How do I insure that Time Machine will give me back all my stuff after I clear my Macbook

Unfotunately i bought a macbook pro from Best Buy and insured it with GeekSquad. Ive had it for a while so there are normal tear and wear problems with the keyboard and battery and such so it looks like im going to have to send it into them for about 4-6 weeks. i have all my stuff backed up with time machine but is there anyway that all my stuff on my macbook is erased ill be able to get back the all of my software with my settings? If i were to have to reinstall OSX is there anyway i can use time machine to have, for example, my iTunes with all of my music and information like the times a song was played and such? Also I am using Leopard and there are other programs i have on here that would be difficult to get back, is there anyway i could get them back if i had to install Snow Leopard?

That is one of the features of Time Machine. You can either restore file by file; or at the end of a reinstallation of OS X you are given the opportunity to install data from other sources, such as another Mac or from a Time Machine backup.

Similar Messages

My Time Machine will no longer back up to my external disk for unknown reasons. It would not accept my password and said the disk is read-only and damaged. How can I copy my files to my Mac so I can repair it?

My Time Machine will no longer back up to my external drive for unknown reasons. It began after a series of power outages (my equipment is protected by a surge protector with battery backup), and was shut down correctly. Then it began by not recognizing my disk and my Time Machine password, although I am positive it was correct. I tried NUMEROUS times to get into it. It says the disk is damaged and needs to be erased and started over. How can I back up my files on my Mac so I can do that? I have no other disk to back up to. I found the files in a folder called "Backups.backupdb", and tried to copy them into a folder, but get the message "The volume has the wrong case sensitivity for a backup." The "lost+found" folder did copy for me. Will I just have to lose 4 years of backups?

Hi there,
I have the same issue. Usually hangs after 10K od sometimes after 18MB of backup file.
Config: iTunes 10.4., Win 7 64bit, iPhone 4 with iOS 4.3.3
I tried all of these without success:
- deleted backups via iTunes / Preferences
- deleted backups from sync folder
- created a new admin user and tried to sync
- reinstalled iTunes
- ran all Windows updates, restarted, reinstalled iTunes
- ran iTunes / Diagnostics (says everything okay, only info which is strange: diag says I am not a admin user, which is not correct)
Nothing helped. Who can help. I hope someone from Apple can take care, as I seem not to be the only one. Actually iTunes is the worst part about iPhone. Hope with iOS 5 and Cloud sync to get rid of iTunes.
Any hints welcome,
Cheers,
Miguel-KA

Time Machine will not let me restore from backups after June, 2013. I can see the files on the external hard drive but Time Machine skips all of them and goes back to June, 2013. Does anyone have any idea what the problem is?

Time Machine will not let me restore from backups after June, 2013. I can see the files on the external hard drive but Time Machine skips all of them and goes back to June, 2013. Does anyone have any idea what the problem is?

rtilghman wrote:
telling me to buy a new router is NOT a solution.
And why not? Apple is selling these things like BigMacs. They can't make enough of them. You've been suffering since May because you refuse to get a decent router.
Can you imagine if a company that makes a refrigerator told me that I needed to upgrade my electrical system to rectify a problem with their device? What kind of response IS that?!?!
What if the problem with their device is that it requires a new-fangled "grounded" outlet and your circa 1890 house doesn't have grounded outlets. Would you refuse to purchase a $ 25 adapter on principle?

Both my husband and I have our Macs backed up on Time Machine. I have a new Mac and want to download my files,etc. from Timeline to my new Mac. How do I ensure that Time Machine downloads only MY files, and not my husband's files?

Both my husband and I have our MacBook Pros backed up to Time Machine. I have a new MacBook Pro and want to download my files, etc. from Time Machine to my new Mac. I do I ensure that Time Machine downloads only MY files to my new Mac, and not my husband's files?

OS X uses a unique identifier so there will be no problems.

I have suddenly become unable to access photo library iPhoto (vers 9.5) on my external drive. And time Machine will no longer back up to the same external (LaCie) drive. Appreciate all suggestions. The drive does show up on my desktop....

I have suddenly become unable to access photo library (iPhoto vers 9.5) on my external hard drive. Also time machine isnt backing up to same external hard drive (LaCie). The drive does show up on the desk top, but when i open iPhoto the library isnt listed, so I cant option click.

First, one should not try to run an iPhoto library from the same volume/drive that is being used by Time Machine for backups. TM will continue to fill up the drive thus squeezing out iPhoto from being able to be opened and used. Also that doesn't allow you to let TM backup your library as it does with other files on your boot drive.
If you partition the EHD into two separate partitions you can run the library from it but that won't let TM backup the library which is important.
Are you able to see the library on the EHD via the Finder? If so copy it back to your boot drive and open it there. You may have to do some fixing on it.
Solution is to either run the library from the boot drive or get a second EHD to run the library from and let TM back it up along with your boot drive.
OT

How can I recover files on USB that time machine has erased?

While transferring pictures from my girlfriend's MacBook to my USB drive, I received a warning message when I ejected the device, saying that Time Machine had not finished backing up. Apparently my girlfriend had enabled Time Machine to back up her system every x minutes when it detects an external device. When I checked my USB on my laptop, it was empty. All the pictures and some files of mine that I did not back up were seemingly erased. Is there any way to rcover these files? I am particularly interested in a few word documents of mine. Any suggestions are much appreciated.

If you delete files from your internal hard drive and don't save a copy of them other then in a Time Machine backup you will eventually lose that data. As you have found out. Time Machine is NOT for archiving files. It is a program to svae what is currently on your internal drive to another so it can be restored at a later date. Once you delete files from your internal drive TM will no longer back them up and then delete old backups where those file may be. This is totally normal for any program like TM, IE a Back Up and Restore Program. It is up to the user to SAVE a copy of files they want to keep on some other media before they delete them from an internal drive. If you had never deleted those files TM would still be backing them up.

Time Machine will not delete.

Greetings.
The problem I'm having is that my 300GB backup disk is full. Time Machine says there is not enough room and it will not delete old backups to make room. How can I get it to do its thing?
Thank you.

dmac,
This might help...
*_“This Backup is Too Large for the Backup Volume”_*
First, much depends on the size of your Mac’s internal hard disk, the quantity of data it contains, and the size of the hard disk designated for Time Machine backups. It is recommended that any hard disk designated for Time Machine backups be +at least+ twice as large as the hard disk it is backing up from. You see, the more space it has to grow, the greater the history it can preserve.
*Disk Management*
Time Machine is designed to use the space it is given as economically as possible. When backups reach the limit of expansion, Time Machine will begin to delete old backups to make way for newer data. The less space you provide for backups the sooner older data will be discarded. [http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.5/en/15137.html]
However, Time Machine will only delete what it considers “expired”. Within the Console Logs this process is referred to as “thinning”. It appears that many of these “expired” backups are deleted when hourly backups are consolidated into daily backups and daily backups are consolidated into weekly backups. This consolidation takes place once hourly backups reach 24 hours old and daily backups reach about 30 days old. Weekly backups will only be deleted, or ‘thinned’, once the backup drive nears full capacity.
One thing seems for sure, though; If a new incremental backup happens to be larger than what Time Machine currently considers “expired” then you will get the message “This backup is too large for the backup volume.” In other words, Time Machine believes it would have to sacrifice to much to accommodate the latest incremental backup. This is probably why Time Machine always overestimates incremental backups by 2 to 10 times the actual size of the data currently being backed up. Within the Console logs this is referred to as “padding”. This is so that backup files never actually reach the physically limits of the backup disk itself.
There appears to be a method for getting around this that may work for some. Bear in mind that it will involve deleting older backups that Time Machine does not yet consider “expired”. But it should allow you to complete the current backup attempt while at the same time preserving some of the previous backups. It is fitting, as well, to remind users that backup disks should be +at least+ twice as large as your Macs’ internal hard disk.
The Time Machine error message tells you how much space the current backup requires.
Using that measurement, go into the Time Machine Preferences and click “Options…”.
Now using the Exclusion List, begin adding things like System & Library folders, and anything else that will get the “Total Included…” figure down to the amount that Time Machine reported was necessary. Leave your User folder for last. If it is still not enough, you can begin including folder within your Home folder.
Once the “Total Included…” is below what Time Machine requires, then perform a backup. During the backup, Time Machine perform certain house-keeping duties that frees up additional space.
Once the backup is complete, check Time Machine Prefs “Available:” line. You may discover that you now have more room than expected.
Go back to the Exclusion List and begin removing items until the “Total Included…” is again just under what “Available” states.
Perform another backup. Again more room may become available. You may have to repeat this procedure several time until a backup includes ALL of your desired files.
*Backups WAY Too Large*
If an initial full backup or a subsequent incremental backup is tens or hundreds of Gigs larger than expected, check to see that all unwanted external hard disks are still excluded from Time Machine backups. Time Machine will attempt to backup any hard disk attached to your Mac, including secondary internal drives, that have not been added to Time Machines Exclusion list.
This includes the Time Machine backup drive ITSELF. Normally, Time Machine is set to exclude itself by default. But on rare occasions it can forget. When your backup begins, Time Machine mounts the backup on your desktop. (For Time Capsule users it appears as a white drive icon labeled something like “Backup of (your computer)”.) If, while it is mounted, it does not show up in the Time Machine Prefs “Do not back up” list, then Time Machine will attempt to back ITSELF up. If it is not listed while the drive is mounted, then you need to add it to the list.
*Recovering Backup Space*
If you have discovered that large unwanted files have been backed up, you can use the Time Machine “time travel” interface to recovered some of that space. Do NOT, however, delete files from a Time Machine backup disk by manually mounting the disk and dragging files to the trash. You can damage or destroy your original backups by this means.
Additionally, deleting files you no longer wish to keep on your Mac does not immediately remove such files from Time Machine backups. Once data has been removed from your Macs' hard disk it will remain in backups for some time until Time Machine determines that it has "expired". That's one of its’ benefits - it retains data you may have unintentionally deleted. But eventually that data is expunged. If, however, you need to remove backed up files immediately, do this:
Launch Time Machine from the Dock icon.
Initially, you are presented with a window labeled “Today (Now)”. This window represents the state of your Mac as it exists now. +DO NOT+ delete or make changes to files while you see “Today (Now)” at the bottom of the screen. Otherwise, you will be deleting files that exist "today" - not yesterday or last week.
Click on the window just behind “Today (Now)”. This represents the last successful backup and should display the date and time of this backup at the bottom of the screen.
Now, navigate to where the unwanted file resides. If it has been some time since you deleted the file from your Mac, you may need to go farther back in time to see the unwanted file. In that case, use the time scale on the right to choose a date prior to when you actually deleted the file from your Mac.
Highlight the file and click the Actions menu (Gear icon) from the toolbar.
Select “Delete all backups of <this file>”.
*Full Backup After Hardware Change/Replacement*
If you are running out of disk space sooner than expected it may be that Time Machine is ignoring previous backups and is trying to perform another full backup of your system? This will happen if you have replaced your computer with a new one, or had significant repair work done on your existing Mac. Time Machine will perform a new full backup. This is normal.
You have several options if Time Machine is unable to perform the new full backup:
A. Delete the old backups, and let Time Machine begin a fresh.
B. Attach another external hard disk and begin backups there, while keeping this current hard disk. After you are satisfied with the new backup set, you can later reformat the old hard disk and use it for other storage.
C. Ctrl-Click the Time Machine Dock icon and select "Browse Other Time Machine disks...". Then select the old backup set. Navigate to files/folders you don't really need backups of and go up to the Action menu ("Gear" icon) and select "Delete all backups of this file." If you delete enough useless stuff, you may be able to free up enough space for the new backup to take place. However, this method is not assured as it may not free up enough "contiguous space" for the new backup to take place.
*Outgrown Your Backup Disk?*
On the other hand, your computers drive contents may very well have outgrown the capacity of the Time Machine backup disk. It may be time to purchase a larger capacity hard drive for Time Machine backups. Alternatively, you can begin using the Time Machine Preferences exclusion list to prevent Time Machine from backing up unneeded files/folders.
Consider as well: Do you really need ALL that data on your primary hard disk? It sounds like you might need to Archive to a different hard disk anything that's is not of immediate importance. You see, Time Machine is not designed for archiving purposes, just as a backup of your local drive(s). In the event of disaster, it can get your system back to its' current state without having to reinstall everything. But if you need LONG TERM storage, then you need another drive that is removed from your normal everyday working environment.
This KB article discusses this scenario with some suggestions including Archiving the old backups and starting fresh [http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.5/en/15137.html]
Let us know if this clarifies things.
Cheers!

How To Change password of Time Machine

Today I went in and changed the password of my time machine back up drive through Airport Utility. It stopped backing up. I tried deleting numerous passwords showing up in Keychain but didnt work so I changed it back to the old password. I looked in Apple Tech support file but nothing indicated how to change the password. Does anyone know the proper way to change my password in my time capsule? I use it as my internet router as well.

There are several passwords, and they are not necessarily identical:
Your Time Capsule
Your wireless network
Your Time Capsule's disk
It's not clear which of them you want to change, but any of them can be changed using AirPort Utility.
If Time Machine stopped backing up, open Time Machine's Preferences and turn off Time Machine. Choose "Add or Remove Backup Disks", choose the disk, then Remove Disk. Confirm with the Stop Using This Disk button. Add it again. You will be prompted for the disk's password (not the Time Capsule's). Time Machine will turn itself back on, a backup will then commence, and your existing backups will not be affected.
The iPad is a separate issue, but it has a similar fix: go to Settings > Wi-Fi, select your network then "Forget this Network". Select the network again, provide its password, and verify you can connect.

Time machine will not begin backup -- uuid's don't match

I'm trying to use time machine for the first time to backup my macbook pro, but whenever time machine appears to begin, it will only say that it is backing up however many files, but there is no progress on the progress bar and it shows that 0kb of 53.8 gb have been backed up. It remains this way even after leaving my external hard drive connected overnight for +9 hours. What do I need to do so that time machine will work properly?
Here is what the computer is telling me:
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/Iomega/Backups.backupdb
Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD
Backup content size: 53.8 GB excluded items size: 7.9 MB for volume Macintosh HD
No pre-backup thinning needed: 64.54 GB requested (including padding), 266.83 GB available

Start with item #C1 in the Time Machine - Troubleshooting post at the top of this forum.
As it says, the most common cause of an initial backup failing is an improperly formatted TM drive/partition.
After using it's instructions to verify the setup, if you're sure it's correct, then do all the things recommended in item #D2.

Time machine will not complete backup.

Time Machine will not complete back-up - 3TB back-up is full and time machine will not automatically delete oldest back-up.

This happens from time to time. You will need to step in and decide what to do.. Delete manually.. a very slow and fraught process.. or you have to take more severe action.. eg archive off the old backups and start again. You will need a 3TB USB drive to do it.. but IMHO is well worth it. Assuming you need all that history. You can then simply do a quick erase from Airport Utility which takes a minute or two and do a fresh backup.
Try to eliminate files that are not necessary to backup.. eg the worst is any virtual disk for parallels or bootcamp.. where the slightest change to the smallest file will result in a full backup of the whole virtual disk. You must backup windows etc from inside the OS and not from TM in Mac OS.
Have you upgraded the computer btw?? I get the feeling that when you upgrade a computer.. say Snow Leopard to Lion to Mountain Lion.. TM has real issues handling the old backups. It is much better to start over.
Read up from our most productive expert.. Pondini..
http://pondini.org/TM/C4.html

Can Time Machine Be Used to Back Up Files from An External Hard Drive?

Please let me provide a little more information to clarify the question.
The hard drive on my computer is not large enough for all my photo and video files so I am planning to purchase a new external hard drive and move my "Pictures" and "Movies" folders to the new external hard drive as a way of freeing up space on my computer. A different external hard drive is now used for backup of the computer's hard drive.
My question is about how backups will be handled if I upgrade to Snow Leopard.
I understand that Time Machine will take the place of the software now being used to back up the MacHD, but back up is still needed for the photo and video files which would be moved off of the MacHD. Will Time Machine back up those files too? That is, will Time Machine back up specified folders which are being stored on one external hard drive and place the backups on a different external hard drive? And, will Time Machine do that in addition to backing up the MacHD? If so, are separate partitions needed for the MacHD and the Photo/Video backups, or will Time Machine put everything in the same partition?
Any advice and/or suggestions for handling this in would be most appreciated.
Thanks for your help.

As captfred says, yes (as long as the drive is formatted for a Mac, not Windoze).
You might want to review the [Time Machine Tutorial|http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/#timemachinebasics] and perhaps browse [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).

Time Machine only seems to back up when I'm logged on

Recently, I've noticed that Time Machine seems to be performing backups only when I'm logged onto the computer. It used to take them every hour, more or less, but now that's not the case. When I log in, I can see the TM icon in the tray become active almost immediately. Plus, if I've been away from the machine for a few hours, when I check the TM preferences the last backup has not happened in the last hour. Any ideas? Thanks!

If the computer is Off, obviously, or in Sleep mode I do not believe that Time Machine will back up your files. The computer must be Awake.
Hope this helps

I have a power pc (g5) computer that I will soon be replacing with a current i5 or i7 mini. How do I transfer the Time Machine files from the internal hard drive on the G5 to an external drive that I will later use with the Mini?

I have a Power PC G5 computer that I will soon be replacing with a current i5 or i7 Mini. How do I transfer the Time Machine files from the internal hard drive on the G5 to an external drive that I will later use with the Mini?

Hi, likely the easiest is to just poll the drive & get something like this...
Get MacScan...
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/networking_security/macscan.html
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/U3NVSPATA/
But if you have a good external drive already, just clone it.
Get carbon copy cloner to make an exact copy of your old HD to the New one...
http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html
Or SuperDuper...
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/

My time machine will not complete the back up. It say that my sparsebundle is already in use. What do I do and how do I fix it?

My time machine will not complete the back up. It tells me that my sparsebundle is alreay in use. I currently have imac ungraded my sofeware to the latest. What do I do to correct this?

Try here...
The Backup disk image ... sparsebundle ... is already in use.
From Pondini’s excellent Information Here...
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.htm

How to use airport time capsule on a dell portable pc with windows 7 taking in consideration that Time machine doesn't run with Windows ?

how to use airport time capsule on a dell portable pc with windows 7 taking in consideration that time machine doesn't run with Windows ?

TM does not work like that.
If you want files to use later.. do not use TM.
Or do not use TM to the same location. Plug a USB drive into the computer and use that as the target for the permanent backup.
Read some details of how TM works so you understand what it will do.
http://pondini.org/TM/Works.html
Use a clone or different software for a permanent backup.
http://pondini.org/TM/Clones.html
How to use TC
http://pondini.org/TM/Time_Capsule.html
This is helpful.. particularly Q3.
Why you don't want to use TM.
Q20 here. http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html

How do I insure that Time Machine will give me back all my stuff after I clear my Macbook

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