Can I restore Time Machine "B" to Macbook "A" and then back again?

My family had 2 Macbooks-- I'll call them A and B -- each equipped with an external USB hard drive that we used for regular Time Machine backups.
Macbook B contained some digitized family videos. About 8 months ago it was destroyed by spilled coffee (family member shall remain unnamed!) Apple tech said it would cost as much to repair as it would to replace, and I ended up doing neither. Coffee-spilling family member went off to college with a new Macbook Pro (equipped with a thin plastic keyboard cover!!!)
Macbook A continues to be used, and backed up (by a family member who doesn't drink coffee, BTW).
I would like to recover those video files -- at least to burn them onto DVD's or whatever -- but I'm assuming the only way to access files from a Time Machine backup is to restore that backup onto a Macbook.
So I'm wondering if I can be sneaky by restoring Time Machine "B" onto Macbook "A", getting those video files copied off it, and then restoring Time Machine "A" back onto Macbook "A" again. Would there be any ill-effects from doing this?
Thanks!
Joe

No. See:
iOS: Unable to restore from backup of a newer device

Similar Messages

Time Machine deletes entire previous backup and then back it up from zero!

my configuration :
Time Machine : USB external HD 500G
Backing up : 1. internal 160G (90G used) 2. USB external HD 500G (290G used)
the problem is, every time I hook up the TM, it backup the internal HD smoothly but deletes its entire previous backup of the external HD and starts all over ... and naturally it takes forever to do 290G....
anybody get any idea where the problem seem to be ?
Thanks!!

Welcome to Discussions.
It could be that your drive isn't formatted correctly for Time Machine. Launch Disk Utility which is in your Applications > Utilities folder. Choose the upper icon (the one that is not indented) for your Time Machine drive. At the bottom of the window the Partition Map Scheme should be GUID for Intel Macs and Apple Partition Map for PPC Macs. Next click on the indented icon for your Time Machine drive. The format should be Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
If the formatting is not correct on your Time Machine drive you will need to reformat your drive which will erase everything on it. Copy any files you might need from your Time Machine drive. Then format your Time Machine disk following the directions in this article. People with PPC Macs should substitute Apple Partition Map for GUID when following the directions.
If your Time Machine disk is formatted correctly there might be some hints in the Time Machine log as to what has gone wrong. Launch Console which is in Applications > Utilities. Choose All Messages in the left pane of Console and type in "backupd" without the quotes in the search window. Post back any errors or complaints that you find in the log.

I restored Pages from Time Machine to my MacBook Pro and I cannot open it. How can I open it?

I restored Pages from Time Machine to my MacBook Pro and I cannot open it. How can I open it?

You don't get all files you need from Time Machine. Do a reinstallation and updates from you iWork disc or if you bought from AppStore install from AppStore but then you have to uninstall first.

Time Machine will not let me restore from backups after June, 2013. I can see the files on the external hard drive but Time Machine skips all of them and goes back to June, 2013. Does anyone have any idea what the problem is?

Time Machine will not let me restore from backups after June, 2013. I can see the files on the external hard drive but Time Machine skips all of them and goes back to June, 2013. Does anyone have any idea what the problem is?

rtilghman wrote:
telling me to buy a new router is NOT a solution.
And why not? Apple is selling these things like BigMacs. They can't make enough of them. You've been suffering since May because you refuse to get a decent router.
Can you imagine if a company that makes a refrigerator told me that I needed to upgrade my electrical system to rectify a problem with their device? What kind of response IS that?!?!
What if the problem with their device is that it requires a new-fangled "grounded" outlet and your circa 1890 house doesn't have grounded outlets. Would you refuse to purchase a $ 25 adapter on principle?

TS4212 I can't configure Time Machine on my Macbook Pro?

I can't configure Time Machine on my Macbook Pro?

Would you care to say what happens when you try to configure it?

Every time I close my Macbook Air and then go to use it again. My wifi is not connected, I have to go to the network diagnostics and basically find my network and reconnect every time. Is there anything I can do to fix this?

Every time I close my Macbook Air and then go to use it again. My wifi is not connected, I have to go to the network diagnostics and basically find my network and reconnect every time. Is there anything I can do to fix this?

worksafe's link with the KeyChain fix is good.
This usually happens when KeyChain has two entries for the same WiFi network.
If repair did not work you can follow the manual steps:
Disconnect WiFi
Open KeyChain from Applications / Utilities and find your WiFi network entry(ies) and delete all of them.
Connect to your WiFi again.

Can I buy mountain lion in another Macbook computer, and then Re install it in mine?

Can I buy mountain lion in another Macbook computer, and then Re install it in mine?
I'm stock in the re install mode of the Mountain Lion system and I obviosly didn't buy it for this Macbook, and I was wondering if I can purchase Mountain Lion in on of my friends Macbook, and then install it in mine, with my apple ID of course. Thank you.

Well, I can check with mine when it need to be updated and then I can signed with my ID again on his mac to update it, right? Just wondering if it's not going to create any conflicts with other software's, specially with iCloud and iTunes, because of his iPhone and iPad.
Thanks for the answer.
Afonso

Macbook was stolen, how do I restore time machine to new Macbook?

My Macbook Pro was stolen recently. Luckily before that I backed up all of my files onto a USB external hard drive, and I also recently bought a new Macbook Air. How do I restore all of my old Macbook Pro settings from the USB hard drive onto my new Macbook Air? I tried using Migration Assistant but the Migration Assistant won't detect my external hard drive as a time machine backup. I've tried right clicking on Time Machine in the dock and clicking "Browse other time machine disks" but it still won't detect my external hard drive as a time machine backup. I can see my old username and folders (ex. desktop, applications, downloads, library, etc.) but they all have a red thing next to them and when I click them it says "you don't have permission to access this content". My old macbook was stolen so I don't know how to grant permisions for me to access it. What is the best way to load all my old settings from my USB hard drive onto my new Macbook Air?

Pondini's excellent resource provides some useful reading:
http://pondini.org/OSX/Setup.html

Forgot password to access my Airport Time Capsule, can't restore Time Machine backup

It is stupid, I know, but after the first time I setup Time Machine in my Airport Time Capsule (6 months ago) i never had to use the password because it stayed stored in my Keychain.
Anyway, couple days ago I had to format the hard drive of my MacBook Pro and I did it thinking that I had a complete data backup stored in my Airport Time Capsule (encrypted data). It was late when I realized that I did not have the password written/stored anywhere. Nothing to do about it, just move on and start all over again.
I need to clean up my Airport Time Capsule and set it to factory default. I already accepted that I will lose all my data and it is okay. So far all I found was how to reset the wifi user/password but nothing about deleting stored data or reset to factory default without having the encrypted password. Can you please help me? Thanks in advance!

The encrypted data is not related to the Time Capsule.. that is purely Time Machine.
Very sorry for you.. it is one big danger when you encrypt.
Reset to factory.
Factory reset universal
Power off the TC.. ie pull the power cord or power off at the wall.. wait 10sec.. hold in the reset button.. be gentle.. power on again still holding in reset.. and keep holding it in for another 10sec. You may need some help as it is hard to both hold in reset and apply power. It will show success by rapidly blinking the front led. Release the reset.. and wait a couple of min for the TC to reset and come back with factory settings. If the front LED doesn’t blink rapidly you missed it and simply try again. The reset is fairly fragile in these.. press it so you feel it just click and no more.. I have seen people bend the lever or even break it. I use a toothpick as tool.
N.B. None of your files on the hard disk of the TC are deleted.. this simply clears out the router settings of the TC.
Wipe the hard disk. Open the airport utility go to the disk tab. Click on erase disk.
Select just quick erase.. it just deletes the file table and is not secure but fine for your purposes.

Can't restore Time Machine backup after iMAC (Lion) Refresh

I recently did a refresh of my iMAC with OSX Lion. I have been using time capsule to back up my iMAC as well as my Mac Mini for the last 6 months with what I perceived to be no issues.
When I got to the part in the MAC start up to restore from backup it couldn't seem to find the iMAC backup, only the Mac Mini backup so I skipped that part. I then tried to use Migration Assistant later and the same thing, I couldn't find it. I used finder to locate the Time Capsule and was able to find the backup, but when I double clicked on it said "Mac OS X can't repair the disk "Time Machine Backups". you can still open or copy files on the disk, but you can't save changes to the files on the disk. Back up the disk and reformat it as soon as you can".
Even though it said that it open a new finder window and I was able to find the backups and I proceed to copy of the files over. All seemed well until I opened iPhoto and it wouldn't open (just hung). I did a library restore/repair by clicking Option + Command when opening and after it ran iPhoto opened. When I browsed around though some recent pics that I uploaded either weren't there or corrupted and all my faces were gone.
I did a fresh install again and tried all over and the same thing happened. Any help on getting back my old backup? Seems to be corrupted or something, but I'm not sure.
See previous post before this... I was told to post my problem here - as I originally posted on the iPhoto forum before I realized I had a time machine / capsule problem.
https://discussions.apple.com/message/22248885?ac_cid=op123456#22248885
Help would be appreciated.

lonniebrunet wrote:
Hi there,
I had a look through and I tried to do option A5 - which is repair or verify disk. I dragged the sparebundle for the mackup to disk utility and after trying to do a repair I got the message "disk utility stopped repairing "Time Machine backups".
Does this mean that my backup is corrupted and useless for a restore with time machine?
Yes.
And that also means copying via the Finder may not get everything. Corrupted is corrupted.
Assuming you copied from the most recent backup, you might want to try copying just the iPhoto Library from an earlier one -- that might not be damaged. If you have room, put it somewhere else, like your desktop. Or if you have an external HD, that would work.

Can I restore time machine backup from Panther 10.3.9 to Lion 10.7?

Hi,
I would like to upgrade my old mac running Panther 10.3.9 to a new Mac running Lion before it fails on me.
Can I simply restore a Time Machine backup from Panther to Lion? Will my applications come across and function normally?
Let me know if you need any specific names of apps.

No your applications will not run on an Intel Mac running Lion. Macs running Panther 10.3.9 were PPC processors. Lion has no support for these old Applications Leopard and Snow Leopard supported some old PPC Applications using Rosetta

Can you restore Time Machine to any Intel based Mac?

I have a bet with a friend on this one.
If you have a full Time Machine backup of your Intel based Mac and your Mac breaks down, can you use your Time Machine to restore the full system to any other Intel based Mac? Or is your Time Machine backup specific to the computer model you were using?
Similarly, if you are running your Intel based Mac off of an external drive (like a portable USB drive), can you carry that drive with you and boot any other Intel based Mac off of it, so you can, for example, use the same system at work and at home?
Thanks,
doug

If you have a full Time Machine backup of your Intel based Mac and your Mac breaks down, can you use your Time Machine to restore the full system to any other Intel based Mac? Or is your Time Machine backup specific to the computer model you were using?
The backup is specific to one particular computer, not just a computer of the same model. You can use Migration Assistant on a different computer to get all your user accounts and data onto another computer if that computer already has OSX installed.
Similarly, if you are running your Intel based Mac off of an external drive (like a portable USB drive), can you carry that drive with you and boot any other Intel based Mac off of it, so you can, for example, use the same system at work and at home?
Not always. It won't work on a Mac that shipped with an OSX more recent than that on the USB drive. Also there are some OSX updates that install only on certain hardware, so you my want to run Softwae Update when you move the USB drive to a different Mac.

Restoring time machine to new MacBook Air

I have an older MBA that I am replacing with a brand new MBA. I have been using a 1tb USB 3.0 Drive for backups. The drive is partitioned in 2. One is for my mac, one is for my wife's mac. Both are encrytped. I have had no problems running the backups. Have been doing it this way for over a year.
Now I am having a problem. When I load up the new mac it asks me where to transfer my info from. I plug in the USB external and it is not recognized.
Tried it in the old mac and works like a charm.
So my thinking is that the fact that it has 2 partitions or encrypted is causing an issue. Could this be? I started to decrypt the partition I want to use but this is going to take some time. So while I am waiting I figure I would reach out here and see if anyone has any tips. thanks so much!
SF

Although the documentation says you can copy Time Machine backups in the Finder, it's very slow and sometimes doesn't work at all.
Launch Disk Utility, open the built-in help, and search for the term "Duplicate." Follow the instructions. All existing data on the destination volume will be erased. That shouldn't be a problem, because you don't want to mix backup and non-backup data on the same drive anyway. Turn Time Machine OFF in its preference pane while copying the volume.

Can i use time machine with a airport extreme and a external hard drive

I have connected a hard drive to my airport extreme.
Now i would like to use time machine to back up my computers, and would like to do this on the hard drive which is connected to my airport extreme.
Next step is that i would like to be able to approach my external hard drive via the internet.
Is this possible or not?

Both are possible. However, Apple does NOT support Time Machine backups to AirPort Disks attached to the 802.11n AirPort Extreme Base Station (AEBSn). Doing so will potentially lead to data corruption and is highly not recommended. Please check out this excellent Pondini article for more details. This article also provides the Apple Support references that states Apple's position. Bottom line? If your backups are critical to you, then you may want to rethink your backup solution.
As far as accessing the AirPort Disk from the Internet, the following is the basic steps to do so:
Start the AirPort Utility > Select the AEBSn, and then, note the IP address shown.
Select Manual Setup.
Verify that Connection Sharing = Share a public IP address is selected on the Internet > Internet Connection tab.
Select Disks, and then, select File Sharing.
Verify that both the "Enable file sharing" and "Share disks over WAN" options are enabled.
Verify that Secure Shared Disks = With a disk password. (Recommended)
Verify that AirPort Disks Guest Access = Not allowed. (Recommended)
Select Advanced, and then, select the Port Mapping tab.
Click the plus sign to add a new port mapping.
For Service, select the "Personal File Sharing" option. (Note: This option would only allow Mac clients to access the AirPort Disks. If you want both Macs and PCs to connect, you would need to leave this field at its default value and enter the appropriate SMB ports to the mix of ports to be opened.)
In the Public UDP Port(s) and Public TCP Port(s) boxes, type in a 4-digit port number (e.g., 8888) that you choose. In the Private IP Address box, type the internal IP address of your AEBSn that you wrote down in step 1. In the Private UDP Port(s) and Private TCP Port(s) boxes, type 548. Click Continue.
In the Description box, type a descriptive name like "AirPort Disk File Sharing," and then, click Done.
Click on Update.
To connect to the shared AirPort Disk from a remote location using a Mac:
From the Finder > Go > Connect to Server.
Enter the Pubic (WAN-side) IP address of the AEBSn, followed by a colon and the Public port number that you choose in step 11 of the previous procedure. For example: afp://www.mydyndnsdomain.com:8888 or afp://123.456.789.123:8888
Click Connect.
You should be prompted for your user name and password. The user name can be anything you like; the password should be the Disk password for the AEBSn that you created in step 6 previously.
Click Connect.

How can I get Time Machine to only backup new and changed files?

Time machine is backing up more than just new and changed files and is filling up my back up disk too fast. How can I change it so that it will only back up the new or changed files instead of the whole drive? I used to have my backups go back months, but now it is backing up only a couple days back, since there is no room left on my back up hard drive. Each back up is like 400 gigs, instead of just the amount of the changed or new files.
Thanks for any ideas or help!
kt

Thank you Eric! I did go look at this info and tried to do a full reset of TM and I am still getting full backups of my HD instead of just new/changed files. The weird thing is that I have 9 BU's from over the last 2 days and they all seem to be around 415 gigs and my backup HD is only 750 gigs! I don't get it. It shows that I have around 75 gigs of free space on that 750 gig drive. It doesn't make sense.
So I am having the same problems even after doing the full reset of TM. I am using Mavericks 10.9.5 which they don't talk about in this info.
Does anyone have any further ideas on this? I don't understand how I could possibly have that many full BU's on my HD that is only 750 gigs.
Thank you,
kt

Can I restore Time Machine "B" to Macbook "A" and then back again?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for