer screen. It started restoring from my backup I had on an external drive and everything was fine untill it got about 6% done then get a message that says "An error occured when restoring from the backup" It is pretty non descriptive. It also says please restart your system and try again or something to that effect. I tried again, same problem.  When I try to copy files over manually I eventually gets some error that says there is a problem with a file and it will quit. Any ideas on how to get my data? I can see all my files on there, but can't get them. My backup disc is just used for backup on this one machine nothing else, so it shouldn't have a problem. Help!

    Good to hear MA is doing something!
    >I have never had much luck with Time Machine...
    Same here, not one good backup or restore, can't tell which.
    You can set any of these to Clone/Update as often as you wish...
    Carbon copy cloner...
    http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html
    Or SuperDuper...
    http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/
    Or the most expensive one & my favorite, Tri-Backup...
    http://www.tri-edre.com/english/products/tribackup.html

  • Unable to restore time machine backup onto a new hard drive

    I recently bought a new hard drive for my mid-2010 white Macbook. I have kept this computer regularly backed up with time machine, but just to be sure I made sure I hooked up my external hard drive prior to changing the hard drive and made sure it was fully backed up. I checked my exceptions and saw that my system files and applications were listed, so I removed them from the exceptions list and let it back up again (it only backed up a further 60MB though, so that made me a little uneasy).
    I successfully switched over the hard drive and then plugged in my external hard drive so I could do a restore from Time Machine. My external hard drive has 3 partitions: 2 time machine backups for each of my computers, and one partition for storing files that also has an old copy of 10.6 on it.
    When I booted the computer, I held option, then selected Macbook TM. When it came to the window with 4 options, including disk utility and restore from time machine backup, I selected restore from Time Machine backup. When I did so it said "No OS X Backups Were Found." Why wouldn't it have backups listed if I have been consistently backing it up? How else do I do a full system backup?
    Also, how can I be sure that I'm restoring this backup onto the new hard drive? It didn't prompt me to select that drive at any point, and I want to make sure I'm not overwriting the middle partition on the backup drive (or anything else).

    Please visit Pondini's Time Machine FAQ for help with all things Time Machine.
    You will find that Mountain Lion stores an invisible copy of the Recovery HD. You can boot from your Time Machine backup drive by restarting with OPTION boot:
    Boot Using OPTION key:
      1. Restart the computer.
      2. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the "OPTION" key.
      3. Release the key when the boot manager appears.
      4. Select the disk icon for your Time Machine backup drive.
      5. Click on the arrow button below the icon.
    Your computer should boot into the Recovery HD. You will be presented with a main window of options. Select the option to restore from a Time Machine backup then click on the Continue button.

  • Restoring from a Time Machine Backup on a new Hard drive

    Hi,
    I have a late 2009 iMac and I had the HD replaced (it was included in the recent HD recall).
    Before I had it replaced, I made a backup using my time capsule and it was on the latest version of Mountain Lion.
    My question is, since I have to install the OS using the original install discs which was Snow Leopard, if I use the restore from Time Machine using Mac OSX Utilities, will my Mac restore my Mountain Lion backup (and have everything like it used to before I had the HD replaced)? Or do I have to reinstall Lion then Mountain Lion then restore from there?
    It would be a pain to re download everything.
    Hope someone can help me out.
    Thanks in advance

    Please visit Pondini's Time Machine FAQ for help with all things Time Machine.
    You will find that Mountain Lion stores an invisible copy of the Recovery HD. You can boot from your Time Machine backup drive by restarting with OPTION boot:
    Boot Using OPTION key:
      1. Restart the computer.
      2. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the "OPTION" key.
      3. Release the key when the boot manager appears.
      4. Select the disk icon for your Time Machine backup drive.
      5. Click on the arrow button below the icon.
    Your computer should boot into the Recovery HD. You will be presented with a main window of options. Select the option to restore from a Time Machine backup then click on the Continue button.

  • Restore a Time Machine backup on a newer version of the OS

    My MacBook running Leopard (10.5.5) was recently stolen, but fortunately I have a Time Machine backup.
    I'll make do with an old iBook running Tiger for now, but when I 've saved up a bit, and when Snow Leopard is released (and preferably a new version of iLife as well), I'll buy a new MacBook.
    I was wondering though, what would happen if I would restore my Time Machine backup (made under Leopard) to a machine running Snow Leopard. Of course nobody can tell now, but has anybody tried restoring from a TM backup made in a previous version of the OS? For example from 10.5.2 to a Mac that came with 10.5.4 pre-installed? Do you need to update the OS afterwards?
    If updating is necessary: is it easy to use the grey disk that comes with your computer to update the OS? I never needed it before...

    In the situation you are talking about, Time Machine offers the option of migrating data, using Migration Assistant, from a Time Machine backup, ie the same process you use to transfer to a new computer but coming out of a backup rather than a previous machine. This process will generally work between different versions of operating system and so it's a reasonable bet it will work to transfer from a backup under Leopard to a machine running Snow Leopard. That process allows you to bring applications and settings across as well, although whether that would be a good idea would depend on how confident you were that your apps would work under Snow Leopard.

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