Cannot browse Time Machine backup from different machine

I've recently got a new macbook, and am transferring stuff selectively from my old machine rather than doing it holus bolus.
As per http://pondini.org/TM/17.html (that site's a great resource!) I can direct  Time Machine to the previous machine's backup set (done locally on a USB-connected external HD) by alt-clicking on the Time Machine menu bar icon and choosing 'browse other backup disks'.
The problem from there is that the root of the Time Machine/'Finder' interface's hierarchy is my current machine's name. There's no way of browsing 'above' that to the name of my previous machine, from where I might browse the previously backed-up files. Time Machine can apparently open the alternative backup set, but has no way of showing me what's in there. What it shows me is my current machine's files, with no earlier versions available (because I haven't done any time machine backups of the new machine yet).
(I can of course just browse manually to the most recent backup of the old machine in [time machine drive]/Backups.backupdb/[old machine name], but that doesn't provide an easy means of browsing earlier versions of files.)

Thanks again Joe.
One last question. Once I've transferred my files from the Power Mac's Time Machine disk could I select that disk in MacBook Pro's Preferences as it's Time Machine backup disk?
(Effectively stop using it as the Power Mac's backup disk & continue using it as the MacBook Pro's backup disk).
Backing up new files on the MacBook Pro to the disk, but still be able to 'go back in time' & restore files from the Time Machine disk (backup up over time on the Power Mac).

Similar Messages

  • Restoring Time Machine backup from different computer

    Last night my iMac hard drive crashed. I couldn't retreive any data as the Hard Disk was just not reading anything. I have since then reformatted the disk and have reloaded the OS.
    Since the iMac is used primarily for home I don't backup the files on it. Most of my work is on my Macbook pro and I would like to keep the iMac like a mirror image of the Macbook.  I am trying to restore a backup from my Mackbook Pro but there seems to be some problem.
    I tried 'Browse other Time Machine' last night but after leaving the machine to restore the files overnight I have woken to find that nothing has been restored. Now I am trying to restore just the 'Users" and it's been 1 hour or so and all I am getting is 'Zero KB of 81.5gb - Estimating time remaining'.
    What am I doing wrong? Why isn't any data transfering to my iMac? I ran the disk utility to check my disk and it was fine.

    Read here on Pondini's Time Machine page on using Migration Assistant

  • Restore Time Machine backup from different computer?

    I'm going to put a new HD in my MacBook Pro.
    Once I've done it will it be possible to restore my user folder, applications etc. from a different computer's (Power Mac) Time Machine backup?

    Thanks again Joe.
    One last question. Once I've transferred my files from the Power Mac's Time Machine disk could I select that disk in MacBook Pro's Preferences as it's Time Machine backup disk?
    (Effectively stop using it as the Power Mac's backup disk & continue using it as the MacBook Pro's backup disk).
    Backing up new files on the MacBook Pro to the disk, but still be able to 'go back in time' & restore files from the Time Machine disk (backup up over time on the Power Mac).

  • HT201250 Accessing Time Machine backups from other machines

    I am using Time Machine to back up my iMac to Time capsule. The iMac will then be going to work with my husband and we would like to access the music and picture files with our two MBPs. Is this possible? I would be happy to only back up the iPhoto and iTunes libraries but that doesn't seem to work. Any advice on that?

    It would be extremely inconvenient. You can Browse Other Time Machine backups, find the photos or music files on the backup, then restore them to your MBPs. Not very easy or convenient.
    It would be better to transfer both Libraries to an external drive connected to the network, then set those up as your Music and Photo Libraries.  Some network drives also offer iTunes and iPhoto sharing such that you can put the libraries on that network drive and access them from your MBPs. They will be shared out just like they were from the iMac.

  • Cannot transfer Time Machine backups from one external drive to another

    Since I bought my 13 inch MacBook Pro in September 2014 I've been keeping Time Machine backups on an external 1TB Lacie Rugged.  This is partitioned into three and one of the partitions contains my iPhoto library. 
    Last weekend I left my MBP disconnected from the power source but with the external hard drive still plugged in.  Long story short - the battery level fell below the minimum needed to operate so it turned itself off and 'disconnected' the external hard drive.  This resulted in a corrupted iPhoto library which is no longer accessible.
    In order to restore my iPhoto Library from another backup I needed to buy a second external hard drive.  Yesterday I bought a 2TB Lacie Rugged which I've now partitioned into 5. 
    I want to move my Time Machine backups from the 1TB Lacie Rugged to a partition on the 2TB Lacie Rugged (to take advantage of the new Lacie's Thunderbolt connection). 
    I read the Apple article -
    HT202380: Time Machine: How to transfer backups from the current backup drive to a new backup drive
    and followed the instructions precisely.  About 2 hours into the transfer I came back to my MacBook Pro and saw a message saying that it was not possible to complete the transfer because I did not have the correct permissions.  The only option was to click the OK button which stopped the transfer.
    Can anyone advise what I should do next?
    Cheers
    Tricia

    Hi Eric,
    Thank you for your response.  I came across another thread yesterday which suggested the Restore via Disk Utility method.  It worked for me, too.  This was after I had tried following the method suggested in the Apple article above three times but each time the message was the same ....
    The operation can't be completed because you don't have permission to access some of the items.
    I dare say that Apple would like to have us believe that it's a simple matter of 'drag and drop' but it certainly wasn't for me.  From what I've read the permission problem crops up fairly frequently. Before the second and third attempts  I had already amended Permissions on the Time Machine backups so that everyone could read and write, so that mustn't have been the problem.  I'm the only person who uses my computer so that's not a problem.
    The next problem I have is that I decided I would use the Restore route to transfer my SuperDuper clone rather than start from scratch.  Unfortunately, the partition size on my original backup disk where SuperDuper clone is is 350GB and the size of the SuperDuper clone partition on my new backup is 300GB.
    Of course, Apple says you can resize partitions using Disk Utility.  What they don't say is you can downsize partitions but (in my experience and that of many other frustrated users on various forums) you CANNOT upsize using Disk Utility.  I have 100GB spare on my external hard drive (from downsizing two partitions by 50GB each) BUT there is no way Disk Utility will let me increase the size of SuperDuper partition to 350GB :-(((
    Cheers
    Tricia

  • Moving Time Machine backups from Time Capsule to External USB Drive

    Hi all,
    hoping someone out there can help I'm trying to move my time machine backups from my old Time Capsule to my external USB drive. I've already used the Airport Utility to "archive" my Time Capsule to a USB connected WD MyBook Elite.
    Right now my WD MyBook Elite has both the archive, and recent (roughly 5 backups) of both my MacBook & MacMini. I've tried to follow the seemingly simple steps located in the FAQ's here [URL="http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/18.html#id22"]Copy NETWORK backups to be used LOCALLY[/URL] , but I cannot past step 1.
    [Quote]Right-click the new volume on your desktop or Finder sidebar and select Get Info. If the Ignore ownership on this volume box is checked, click the padlock at the lower right and enter your Admin password at the prompt. Then remove the check mark from the box and close the window.[/Quote]
    There is no option to "Ignore Ownership" in Snow Leopard for the Spars Bundle or when expanding it to see its folders.
    Any advice?
    I'm basically trying to combine my backups to unit them into one seemless backup each for:
    Mac Mini & MacBook.
    Thank you in advance.

    Dark Heart wrote:
    [Quote]Right-click the new volume on your desktop or Finder sidebar and select Get Info. If the Ignore ownership on this volume box is checked, click the padlock at the lower right and enter your Admin password at the prompt. Then remove the check mark from the box and close the window.[/Quote]
    There is no option to "Ignore Ownership" in Snow Leopard for the Spars Bundle or when expanding it to see its folders.
    That's not referring to the sparse bundle you're copying FROM, but the new volume you just formatted on the USB drive you're copying TO.
    If you didn't just format the partition, that box may not be shown -- it not, there's no problem and you don't need to do anything in that step.
    I'm basically trying to combine my backups to unit them into one seemless backup each for:
    Mac Mini & MacBook.
    I'm not sure what you mean by that: you cannot combine the backups of two different Macs. You can put them both on the same hard drive, either in two different partitions, or, if any are going to be backed-up over a network, in a sparse bundle.
    If I've misunderstood, please clarify exactly what you're trying to do.

  • I just restored my 13" MBP i5 at the apple store to the newest version of Lion after issues with a previous Time Machine backup from Snow Leopard- this time I created a new account and just ported files and folders, and now MS Office doesn't work. Help?

    I just restored my 13" MBP i5 at the apple store to the newest version of Lion after issues with a previous Time Machine backup from Snow Leopard- this time I created a new account and just ported files and folders, and now MS Office doesn't work.
    ^^ that's the main problem. Here's the full history.
    I bought a new 13" i5 MBP, early 2011 edition. I had an old white Macbook 2.14 ghz core2duo on Snow Leopard. I attempted to port over my time machine backup, but encountered problems in that my User was inaccessible from the new computer after the import finished, and I had to go in and change the root password, etc, and for some reason or another, I couldn't install any programs at all from that administrator's account. By "couldn't" I mean I could install them, but upon installation they would never boot. So, I took it to the apple store and did a clean install from the most up to date Lion OSX. Then, I created a brand new admin account, instead of trying to import the old one, and things seemed great. Then, I just imported my old files from the TM backup, but not any system settings, permissions, or user data. Just my Docs, pics, vids, apps, and itunes stuff.
    Here's where things get weird again. I imported this stuff under the name "old", but all of these folders have a red negative sign on them, marking them as restricted. So, from my main admin account, I cannot even peruse these folders. Since I didn't import user data, I can't sign in to the "old" account to change permissions. I already tried to change the permissions from system preferences, but that didn't change anything. And now, for whatever reason, of all the apps that were imported then, MS Office is the only set of apps that does not work. When I click on it, it just says there was a problem and asks if I'd like to send a report to apple. I tried reinstalling it to no avail. I'm an English student, so i really need access to Word. Can anyone help? The Apple store is a major detour for me and would like to fix this issue myself.

    Most likely you have Office 2004 which are PPC-only applications and will not work in Lion. Upgrade to Office 2011. Other alternatives are:
    Apple's iWork suite (Pages, Numbers, and Keynote.)
    Open Office (Office 2007-like suite compatible with OS X.)
    NeoOffice (similar to Open Office.)
    LibreOffice (a new direction for the Open Office suite.)

  • How can I use the Time Machine Backups from my Old Computer?

    I have two months of Time Machine backups made using my old Macintosh computer which died and I no longer have. I have now purchased a new computer and am trying to use the Time Machine back ups from the original computer, but it will not recognise them. How can I get my new MacBook Pro to use the Time Machine Backups from my old Computer? I phoned the Apple help line and they said I cannot use them and would have to delete them. This sounds crazy if you can only use the Time Machine back up file with one computer and have to delete it when you buy a new Mac. Surely there must be some way to transfer ownership (not files) from an old to the new Mac?
    Thanks
    Richard

    Thanks Kevin for the suggestion posted on MacOSXHints how to "Repair Time Machine after logic board changes".
    http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20080128003716101
    It seems as though I am not alone with my frustration with the way Time Machine uses the MAC address of a computer to tell one system from another. This means that if you have your Mac repaired with a new logic board, or replace your system with a new one, you can't resume backups where you left off. Reading through the readers who used the fix using Terminal, it appears that the fix does not always work. I contacted Apple again, but they were no help. Surely Apple should come out with a solution as more and more people use Time Machine/Time Capsule.
    It is CRAZY that after a change computers or a switch in the computer logic board that you cannot resume your Time Machine back ups.

  • How can I "Put Back" a time machine backup from the trash to my external hard drive?

    Basically what happened was I accidentally put an older time machine backup from my external hard drive into the trash on my macbook. Since then, time machine has made new backups onto my external hard drive. How can I either "Put Back" or replace the deleted backup back into my hard drive?
    Whenever I try to move it it says "A newer item named “Backups.backupdb” already exists in this location. Do you want to replace it with the older one you’re moving?" I click replace and after a few minutes of loading, it says "Cannot replace. An item named "" already exists."

    As long as you don't delete the trash, the files should be recoverable.
    I suspect using the Put Back command could take a long time, so be patient.
    If your Time Machine backups are mixed with your daughter's backups you might want to buy a larger drive and move the Time Machine files to the new drive.
    Regarding missing photos in iPhoto...There might be options to rebuild/recover that data from iPhoto rather than trying to revert to a Time Machine backup.
    Check out this third party app, iPhoto Library Manager. It has a demo.
    http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/
    Options for a larger drive.
    I like the Seagate USB 3.0 Backup plus drives. Works on USB 2.0 ports. They come formatted for PC but easy to format in Disk Utility.
    I don't recommend Western Digital because of the boot problem with some of their drives.
    LaCie makes good drives.
    All Mac formatted drives will cost more and it’s easy to reformat with Disk Utility. Do not use the software that comes with the drives. It’s recommended that you use Apple’s Disk Utility.
    Prices vary but this gives you an idea of what you’ll find. As you notice the second and third TB is usually only $15 more per TB. Normally, you’ll find these prices but right now the 1T is more than the 2T
    Seagate Backup Plus 1 TB USB 3.0 $85
    Seagate Backup Plus 2 TB USB 3.0 $99
    Seagate Backup Plus 3 TB USB 3.0 $115
    I have seen the 3T on sale for $99.
    Locally, Best Buy seems to have the best prices.

  • Time Machine backup from iMac?

    I have an iMac running Snow leopard and a relatively new MacBook pro running Mountain Lion.
    Both are set up for two accounts. My husband mainly uses the MacBook and I'm home all day on my iMac so we each have a year of info on our separate accounts on each computer.
    I need to "update" my saved info on the MacBook. Is this possible?
    Things like:
    Browser bookmarks
    1Password saved logins
    Images and other things which would be easy as a drag and drop so I'm not too worried about that.
    I run Time Machine on both computers but it saves both accounts. Is it possible to import only ONE account from Time Machine from one computer to the other?
    I have all my Time Machine backups on BOTH machines backing up onto their own exteranal hard drives.

    YGWPhotos wrote:
    Is there anyay to only back up part of the items from Time Machine?
    You mean restoring only parts? Yes, with the Migration Assistant you can select categories of data. E.g., you may want to leave apps and other data off and install or copy them manually.
    However, it's probably not apps using up that much space, but data such as videos, music, images. So, you want to restore them manually, I guess, ideally with Time Machine.

  • Nas on airport extreme not recognized by time machine. same nas was previously used as time machine backup on different airport extreme. are there any configuration files that i can delete to fix this problem ?

    nas on airport extreme not recognized by time machine. same nas was previously used as time machine backup on different airport extreme. are there any configuration files that i can delete to fix this problem ?

    Time Machine has been working just fine, but in the last week or two it has given up the ghost. I reset the connections to the drive, and it will basically save a few bytes of data and then hang.
    Although Apple originally announced, prior to the release of the first 802.11n AirPort Extreme Base Stations (AEBSn), that it would support Time Machine backups to AirPort Disks, they removed that option before they did finally release the base station for sale.
    Since then, Apple has posted (as you have noted) that they DO NOT support Time Machine backups to AirPort Disks. As far as I know, they have not changed from that position and those who do these backups find that they become corrupted over time. Sorry, but it sounds like you just confirmed that for yourself.
    1) Has one of the recent updates either on the AE (firmware) or OSX disabled this function?
    No. Again, this feature has never been supported by Apple for every generation of AEBSn released.
    2) Are there any changes I can make to get this working again?
    If your data backups are critical to you, then you will want to use a different solution for your Time Machine backup destination drive strategy. I would suggest that you connect your WD My Book directly to your Mac in the mean time.
    Your other options would be to either use a Time Capsule (which interestingly does support TM backups to AirPort Disks) or a non-Apple solution like the Drobo FS or HP MediaSmart server.

  • I had to reformat my OSX 10.5.8 and i can't restore my emails from my time machine backup from an external hard drive - only the latest (post backup) time machine back ups are available to restore. Please can any help

    I had to reformat my OSX 10.5.8 and I can't restore my emails from my time machine backup from an external hard drive - only the latest (post backup) time machine back ups are available to restore. Please can any help? I can find the mail folder in my libraries, but the Restore Button is grayed out

    OSX treats the reformatted drive as a different one; it's the same as replacing it, and the old one is no longer connected.
    See #E3 in  Time Machine - Troubleshooting to see and restore from the "old" drive.
    And, you may not want to restore via the Finder; see the blue box in #15 of  Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions.

  • Move Time Machine backup from hard drive to Time Capsule

    I have a new Time Capsule.  Can I move my existing Time Machine backup from a hard drive to the TC?  The tips given back in 2010 in this forum are no longer available.

    It is extremely difficult if the disk you are talking about is plugged into your computer.. TM does different kind of file for network drives.. so you need to trick it.
    See Q18 here.
    http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html

  • Can I recover time machine backups from the trash? They are not deleted.

    I deleted by mistake time machine backups from an external hard disk and I do not know how to recover htem. The bin has not been emptied. I learnt it would be possible via "Terminal" but I do not know how. Some help would be very much appreciated! Thanks in advance.

    That's not possible, the message is: backups cannot be moved (I'm workin in German). After having googled I read somewhere that it would be possible to recover the backups with the software Terminal. I copied the path of that article and adapted it - however nothing happened. So I certainly did something wrong - but what???? Do you have any idea about this? I'm a bit desperate.

  • How can I copy a time machine backup from one Time Capsule to another ?

    How can I copy a time machine backup from one Time Capsule to another ? I bought a 1 Tb Time Capsule to replace my 512Mb Time Capsule. Now, I like to copy my time machine backup from the old Time Capsule to the new one so I can keep using my backup.

    from this support article: 
    (click on image to enlarge)

Maybe you are looking for