Does a time machine backup also restore system files?

In my case, I've deleted a lot of system files including desktop wallpapers and stuff, because I split my drive into two partitions, and started running very low on space on my primary partition. Now, I want to go back to two partitions, but I am unable to. Hence I have to format my Mac to do so. What my question is is this. If I use Time Machine after formatting to restore a backup, does that also include system files, like wallpapers and etc., or only user files? What about my keychain, browser data like cookies and other user data from my applications? Does all of that come back too? If it does, then I think that the other system files might come back too, right? I specifically remember deleting files from the Application Support folder. Also, every time after finishing a backup, my disk takes hours for encrypting the backup. Is that normal?
PS : I use Mavericks.

Malcolm J. Rayfield wrote:
Well, I did not maintain backups before I deleted the files. What then?
Download and reinstall Mavericks from the App Store. It won't delete any user files.
Correction
It should not delete any user files.
The OP should backup before starting this, in case of error.

Similar Messages

Will full restore from Time Machine backup replace fresh system files?

My ol' iMac G5 has been sluggish and buggy lately. I'd love to do a clean install of Leopard, and then do a full restore from a Time Machine backup.
My question is, will this help? Or will the Time Machine backup simply replace the newly installed system files, leaving me with the same sluggish, buggy OS?

no, this will not help. when you do a full system restore TM will wipe your hard drive and replace everything with the copy of the system at the backup time. You might try doing an erase and install followed by using migration assistant to migrate your user data and/or applications form the Tm drive. that might result in a cleaner system. however, the cleanest way would be to do an erase and install followed by manual migration from the TM drive. Use [this post|http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=6185507] as a guide on manually migrating your data. You'd also have to manually reinstall all your apps.

HT201250 Does Time Machine backup and restore Bootcamp?

I am replacing defective hard drive in an iMac that I primarily use as a pc under Bootcamp. I have to find some way to clone and restore the bootcamp partition. I was told today by a Genius at the Apple store that I should buy a 2 TB external (which I did for $150) and run Time Machine. He assured me that my bootcamp partition would be backed up along with the entire mac partition and that I would be able to restore everything perfectly on the new hd. Now that I am home and continuing my research, I can't find anywhere that says it will work. Documentation on Time Machine fails to mention bootcamp. So, does Time Machine backup and restore bootcamp or not? And will it be bootable after the restore? Help!

I think you've got it! I have never used WinClone so I cannot attest to how well it will work, but it's pretty much all lthere is. You will have to create a new Boot Camp partition on the new drive, and it should be the same size as the partition you cloned.
Be sure you prep the new hard drive:
Drive Preparation
1. Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Security button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
7. Quit DU upon completion and return to the installer. Now install Snow Leopard or restore from your Time Machine backup.

Does a Time Machine backup capture unsaved Word Documents? I am looking for a Word Document that I am guessing I deleted though I think it was open when I was doing a backup.

Does a Time Machine backup capture unsaved Word Documents?
I am looking for a Word Document that I am guessing I deleted though I think it was open when I was doing a backup.

If you didn't save the document it would not be on your hard drive and therefore not copied via Time Machine.

My Final Cut Projects folder were missing some files, I went to my time machine backup to restore and it said I don't have permission to access the time machine folder "Final Cut Projects". Why?

My Final Cut Projects folder were missing some files, I went to my time machine backup to restore and it said I don't have permission to access the time machine folder "Final Cut Projects". Why?

Yes, I've done all "the ususal suspects.." repaired permissions, zapped pram, "reintroduced Time Machine to the backup drive by turning it off and on... etc

Time Machine Backup and storing certain files, switching to lion

Hey Gang,
I need to unload my harddrive.
Whats the best way to do this? I want to keep some files off my harddrive to free up space. But i want to access them anytime. Should i just do i time machine backup then delete the files and still have access to them? Or should i keep the files out seperate from a time machine backup.
what do you think?
also, i'm getting a 2 tb drive to do a time machine so i can switch over to lion, and if i dont like it, switch back. Any idea's on that front?
Thanks

I woke up 05:00 a.m this morning, so I'll try to grab my coffe and be more specific:
Of course, in general you should not delete backups.
But:
1) How does your Time Machine Volume react/get filled if you happen to MOVE 100 GB of files between backuped volumes, for instance?
2) If the license for Leopard and Snow Leopard or other software, REQUIRES me to delete all copies of the software from the machine, I need to know a) How I delete all backups of the Snow Leopard partition files. And b) Other software: if the App spreads itself into Libraries, Caches and whatever places, I actually need to know more of the general subject on how I according to the legalese and my own wish, need to find such places in the file system. And delete all copies in Time Machine backups.
I am familiar with the general principle of never deleting anything if I do not have to. I have zillions of mail files from the nineties still left in my Mail folders. Never do something that is hard to reverse, if there is not good reason for it.
I am new to participating in the Communities, so, yes I'll try to keep the discussion to what the question was!
But right now - please if anyone could answer the problem I already described here, I would be thankful. I'll not argue that Time Machine deletions has to do with the general problem of exactly how Apps occupy the file system.
But I now realise that I could ctrl-click my Snow Leopard partition and delete it from the Time Machine volume. I'll try that when I get so far!
Thanks!
/groundliner

After clean install of Snow Leopard, Time Machine did not restore all files. When I try to restore these files I get "Not enough disk space" error. What do I need to do to get these important files back onto my Mac from my external hard drive??

After clean install of Snow Leopard, Time Machine did not restore all files. When I try to restore these files I get "Not enough disk space" error. What do I need to do to get these important files back onto my Mac from my external hard drive??

Janet.b wrote:
About 3 years old...pretty dated now I guess. Am thinking I may just need to have it upgraded by a Mac tech.
For what the Apple Store's charge you can buy almost buy a new computer.
Just for giggles I brought my old laptop in for a drive upgrade and asked, they wanted $600 for a drive that only cost $120 at the time and it was a slow 5,400 RPM drive. The new Mac's of a similar make were going for $1000.
I did the drive replacement myself, got a faster drive of better quality for $300 instead.
Then another time I asked for a RAM upgrade from 4GB to 8GB, they wanted to charge $400 + $35 for the labor.
The same RAM is on Crucial.com for $90 and all I need is a 00 micro phillips screwdriver.
So you see what's going on here.
I think what you should do, if your out of warranty/AppleCare, is to call up the local PC tech guy who also does Mac's and have them fix you right up.
They can offer more personalized care which you need. Clone your old drive to the new and everything.
With Apple they are overworked at the Genius Bar and just place roadblocks so you buy a new machine instead.
For instance, all new iMac's now have proprietary drive software installed on the hard drives for heat monitoring. So now the only choice a user has is to bring their iMac into a Apple Store for a very expensive drive upgrade, which a person then decides the money is better spent buying a new machine.

Restore with install DVD and Time machine backup that excludes system

Hi, I need restore my PB G4.
I backed up my data using TM but excluding all system files. Is there a possibillity to reinstall the system with the DVD and then rebuild the individual accounts using Time machine?

Yes, you have several options: (In all cases Mac OS 10.5 Leopard is required as previous OS X versions can not work with Time Machine backups.)
*Full Restore Via Migration Assistant & Time Machine*
You can use the installation DVDs that came with your Mac and reinstall Leopard (Mac OS 10.5). During the installation process you will be asked if you would like to Migrate data over from your Time Machine backups. The advantage here is that you start with fresh system software. The disadvantage is that you may lose many of the personal preferences/settings that had been established with the previous system. But this may be only a minor inconvenience to reestablish these. Depending on whether you choose to migrate your applications over as well, you may be required to reinstall any 3rd-party software or standalone Apple programs. Don’t forget to run Software Update once the initial installation is complete to bring your system up to date. Using Disk Utility at this point to repair any permissions issues is advised as well.
*Full Restore Via Time Machine Only*
Alternatively, you can use the installation DVDs to do a full system restore. Insert the installation DVD. When the welcome window appears, go to the Utilities menu and select “Restore System From Backup…” and choose the drive that your Time Machine backups are on. Then select the date of the backup you would like to restore from. This will completely erase your internal drive and restore your system to a relatively same condition it was in on the date of the backup you choose. (See this article for a list of files that TM does not restore, http://shiftedbits.org/2007/10/31/time-machine-exclusions/) The advantage here is that you retain many of the personal preferences/settings that had been established with the previous system. Additionally, no further installation of 3rd-party software is required. The disadvantage is that BECAUSE you retain many of the personal preferences, settings, and system files that had been present with the previous system, you run the risk of reintroducing problems you experienced with the previous installation, including any issues that necessitated the OS reinstall in the first place. Using Disk Utility at this point to repair any permissions issues is advised as well.
*Full Backup After Restore*
Bear in mind that in all cases Time Machine will perform a full backup after a full restore. This is normal. Time Machine will resume incremental backups after the full backup has completed. To view previous backups, Control-click or right-click the Time Machine icon in your Dock or Option-click the Time Machine menu extra and Choose "Browse Other Time Machine Disks," then select your previous backup volume. You will enter Time Machine and be able to browse your previous back ups and restore files. (http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1338)
Hope this helps.

How do I use time machine backup to restore onto a different computer

I am trying to troubleshoot the best way to back up my Mac. I have been a mac user since 20009 and always used a time machine. The two times I have needed it for backup, my computer did not read the portion the backup was. You could tell under disk utility the space was used. Just before the need of backup, it was backing up. So, I am wondering if I need to use a different method. I lost all of my Christmas 2015 movies. My computer did some weird thing with passwords and it needs some resetting I had to do with the support team on the phone. The support person could not figure out how to access the back up on time capsule. I noticed the password resetting made my computer name different by putting a 3 behind the name I assigned it.
One thought that has crossed my mind is can you use the time machine backup and open it up on a completely different computer? If so, I should have been able to someone access my information. I would like to know the answer and how do it so I know in case this ever happens again and so that I can rely on this expensive back up machine I have purchased two different times on two different computers and never been able to actually use.

Are you running Yosemite.. because it is the cause of loads of problems.
As to opening the TM backup from another computer.. yes you can.
Please read our TM expert Pondini.
Q14-17 on restore here.
http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
Particularly as you will see Q17 and it will reference the prior info you need.
I have gone through this with several people.. and I have a post showing a manual file location and restore.
Can't access old files on time capsule
But not from Yosemite.. it has its own bunch of bugs.. as mentioned. Good luck with those.
I also strongly recommend people use a secondary backup method.. there are excellent third party.. I use Carbon Copy Cloner.. it is reasonable price.. $40 based on standard rsync.. and will create either bootable clones to a local drive or sparsebundle on a time capsule etc.
The bootable clone is the ideal way to recover files. since it is based on a simple computer reboot and then access of files that are in exactly the same place as you left them.. TM backs up in a most complicated manner.
See how tm works here. The top couple of articles and how it is different to clones. As Pondini suggests.. using both is no bad thing.
http://pondini.org/TM/Home.html
This is also useful for yosemite.. it is not working as TM used to.
Find files in Yosemite.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6681850?searchText=time%20machine%20yosemit e#27139370
While in Time Machine, press the key combination shift-command-C. The front window will show all mounted volumes. All snapshots should now be accessible. Select the one you want and navigate to the files you want to restore.
I am not sure why your previous use of TM failed.. In the midst of all its problems it does still work ok.. as mostly people can recover stuff they do.. albeit it needs a lot more messing than is typical Apple.

Time Machine Backup after Restore

I have been using Time Machine for months without a hitch. I also put some other files on the external that I am using for Time Machine. Recently I decided to sell my brother my old Macbook so I can get a new computer.
I reinstalled Leopard on the macbook, erasing everything that was there before. I did not use my time machine backups because I only need a few files for my brother. Now when I connected the 500 GB WD USB external harddrive, it sometimes shows up in Disk Utility, but does not mount and I cannot access and of the files. What can I do, ALL of my files are backed up here?

Try right clicking on it and mounting it.

Can't find Time Machine backup for restore

Hard drive died for my MacBook, now I'm trying to restore from the Time Machine file. I have a Linux server set up for Time Machine backup. I've mounted the server to /Volumes/Time Machine, which seems to be working fine, I can see the files there. Problem is the Time Machine restore tool cannot find that drive
Any ideas, is there a way to manually point it to the backup?

Oliver Jobson wrote:
My MBP is plugged into my lan, my time machine is on another mac on my network, but after inserting the install disc in the MBP (I have upgraded to a bigger drive on my MBP) I try to restore from the time machine, but it isn't finding the TM! Does it have to be over wifi as per the on screen instructions?
No. Connect the drive directly to your Mac. See #14 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
Save that hair!

Time Machine Backup and Restore

I went to the Time Machine preference dialog box and it opened up to a line up of files. I then clicked on the Folder for "Todaty at..." then clicked on "restore" but nothing is happening.
Is something suppose to show up on the screen?
The only thing showing is the line up of past folderrs and stars and the universe creeping by.
I keep on clicking on the restore button but nothing is happening.
The only way out is to click on the cancel button but then everything stops...

You keep saying you "can't install" or "can't restore," but it's still not clear what, exactly, you're doing and where, exactly, it goes wrong.
If you want to do a full restore from your Time Machine backups, see #14 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions. That has very detailed instructions, complete with screen shots. Please follow it carefully, and tell us exactly which step you're on (a, b, c, etc.) and what message you get or what you don't see that you should. You can't print those screens, so make notes if you have to so we can tell what's what.
If you want to install OSX, follow the instructions in the Reinstalling OSX section of the pink box in Installing the ''combo'' update and/or Reinstalling OSX. Again, tell us exactly what message you get, or what you don't see that you should, at which step, because you can't print those screens, either.

Can a time machine backup also be used for archive storage?

Can the same time machine backup drive also be used for archive storage from another Macbook?

The way TimeMachine works you can guarantee that anything on your computer now will be backed up and archival copies kept. But there are two caveats. First, TimeMachine trims backups. For 24 hours they are hourly (approximately). Then the most current will be trimmed and a week worth of daily backups will be kept. Then the week will be trimmed to the most current version and the weekly backups will be kept until the drive is too full. At that point the oldest weekly update(s) will be erased to make room for the next hourly backup. When trimming occurs, files that were backed up but are no longer on your computer will be trimmed. This is the second caveat.
Since this trimming is automatic rather than under your control TimeMachine isn't a good archival backup system. Two programs that I can recommend that do have true archival ability are CarbonCopyCloner and ChronoSync. Both allow you to decide what gets archived and how many archival periods to allow.

Does a Time Machine backup include the Apple_Boot Recovery HD?

I've done a Time Machine backup with the Apple_Boot Recover HD on my internal drive. (Mid 2011 MacBook Air - OS X version 10.7.2 - single user)
Two questions:
Did the Time Machine backup include the Apple_Boot Recovery HD?
If I subsequently need to restore the backup will Time Machine recreate the Apple_Boot Recovery HD on the internal drive?
Thanks in advance for your help,

If you run the command "diskutil list" in terminal, it will show if you have the rescue partition on your disk or not:-
/dev/disk2
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *500.1 GB   disk2
   1:                        EFI                         209.7 MB   disk2s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD            499.2 GB   disk2s2
   3:                 Apple_Boot                         650.0 MB   disk2s3
if you see the "Apple_Boot 650.0 MB" then you have the rescue partition.
I have just restored my machine from a Time Machine backup, and the Apple_Boot partition has dissapeared.

No permission to access my time machine backups after restoring.

I reinstalled osx mountain lion on my macbook pro and restored my computer from a time machine backup. Now when I try to access my old backups time machine tells me that I have no permission to access those files. How can I regain access to my old backups?

See Pondini's Tips, for starters.

Does a time machine backup also restore system files?

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