Help with restoring from Time Machine Backup from another computer

I was required to dump my Mac OSX on my MacBook Pro and convert to a windows machine to use a testing software that did not allow boot camp. Before doing so, I backed up my hard drive to a partition of my iMac via a wireless connection. I am now using a boot disk to try to restore my system from the Time Machine backup on the iMac. I have logged onto my wireless network, but the Mac OSX Installer just keeps saying "Searching for Time Machine Backups..." My iMac is on (typing this now) and is active on the network. What do I need to do to be able to see my Time Machine backup from my MacBook Pro?

Hi m,
I don't know if this would make a difference or not, but you could try booting the iMac in FireWire Target Disk Mode.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58583

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

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

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

Help: cannot retrieve old files from Time Machine backup on new computer!

I backed up my old Macbook Pro for several months. I've got a new Macbook Pro and I succeeded to restore the last content of the old one using the migration assistant.
However, now I need some older files that I know are in the backup, but I can't restore them because you apparently can only do that with the computer from which you made the backups... a Time Machine backup is 'tied' to the sparsebundle using the MAC-address of the computer...
I don't have my old computer anymore, does this really mean that all the old file in the backup are lost for me? Or is there an other way?
Please help.
Wim

Wimek,
According to this KB article (http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1760)
"When upgrading from one Leopard-based Mac to a new Leopard-based Mac, and you wish to use Time Machine backups from the previous Mac, make sure the computer name of the new Mac (in Sharing preferences) is the same as your previous Mac's computer name was when its Time Machine backups were made. Afterwards, if the previous Mac is still on your network, give it a different computer name."

Restore a Time Machine backup from an overwritten partition?

I had a TimeMachine backup on an external disk.
I accidently overwrote the partition containing the TimeMachine files.
How can I retrieve my Time Machine backup? All data recovery software I have found will find jpgs, mp3s, etc, but not restore an overwritten partition or recover the TimeMachine backup.

You can try using a partition recovery tool to try rebuilding the partition tables and hopefully restoring the filesystem on the drive so it provides the system with a properly set up Time Machine drive; however, this will be a hit or miss success.
One tool that may work here is TestDisk: http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk
...though keep in mind that this is not guaranteed to work.
If you cannot do this, then it will be very difficult if not impossible to restore the Time Machine backup database in a usable fashion when the partition has been destroyed, as in order to do so you would need to restore a number of important files including all of their metadata that is often not possible to do with file restoration tools.
To get Time Machine running again your best bet would be to start fresh, though if you want to keep files from your lost Time Machine drive then you should use another one until you can scour this one and restore the files you've lost.

Issues with restoring a Time Machine backup onto new Macbook Pro Retina

I recently got a new Macbook Pro Retina and I've been trying to restore a Time Machine backup made today from my old Macbook Pro laptop. I didn't restore from the first start up (foolishly, seemingly) simply because of the trivial reason of wanting to see the system all clean and new.
I've tried the Migration Assistant but it gets stuck on "looking for source..", despite having the ex.HD plugged in and double checking the existance of the backup itself on the ex.HD.
I've also tried booting the laptop up in the 'restore' mode (cmd R) and restoring from there but it sends me in a constant loop of 'this backup was from a previous model of laptop' or something to that affect. It also doesn't display the recent backups at all, only displaying those from the beginning of this year for some reason. All backups are in the same place on the ex.HD so its not an issue with locating the backups.
Really stuck on this one! Would really appreciate some help!
Thanks a lot, and merry Christmas

Yes, you can restore to another machine if needs be.

How to restore a time machine backup from a corrupted disk

Hi.
I have quite a problem. I recently downgraded to os x 10.5.4 due to the requirements of Digidesign's Pro Tools. I did so with a clean install in order to have the most optimized computer possible without loads of unused data. I had backed up my data using Time Machine on an external hard-drive (LaCie, 1 TB) so I wasn't worried about losing important data.
However, when I inserted my external hard-drive after the clean installation it turns out to be corrupted in some way. It is only recognized in Disk Utility, it doesn't mount on my desktop.
Disk Utility is unable to repair the disk. The errors are:
+Verify and Repair volume “Kristoffer's back-up disk”+
+Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.+
+Invalid node structure+
+Volume check failed.+
+Error: Filesystem verify or repair failed.+
I went out and bought "Data Rescue II" at once to try to recover my data. It works fine with the stuff I've manually dragged to the disc but the Time Machine backup folders seem compressed in some way (It's only about 86 MB). And when I click a file restored from one of the Time Machine folders it seems like it's just a shortcut to an "original file". I get this error when double-clicking such a file:
+The alias "filename" could not be opened, because the original item cannot be found.+
Is there some way for me to get Time Machine to understand the back up disk even though it's corrupted? Or some other way to retrieve my data?
I have TONS of extremely important data on the disk so it would cost me a huge amount of work to format the disk and start from scratch.
ANY help is greatly appreciated

ohnoono wrote:
Hi.
I have quite a problem. I recently downgraded to os x 10.5.4 due to the requirements of Digidesign's Pro Tools. I did so with a clean install in order to have the most optimized computer possible without loads of unused data. I had backed up my data using Time Machine on an external hard-drive (LaCie, 1 TB) so I wasn't worried about losing important data.
However, when I inserted my external hard-drive after the clean installation it turns out to be corrupted in some way. It is only recognized in Disk Utility, it doesn't mount on my desktop.
Disk Utility is unable to repair the disk. The errors are:
+Verify and Repair volume “Kristoffer's back-up disk”+
+Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.+
+Invalid node structure+
+Volume check failed.+
+Error: Filesystem verify or repair failed.+
I went out and bought "Data Rescue II" at once to try to recover my data. It works fine with the stuff I've manually dragged to the disc but the Time Machine backup folders seem compressed in some way (It's only about 86 MB). And when I click a file restored from one of the Time Machine folders it seems like it's just a shortcut to an "original file". I get this error when double-clicking such a file:
+The alias "filename" could not be opened, because the original item cannot be found.+
Is there some way for me to get Time Machine to understand the back up disk even though it's corrupted?
no, that's quite impossible. you may try using Disk warrior on that drive. it's known to be able to fix the kind of error that DU is reporting. if that doesn't work your only hope is data recovery. If Data Rescue II doesn't work you can try other data recovery software like Filesalvage or try professional data recovery services (those can can a fortune).
Or some other way to retrieve my data?
I have TONS of extremely important data on the disk so it would cost me a huge amount of work to format the disk and start from scratch.
ANY help is greatly appreciated

Restoring a time machine backup from a Mac mini to a new Mac mini server

Hi,
I just replaced a faulty Mac mini with a Mac mini server. I have a time machine backup of my Mac mini and want to transfer it over to the Mac mini. How do I do this?

This is a bit of a guess... But I Imagine you would have to start with the workstation OS install DVD first, and go from there at the appropriate point. Any chance you have or could make a CCC backup instead? I am assuming you could boot a mini server from a backup of mini non-server. Then you could copy it over. This is probably worth a phone call to Apple TAC

Restoring a time machine backup from an old iMac to new Mac mini

I am considering purchasing a Mac Mini. I currently have an iMac (2007) model. I would like to backup/transfer the apps from one to the other. Is this possible? I've been using the time machine function which has been backing up my iMac since day one to an external 1 TByte drive. If I can do this, what all info gets backed up? Will this also restore my e-mails and documents? I'm new to restoring on a Mac and want to avoid losing apps and having to reload everything piece meal. I appreciate any advice.
Patrick C.

Actually, you can transfer just about everything via either Target Disk mode or the Time Machine backup database. The effect would be the same. The System Installation procedure will ask you if you want to do that. Alternatively, you can launch Migration Assistant to do that. It's remarkably complete, including apps and serial numbers and passwords. A few things need to be done manually afterwards, of course, but not many.
Keep your iMac around for a few weeks in case something you need turns up later not to have been transferred.
Unrelated Note: DO NOT try to copy the Time Machine database from one drive to another. The database is composed of non-ordinary files and the procedure will take weeks.
--Gil

How to restore a Time Machine Backup from ML to Mavericks

Due to a failed install of Mavericks, I had to do a clean install. How do I restore an iPhoto Library contained in a ML Time Machine backup to Mavericks iPhoto. I'm almost to the point of opening the iPhoto Library in Preview and saving the files and re-importing them.

I think what you are saying is you have a backup that was done on Mavericks and want to restore it to an installation of Mountain Lion, is that correct? If so no that will not work as you are finding out. If I am still not understanding please tell me what version of OS X is installed on the iMac (Lion, ML, Mavericks etc..) and what version OS X you created the TM backup with.

Help with configuration of Time Machine backups on a wireless network

Hello,
I was wondering if someone could help me with the configuration of Time Machine on a wireless network. I have it working some what but I am unsure if this is the best way or if it is the right way.
I have a G4 Mac mini connected to a Airport Extreme base station via ethernet.
I have a Lacie 500GB USB drive connected to the Mac mini (Lacie is formatted GUID)
I have a Macbook that I connect via wireless to the Airport and perform backups to the Lacie 500GB via wireless.
I initially had the USB drive connected to the Macbook and Time Machine worked flawlessly.
Now that I have the setup mentioned above configured, Time Machine works but... now instead of creating folders under the Backups.backupdb folder it is doing a initial backup of everything and creating a .sparsebundle file.
I am not sure if this is working correctly? Have I configured it correctly?
Permission on the Lacie? I am also controlling the Mac mini using ARD.
Perhaps I should format the drive and start from scratch and identifying the Lacie 500GB as the Time Machine backup drive for the Macbook.
I am NOT backing up the Mac mini to the Lacie 500GB
Another question is of course the initial backup over wireless will be very slow but after that it should be quicker as only files that change are backed up correct?
Hope to have some feedback on this as I believe a lot of people are trying this setup as a workaround to not being able to backup to a Airport USB drive.
Macbook and Mac mini are both using latest Leopard with updates.

James I think what you've done is correct. The thing to be aware of is that TM backs up to a directly connected HD using a Folder and deposits data into this folder in Finder format making it easy to navigate. When TM backs up to your networked HD attached to the Mac mini as you've configured for your MacBook a sparsebundle disk image is created by TM.
Now when TM on the MacBook executes it will auto mount that sparsebundle disk image on the MacBook to perform the backup and then dismounts it.
If you invoke the TM browser on your MacBook while the TM backup is in progress the TM browser has something to work with and will display the TM history. If however, on your MacBook you launch the TM browser when the TM backup is not executing you will see no history. What you need to do is to mount that network Mac mini LaCie 500GB USB HD on your MacBook and I believe you can then see the TM history.
This is very similar to the AirDisk feature that Apple dropped off from the TM feature list just prior to Leopard GM release on Occ 26.
Now having said all that, I'm a little puzzled why the TM browser launched on the MacBook isn't auto mounting your backup volume (the LaCie USB HD) as this is clearly what's required. This maybe a bug that should be reported to Apple via their Feedback process.
Hopefully I've understood your configuration and what you've posted as an issue(s).

Retrieving work files/data from a time machine backup off another computer

If I create a time machine backup on one imac (imac 1) onto an external drive, I want to know if I can use this backup on another mac (imac 2) and restore or retrieve the old work files as and when required work from the external drive (time machine backup)? onto imac 2?

You can't use Time Machine for Restoring on iMac 2 (if you made an TM Backup with iMac 1), but you can easily drag files from the "Time-machine-Backup-volume" in Finder on your iMac 2!

Can I move all data from time machine backup to another external drive & work from it?

Hi all, the harddrive on my macbook died (2nd time in a year) & I had a new one put in that's much smaller than the old one. Can I move everything from my time machine backup onto a seperate external drive and work directly from that on my laptop/imac? At the mo. I don't think time machine will recognise my computer as it's a new drive etc. Thanks Jenny.

What exactly do you want to do?
Is it that you wish to extract an older version of some documents to edit, but leave the original intact?
You can Restore an older version from TM and choose not to replace the current one.
Or, do you wish to install the OS on your new drive, and migrate all the information from the TM backup to the new isntallation?
EDIT: Ok, re-reading your question, I think macjack probably has the right idea.
However, see Pondini's Time Machine FAQ # 16

How do I restore a Time Machine backup from a newer MacBook Pro to an older MacBook Pro?

My MacBook Pro is in the shop and am using my older MacBook Pro in the meantime. I want to restore my older computer with the lastest backup from my newer computer, but I'm not able to see/access the backups from my newer computer - I can only see the backups from my old computer. Any suggestions?

That is probably due to the older computer being too old.
You can do a manual restore to a USB drive plugged into the computer. Then select the files you want.
See pondini Q14-17 on restore.
http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
Particularly 16 and 17.
You tend to migrate from older to newer computer and OS.. and it is not going to work the other way around.

Can't restore from Time Machine backup error message

My hard drive on my Macbook failed a few days ago. Just makes a clanking noise and won't boot up etc... I installed a new drive, formatted it, and selected restore from Time Machine backup from the installer screen. It started restoring from my backup I had on an external drive and everything was fine untill it got about 6% done then get a message that says "An error occured when restoring from the backup" It is pretty non descriptive. It also says please restart your system and try again or something to that effect. I tried again, same problem. When I try to copy files over manually I eventually gets some error that says there is a problem with a file and it will quit. Any ideas on how to get my data? I can see all my files on there, but can't get them. My backup disc is just used for backup on this one machine nothing else, so it shouldn't have a problem. Help!

Good to hear MA is doing something!
>I have never had much luck with Time Machine...
Same here, not one good backup or restore, can't tell which.
You can set any of these to Clone/Update as often as you wish...
Carbon copy cloner...
http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html
Or SuperDuper...
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/
Or the most expensive one & my favorite, Tri-Backup...
http://www.tri-edre.com/english/products/tribackup.html

Upgrade MacBook Hard Drive - Restore System from Time Machine Backup?

I have a MacBook that I want to upgrade the hard drive of. Am I right in thinking, all I need to do is:
Run Time Machine one last time, to make a recent backup of the MacBook
Install the new hard drive in the MacBook
Insert the Snow Leopard DVD, and start a clean installation
During installation, select the option to Restore System From Backup...
Will this copy across ALL of the contents of the old MacBook's hard drive, to the new MacBook's hard drive? A perfect clone? Because that's what I want to do.

I performed the installation, restoring a Time Machine backup from the external hard drive to the new blank internal one I put inside the MacBook. Everything went fine, except for one problem.
Now, whenever I try to open Safari, it immediately crashes with the error message:
"Safari quit unexpectedly
Exception Type: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGSEGV)"
What's going on? How can I stop Safari from doing this? I've repaired permissions using Disk Utility, and Spotlight has finished re-indexing everything.

Help with restoring from Time Machine Backup from another computer

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