Can I restore to an ext drive w/ Time Machine?

Hi,
I've been using an external USB enclosure with 2 drive bays to backup my iMac.
Only one drive is currently in that enclosure and has my Time Machine backups on it.
Is it possible to restore a backup to a second drive that is not my iMac's internal HDD?
ie/ on a fresh drive in that second bay of my USB enclosure?
Thanks,

Enter Time Machine and scroll back to the snapshot you want. Select the items you want and then select Restore ... to... from the action menu (gear icon) in the toolbar of the snapshot window.
If you want to make a complete bootable copy of your startup drive, the best way to do that is to install OS X on it first, then transfer the data from Time Machine in Setup Assistant.
OS X: How to migrate data from another Mac using Mavericks

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Can I use a 2tb external drive with Time Machine to backup my Mac Mini (256gbSSD + 2tbHDD)?

Can I use a 2tb external drive with Time Machine to backup what I have on my Mac Mini?
My Mac Mini has one 256 SSD and one 2tb HDD. I want to use Time Machine to do a backup of everything.
Would an external 2tb My Passport Drive by Western Digital work for the backup?
It seems like it would not work because the total storage on the Mac Mini is 2304 gigabytes (SSD + HDD).
And the external Western Digital drive is only 2048 in gigabytes versus 2304 gigabytes the Mac Mini has.

No. A Time Machine backup drive should have at least twice the capacity of the drive it backs up. You would need at least a 4 TB backup drive for Time Machine.
Might I suggest as an alternative that you not use Time Machine but a third-party backup utility that simply overwrites older files with new ones such that the backup drive can be the same capacity as the drive backed up.
Suggested Backup Software
1. Carbon Copy Cloner
2. Get Backup
3. Deja Vu
4. SuperDuper!
5. Synk Pro
6. Tri-Backup
Others may be found at MacUpdate.
Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on backup and restore. Also read How to Back Up and Restore Your Files.

Restoring an external hard drive with time machine

I'm having a problem restoring an external hard drive using time machine. I'm on a macbook Air Running 10.7.5.
The external hard drive where I store all my photos crashed a few days ago. Not a total disaster, because it's backed up, but I can't figure out how to restore the drive onto a new hard drive. When I go into time machine without the corrupted drive attached, it does not show up in the time machine browser as an option for restore. (The files are definitely there, though, because I can see them when I look at the time machine files in Finder. I'm afraid if I just transfer the files by dragging, though, I'll mess something up.) I tried using the migration assistant, but I'm having the same problem there.
Anyone know how to do this? I'm a little frantic to get my photos back.
Thanks!

I am having a similar problem. I use a Lacie external hard drive connected to an Airport Time Capsule via USB to store my itunes library. Yesterday I disconnected the external drive from the ATC and connected it to my macbook pro via fire wire to transfer 40 gigabytes of media files from my laptop to the external drive directly rather than over wifi. When I reattached the external drive to the ATC the Lacie drive didn't show up even after rebooting everything. I then disconnected from the ATC and reconnected to the laptop and now I get an error message saying the Lacie disk is unrecognizable and needs to be reformated. The Lacie drive was being included in the time machine backups so the files should be available through time machine but I don't see anyway to access them because the Lacie disk icon doesn't appear in the time machine backups. Is there another way to browse the files?
I have had issues with Lacie disks not showing up on the desktop before, particularly when transferring files from one computer to another. The transfer usually goes fine but then when I reattach the drive to the first computer it isn't recognized anymore until I reboot and it sometimes requires a couple of reboots. I initially tried to connect the external drive to both the ATC and the laptop but that didn't work, although now I'm wondering if that was because the connection to the laptop was firewire rather than USB like the ATC. In any case I currently have over a terabyte of data on my lacie that I can't access which includes my entire itunes library and backup files from multiple computers which were "cleaned" but not restored.
Disk utility sees the drive but can't verify or repair and tells me to backup as many files as possible and then reformat. Unfortunately I can't see ANY files to backup because the disk won't mount anywhere. If anyone has a recommendation for utilities to recover the files I'd be most grateful to get them.

Can I use a usb thumb drive for Time Machine?

Can I use a usb thumb drive for Time Machine backups?

Hello,
Yes you can use a (large) thumb drive. The most common format for a Time Machine backup drive is Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
Hope this will help.

I can't restore 'library' with support files from Time Machine

backup - I can't restore 'library' with support files from Time Machine - Ask Different
Due to an accident, my entire applications folder with all the support files, including plists and caches got deleted.
I tried restoring by files from the most recent Time Machine backups but I cannot retrieve my applications with the support files.
I even tried it with migration assistant on a new image.
Is this impossible?
Must I start from scratch?
Details of the ‘accident’
I was using this app called ‘AppCleaner’ that also automatically deletes related support files which are normally left behind if one simply trashes an Application.
In the search view, I typed the app name and I selected all the apps in the results using Command + A. Unfortunately, this selected every single Application in the Applications Folder in the background and I trashed and deleted all files.
Anyway.
I tried to restore the applications and library from my Time Machine Back-ups but failed to do so because I didn’t have enough space to restore. (I have a 11inch Macbook Air 2012 64GB SSD
When I tried to restart in recovery mode, I had the same problem, I was disallowed the option to restore using my time capsule backups because my SSD didn’t have enough space for the backup.
I then tried to restore it to a totally different but new image on a 64GB USB3.0 Sandisk USB Stick, but the process stopped after hours of being stuck around 30.4 percent and the computer was unable to boot, leaving me with a persistent verbose message suggesting it couldn’t identify the os, kernel or anything.
I finally tried restoring the state using migration assistant on the very same SSD that had my files missing. This happened successfully and I have all my applications in the applications folder.
But now I have 13GB free (I had 2GB before) and all my application support files, saved states, preferences, caches and customizations are gone.
Basically, it feels like I just got a new macbook with my documents and itunes folder loaded on to it.
How can I get my apps back to the pre-deletion state or is this impossible? Do I have to start from scratch? I thought my Time Machine Backups would restore it to exactly the same state, am I wrong?
Screenshots:
Message was edited by: Arsenenger

Can you simply navigate to your Time Machine backup with the Finder? Treat it like an external hardrive and just look for your old Applications folder. /Applications/
Also, quite a few apps put config and support files in ~/Library/Application\ Support/
So you may be able to get the files from there as well.

Can you restore a slideshow in iPhoto using Time Machine without restoring the entire iPhoto library?

Can you restore a slideshow in iPhoto using Time Machine without restoring the entire iPhoto library?

Afraid not.
Regards
TD

Help, I am about to pull my hair out, can't get into a locked drive and Time Machine problem

I've screwed everything up, I think. I had Time Machine doing backups to an external 500Gig drive and somehow it got locked. I went into Get Info to try and change the access but it won't allow me. On top of this problem, my original drive died and I can't get into Time Machine to restore. When I click "Enter Time Machine", nothing happens. I created an eDisk and a startup disk to another external drive that I'm using now, but since everything that's been backed up is on the other drive that I can't access. When I try accessing the drive it gives: "The folder “G-DRIVE ” can’t be opened because you don’t have permission to see its contents." I'm not knowledgeable enough to work from the command line, so if I need to do that to access the drive, please walk me though it. As for the Time Machine problem, I have no idea how to recover anything since it won't even come up, it just sits there. Outside of blowing my brains out, I don't know what to do. Any help would be greatly appreciated as I can't afford to take it to Apple to let them try and fix it.

Hello, not sure how this might affect a TM drive, or not, but...
Here is what i needed to do for my drive "320GB HD", the last command is just for clean up
Open Terminal and type these commands carefully with the spaces & change 320GB HD to the name of your drive.
sudo chflags 0 "/volumes/320GB HD"
sudo chown root "/volumes/320GB HD"
sudo chmod 1775 "/volumes/320GB HD"
sudo -k
That said, these should be sufficient to do the job:
sudo chflags 0 "/Volumes/320GB HD"
sudo chmod a+rx "/Volumes/320GB HD"

Migration Assistant can't see my USB ext HD for Time Machine!

Here is a question for Pondini!
I've read through many of the threads here, including Pondini's tutorials on how to set-up Time Machine, use Migration Assistant, etc. Alas, I'm not a technical person and have hit a wall.
Here's the scenario:
Last week my iMac running Mountain Lion crashed. The hard drive was initially "repaired" using Recovery, erasing all data then restoring the drive from Time Machine backups stored on a Hitachi 2TB Touro USB3 external HD. But soon after the system froze again and a 2nd restore did not work. I concluded that my almost 5 year old HD was gone.
Where I stand now is that the iMac's HD has been replaced with a new one which came preinstalled with Snow Leopard. I absolutely want (need!) to restored my Mac from Time Machine to get back all my settings and info.
During the iMac first boot Setup Assistant did NOT see the external hard drive even though they are connected properly. (Note: My older iMac is undoubtedly USB2 but the external HD is backwards-compatible USB3. THAT is the connection, from the external HD directly into the back of the Mac. It is mounted on my desktop and files can be accessed through Finder.) So I then proceeded to set-up my "new" computer with basic settings, which is how I came to see my external HD was properly mounted and connected. I also upgraded the OS on this new HD to Mountain Lion so it would be the same as my most recent Time Machine back-ups.
Since then I have tried using Migration Assistant to migrate from Time Machine on my external drive but it still does not recognize any drives - Migration Assistant just searches endlessly for other computers. Argh! I've tried all the tips I've read in these forums and none have helped. I scanned my external drive for errors using disk utility but none were found.
On my external drive there is a folder in the root called Backups.backupdb. Double-clicking it simply opens the folder in Finder, to reveal folders with names familiar to me - the previous HDs computer name, then a bunch of dated folders within that, including a lone file called 2012-08-17-062839.inProgress. I suppose my HD may have died while backing up to Time Machine.
WHAT do I do?
Let's say the worst case scenario is that I cannot use these Time Machine backups. Is there any way to root through them for data I can hand-copy to my iMac's new internal drive? It would be grueling but at least it's something. How can I retrieve years of email? Luckily photos, music, videos, etc were backed up manually into a separate folder (also in the root of my external drive).
THANK YOU!!
Danielle

This happened to me after hard drive replacement under the Seagate Drive Recall at the local Apple Store. Here's what I learned from the process:
I Wagged the Mac home, fired it up (with naked OS installed at the Apple Store), and it wouldn't see my Time Machine drive with Setup Assistant - not on firewire 800 nor USB. Just a grey spinner that lasts forever. When I try just continuing anyway, it offers me something that looks plausible, but then puts up a dialog about duplicate user name, and no matter what I enter, it always says "that user already exists". So I think - maybe Migration Assistant. Complete the setup, create an account, watch the nice welcome movie. BAM - there's my Time Machine drive on the desktop. OK - it has to work . . . but no. Same behavior in Migration Assistant, plus the new OS offers to start making backups on my Time Machine disk - it's not recognizing it at all.
So - back to the Apple Store - let the genius figure it out. It turns out there are multiple problems. First, the "genius" who imaged my new machine picked 10.7.2 but my machine had 10.7.5 - turns out, it's not enough just to have right cat. Even a point release older OS may not recognize a newer Time Machine drive. The guy at the desk said "We have images of everything but the 10.7.2 has free iLife in it, so they like to use that one". What the heck? They don't image what you had originally as a matter of sane process?
Having figured that out, we re-image 10.7.5 at the store thinking we've fixed it. But no - Setup Assistant still won't see the Time Machine drive. Not on USB, not on Firewire. Not in a box, not with a fox.
So here's the second trick - newer machines have a recovery partion. see: http://www.apple.com/osx/recovery/ Boot with the option key held down, pick that partition, then you'll get a "system restore" option, to restore your whole system from a Time Machine backup. My drive was recognized by the recovery partition restore process when neither Setup nor Migration Assistant would. Obviously, there's something broken in Setup/Migration Assistant.
Takeaway:
- if you're getting a drive replaced by Apple, make sure they image *exactly* the same OS you had
- if Setup Assistant fails, use the recovery partition for system restore
- Use Recovery Disk Assistant http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1433 to make yourself a recovery thumb drive just in case. With Apple's new "no media" approach to the OS, you're hosed without it.

How can I restore my EQ settings from a Time Machine backup?

I recently reinstalled Mavericks, and restored my user account from a Time Machine backup. In doing so I appeared to have 'lost' my personal EQ settings in iTunes, of which I had perfected quite a few to suit various headphones and speakers I've found myself using over the years.
I have a pre-reinstallation copy of the com.apple.iTunes.eq.plist file (found in /Users/username/Library/Preferences) that I believe contains my EQ settings; opening it in Textedit I can see references to the EQ settings I created.
Having tried restoring this particular file from Time Machine and restarting and finding iTunes doesn't recognise the [old] custom com.apple.iTunes.eq.plist file, does anyone know a way I can re-import my old EQ settings, or do I have to try and manually create them again? (gah)
Thanks for any light you can shed on this!

Enter your Time Machine backup (via the TM icon in the menu bar) and find this file
/Users/username/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iTunes.eq.plist
and hit Restore.
It didn't reflect in iTunes immediately, but after a restart it appears to read the new (old) plist file. You should have your old EQ settings back.
Let me know if it worked for you...

Can no longer connect to shared drive for Time Machine backups

I have a Firewire drive connected to my iMac and sharing enabled. 2 MacBook Airs then connect wirelessly to the same network and backup to the drive.
It has worked perfectly for the last couple of years with Lion and Mountain Lion.
Yesterday I upgraded to Mavericks and now neither laptop can see the shared drive in Time Machine, although the drive displays quite happily in Finder.
I have disabled and re-enabled sharing. Booted and re-plugged the drive in and still when I go to Time Machine preferences and select drive, nothing is listed.
Any ideas?

After hours and hours of constant searching and testing I still can't get it to work?
Any ideas?
I think sharing has changed in Mavericks.

HT201250 How can I revert to my internal drive for time machine backups after using an external drive?

Hi. I've been using an external drive for time machine back ups and decided to revert to my internal drive, but it isn't available in the time machine options. The only available option is to set up a time capsule, which I don't own.
Is it because not enough space is available on my internal drive (approx 50GB)?
Thanks!

50 Gb free on your internal drive is relly very low and of course not enought for a any kind of backup.
How big is your internal HD ? If you have left only 50 GB free it is probably 90% full. Let's imagine you have a 500 Gb. This means 450 Gb data and 50 Gb free. How can you backup 450 into 50 ?
Second point. The backup on your internal HD is a nonsense evenif it is big enough. If it stops working you will have no bakup.
Do you have an iMac or a portable ?
The portable automatic uses the internal HD if the external is not connected, but this is intended for a short time.
This could give you some more links to read about https://discussions.apple.com/message/20726927#20726927

How can I backup an external hard drive using Time Machine?

How can I backup an external hard drive connected to my MacBook Pro using Time Machine?

Attach drive, open Time Machine preferences, be sure external drive is not in the Exclude list.

HT201250 Can i restore the entire system from a time machine backup to a new hard drive ?

If yes... does it restore EVERYTHING like it was before the crash... including Applications, emails, etc. OR i am better with a disk image to restore EVERYTHING ?

You need to install Lion on the new drive first, and then use Setup assistant.
After you've chosen a language and your network settings, it will take you into migration assistant, from which you can choose to tranfer information from Time Machine.
You can choose to migrate all users and apps or just some, according to your preference.

How to restore MBP with dual drives from time machine

Hi one and all. Hoping I can get some help here. My trusty mid 2010 i5 MBP's hdd died on me the other day, which isn't really the problem, as I've got two time machine back-ups. The issue is that in my wisdom I decided to swap out my old (and nearly full) 500 GB HDD with a 240 GB SSD (Crucial M500). I then loaded OSX 10.6.3 via the dvd that came with my MBP, formatting the SSD in the process. Then promptly removed the optical drive for a Samsung 1TB drive, formatted it and started transferring all my data over via the migration assistant.
I put everything other than photos, movies and some documents on the SSD, with the space hungry images, movies and docs going on the HDD. Now I'm assuming that because my boot drive (the SSD) is smaller than the time machine back-up (about 480 GB), this was the only way to do it? Doesn't really sound like I've got much of a problem then does it? Well, I then attempted to update the OS to OS X 10.6.8 so I could update again to mavericks. I installed the update to 10.6.8 and now I'm stuck in a perpetual log-in loop. The password is correct, it starts to log-in, then blue screen and back to log-in... repeat to fade or until you feel like giving your mac a Basil Faulty style thrashing, which ever comes first.
I've ordered a thumb drive with Lion 10.7 on so that I can attempt to try again (really can't be bothered to re-install the optical drive), but I was hoping someone may have experienced this kind of issue before and have some kind words of wisdom. No worries if not, I'll just go outside and try to find a decent branch to thrash my previously loved mac with
Cheers
Rich

Right well it appears I have further complicated things for myself. Whilst I was waiting to sort out my MBP, I restored from time machine to my mac mini so that I had a machine to work from. Then I fixed my MBP by installing new drives (SSD and HDD where the optical drive used to be), and using migration assitant to copy everything over from time machine. So now I technically have two machines the same.
Only problem is when I try to update the MBP with Mavericks it tells me it cannot install on this machine. Is this because I did restored the same original mac to two new machines?

Can't restore to my MacBook Air from Time Machine

Dear All,
If anyone can help me solve this I'd be very grateful.
My MacBook Air's (MBA) hard drive had to be replaced (S.M.A.R.T. issues). All well and good, I backed up regularly by Time Machine before I took it to be replaced.
However, as the MacBook Air only has one USB port, I couldn't plug in the external HD that had the Time Machine back ups on it plus the SuperDrive with the Snow Leopard Installation Disk on it (you actually use the disk's Utilities section to Restore System From Backup). So there went that solution.
I tried using a multi-USB plug-in but this has NEVER worked with the MBA - it just doesn't recognize that anything is attached to it.
So I thought - ok - never fear - how about Migration Assistant? I tried using that to restore from a Time Machine backup, but it wouldn't recognize my external HD either.
Getting a bit desperate - because I have both a MBA and an iMac, I figured I would use the iMac's Remote Install OSX option in Utilities (Applications) - connecting the two computers over an AirPort network as it suggests - it all goes well on the iMac up to a point, but then the MBA never actually connects to the iMac and so I can't go any further.
I was going to use the remote install disk and then use it's Utilities option as mentioned above.
I just don't know what else to try and have reached my level of computer knowledge now.
I take my MBA to work at the office every day so I really need it up and running as it was.
Does any kind soul out there have a solution for me on this one? - and if it's highly technical would you mind explaining it step by step in layman's terms as I'm no IT genius ;-D
Thanks ever so much
Clair

ClairHL wrote:
I tried using a multi-USB plug-in but this has NEVER worked with the MBA - it just doesn't recognize that anything is attached to it.
This is a guess, but if you're referring to an bus-powered USB hub, I'd try a hub that has its own external power supply.

Can I restore to an ext drive w/ Time Machine?

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