Create a new time machine backup

Hello Mac Gurus!
My time capsule is beginning to act up (freezing, backup failing etc...) What I want to do is to delete all my back up files and start out fresh again. I dont want to format the entire drive, since i've created folders on the drive to store software and games. I just want to delete the time machine backup files. Can someone show me how to do this?
thanks!

You can simply open Finder, browse to your Time Capsule and locate the sparsebundle image file that is named after your Mac. And then move it to the trash and wait, because it will take some time (I'm assuming it's a large file).

Similar Messages

I have a mid2009 MacBook Pro for which I have been using a USB WD HD for Time Machine. I'd like to get a wireless HD and start a new Time Machine backup for this Mac and retire the 5 year old WD drive. Can I start over?

I have a mid2009 MacBook Pro running Mavericks for which I have been using a USB WD HD for Time Machine. I'd like to get a wireless HD and start a new Time Machine backup for this Mac and retire the 5 year old WD drive. Can I start over?

no archive/ backup is perfect, HD clones can be set to make incremental additions, same as time machine however, though they are more time involved in doing so.
See the + and - of all data backup/ archives below and "spread it around".... or the "dont put your eggs all in one basket" philosophy.
Peace
Data Storage Platforms; their Drawbacks & Advantages
#1. Time Machine / Time Capsule
Drawbacks:
1. Time Machine is not bootable, if your internal drive fails, you cannot access files or boot from TM directly from the dead computer.
2. Time machine is controlled by complex software, and while you can delve into the TM backup database for specific file(s) extraction, this is not ideal or desirable.
3. Time machine can and does have the potential for many error codes in which data corruption can occur and your important backup files may not be saved correctly, at all, or even damaged. This extra link of failure in placing software between your data and its recovery is a point of risk and failure. A HD clone is not subject to these errors.
4. Time machine mirrors your internal HD, in which cases of data corruption, this corruption can immediately spread to the backup as the two are linked. TM is perpetually connected (or often) to your computer, and corruption spread to corruption, without isolation, which TM lacks (usually), migrating errors or corruption is either automatic or extremely easy to unwittingly do.
5. Time Machine does not keep endless copies of changed or deleted data, and you are often not notified when it deletes them; likewise you may accidently delete files off your computer and this accident is mirrored on TM.
6. Restoring from TM is quite time intensive.
7. TM is a backup and not a data archive, and therefore by definition a low-level security of vital/important data.
8. TM working premise is a “black box” backup of OS, APPS, settings, and vital data that nearly 100% of users never verify until an emergency hits or their computers internal SSD or HD that is corrupt or dead and this is an extremely bad working premise on vital data.
9. Given that data created and stored is growing exponentially, the fact that TM operates as a “store-it-all” backup nexus makes TM inherently incapable to easily backup massive amounts of data, nor is doing so a good idea.
10. TM working premise is a backup of a users system and active working data, and NOT massive amounts of static data, yet most users never take this into consideration, making TM a high-risk locus of data “bloat”.
11. In the case of Time Capsule, wifi data storage is a less than ideal premise given possible wireless data corruption.
12. TM like all HD-based data is subject to ferromagnetic and mechanical failure.
13. *Level-1 security of your vital data.
Advantages:
1. TM is very easy to use either in automatic mode or in 1-click backups.
2. TM is a perfect novice level simplex backup single-layer security save against internal HD failure or corruption.
3. TM can easily provide a seamless no-gap policy of active data that is often not easily capable in HD clones or HD archives (only if the user is lazy is making data saves).
#2. HD archives
Drawbacks:
1. Like all HD-based data is subject to ferromagnetic and mechanical failure.
2. Unless the user ritually copies working active data to HD external archives, then there is a time-gap of potential missing data; as such users must be proactive in archiving data that is being worked on or recently saved or created.
Advantages:
1. Fills the gap left in a week or 2-week-old HD clone, as an example.
2. Simplex no-software data storage that is isolated and autonomous from the computer (in most cases).
3. HD archives are the best idealized storage source for storing huge and multi-terabytes of data.
4. Best-idealized 1st platform redundancy for data protection.
5. *Perfect primary tier and level-2 security of your vital data.
#3. HD clones (see below for full advantages / drawbacks)
Drawbacks:
1. HD clones can be incrementally updated to hourly or daily, however this is time consuming and HD clones are, often, a week or more old, in which case data between today and the most fresh HD clone can and would be lost (however this gap is filled by use of HD archives listed above or by a TM backup).
2. Like all HD-based data is subject to ferromagnetic and mechanical failure.
Advantages:
1. HD clones are the best, quickest way to get back to 100% full operation in mere seconds.
2. Once a HD clone is created, the creation software (Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper) is no longer needed whatsoever, and unlike TM, which requires complex software for its operational transference of data, a HD clone is its own bootable entity.
3. HD clones are unconnected and isolated from recent corruption.
4. HD clones allow a “portable copy” of your computer that you can likewise connect to another same Mac and have all your APPS and data at hand, which is extremely useful.
5. Rather than, as many users do, thinking of a HD clone as a “complimentary backup” to the use of TM, a HD clone is superior to TM both in ease of returning to 100% quickly, and its autonomous nature; while each has its place, TM can and does fill the gap in, say, a 2 week old clone. As an analogy, the HD clone itself is the brick wall of protection, whereas TM can be thought of as the mortar, which will fill any cracks in data on a week, 2-week, or 1-month old HD clone.
6. Best-idealized 2nd platform redundancy for data protection, and 1st level for system restore of your computers internal HD. (Time machine being 2nd level for system restore of the computer’s internal HD).
7. *Level-2 security of your vital data.
HD cloning software options:
1. SuperDuper HD cloning software APP (free)
2. Carbon Copy Cloner APP (will copy the recovery partition as well)
3. Disk utility HD bootable clone.
#4. Online archives
Drawbacks:
1. Subject to server failure or due to non-payment of your hosting account, it can be suspended.
2. Subject, due to lack of security on your part, to being attacked and hacked/erased.
Advantages:
1. In case of house fire, etc. your data is safe.
2. In travels, and propagating files to friends and likewise, a mere link by email is all that is needed and no large media needs to be sent across the net.
3. Online archives are the perfect and best-idealized 3rd platform redundancy for data protection.
4. Supremely useful in data isolation from backups and local archives in being online and offsite for long-distance security in isolation.
5. *Level-1.5 security of your vital data.
#5. DVD professional archival media
Drawbacks:
1. DVD single-layer disks are limited to 4.7Gigabytes of data.
2. DVD media are, given rough handling, prone to scratches and light-degradation if not stored correctly.
Advantages:
1. Archival DVD professional blank media is rated for in excess of 100+ years.
2. DVD is not subject to mechanical breakdown.
3. DVD archival media is not subject to ferromagnetic degradation.
4. DVD archival media correctly sleeved and stored is currently a supreme storage method of archiving vital data.
5. DVD media is once written and therefore free of data corruption if the write is correct.
6. DVD media is the perfect ideal for “freezing” and isolating old copies of data for reference in case newer generations of data become corrupted and an older copy is needed to revert to.
7. Best-idealized 4th platform redundancy for data protection.
8. *Level-3 (highest) security of your vital data.
[*Level-4 data security under development as once-written metallic plates and synthetic sapphire and likewise ultra-long-term data storage]
#6. Cloud based storage
Drawbacks:
1. Cloud storage can only be quasi-possessed.
2. No genuine true security and privacy of data.
3. Should never be considered for vital data storage or especially long-term.
4. *Level-0 security of your vital data.
Advantages:
1. Quick, easy and cheap storage location for simplex files for transfer to keep on hand and yet off the computer.
2. Easy source for small-file data sharing.

Due to NAS issues, when I started a new time machine backup it did not have the old backups available. My question is do I need to delete them or will time machine automatically reclaim the space? Only one Sparse Bundle, same name.

Due to NAS issues, when I started a new time machine backup it did not have the old backups available. My question is do I need to delete them or will time machine automatically reclaim the space? There is only one sparse bundle but when I enter time machine I don't see my historic backups. I use a synology DS212 for my time machine. Started a new backup which is 218gb but it says 618 gb is occupied therefore it looks like 2 or 3 backups are still on the disk. Before my NAS issues the last backup was in 2014. As you can see there is a second sparse bundle from 2012. Not sure what that is.

This is an old message now, but what happened to me similarly was:
I had a major computer crash and through complicated pathways ended up reinstalling (Mavericks) as a new user (long story).
At least I had good Time Machine backups on an NAS drive (Synology DS212j), or so I thought - when I started Time Machine up again, the old backup file was gone, replaced by a new one using my "new computer" name. The old file was gone both by directly mounting the NAS drive and by clicking "Enter Time Machine".
It's like I had {OldShareName}.sparsebundle and then it was replaced by {NewShareName}.sparsebundle, all of the old info vanished.
(I have spent a week finding old files elsewhere and have completed a satisfactory self-restore. It pays to "archive" [my own variation of] as well as "back-up".)
My belief is that if this were a wired-netword-drive, e.g. plugged right into my iMac with a USB cable, then the old file would have remained.
But this is an NAS drive, connected directly to my Airport wireless router, and I don't know the significance of the fact that it stores its Time Machine backups as "sparsebundle" files rather than simply as plain(er) files.
As usual when things get complicated with computers (not just Apple computers) there was never a warning message. Something like "YOU'RE ABOUT TO DELETE A TIME MACHINE BACK-UP FILE!!!" would have made my life a lot simpler.
BTW, I did try a "restore from Time Machine" option the first thing I had my "new computer" (old hardware, 2009 iMac) up and running, using Migration Assistant, and it ran for many hours and then failed in the wee hours - what that has to do with anything I'm not sure.
I'm not sure that I have a question about this other than "why do these things happen to me?", but it's a warning. Apart from that I've been very happy with the stability and reliability (but not the cost or set-up complexity) of NAS vs. directly-cabled external drives.
Charles

Can both the old(migrated from another external HD) and new time machine backup be read on iMac?

HI,
I lately migrated the time machine backup from an external HD(WB) to a new one(G Drive). If I connect the new one i.e. G Drive to my iMac for Time Machine, will there be a new folder created in G Drive? Will it be a new backup i.e. backup everything on iMac? Can the old time machine backup be read when I enter Time Machine on my iMac? Thanks in advance.

Hi, best info I can find on it is here...
http://pondini.org/TM/32.html

New Mac Pro. Do I need to create a totally new time machine backup?

I Just upgraded from a Mac Pro 1,1 to the new Mac Pro. On my old machine I kept work files on one internal drive and photos on another which were backed up with time machine sparse bundle on my NAS. Now, since I have a Pegasus2, the contents of those drives are now kept in two separate folders on a single volume. Is it possible to have time machine continue backups on these from where it left off, or will I now have to create a new backup?

Per this:
http://pondini.org/TM/4.html
No since it says:
Yes, if it's big enough (see question #1). Time Machine keeps track of which computer is which (by a hardware identifier, not computer name), so it will always keep its backups for each Mac separate from each other.
But you may prefer to back them up to different places, or via a network. See question #33 for options, details, and cautions.
It is advisable, though, to partition an external disk that will be connected to your Macs into one volume for each Mac (see question #5 or #6 for instructions). You can't partition a Time Capsule's disk, but each Mac will have a separate sparse bundle on a Time Capsule, so it's not as big an issue. See the pink box in question #33 for details.

Hard drive failure! New hard drive/Time machine backup/iPhone questions

Hello,
I have a 2011 MacBook Pro who's hard drive failed (rather acutely too, I do use disk utility to check it's health regularly) and I bought a replacement to install (SSD!). I have a bunch of questions but have only found partial answers in searches. Maybe it's best to list them:
1. I'd like to do a fresh install of the OS X using OS X Recovery because I'm concerned my Time Machine backup is partly corrupted. I hadn't updated to Mavericks, will I be able to install Mountain Lion? If not: will this be a problem with my backup files?
2. Say the OS X Recovery works, how do I use Time Machine to restore things like my iTunes library/iMessages/email/iPhoto library etc? In other words: just the data I can't get any other way (I hope it's not too corrupted). And/or should I use my iCloud backup on a few of these (iMessages/contacts)?
3. Do I need to set up the new OS X install with the same account names/home disk name etc. for the restored backup files to function?
4. Is this going to f'up iCloud or vice versa?
5. Finally, how do I sync my iPhone to the "new" computer without erasing the iPhone (which had an iOS update since my last backup to Time Machine). Or do I have to restore the iPhone too.
6. How come Apple doesn't have a mobile theme for their website yet?
Any help would be much appreciated,
Matt

Do you still have the original System Reinstall DVD set that came with your Mac?
If you created that Lion external drive you have from YOUR Mac, when Lion was installed on it, and it also contains a Recovery HD partition you can use that to boot to the Recovery HD and reinstall Lion on the new drive. And or Clone that external to the new internal drive you installed.
Right since your Mac came with Snow Leopard you can't use the Online Internet Recovery system to reinstall Lion, as your system didn't originally come with Lion, but you should still be able to boot to it to do diagnosic things like using Disk Utility, going to the Net to get help and even Restoring the system from a Time Machine backup. But you will get an error if you select Reinstall Mac OS X. The firmware update is usually applied with system updates.
If you created a New Time Machine Backup when any of the Download Only version of OS X were installed on your internal drive Time Machine, the system, Copies over the files needed to boot the system from that backup drive. If it was a care over backup from when Snow Leopard was installed is might or might not be bootable. Only way to tell is to connect it and at startup hold down the Option key to get the Boot selection screen, IE The Boot Manager screen, and see if it shows up as a Boot Source. If it does thenn it contains the files needed to get to the Mac OS X Utilities, IE the Recovery HD files.
What you should do is Boot the system from either the Time Machine backup, if it is bootable, or your External that has Lion on it, The Recovery HD if that drive contains a Recovery HD, or your Original Snow Leopard reinstall DVD that came with your Mac and then try to Restore from your Time Machine backup drive.
If that fails to restore your system properly then nyou should reinstall Snow Leopard and the iLife Apps from the Original Discs then upgrade to Mt Lion which will be in the Mac App Store under your Purchases area. Then maybe you can restore your files from that Time Machine backup.
scardanelli wrote:
I've had a bunch of issues with my computer (you can look at some of my other questions on these forums) which, to my mind anyway, seemed to be finally given a diagnosis when my HD crashed. It may be paranoia but there have been enough problems that I'd rather do a clean install to be on the safe side.
I have an early 2011, shipped with Snow Leopard.
I was under the impression that Time Machine can't be used as a boot drive and the OS X Recovery is a firmware update (on my computer) or hard wired in (on later computers). I might be wrong. I was planning on using the internet recovery, the HD failed right after I got some password protected files unencrypted and onto an external drive (was that necessary?) but wasn't sure if it's a problem if it installs Mavericks.
So Setup Assistant will configure my accounts the same and I don't need to worry about that? That's a relief.
Thanks for the lengthy response.

Old time machine backup partition erased, but new partition failed

I had a defective time machine backup and had to start over. My disk has 4TB. The original time machine backup contained two backups from different laptops and was in the largest partition of 2TB. I then had two addition 1TB partitions. I remade new time machine backups to each of the 1TB partitions for each of the mac book pros. When I went to delete and change the original 2TB partition I found I could minus it out to create free space, but all attempts to try to repartition it as 2TB or as 2 1 TB pieces and even a piece as small as 200MB failed and asked me to resize closer to the original partition.
I have seen many similar issues, but not quite like this. I have already shut down the external drive and unplugged it and the restarted my machine, but to no effect. I now have 2 1 TB partitions and a 2 TB empty space.
Any suggestions?
I'm a little afraid to copy the Time Machine backups to a new drive as I heard that is NOT a good idea.
Is this a problem created when a partition is used for a Time Machine backup?
Han

How are you looking for the backup?
Time Machine will only show the active backup.
You can hold down the Option key while selecting the Time Machine menu and you will have the option to Browse other Time Machine backups.
Here is some good info on how Time Machine "thinks:" http://pondini.org/OSX/Home.html

Problems with creating a Time Machine backup on external HDD

Hello!
I tried to make a new Time Machine backup file on my external harddrive today.
Unfortunately it stopt after about 6 or 7 gb with the popup:
''the backup was not performed because an error occurred while copying files to the backup disk. The problem may be temporary. Try again later to back up. If the problem persists, use Disk Utility to repair your backup disk''
I'm certain that the HDD (Western Digital 1Tb) was correctly formatted (Mac Os Extended (Journaled)). It's the same type as my internal harddrive.
I also have a Time Machine Buddy logfile. Maybe that will help in finding the problem.
Also noticable is that after the backup failure, I can't seem to restore or format the external HDD. Once I connect it to a regular pcc and remove and reinstall the driver, I can use it again.
here is the logfile from the latest backup try:
Starting manual backup
Error determining directory contents for /Volumes/Time Machine: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “Time Machine” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7faa73422f70 {NSFilePath=/Volumes/Time Machine, NSUserStringVariant=(
Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine/Backups.backupdb
Error -36 applying backup protections to /Volumes/Time Machine/Backups.backupdb/MacBook Pro van Rolf Perdok
Error: (22) setxattr for key:com.apple.backupd.HostUUID path:/Volumes/Time Machine/Backups.backupdb/MacBook Pro van Rolf Perdok size:37
Error -36 applying backup protections to /Volumes/Time Machine/Backups.backupdb/MacBook Pro van Rolf Perdok
Error: (22) setxattr for key:com.apple.backupd.HostUUID path:/Volumes/Time Machine/Backups.backupdb/MacBook Pro van Rolf Perdok size:37
Backup failed with error: 2
Thanks in advance!

And I spoke too soon, backup just failed with:
22/10/2012 15:44:24.266 com.apple.backupd[555]: Stopping backup.
22/10/2012 15:44:24.267 com.apple.backupd[555]: Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:*** -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: Invalid argument
22/10/2012 15:44:24.267 com.apple.backupd[555]: Error: (-47) SrcErr:NO Copying /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Documentation/DocSets/com.apple.ADC_ Reference_Library.DeveloperTools.4_5.docset/Contents/Resources/Documents/recipes /xcode_help-project_editor/Art/BuildingTargetsintheCorrectOrder.m4v to /Volumes/Storage/Backups.backupdb/cizin/2012-10-22-152514.inProgress/ED608989-4 CF3-4713-8E62-3A32E8CC3917/Cizin/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Docum entation/DocSets/com.apple.ADC_Reference_Library.DeveloperTools.4_5.docset/Conte nts/Resources/Documents/recipes/xcode_help-project_editor/Art
22/10/2012 15:44:28.221 com.apple.backupd[555]: Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:*** -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: Invalid argument
22/10/2012 15:44:28.222 com.apple.backupd[555]: Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:*** -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: Invalid argument
22/10/2012 15:44:28.222 com.apple.backupd[555]: Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:*** -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: Invalid argument
22/10/2012 15:44:28.222 com.apple.backupd[555]: Copied 249786 files (10.64 GB) from volume Cizin.
22/10/2012 15:44:28.222 com.apple.backupd[555]: Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:*** -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: Invalid argument
22/10/2012 15:44:28.222 com.apple.backupd[555]: Copy stage failed with error:11
22/10/2012 15:44:31.231 com.apple.backupd[555]: Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:*** -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: Resource busy
22/10/2012 15:44:34.239 com.apple.backupd[555]: Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:*** -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: Resource busy
22/10/2012 15:44:34.239 com.apple.backupd[555]: Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:*** -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: Invalid argument
22/10/2012 15:44:34.358 com.apple.backupd[555]: Error: (22) setxattr for key:com.apple.backupd.HostUUID path:/Volumes/Storage/Backups.backupdb/cizin size:37
22/10/2012 15:44:44.739 com.apple.backupd[555]: Backup failed with error: 11
Time fo a bug report.

With a new Mac, can you join your previous Time Machine backups?

I'm sure this has been answered elsewhere, but my searches couldn't find a specific answer.
So here' the deal. I got a new rMBP to which I transferred data (via a Time Machine backup) from my old Macbook Air.
Am I correct that on the new computer there is no way to "rejoin" the previous backups and that a new Time Machine backup "thread" must be started?
Assuming that's the case, I'm guessing you also should delete the old TM backup files since they'll be useless).
Thanks.

*No, what I want is the ability to continue backing up to my existing Time Machine drive when I upgrade to a new computer.*
I think your scenario is possible with one single possible problem - the first time you plug the TM hard drive to the new computer it will want to copy the entire hard drive. If your TM can't hold the old computer's backup files and the entire contents of the new computer you have a small problem. But it it can then you wind up with two backups, one from each computer. However, when you need to restore from your TM files, my understanding is, you can pick from any computer's backup files. In other words, you don't lose anything. It just isn't as smooth as what you want. After a couple weeks have gone by and you are sure your computer is working fine and is stable, you can erase the folder containing the old computer's TM files because you've already developed a couple weeks of your new system.
If your TM drive isn't big enough to back up the new computer, I'm not sure what your options are other than to buy a new bigger hard drive, clone the TM files onto it and then do as I suggested above.
Remember, TM is a version 1 product and we've plenty of proof that Apple is listening to us. Use feedback to describe your scenario and how you want it to work. Version 2 may well incorporate some of your desires.

Does Time Machine backup items on the time machine disk?

If I designate disk B as my Time Machine disk, are items on disk B, that aren't part of what Time Machine puts there, backed up? In other words, can I use a disk for both storage and Time Machine backups and have those stored items backed up too?

If you intend to use disk B as both a Time Machine Backup Disk and a Data disk to hold your files, the only way to do that would be to partion the Disk B volume.
How do I partition an external hard drive ?
When an external is connected to a mac, the computer sees that Hard Drive as a Volume. Paritioning the volume is the ability to "Split" the volume in more parts that are limited by size. Time Machine will use the entire partition of a volume if the whole volume is used as a single partition. If you use the right tools and "Split" the external hard drive in smaller logical volumes then you can comfortably use the external hard drive for both your Time Machine Backups and your Data that you want to carry on an external drive.
The easiest way to partition a volume in more the one partition or logical volumes is to use the Disk Utility application that comes with every mac. Use the Finder to go to your Utilities folder and open Disk Utility, or search for it in Spotlight. Whit Disk Utility you can select your external Hard Drive and either change the partition to add a second one or erase all data on the existing external hard drive and create 2 Partitions that you can adjust in size. Remember Make sure you understand that if you choose to erase the existing external drive to make room for a new partition , that all data present on the external drive will be deleted.
Now that you have your two new partitions you can assign one to Time Machine and use the second one for Data. And with Time Machine Options you will be able to exclude or include your new external data partition to backup to your new Time Machine Backup Partition !

"Permission denied" on sparsebundle after first Time Machine backup

I've been using an encrypted sparsebundle for several months. Yesterday I bought a new Apple Airport Time Capsule, and created my first Time Machine backup. Today when I double-click the sparsebundle, instead of being prompted to enter my password, I receive a Warning dialog box saying "The following disk images couldn't be opened" with the sparsebundle listed next to "Permission denied." According to Get Info, my account does have Read & Write access to the sparsebundle.
How can I get access to my 4.5 GB of encrypted data?

Thanks for the response. In my case, when I booted into my cloned backup and ran from that, I was able to open the sparsebundle normally. Then when I returned to my original system, it too worked normally. Although I'm relieved I didn't lose my data, it's all very mystifying. It particularly concerns me that no online source seems to be able to explain the nature of the error message I received!
I did repair permissions before posting here, to no avail.
So that terminal command will turn your encrypted sparsebundle into an unencrypted sparsebundle, without prompting for the password? That's alarming.

Should my Time Machine backup drive have a disk image on it?

My Macbook Air recently went in for repairs and got a near-total refurbishing (thanks Apple!)—new logic board and new SSD drive. When I went to restore it, it turns out that my network-attached drive (on an AirPort Extreme) was NOT creating a reliable Time Machine backup, and had not been, since last April, even though the Time Machine menu bar tool would regularly report that a Time Machine backup was complete.
Meanwhile, I also had a second, portable drive that I would periodically plug in and run a Time Machine backup on as well; it was more current (early February), so I didn't lose too much work. But Time Machine wouldn't recognize that drive to let me restore from scratch the way that I've done with Time Machine before. I could go in and pull files from it manually, which I did, but how tedious! What I ended up doing was restoring from last April from one drive, then pulling over newer files from the other drive.
Obviously I'd like to avoid this sort of thing in the future. Now, as I'm making some changes to how I do all of this (I bought a new super-small portable drive that will be my main Time Machine backup; I no longer trust network-attached storage to work flawlessly with Time Machine, at least if it's not an Apple Time Capsule), I want to make sure that my backups are reliable.
In the process of all of this, I noticed that the old Time Machine backup (the one on the NAS) had a disk image on it, while the other drive didn't. I've just finished running the first round of Time Machine on the new drive, and there is NO disk image.
Thus, my question: is this disk image required for Time Machine to work the way it is supposed to in a catastrophic loss and restore? And if so, how do I "force" Time Machine to create this image on my new drive?

Would you post a screen shot of the disk images so people can see what you are seeing? Make sure you cover any personal information using Preview. Post the screen shot in a Reply using the camera icon. Copy and paste doesn't work.
Screen shots

How do I migrate from a Time Machine backup of a larger hard driver to a smaller hard drive?

My old MacBook Pro has a 1 TB drive. My new one has a 256 GB drive (SSD, as you might guess). I want to use Migration Assistant to move my files from my Time Machine backup to my new MBP. But obviously not all the files are going to fit. If I leave out my music and movies and a couple other things then it will work.
So I selectively migrated just the things that would fit, thinking that I could then fire up Time Machine and restore those other files to an external drive. That doesn't work, though, because my new computer is not recognizing the old computer's Time Machine, and instead is trying to create a new Time Machine area.
What's the best way to solve this problem? The end result I want is for my users and applications to be restored to the new computer, and my movies and music to be restored to external storage.

Aha, I think I found my own answer. I had to Browse Other Backup Disks by Alt-clicking the Time Machine icon. Then I could find the directory I wanted (iTunes Music, for example) and right-click on that to restore to a different location.
Thanks to http://pondini.org/TM/17.html!

Copying Time Machine backups

If you find you need more space for Time Machine backups, or want to change locations (local to network, or vice-versa), your best bet is to simply start a new set of backups in the new location. Keep the old ones "on the shelf" until you're sure you don't need them. (If you're backing-up to a locally-connected disk, it's best to give it a different name.)
You can always browse and restore from the old backups, via the +*Browse Other Time Machine Disks+* option (hold down the Option key while selecting the TM icon in your menubar, or right-click the TM icon in your Dock).
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But if you want, in many cases you can copy your Time Machine backups to a new location. It's not quick, and sometimes not easy. And there are some restrictions:
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If your backups were made to an internal or directly-connected USB or FireWire disk or partition, you must copy all the backups for all the Macs that were backed-up to the same disk/partition that way.
You can only copy a complete set of backups, not just some individual backups.
You cannot merge two or more sets of backups, even for the same Mac.
On Leopard, you cannot change from local to network, or vice-versa.
You cannot convert case-sensitive backups to case-ignorant, or vice-versa.
You cannot copy anything from corrupted backups.
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Because of the last two items, be sure your backups are ok by Repairing them, per #A5 in the Time Machine - Troubleshooting *User Tip.*
While you're using Disk Utility, determine whether the backups are case-sensitive; you'll need to know that below.
When you select a volume in Disk Utility's sidebar, the Format is shown towards the lower left. If your backups are in a +sparse bundle,+ double-click the sparse bundle to mount it, then select the +Time Machine Backups+ (or +Backup of <computer name>)+ partition that will appear, indented, below the sparse bundle.
The Format is either +Mac OS Extended (Journaled),+ meaning case-ignorant, or +Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, journaled).+
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The method of copying is different depending on how the backups were made; whether you're changing from local to network, or vice-versa; and, in some cases, for Leopard vs. Snow Leopard
Part of the complexity below is because Time Machine stores it's backups differently depending on how they were made:
+*Local backups+* (made to an internal disk or a USB or FireWire disk connected directly to a Mac) are stored in a folder named "Backups.backupdb", at the top level of the drive/partition.
+*Network backups+* (made over a network, whether via WIFI or Ethernet) are also stored in a folder named "Backups.backupdb," but it's on a partition inside a special container called a +sparse bundle+ at the top level of the drive/partition.
You cannot just switch from one method to the other.
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Note that below, a "volume" is either an entire disk drive or a partition on a disk drive.
Before starting to copy, turn Time Machine off, via TM Preferences. When done, select the new destination.
Copying backups will take a long time under the best of circumstances; even a small set of backups will contain +several hundred thousand+ files; a large one may number in the millions.
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*_C O N T E N T S_*
*1. To copy LOCAL backups from one volume to another LOCAL VOLUME*
*2. To copy NETWORK backups to another NETWORK location*
*3. To copy LOCAL BACKUPS to be used on a NETWORK*
*4. To copy NETWORK backups to be used LOCALLY*
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_*1. To copy LOCAL BACKUPS from one volume to another LOCAL VOLUME_*
*_Using SNOW LEOPARD:*_
a. Format the new drive/partition, with either the GUID or APM *Partition Map Scheme,* and the exact same Format as the old backups. See item #5 in the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip* if you need detailed instructions.
b. Connect both drives to your Mac, via separate ports if possible.
c. 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.
d. Drag the Backups.backupdb folder from the old volume to the top level of the new one. Enter your Admin password when prompted.
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*_Using LEOPARD:_*
You cannot copy local backups properly from one volume to another via the Leopard Finder. But you can duplicate the backups to a different volume via the +Disk Utility+ app (in your Applications/Utilities folder).
Note that you must duplicate an *entire volume* to another *entire volume* -- if you have other items on the old volume, they will be copied, too (this is a bad idea: see item #3 in the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip).* Also, any data already on the new volume will be erased.
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a. Format the new drive/partition, with either the GUID or APM *Partition Map Scheme,* and the exact same Format as the old backups. See item #5 in the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip* if you need detailed instructions.
b. Connect both drives to your Mac, via separate ports if possible, then open a Finder window. Make sure both volumes are shown in the sidebar (if not, from the Menubar select +Preferences > Sidebar,+ and check the box to show +External disks+ in the sidebar). Leave the Finder window open.
c. Start Disk Utility, select either volume (indented under the main drive line), and click the Restore tab.
d. Drag the old volume to the Source box, and the new volume to the Destination box.
e. Check the +Erase destination+ box, then the Restore button. This will take a long time.
f. When the duplication is complete, note that Disk Utility has *+changed the name+* of the destination volume to be the same as the source. You do not want to leave it that way, so immediately rename one of them. In the sidebar of the Finder window opened above, right-click the one you want to rename. When done, look back at the Disk Utility display to be sure you renamed the right one, then quit Disk Utility.
+Go to Top+
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_*2. To copy NETWORK BACKUPS to another NETWORK location_*
*SNOW LEOPARD or LEOPARD*
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If you're copying to a Time Capsule, configure your Time Capsule for your network. (See the documentation that came with your Time Capsule for information about setting it up on your network.)
If you're copying from one Time Capsule to another Time Capsule, give the new one a different name. Then use one Ethernet cable to connect your Mac to the Ethernet port on the existing Time Capsule, and use another Ethernet cable to connect from the existing Time Capsule to the new one if at all possible. If not, leave your Mac in the same room as the Time Capsules.
If you're copying to a USB drive to be connected to a Time Capsule, Airport Extreme, or another Mac on your network, connect it directly to your Mac and format it with either the GUID or APM *Partition Map Scheme,* and either +Mac OS Extended (Journaled)+ or +Mac OS Extended Case-sensitive, journaled)+ Format. See item #5 in the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip* if you need detailed instructions.
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a. Configure Time Machine to back up to the new network location, but don't start a backup.
b. If possible, connect the old and/or new drive(s) directly to your Mac (or a Time Capsule via Ethernet).
c. Open a Finder window for each network location by double-clicking on each. Note the amount of free space on the new one.
d. Drag the +sparse bundle+ from the old network location to the new one.
Note that the copied sparse bundle will have the same +*maximum size*+ as the old one. (Just to be contrary, though, +Time Machine Preferences+ will incorrectly show the new volume size.)
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*SNOW LEOPARD: 10.6.3 and above:*
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That's not a problem; Time Machine will increase it automatically on the next backup. You're done!
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*SNOW LEOPARD: 10.6.0 through 10.6.2:*
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1. Drag the sparse bundle to Disk Utility's sidebar and select it, but don't mount the +Time Machine Backups+ or +Backup of <computer name>+ partition.
2. Click +Resize Image+ in the toolbar (or +Images > Resize+ from the menubar).
3. Enter the size desired (that you noted in step c above) and click Resize.
4. Double-click the sparse bundle to mount the +Time Machine Backups+ or +Backup of <computer name>+ partition.
5. With the sparse bundle still selected, click the Partition tab towards the top of the window.
6. In the diagram that appears, drag the lower right corner of the partition all the way to the bottom, and click Apply.
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LEOPARD:
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1. Drag the sparse bundle to Disk Utility's sidebar and select it, but don't mount the +Backup of <computer name>+ partition.
2. Click +Resize Image+ in the toolbar (or +Images > Resize+ from the menubar).
3. Click the disclosure triangle below the slider, and select +Resize Partition and Image.+
4. Move the slider to the desired size and click Resize.
5. Double-click the sparse bundle to mount the +Backup of <computer name>+ partition.
6. With the sparse bundle still selected, click the Partition tab towards the top of the window.
7. In the diagram that appears, drag the lower right corner of the partition all the way to the bottom, and click Apply.
+Go to Top+
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_*3. To copy LOCAL BACKUPS to be used on a NETWORK_*
*SNOW LEOPARD only; you cannot convert Local Backups to Network on Leopard.*
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If you're copying to a Time Capsule, configure your Time Capsule for your network. (See the documentation that came with your Time Capsule for information about setting it up on your network.)
If you're copying to a USB drive to be connected to a Time Capsule, Airport Extreme, or other Mac, connect it directly to your Mac and format it with either the GUID or APM *Partition Map Scheme,* and either +Mac OS Extended (Journaled)+ or +Mac OS Extended Case-sensitive, journaled)+ Format. See item #5 in the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip* if you need detailed instructions.
a. Configure Time Machine to back up to the network location, and start a backup.
b. As soon as the +sparse bundle+ is created, cancel the backup (that may take a few moments).
c. If possible, connect the new drive directly to your Mac (or a Time Capsule via Ethernet).
d. Use the Finder to mount the new sparse bundle.
e. Double-click it to mount the +Time Machine Backups+ partition inside it.
f. Click the +Time Machine Backups+ partition to open it, and delete the Backups.backupdb folder inside it.
g. If the old backups are case-ignorant (per the yellow box above), you must change the new sparse bundle to be case-ignorant, too:
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1. Select the +Time Machine Backups+ partition in Disk Utility's sidebar and click Erase.
2. Select the +Mac OS Extended (Journaled)+ Format, and click the Erase button. That may take a few moments (to unmount, erase, and mount the partition again).
3. Via the Finder, do a +Get Info+ on the +Time Machine Backups+ partition.
4. Click the padlock at the lower right and enter your Admin password at the prompt.
5. Remove the check from the +Ignore ownership on this volume+ box and close the window.
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h. Via the Finder, drag the Backups.backupdb folder from the old volume to the new +Time Machine Backups+ partition. Enter your Admin password when prompted. After a few moments, you may also get a prompt saying that you'll need to enter it again later: click Continue.
+Go to Top+
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_*4. To copy NETWORK BACKUPS to be used LOCALLY_*
*SNOW LEOPARD only; you cannot convert Network Backups to Local on Leopard.*
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a. Format the new drive/partition, with either the GUID or APM *Partition Map Scheme,* and the exact same Format as the old backups. See item #5 in the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip* if you need detailed instructions.
b. 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.
c. Connect the old drive directly to your Mac if possible.
d. Use the Finder to mount the old sparse bundle.
e. Double-click it to mount the +Time Machine Backups+ or +Backup of <computer name>+ partition inside it.
f. Click the partition to open it, and drag the Backups.backupdb folder from the disk image to the top level of the new volume. Enter your Admin password when prompted. After a few moments, you may also get a prompt saying that you'll need to enter it again later: click Continue.
+Go to Top+

Bob Timmons wrote:
Ton of work...great job!
+You can always browse and restore from the old backups, via the Browse Other Time Machine Disks option (hold down the Option key while selecting the TM icon in your menubar, or right-click the TM icon in your Dock).+
Odd that on my MacBook Pro and iMac (both 2008, both running Snow Leopard 10.6.3), that I need to hold down the Control key to do this.
What do you show in +System Preferences > Keyboard > Modifier Keys+ for the Control and Option keys? I think I saw something in another forum about some keyboards having them reversed, perhaps some European versions?
I hate to put even more alternatives in these things, but perhaps I should add that one?
Great stuff and should be very useful as a number of users are buying new Time Capsules to replace their earlier generation models. Most seem to want to try to hold onto their old backups and transfer to a new TC when they get one.
Yeah, I really don't understand why some folks get so nutzo about keeping backups for years, but I guess it beats the opposite.
Was curious if you found a way to compact the sparsebundle after users delete a number of backups, but the sparsebundle file still indicates the same amount of data is being used. I know you can compact using Terminal commands, but Terminal scares me. I understand the basic nuts and bolts, but programming is a language that I don't speak.
Yes, in #12 of the FAQ tip I show how to do it via Terminal, but I hate sending a novice to Terminal. (I avoid it myself as much as possible.)
Now that you mention it, I'm going to use the Feedback site to request adding "Compact" to Disk Utility's options for sparse bundles. Maybe if a few of us chime in, they'll do it?
I still have my "first generation 1TB TC, now about 22 months old (holding my breath on the power supply capacitors),but the device has been flawless otherwise. Not too worried, as I also keep bootable SuperDuper clones of both computers on an attached drive on both computers along with another set of Time Machine backups that I manually handle about once a week. Redundant, but I would rather be safe than sorry.
I couldn't agree more! I backup via TM to an AEBS, so am even more paranoid! But I have a CCC clone updated daily; other things to CDs/DVDs in my safe deposit box; and some small stuff goes to iDisk via Backup daily.
Thanks very much for your help.

Old Time Machine Backup

OK this is complex so hope u can bear with me...
I backed up my computer with Time Machine running lion, or maybe snow leapord.
Now I have a new computer and the old one is gone, and it's running Mountain Lion.
I'm just trying to get my old data back, but when I go to "browse other time machine backups" my old backup does not appear in the list.
I've taken this disk to other computers before and accessed my old TM backup, I dunno why it's not working now.
Migration Assistant I learned does work, however there are a few problems with that...
First: Migration assistant did not copy my old iWeb site domain file to my new computer, so I'm hoping its still in there somewhere, becuase iCloud deleted my mobile me site by now.
I also clicked every option therefore now I have two accounts. I DO NOT WANT TWO ACCOUNTS. I have now one with the old time machine backup restore, and one with the new computer account. I want one account, I don't want to have to relogin to have to check my old email box. Not only that the directories of one account are locked an not accessible by another... not good.
Finnaly Time Machine just popped-up a window asking if I should "integrate" old time machine backups into this computer backup, saying that if I did this the old computer would not be synced with this new time machine backup. Since I don't have the old comptuter that should be fine. However I'm still hoping to find my old website on that disk somewhere, perhaps in a earlier version of the TM backup.
If I do this "integration" will I be able to now browse my old time machine disk as I was able to before and on other computer's which run lion?
Thanks.

OK it's actually called "inherit" it says:
Would you like this computer to inherit the backup history from "XX" on "X" backup disk?
3 options
don't back up now, Create new backup, Inherit backup history
If I click inherit backup history... it will backup my new disk... and hopefully allow me to accesss the older one like i've been trying to do all along...

Create a new time machine backup

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