How to restore time machine from wireless hard drive?

I backed up my data to a wireless hard drive before I wiped my hard drive. But now I'm having trouble restoring it.
Can't restore it from time machine, as it was not fully complete.
Migration assistant asks for a password to the hard drive, which I don't know. The person in my family who bought the drive entered it, but then migration asssistant greys out continue and nothing seems to happen
I opened the hard drive myself and there's a bunch of blank files named 01 349 049 984 and such. No extension.
Help?

The exhaustive list of backup devices supported by Time Machine consists of Time Capsule and locally connected and mounted volumes, period. Time Machine can use NAS devices, but there are many caveats including but not limited to the necessity for AFP to be running on the server. Wireless storage devices introduce yet another element of uncertainty.
OS X Mountain Lion: Disks you can use with Time Machine
Anything else, and you're a test pilot. Let Apple know how it works for you.

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[SOLVED] How to Restore Folders/Files from a Hard Drive

I broke my system today; it won't boot into any run level. Rather than try to fix it, I'd like to just pull off the 4 or 5 MB of files that are on the hard drive. The partition they are in was formatted XFS. I have the 2008.06 ArchLive CD - is it possible to access files from the hard drive after booting with an ArchLive CD? If so, I could just scp them to an external server. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Last edited by tony5429 (2008-09-28 04:52:39)

You should be able to mount the partition once you've loaded up the live CD. Just figure out which one it is by using
fdisk -l
then mount it to /mnt or wherever you want it.
As for moving/saving them, I'm not entirely sure how to get them onto an external server. You might have to mount another partition in order to install any apps that you need to connect to an external server, but wait for someone who really knows to answer before you try it. If you're only talking about 4 or 5 MB, I would just mount a USB stick and dump them on there.
Last edited by Xyne (2008-09-28 03:38:02)

Restore Time Machine backup after hard drive crash

My hard drive on the mac book crashed, so I replaced it. Now I need to get my time machine back up on the new drive. I've already started using the computer and reinstalled lion, so I'm not getting the original "backup" screen. How do I find my old time machine backups?

Your best bet is to do a full restore from your backups. See #14 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions.

Backing-Up 2 Macs + Time Machine Using Wireless Hard Drive Issue

I am trying to use Time Machine to back up my iMac & MacBook wirelessly.
I have a Western Digital MyBook Essential and an Iomega iConnect wireless USB data station.
I partitioned the WD hard drive so each Mac has its own partition per WD's helpline instructions. Time Machine works just fine with the WD pugged directly into the Macs via USB. The Time Machine back-ups exist in the correct places.
The issue is that I am unable to use Time Machine wirelessly. I can mount the partitioned drives just fine on the desktop and am able to access content wirelessly just fine. The iOmega iConnect (which is configured correctly for Time Machine) recognizes the drives just fine. However, when the WD hard drive is connected wirelessly, Time Machine doesn't see it (even though it is on the desktop) and so am unable to back-up.
Any thoughts?

brit66 wrote:
I was told by Iomega that it is (and it's on the box). Plus it has a specific Time Machine setting to enable TM. So I have to presume that it is compatible.
Yes, I finally found that under Settings.
It adds a subfolder, which is not the way Time Machine normally backs-up, so it must be intercepting the instructions Time Machine is sending (or perhaps the sub-folder it sets up is actually a sparse bundle disk image.
In any event, you'll have to contact iomega for help.
As explained in the link in my previous post, a NAS is fundamentally different from an external HD; it has it's own operating system, so you have to use the setup, etc., instructions provided by the vendor. Also this type of setup often means you cannot do a full system restore.

Restore time machine to new hard drive?

My hard drive just died and will need to be replaced. Once I have a new hard drive, how can I restore all the backed up contents onto my new drive? Thanks.

William Huisking1 wrote:
I have the same question but wanted some clarification. If I restore using this technique, will my new hard drive in my computer be fully up to date with all my Time Machine applications, data, etc.?
yes.
The reason I ask, is that I do use superduper as an alternative to make sure I have a full disk image that is up to date. If Time Machine accomplishes the same thing, then perhaps I don't need superduper.
it's a good idea to have both.
My Time Machine Backup Disk Drive IS a firewire hard drive. Could I boot from that and then restore?
you can't boot from a TM drive. if you want to do a TM restore you have to boot from the install DVD. If you want to restore from a SD clone you can boot from this clone and clone it back to the main internal drive. i would probably choose that route but it's up to you.
Thanks so much.
Skip
Message was edited by: V.K.

How to restore my computer from external hard drive

I recently had to re install a new hard drive and I'm trying to restore my computer from my external hard drive... how do I do that?

S_Higg wrote:
I recently had to re install a new hard drive and I'm trying to restore my computer from my external hard drive... how do I do that?
hold c boot from the 10.6 disk, Erase the drive with Security option > Zero: Partition Option: GUID Format: OS X extended J, quit install 10.6, reboot
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3251
Next you'll be in setup assistant,
If the external drive is a TimeMachine drive you can restore, your done.
If TM is corrupt your screwed and need to perform data recovery options. Stop.
If the external drive is a clone, hold the option key and boot from it, setup the internal drive and reverse clone.
or
If the external drive a clone then set the new machine up with either the same or a different user name depending if the clone is good or bad.
Use the same name if the clone is bad, install your programs from fresh sources on the new drive, transfer files manually from the bad clone.
Use a setup different name if the clone is good, use Utilities > Migration Assistant program on the clone drive to transfer everything over.
You can use a same name with a good clone and chose to reinstall programs fresh and just transfer files you want from the good clone.
If the external drive a storage drive (just files) then set the machine up with the same user name as before and transfer files manually.

How to restore ITunes Library from Backup hard drive?

My computer crashed. I restored it -- but ITunes was wiped clean. I have all my music files and ITunes Library backed up on an external hard drive. How do I get the library from the external drive back to the computer with playlists, artwork and all intact? I guess it is more complex than just dragging the file labled library into ITunes becuase the computer won't let me do that. When I go to the original songs they are all individually in folders accorging to the artist and album -- that will take days to copy each album 1 by 1 -- I have 3,700 songs.

What you first need to do is Place the music it the Location they was in before you restored. If you had songs on the C drive in My Music folder, place them there. If iTunes was reading the music from the external, not much you have to do sincve there already there.
Now with the Library file you have to make iTUnes take the file and recreate it, this is explained here http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93313

Using Time Machine from external hard drive to start using a new MacBook

I recently totalled my MacBook (white) and am now looking to replace it with a second hand MacBook. I have an (un-totalled) external harddrive and have been using Time Machine to keep everything backed up. I found a second hand MacBook at a reasonable price but it runs OSX Tiger, whereas my old one ran Leopard. So my question is, will it be possible to plug in my external harddrive and restore everything, including the operating system, on this new (used) MacBook, or should I be looking for one that runs Leopard?
Many thanks for reading!

You can restore from Time Machine using Leopard or Snow Leopard only. What I would do if I were you is buy either of the MacBooks, but make sure you get a Snow Leopard install disc--either a retail one if you buy the Tiger MacBook, or the install disc for the pre-loaded software on the SL MacBook.
Use the SL install disc to completely erase and (re)install Snow Leopard on the MacBook. Since your Mac will be second-hand, you should fully erase it and start fresh, just in case there are some nasty little malwares left behind or other problems the original owner didn't want to deal with.
After the install, use Migration Assistant to get your data off the TM drive.

Restoring Time Machine from non-fusion drive to a Fusion Drive

I have a mid 2010 iMac (1TB HDD—before they had fusion drives) that I'm thinking of upgrading to the new iMac w/Fusion Drive because it's having hardware issues. I do a lot of development and have installed numerous packages and server configurations, of which I've been terrible at cataloging, so I'm hoping to simply do a full restore of the system from my Time Machine backup.
I've done Time Machine restores before, but I'm not sure if it will work properly. I think I remember reading (back when fusion drives came out) that time machine restores that originated on non-fusion drives can't be restored onto fusion drives. After doing a few searches I can't find reference to that, but I have this nagging memory of reading that at some point. Is this true? If I get a fusion drive will I need to start the system new? If so, will I be able to at least restore my home directory files?
Thanks!

A Fusion Drive won't behave any differently than you expect.

HT1553 Advice on restoring time machine backup after hard drive replacement install?

Can't get past "Select a Destination". Did I miss a step?

If your replacement disk isn't showing up on 'Select a Destination', the new drive might not be formatted correctly.
How is it formatted?
Allan

Restore using Time Machine to new hard drive, but last "full" backup was 2012. how do I restore the rest of the Time Machine backups, particularily IPHOTO libraries for each user?

Restore using Time Machine to new hard drive, but last "full" backup was in 2012. How do I restore the rest of the Time Machine backups, particularily IPHOTO libraries for each user?
I entered Iphoto for my user and only photo up until 2012 were in the library. I thought the restore would do the incremental Time Machine backups too.....
Running 10.8.2

It usually means you are running Mavericks but have an earlier version of iPhoto. Open the App Store and upgrade your version of iPhoto to the Mavericks version.
The iWork apps are free with a new iOS device since 1 SEP 2013. They are free with a new Mac since 1 OCT 2013. They are also free with the upgrade to OS X Mavericks 10.9 if you had the previous version installed when you upgraded.The iWork apps are free with a new iOS device since 1 SEP 2013. They are free with a new Mac since 1 OCT 2013. They are also free with the upgrade to OS X Mavericks 10.9 if you had the previous version installed when you upgraded.
iWork and iLife for Mac come free with every new Mac purchase. Existing users running Mavericks can update their apps for free from the Mac App Store℠. iWork and iLife for iOS are available for free from the App Store℠ for any new device running iOS 7, and are also available as free updates for existing users. GarageBand for Mac and iOS are free for all OS X Mavericks and iOS 7 users. Additional GarageBand instruments and sounds are available for a one-time in-app purchase of $4.99 for each platform.

I have three computers backing up onto the same Time Machine. The Hard drive of one has now failed, and I'd like to restore certain items (principally photographs) to one of the other two computers. How can I do this?

I have three computers backing up onto the same Time Machine. The Hard drive of one has now failed, and I'd like to restore certain items (principally photographs) to one of the other two computers. How can I do this?

"You can also browse the original backup disk for past backups by using "Browse other Time Machine Disks"--to see this choice, hold the Option key then click the Time Machine menu in the Finder (to see the menu, "Show Time Machine status in the menu bar" must be selected in Time Machine preferences."
Mac 101: Time Machine

Toasted my installation. Restoring from Time machine to 2 hard drives?

I just installed a second hard drive into my macbook pro. SSD is the system drive and HDD is the data drive.
When it was still working, I had my home folder on the SSD and my iTunes and Photo libraries on the HDD. Things were good.
Then I decided to move the entire home folder to the HDD.
Sys Prefs -> Users -> right-click the user -> advanced -> "move the home folder"
and again, everything was good.
Then I read something about having the user Library folder on the SSD is a good thing.
So I moved the home folder back to the SSD. Rebooted and all my prefs were now gone. Figured I messed up something and didn't want to troubleshoot.
So time for a restore.
Attempt 1
- Open Time Machine, select both hard drives, selected a past date and hit restore.
- Got a message that I didn't have enough space.
* I figure this is because time machine restores the entire contents of each drive as entire new volumes as a first step.
Attempt 2
- Go into recovery mode COMMAND+R
- Discovered I don't have a recovery partition
* I guess this is because I cloned my original system drive to the SSD using CCC and it didn't move this part.
Attempt 3
- I created a LION USB Install Key
- Booted from it, and selected 'Reinstall Lion' (because I read an article that I could recover my files after Lion had finished installing)
* Discovered that it reinstalled 10.7.0 and I would have to apply all patches on top. It didn't restore my HDD either.
* Later found out this method only restores the main system drive.
Attempt 4
- Now that I have a recovery partition, I booted from it.
- I selected "Restore from Time Machine Backup"
- Was able to select my Time Capsule, and it gave me choices on which date I would like to restore to.
- I selected and hit restore.
* It's about 25% done now. And I realize that i should've done this in the first place.
Question: Will this method restore both of my hard drives?

hsmp wrote:
Question: Will this method restore both of my hard drives?
No, only a single OSX drive. If both were backed-up, and both contained OSX, there was a (not very obvious) option to select which one you wanted.
See Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #14. Section (g) shows this.
If you want to restore the "other" drive, and it contains OSX, run the restore again and select it.
If the other drive doesn't contain OSX, use the "Star Wars" display to restore it, per FAQ #15.

Hi,disc wiped ,OSX10.9 back on ,how do I restore my data from external hard drive ?Any help welcome .

Hi,disc wiped ,OSX10.9 back on ,how do I restore my data from external hard drive ?Any help welcome .

There's Setup Assistant and Migration Assistant. The cleanest way to do it is Setup Assistant, but you only get that option once when you fire up a fresh install of OSX. If you're past that, you could reinstall OSX by booting with Command-R, or you could use Migration Assistant.
Setup/Migration Assistant instructions:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5872

How to stop Time Machine from backing up Temp Files?

Hi folks!
I am trying to find out how to stop Time Machine from constantly backing up 'useless' temporary files accumulated from web browsing? Although I don't change or add large files to my HD, Time Machine backs up hundreds of MBs every hour. Those file amounts make sense when I consider that I browse a lot to YouTube, SoundCloud, etc to watch videos or listen to music - I just don't want them to be backed up.
Under Time Machine Options I already excluded the following items from backups:
~/Library/Caches
/Library/Caches
~/Downloads
But even though I did this weeks ago, Time Machine stills finds large files to be backed up every hour and my only guess is that I am still missing a location where either Safari or Firefox - the two web browsers I use - store temporary files.
Can you help?
Thanks a lot in advance!

oas2103 wrote:
they come from my anti-virus software
Are you sure you need that? There are no viruses that run on OSX. None. Zip. Zero.
If you're running Windoze on your Mac, that's the same as running it on a PC, so it needs all the same anti-everything stuff you'd use on a PC.
There is some "malware," such as Trojans, for Macs, though. But (unlike viruses that can get onto your system without your knowledge), you must approve their installation (via your Admin password) and/or operation (via the "This application was downloaded from the internet ..." prompt).
Appropriately enough, some of these Trojans are included in pirated versions of Apple software, such as iWork!
For the gory details, see Thomas Reed's [Mac Virus Guide|http://www.reedcorner.net/thomas/guides/macvirus].
Thanks a lot again!
You're quite welcome, and thanks for posting back.

How to restore time machine from wireless hard drive?

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