Copy Time Machine Data to Portable Drive?

Hi there,
I just purchased my first iMac. It's running Lion OS. I'm coming from a Windows background so apologies if this is a stupid question.
I purchased a Time Capsule with my iMac. The Time Machine app seems to be working as advertised, backing up my data at regular intervals. I want to copy the last full Time Machine backup to a portable USB drive. My goal here is to make a once-per-week copy of the latest full Time Machine backup and stick it on a portable drive which then will be transported to a safe deposit box. That way, in case of theft or fire where both my iMac and Time Capsule perish, I'll still have the previous week's backup sitting safely at my bank on a cheap 1TB portable.
How shall I go about doing this? I imagine the first step will be to temporarily disable Time Machine so as to ensure that it doesn't try to backup while I'm making the copy. Then I'll open Finder [which appears to be the Apple equivalent of Windows Explorer] and find the time machine drive. But what file(s) shall I copy in order to get the last full backup? Or shall I just copy the complete Time Machine image file?
Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks,
Lester GrimeNose

The easiest and fastest way to do that would be to use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone your current system onto the external drive. You can do that using only the Finder and Time Capsule, but it will be very slow and a bit of a hassle.

Similar Messages

Problems when Copying Time Machine Backups to another Drive

MacBook Pro Retina 250 GB SSD (mid 2013) and Mavericks:
I had a 1.2 TB TimeMachine Backup on a 2x3 TB RAID1 Thunderbolt Drive and wanted to continue these on a 1x3 TB MyBook (RAID1 appeared to me not very appropriate for TimeMachine Backups as I have always two redundant external archives for all my data, except system, applications and libraries)
i did this 3 months ago, shifting /copying the Backups from a 1 TB Passport Drive to the 2x3 TB RAID1 Duo. I followed strictly the recommended procedures on formatting the new drive. It took many hours, but there was no problem.
Now, shifting from the 2x3 TB RAID1 Duo to a 1x3 TB Drive took again 7-8 hours, but short of completion, copying the Time Machine directory Backups.backupdp to the new drive, the system said that there are files, unable to convert (???). See two of the messages.
The Backup directory on the new disk is some 40 GB smaller than on the original disk – and grayed out, i.e. unable to open.
Again I followed strictly the instructions for formatting the new drive, as I did earlier. The only difference in between the two actions:
a Mavericks update from 10.9.1 to 10.9.2
a pages, numbers and keynote update, which I deleted after a few tries and I reinstalled Pages9 etc. again The simplified apps were useless for me, as too many of the standard features of iWork 9 - an ergonomic, simplier but almost full alternative to MS Office – are missing.
What could be the problem?
Another message, the one about "unable to convert", I missed the screenshot...

Although the documentation says you can copy Time Machine backups in the Finder, it's very slow and sometimes doesn't work at all.
First, open the Time Machine preference pane and click the Options button. You may have to unlock the settings first by clicking the padlock icon in the lower left corner of the window. Authenticate as an administrator.
Delete the volume you're going to copy from the list of backup destinations. Then turn Time Machine OFF.
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.
In the TM preference pane, select the new volume as a backup destination.

Copying Time Machine files to external drive for use with PC

Hello! Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.
My MacBook Pro recently died. I have it backed up by Time Machine on an external drive. Now I'd like to copy my files from the backup to another external drive so that I can access them later from a PC computer running Windows (7 or 8). Is that possible? The Time Machine drive, I believe, is formatted specifically for Mac, but the external drive I'm trying to copy to is FAT32. Can I connect both to a friend's Mac, look for the files I need, and then copy them from the backup drive to the other external drive? Will a PC computer be able to read them?
Thanks!

Usually that error indicates a drive malfunction; specifically, the drive is spinning down and not responding to bus signals. Some "Eco" or "green" drives are known for this behavior. The following steps may help:
Select  ▹ System Preferences ▹ Energy Saver ▹ Power Adapter and uncheck the box labeled Put the hard disk(s) to sleep when possible, if it's checked.
If the drive is connected to a hub, connect it to a built-in port on the computer.
If a firmware update is available for the drive, apply it.
Contact the drive manufacturer to see whether there's a firmware setting you can change.
If you installed vendor software for the drive, uninstall it.
If none of the above steps resolves the issue, try another drive.

Copy Time Machine backup from Hard drive to Time Capsule

I have my Time Machine backup on my external hard drive. Is there a way to copy this to the Time Capsule so I don't lose the backup and to save time on the initial backup. Is there a way to make the Backups.backupdb folder into the Time Capsule Sparsebundle? Any ideas?

AppleCare just told me this was not possible (5-23-8 3:56pm EDT).
This is too bad as people do not want to lose their archive data and it is possible with pre-existing wifi TM backups (ex. my wifi's MB use to backup to my local iMac and since it is sparsebundle, it can be moved around(now backups up to AEBS/USB 10.5.2) same image file)
Cheers
-wsn

Need help copying Time Machine backups to new drive

I was attempting to move my Time Machine backups from one hard drive to a newer hard drive, by copying the Backups folder. It gets through the process of preparing the files to copy but then as it starts to copy the file I get an dialog error box saying that it can't convert one file and that I need to install a newer version of IWork. I don't have IWork installed on this computer, but I have used pages on the iCloud website. I have attached a screen shot showing the error. The copying stops at this point. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to proceed?

That usually works better than a Finder copy and is often faster.
If required.
Inherit a Backup
Inherit a Backup (2)

My iphoto library disappeared. i am trying to restore my library from time machine -- from an external drive -- but everytime it tries to copy my library it tells me it can't do it because i don't have access to my iphoto library??!!! help!!

My iphoto library inexplicably disappeared! i am panicked but i do back up by time machine to an external drive and also to JustCloud. I am trying to restore my iphoto library from a back up on feb 28, 2014 and it says it's copying but then gives me a message that it can't do it because i "don't have authorization to access iphoto library"?! what does this mean? i really want to get my library back on my mac. Also if anyone knows why this happened or where my photos might be on my computer, i'd appreciate help with that, too.

Thank you Terence for your help. I was able to restore my backup from my time machine ext drive to a new 1tb seagate ext drive. so i felt sort of ok. but yesterday that older ext drive i used for time machine wouldn't open! i called applecare and they trouble shooted with me and said it's probably a goner and data is probably corrupted. it's only a few years old and i'm very careful with it. my husband accidentally dropped my new drive last night -- i know, unbelievable, i was SO upset, poor guy -- but I'm so stressed with all of this. i have 10 years of photos and videos. so now i only have the one newer drive with a backup. i have to buy another one today to backup again so i at least have two backups. i tried to delete a ton of files last night to free up the 30 gb of space i need to get my full library back on my mac. i have 90gb free and deleted 7 years worth of photos i had on picasa that were in my "pictures" folder and also a ton or random photos and videos i had in that same pictures folder and thought that would give me the 30 gb but it hardly freed up any space at all! do you know why that is? all of this stuff is really a pain and really stressful. thank god i did have a backup in the first place but now i am panicked the one i have left will somehow crash. especially after my husband dropped the drive lastnight! it didn't fall far and fell onto a wood floor and seems fine, but after my older ext drive crashed yesterday -- and i lost my entire iphoto library a fewweeks ago off my mac -- i feel cursed. any answers you have would be great. thank you.

Time Machine Data Transfer - From FireWire Drive to Time Capsule - HELP!

Time Machine Data Transfer - From FireWire Drive to Time Capsule - HELP!
I've been searching for weeks for a solution to my problem. Here's the story I've come across since I installed Leopard on Oct. 26, 2007.
I first installed Leopard on my Early 2006 MacBook and set up Time Machine with a 200GB external FireWire drive. Since then, things have been fine, until Time Machine started deleting the oldest backups. I'm a pack-rat and hated this feeling of losing data. So, I now have a few months worth of backups on my 200GB FireWire drive.
The Time Capsule is released, I finally talk myself into getting one and transferring my old data from the 200GB drive to my 1TB TC.
I did some researching through forums about how to move data from one Time Machine drive to another, so I took the concept and wanted to apply it to my Time Capsule. I made a DMG image of my 200GB drive, in order to move the data. I figured if I can make an image, copy it, and open it on the Time Capsule - all will go smoothly - just as some had mentioned they've done with external drives.
Now, I have a 164GB DMG image of my Time Machine, with no hope in sight of gaining it back. I've tried taking the image, using Disk Utility, and restoring my original 200GB external with the imaged Time Machine data, but whenever I do, I come across error messages.
In Disk Utility, I've done the following steps:
* Disk Image is found on Time Capsule
* I select the 200GB drive and select 'Restore'
* I drag and drop the Disk Image to the 'Image' field
* I drag and drop the 200GB drive into the the 'Restore' field
* Select 'Erase Destination'
* Select 'Restore'
* I get the warning message that I'll erase the drive - I proceed
* I enter my password
Error message pops up:
"Restore Failure: Could not find any scan information. The source image needs to be imagescanned/scanned for restore."
I select the image in Disk Utility, then proceed with the following steps:
* Click on "Image" then down to "Scan Image for Restore"
* I enter my password
After hours of waiting, I get another error message:
"Unable to scan. (Broken pipe)."
I'm going to see, after transferring the DMG to the Time Capsule, if I can drag-and-drop the files from the Time Capsule drive onto the 200GB hard drive.
IF anyone has any more suggestions, please let me know!

32 updates on this Mac since December 2007 - Hardware, software, OS...
They keep coming at about 6 or 7 a month. Some of them I don't care about, but several are essential. 10.5.3 has been seeded to the testers a couple of times and will probably show up in the next few weeks. Jaguar wasn't worth a d*mn until 10.2.6, Panther about 10.3.4, Tiger about 10.4.4 - I'd say we are ahead or on schedule Too bad I can't get Apple to fix Spaces. I wish they'd focus on what I want but I guess some take more time than others.
2007-12-18 00:32:39 -0800: Installed "GarageBand Update" (4.1.1)
2007-12-18 00:32:43 -0800: Installed "QuickTime Broadcaster" (1.5.2)
2007-12-18 00:33:07 -0800: Installed "Security Update 2007-009" (1.0)
2007-12-18 00:33:29 -0800: Installed "QuickTime" (7.3.1)
2007-12-19 09:32:03 -0800: Installed "MacBook MacBook Pro Software Update" (1.1)
2007-12-23 23:57:32 -0800: Installed "Security Update 2007-009" (1.1)
2008-01-16 09:18:07 -0800: Installed "iMovie Update" (7.1.1)
2008-01-16 09:18:14 -0800: Installed "Front Row Update" (2.1.2)
2008-01-16 09:18:45 -0800: Installed "iTunes" (7.6)
2008-01-16 09:19:31 -0800: Installed "QuickTime" (7.4)
2008-01-29 21:33:14 -0800: Installed "Keynote Update" (4.0.2)
2008-01-29 21:33:23 -0800: Installed "Pages Update" (3.0.2)
2008-01-29 21:33:31 -0800: Installed "Numbers Update" (1.0.2)
2008-02-02 01:18:43 -0800: Installed "iWeb Update" (2.0.3)
2008-02-05 20:12:17 -0800: Installed "iPhoto Update" (7.1.2)
2008-02-15 09:03:49 -0800: Installed "iLife Support" (8.2)
2008-02-15 09:04:17 -0800: Installed "QuickTime" (7.4.1)
2008-02-15 09:04:51 -0800: Installed "Leopard Graphics Update" (1.0)
2008-02-19 23:44:37 -0800: Installed "Keyboard Firmware Update" (1.0)
2008-02-25 19:24:33 -0800: Installed "iTunes" (7.6.1)
2008-03-03 17:14:18 -0800: Installed "GarageBand Update" (4.1.2)
2008-03-03 17:14:31 -0800: Installed "iPhoto Update" (7.1.3)
2008-03-12 18:11:36 -0700: Installed "AirPort Utility" (5.3.1)
2008-03-18 10:03:57 -0700: Installed "Safari" (3.1)
2008-03-20 13:00:58 -0700: Installed "Security Update 2008-002" (1.0)
2008-03-20 13:01:04 -0700: Installed "Time Machine and AirPort Updates" (1.0)
2008-03-21 22:49:16 -0700: Installed "Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update" (2.0)
2008-04-03 00:50:22 -0700: Installed "Front Row Update" (2.1.3)
2008-04-03 00:50:50 -0700: Installed "QuickTime" (7.4.5)
2008-04-03 00:51:58 -0700: Installed "iTunes" (7.6.2)
2008-04-08 17:16:02 -0700: Installed "Keynote Update" (4.0.3)
2008-04-08 17:16:08 -0700: Installed "MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update" (1.5)

Copying time machine backup files from one external drive to another

Can anyone tell me if it is possible to copy the backups performed by Time Machine on one external drive to another external drive, and if so, how? I am using a company drive and will need to return it. It is a 500GB La Cie Drive. I just purchased a 1TB La Cie drive. A straight and simple drag & drop doesn't work. What should I do?
Thanks!!!

azemel wrote:
Can anyone tell me if it is possible to copy the backups performed by Time Machine on one external drive to another external drive, and if so, how?
http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/18.html

Time machine data transfer to an external drive.

Hello,
I have been using time machine to backup to a 500 gig Internal hard drive. Now I want to use that Hard drive for a Windows partition. To that end, I recently purchased a Buffalo 2-500 gigs external hard drive. Now how do I transfer the full data from the internal time machine'd hard drive to the external, and continue to use the external hard drives for time machine? Also, should I somehow "link" the two externals to backup across both when one gets full?
Message was edited by: HandbellRingr
Message was edited by: HandbellRingr

HandbellRingr,
I'm going to add some clarification to V.K.'s excellent instructions...
Before attempting to "restore" your TM backup volume to another drive, use Disk Utility to create a new partition map on the new drive:
First, eject and disconnect your Time Machine backup drive, then connect and mount the new drive. In Disk Utility, select the new drive (the drive, not the named volume that will appear indented below the drive) in the list on the left, and switch to the "Erase" tab. Choose "Mac OS Extended (journaled)" from the pull-down menu, then click "Erase." Provided you have the drive selected when you do this, it will write a new partition map, compatible with OS X and Time Machine, on the new drive, thus insuring that you don't run into problems when restoring.
Once you have erased the drive, switch to the "Restore" pane. Turn off Time Machine, then connect your Time Machine backup drive. When it mounts and shows up in Disk Utility, drag the named volume on which your Time Machine backup is stored from the list on the left to the "Source" field in the body of the Disk Utility window (do not attempt to drag it from the Finder into the window). Next, drag the named volume on your new external drive from the list on the left into the "Destination" field. Check the box labeled "Erase destination," then click "Restore." It'll take a while.
Scott

How can I remove all Time Machine data from an external HD, while retaining the other folders/files on the disk?

I recently replaced my old Macbook Pro with a new Macbook Pro Retina.
The original MBP had Time Machine set up on an external HD, and I also had some manually saved/backed up files (stuff that didn't need incremental backups; very old stuff) on the disk as well, in folders. This worked fine and well for the life of the original MBP.
When I set up the MBPr, I did not elect to transfer everything over from a Time Machine disk, as I wanted a Fresh Install; I chose to just re-download/install the apps I needed from the App Store. Much cleaner, more stable. I updated to Yosemite immediately so, it gave me more of a clean install.
The problem is, Time Machine now won't read any Time Machine backups from that disk. Migration assistant can pull data from it, but it's a bit wonky. It was easier to just manually copy over what I needed.
Now, I just want to "reset", and completely remove the old Time Machine data from the external hard drive, since it is completely useless to me now (I can't access it on this computer, and it's taking up space). I want to remove the Time Machine data, as if it were never there, but keep my other folders/files that are on the disk (so, a format is not feasible).
I will then set the disk up as a new, fresh Time Machine disk for the new MBPr.
What is the proper method for removing Time Machine data from an external disk (which doesn't seem to be associated with this machine anyway)? I know a simple rm -rf will cause problems.
Thanks for any help provided.

See the yellow box in #12 of Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).

Time Machine with multiple hard drives

I use a very large external hard drive for time machine. I back up to this time machine, the two hard drivs that are inside my macbook pro, 512GB ssd, and 250GB SSD that is in the optical drive. I then backup a 1TB portable hard drive which holds all my movies and then I backup another 1Tb portable hard drive which holds all my "reserve" files, which means they are files that are no longer important to be on my computer. Old pictures, music, etc.
Now, I can't plug all of these drive's in at once. So, let's say I have to do a backup and I have nothing plugged in but the time machine external hard drive. Will it only backup the two hard drives that are in my computer and then later somehow let me go and restore the other drives? Or will it attempt to restore all 4 drives at one time? Because if the one in my computer mess's up, the other's may not be messed up and I do not want it to restore those.
I have used Time Machine before to restore my system. But never since I have started adding extra drives for Time Machine to backup.
I am also planning on adding, yet another drive for it to backup which is a 1TB portable hard drive that I keep raw files on for photography. I'm just curious how this works when and if the time comes.

well superduper is FREE, CCC isnt.........CCC can do the daily updates etc,. Superduper DOES NOT. the CCC and Superduper CLONES are bootable.......so, if your HD crashes, you can throw in the CLONE, and youre back and running in mins, rather than hours etc .
You should NEVER consider a backup a "backup", ........2 copies is 1, and 1 is none.....always have 2 copies of important files / pics etc etc,......... DECADES of work have been lost by people who thought their stuff was safe because they had a (meaning 1) backup.
Simplicity? Yes, Simplicity is my religion. CLONE your HD with programs and settings, ......and use a 2nd HD updated daily / weekly etc (preferable 2 such 'seecond' harddrives, copies of each other) with all personal stuff / work / pics / vids/ documents.....
superficially time machine is simpler, "smack a button and everything backs up".......in REALITY however when it "all goes up in flames"................the pro method (and my method) is QUICKER and more reliable by far to get down and running.
Ive restored other peoples from total crash and burns via Time machine.......and "my" way............my way always ends up faster by a mile. Also personal / work etc files are kept autonomous to the system data / programs OS,.....as it logically should be.
Time machine is the fastest incremental backup........but its as slow as paint peeling if you need it in case of a TOTAL CRASH.......wherein a bootable clone can be thrown in , in less than 20 mins.

OS upgrade= Time Machine data loss

I up graded from 10.6 to 10.8 and 2 years of time machine back up went away. Is this normal? Can lost Time Machine data be recovered? 1.5 Tb drive in Time Machine

Time Machine is not an archival backup. It keeps backups of what is currently on the volumes it is backing up. If you delete a file off of your hard drive, at some point, Time Machine may delete the backup copy of that file to make room for backups of what is there. If you don't run out of space, it may never delete them, but you shouldn't depend on it.
If you are archiving those files on other hard drives, and Time Machine is backing up those drives, then it will always keep a backup of those files that are on the other drives.
You shoul always keep at least two copies of your important data files, each on separate backups. So, if you archived the files to other drives, you need at least one backup of that drive, along with at least one backup of your internal hard drive.
If you want an archival backup, you might consider a second backup system like Carbon Copy Cloner or Super Duper, or one of the other backup options. They will make an exact copy of your drive, then add changes as incremental backups. Everything that ever was on your Mac will still be in those backups. But, keep in mind that backup may contain the only copy of the files you are deleting off your Mac, so you would only have one copy of those files.
It sounds like you are moving those files to other disks, so that is good. But, if you are not backing up those drives, you don't really have a backup of those files.

Move old time machine data

Hi all
I want to move a large amount (about 150GB) of old time machine data from one external hard drive to another so I can use the hard drive for other things. The time machine data is not part of my current time machine backup but an old one (from the same computer) that might come in handy one day
When I try to copy it tells me that I have 13 hours to go. I would like some ways to copy/move the data so that it the copy is interrupted I can resume at the same place.
Any ideas
Thanks
Kevin

soccerdad0071 wrote:
Hi all
I want to move a large amount (about 150GB) of old time machine data from one external hard drive to another so I can use the hard drive for other things. The time machine data is not part of my current time machine backup but an old one (from the same computer) that might come in handy one day
When I try to copy it tells me that I have 13 hours to go.
That sounds terribly long, depending on the speed and connection of the drives involved. If they're daisy-chained, or both on the same USB hub, try connecting them separately (and both directly, if at all possible). If either is USB, be sure it's connected directly to your Mac, not a port on a keyboard.
Also exclude the drive you're copying TO from Spotlight indexing (System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy), and both from any anti-virus scanning.
I would like some ways to copy/move the data so that it the copy is interrupted I can resume at the same place.
No way. A set of Time Machine backups is like a database -- the backups are all intricately linked together, so can't be copied in stages.
Do you really need all the backups, or just the final one? If just the final one, try restoring it (to the new drive instead of your Mac's internal HD), per #14 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions.

Copying Time Machine Backup

hi
i'm transferring Bacckups.backupdb to a new external hardrive - however, when I copy over the file structure is disrupted
So on the original drive everything is correct file structure... Backups.backupdb/MyMacbookPro/x14 dated folders
after copying to a new drive 3 of the dated folders are in the correct place and the other 11 (including 'Latest' folder) are sitting in the directory above
like this Backups.backupdb/MyMacbookPro + x11 dated folders/x3 dated folders
When opening up Time Machine it only sees those 3 dates and there seems no way of transferring the folders
i've tried an number of different things, anybody have any further suggestions?

Although the documentation says you can copy Time Machine backups in the Finder, it's very slow and sometimes doesn't work at all.
First, open the Time Machine preference pane and click the Options button. You may have to unlock the settings first by clicking the padlock icon in the lower left corner of the window. Authenticate as an administrator.
Delete the volume you're going to copy from the list of backup destinations. Then turn Time Machine OFF.
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.
In the TM preference pane, select the new volume as a backup destination.

Help w/ Time Machine and 2 External Drives + Main Drive

I need some help on the best possible setup with the tools on hand...
Currently I have the following:
iMac with 500GB Hardrive
My Book with 2 TB Hardrive
My Book with 1.5 TB Hardrive
What I want to do (in my head anyways) is have my main drive for my normal applications (ilife, iworks and everything else under the sun) and use the 1.5 TB for my iTunes as i have alot of movies and music and then use my 2 TB to back up the main drive and 1.5TB drive that way if my 1.5TB drive dies my iTunes are still in tack and likewise for my main drive with my applications.
before I go ahead and do this... is it best just to use time machine on my 2TB drive? or should I parition it say 1.5TB for Time machine and 500 GB for Carbon copy so I can boot off of that drive if need be?
I have done some research on the subject but just want to make sure I'm not missing a step or if there is a better set up I should do with my current gear (500MB main drive, external 1.5 TB and 2TB drives)
thanks!

Narayan9 wrote:
total data that needs to be backed up isnt that much... probably around 600-700 MB currently
I'm sure you mean 600-700GB
(but it is growing). I'm in the mitts of ripping my purchased DVD's to itunes so I can watch them VIA Apple TV.
The whole reason for me buying the 2 external drives was to ensure my itunes files wouldnt be lost in a hardrive failure as I have a very large DVD collect (around 300) and as you know its very time consuming to copy them to itunes in the first place and if my main drives dies Im not sure if I would have the patients to re-copy everything to my iMac.
you can use the 2TB drive to back up everything you have now via TM. but if it grows much more then I would suggest using a different backup solution as outlined in my first post. TM needs space for incremental backups and some overhead just to operate. most other backup tools don't.

Copy Time Machine Data to Portable Drive?

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