How do i restore my MacBook Pro using Time Machine?

I have a Hard Drive with a Time Machine backup on but i have also other files such as videos, photos, programs etc. I'm just wondering if the other files get deleted if I restore my MacBook Pro? Thx

Using the Time Machine backup to restore to your Mac will not delete other files you have on the Time Machine backup disk.
However, in general, it is not a good idea to store live files on a Time Machine backup disk.  The Time Machine disk can fail just like any other disk.  If it does it is no big deal for Time Machine.  You purchase another drive and start another backup.  However if that drive fails, the other files on it will be lost.  So if you offload files onto an extenral drive, they should be on a non-backup drive.  Then go into the Time Machine preferences and make sure that offload drive is not excluded from the list of volumes it will backup.

Similar Messages

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    After waiting a considerable time for Time Machine to restore my whole system, applications and files I had problems in that my Macbook Pro would not restart. The Apple logo appeared but then the screen scrolled down and a lot of letters, numbers and symbols appeared - not making any sense, and a box appeared telling me to restart holding down the on button. This I did. However it kept on repeating. In the end I had to reinstall the whole lot. Fortunately I had backed up all my files. I cannot use some of the programs I have because I cannot retrieve them. I do not have a disk with them on to reload because I downloaded them from the net and they are old progs and still did what I wanted. A lot of files I have saved do not open now without the old system and apps.Can anyone come up with an idea?

    ds store wrote:
    Ah that's good to hear, does this still work if TimeMachine updates to reflect the 10.7 drive?
    There is no special update.  After installing Lion, Time Machine will do a normal "incremental" backup, of the stuff that's new or changed.  That will be relatively large and lengthy, of course, since OSX and the default Apple apps will all be backed-up.
    But there's nothing else different about the TM drive. It stil contains all the past backups, including older versions of OSX.
    In other words if a user upgrades to 10.7 and doesn't like it after a few days/weeks, has TM connected and it updated to relfect 10.7, can the user c boot off the 10.6 disk erase and restore 10.6 from the TM drive?
    Yes, except you don't have to erase. 
    You just boot from the Snow Leopard Install disc and do a full system restore.  That includes erasing the destination, so it doesn't matter what's on it.  Then everything on the backup is restored, including OSX, apps, users, data, settings, etc., just as it was at the time of the backup selected.
    See Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #14, especially step (g).  The sample is a bit fuzzy -- it's a photo, since you can't screenprint there, but note that the last two backups were made on Snow Leopard:
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  • I backed up my macbook pro using time machine and now my iphoto and itunes are empty. how do I reset the computer to an earlier date?

    I backed up my macbook pro using time machine and now my iphoto and itunes are empty. how do I reset the computer to an earlier date? and why would this have happened?

    Without more information, I can't tell you why it happened. As to how to restore to an earlier date, please check out the article below. Should help you to restore form a time machine backup.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427

  • I have chosen to fil migrate from old ibook to new MacBook Pro using Time Machine after establishing admin account. I now have two admin. accounts and wish to delete the later one and transfer files manually. I am worried I will loose both accounts. ??

    I have chosen to fil migrate from old ibook to new MacBook Pro using Time Machine after establishing admin account. I now have two admin. accounts and wish to delete the later one and transfer files manually. I am worried I will loose both accounts. ??

    Use the Office for Mac and ignore using Parallels for that. If you have PC only apps you have to run that are MS Windows only then consider Parallels. Just transfer your main PC, using Migration Assistant.  If you don't know how then simply read over Pondini's article called Lion or Mountain Lion Setup Assistant tips and look for the section on migrating from a PC. Millions have done what you are about to, it's far from leading edge these days, if you go to an Apple Store to purchase they will offer this as a service, something you might be interested in.

  • How do i restore my iTunes library using time machine

    how do i restore my iTunes library using time machine

    Quit iTunes if it is open.
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  • Transfer photos and music to a new macbook pro using time machine

    Help!  I backed up my old macbook pro to an external drive using time machine.  I want to transfer all of the photos and music to my new macbook pro, but it says I don't have permission.  I can't get permission from the old mac because it won't turn on!  I brought it to the genius bar and they couldn't turn it on either.  They suggested I take it to Staples to get the files off.

    Julie,
    Probably because you used a different account name than you had on the old one. Create a new account with the same name you had when you created the backup and run Migration Assistant. Migration Assistant is in Applications / Utitlities and you create the user by clicking the Apple icon, then System Preferences, Users & Groups.

  • Restore my macbook pro through time machine.

    I wanted to restore my macbook pro as new, so I held down the command+r and deleted the partition. I then wanted to reinstall Lion through a time machine backup, but after a couple of hours my macbook pro went to the sleep mode, so it ditn't get to do the full reinstallment. Now all I get is a grey box telling me to restart my computer by holding down the powerbutton, but nothing happens as I do so. I have tried to shut it down and start it up holding down shift, I have tried to shut it down and turn it on and holding command, option, r and p but nothing works. Please help me

    turns out I just had to hold down command + r again

  • Restore full macbook pro from time machine backup stored on Synology DiskStation DS411

    Hi,
    I backed up my macbook pro (running Mac OS x 10.8) with time machine on a Synology DiskStation DS411.
    I never had any problem to backup my entire computer (~330gb) with Time Machine, others colleagues do so.
    Recently my hard drive failed and I had it replaced. I want to restore the full computer from this DiskStation. When I turn on the computer with the new drive, It proposes me to restore the data from a disk but can't find it even though I am plugged on the netwrok.
    I tried to copy and paste the entire folder on an external hard drive with a windows 7 machine, then plugged the hard drive to the macbookpro but it could still not see the hard drive.
    I don't really know what to do anymore. Can anyone help?
    Thanks.
    J

    Backing up to a third-party NAS with Time Machine is risky, and unacceptably risky if it's your only backup. This is an example of what can happen.
    If your only backup is on the NAS, contact the vendor for support.
    If you want network backup with Time Machine, use as the destination either an Apple Time Capsule or an external hard drive connected to another Mac or a mini-tower (802.11ac) AirPort base station. Only the 802.11ac base station supports Time Machine, not any previous model.

  • How do I restore Groups to Contacts from time machine?

    How do I restore groups to Contacts using time machine?  I somehow managed to duplicate many groups and contacts in Contacts, so I deleted everything and tried to restore them using time machine backup  from a few days before.  It restored all my contacts, but none of my groups.  If you select a group and click restore it will restore all the contacts in the group, but not the group itself.  I had many groups with many contacts in each and would really prefer not to do this manually.  I can see the groups in the time machine backup, but cannot figure out how to restore them.  I know from researching online that with Address Books and previous operating systems you could go to ~Library/Applications Support/AddressBook  and restore the whole file, but either this operating systems hides the necessary files or Contacts is set up differently than AddressBook was.  I am using OS 10.9.5 and Contacts version 8.0 on a MacbookPro 13 inch mid 2010.

    Here is what I have tried:
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  • How do you restore a MacBook Pro back to the original out of the box state

    How do you restore a MacBook Pro back to the original out of the box state

    Click here and follow the instructions. If the computer originally shipped with Mac OS X 10.6.8 or earlier, when you reach step 5, insert its original disk, restart with the C key held down, use the Disk Utility to erase the internal drive, and install a fresh OS.
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  • How do i restore my macbook pro to factory to resell it

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  • How do I restore my macbook pro to factory setting

    How do I restore my macbook pro to factory setting

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    If possible backup your files to an external drive or second internal drive.
    Boot to the Recovery HD:
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  • How do i restore my macbook pro to sell it

    how do i restore my macbook pro to sell it

    Back up the entire system onto an external drive for the last time.
    Locate the original install media that came with the Mac.
    Boot off the media, start up Disk Utility.
    If needed, repartitiion the internal drive to a single partition (i.e., get rid of BootCamp)
    Format the internal drive.
    If paranoid, do a Security Erase of the drive.
    Quit Disk Utility, start the OS X installer
    Install the full OS X with all the trimmings onto the internal drive
    When the install finishes, shut it down. Do not restart, to allow new owner to customize via Setup Assistant.
    Sell computer

  • How do you restore 15" MacBook Pro to out of the box condition?

    How do you restore 15" MacBook Pro to out of the box condition?

    By reading the instructions in the "More Like This" column over here.-------->

  • After "restoring" my MacBook Pro via time capsule, all I get is a white screen with the apple in the middle and the little spin wheel spinning and spinning and spinning for 24 hrs now...

    After "restoring" my MacBook Pro via time capsule, all I get is a white screen with the apple in the middle and the little spin wheel spinning and spinning and spinning for 24 hrs now...

    Hello kdcha55,
    Thanks for using Apple Support Communities. 
    To troubleshoot this issue where your Mac is stuck on the gray screen with a spinning gear, please follow the steps in the support article linked to below.
    Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup
    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570
    Take care,
    Alex H.

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