I should know how to use Time Machine to set up new MBA

But I don't. My Time Machine is backing up my 24" iMac. I will want to copy most files, data, programs, etc., but not necessarily the OS, from Time Machine to MBA 13" 2G 128 GB Flash Drive.
Would appreciate brief instruction on how to do this?
Thanks.

Hi Pier,
What sort of Time Machine back up do you run? Do you have the external HD connected to your iMac via USB? Or are you backing up via NAS solution? Wired/wireless connection?
When you first fire up the MBA during the initial setup assistant you can choose to restore from a Time Machine backup. At which point you can do a complete replication, or you can customize what you bring over. The customization option, however, is limited by folder. So for example you can bring over your Documents folder but you cannot choose which folders within the Documents folder are brought over. The same goes for your Applications folder which can obviously be a little bit trickier as some applications might be very large.

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I have a LaCie external hard disk. I do not know how to retrieve photos from iphoto that have disappeared. I do not know how to use Time Machine

I have a LaCie external hard drive. I also have Time Machine. I somehow have "lost" almost all my 5,000+ photos from iPhoto 8.1.2. I would appreciate someone giving me directions on how to retrieve the photos from the external hard drive or Time Machine.
The last thing that I did that is different from my normal routine was to trash duplicate music tunes from iTunes. I cannot figure out how that would have caused my photos to disappear.
Thanks in advance for any assistance.
Marilyn

I remember being cautioned to never do anything with the iPhoto Library. Should I have clicked on the iPhoto Library and then Restore?
I do not know "how" items are being placed in the LaCie external drive, just that it shows a backup running about every hour. I have taken a snapshot of the Time Machine Preferences I would you to see. Maybe that would answer this question.
In March 2011 I had to have hard drive on my iMac replaced. I had been using a Seagate external drive for backups. However I was not using Time Machine. When the Apple guru was helping me restore all my files etc on the new hard drive he was not familiar with Seagate and recommended I purchase this LaCie and use Time Machine. I never had any problem retrieving items from the Seagate backup. It was very straightforward. As I mentioned previously, I just don't have a clue with the LaCie and Time Machine.
I hope this is not TMI.
Marilyn

How to use time machine to back up

how to use time machine to back up files

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities
See > http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1427
To set up Time Machine, open System Preferences > Time Machine > Select Disk, and choose the external disk you want to use to make the backups. Time Machine will start making its first backup just after selecting your external drive.
If you have more questions about Time Machine, see this website > http://pondini.org

How to transfer time machine back up to new hard drive

How to transfer time machine back up to new hard drive?

You may like to take a look at this thread... https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4207670?start=0&tstart=0

My time machine backup external hard drive has failed. I have a newer external drive already connected to my MAC but can't figure out how to get Time Machine to set up on it?

My time machine backup external hard drive has failed. I have a newer external drive already connected to my MAC but can't figure out how to get Time Machine to set up on it

http://pondini.org/TM/21.html

Mail gets stuck importing messages from Time Machine when setting up new Lion Macbook Pro

I just used time machine to set up my new 13-in mid-2012 Macbook Pro and am having trouble setting up the Mail application. It opens fine, asks me to import my messages, takes about an hour and a half, then gets stuck at "less than a minute." I then have to cancel out, and restarting causes the whole process to start over.
I've tried deleting the Envelope Index, but that didn't help. I also tried restarting the computer. Hitting "Cancel" instead of "Continue" to try to set up Mail without importing my messages just exits the application.
Any ideas why it hangs at the very end, and how I can avoid this?

Did anyone find a solution here?
This has happened to me after numerous crashes over the years and just did again. Seems to be a recurring problem when dealing with lots of mail messages.
Today, after 3 attempts, it still hangs up on 50,951 of 166,972 (yes there are a lot and for a reason).

How to use time machine to replace the current iMovie for one a few weeks ago?

I have a movie in iMovie that somehow became unusable. The size says it is 10GB when it should only be about 1GB. I have been to the Genius Bar for a total of 4 hours and the only solution we can find is to REMAKE the entire movie. They say that one or more of my movie clips must have imbedded data that it shutting the whole iMovie program down. They say there is no way to know which clip is causing the problem. I really don't want to remake the entire 2 hour movie. I tried to use time machine and found my movie from about 3 weeks ago (before it ballooned to 10GB--so I guess before I added the bad clip) and I just wanted to replace my current one with this version and just fill in the last 3 weeks of data. However I can't seem to do this. Does anyone know how to do this using iMovie '08?

sheri69 wrote:
I tried to use time machine and found my movie from about 3 weeks ago (before it ballooned to 10GB--so I guess before I added the bad clip) and I just wanted to replace my current one with this version and just fill in the last 3 weeks of data. However I can't seem to do this. Does anyone know how to do this using iMovie '08?
You don't do it with iMovie, but with Time Machine.
Quit iMovie, then locate and select the file you want to restore in your backups via the "Star Wars" display and click the Restore button. See #15 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions.

How do use Time Machine to back up to my network drive?

I have been dealing with this issue for days. When I had bought my MacBook Pro a couple of weeks ago I figured Id try and back it up to my 1.5tb Western Digital HD that's plugged into the USB port on my router. I Have connected to it through finder and can access it fine however my main point in getting to it is to back up my MacBook with Time Machine over the air to the external HD. I have researched and tried many tricks such as running codes in finder to create a "sparsebundle" using the code " hdiutil create -size 100g -fs HFS+J -volname "Time Machine" COMPUTERNAME_XXXXXXXXXXXX.sparsebundle " in Terminal. I was able to succeed in creating one but my problem comes when I want to transfer it to the network drive. I use the code " rsync -aE COMPUTERNAME_XXXXXXXXXXXX.sparsebundle /Volumes/NETWORKDRIVE/ ". However I get error codes such as "file could not be transferred (23)" and "no file or directory (2)". Also before I did all of these steps I made sure to make network drives discoverable in Time Machine by running the code " defaults write com.apple.systempreferences TMShowUnsupportedNetworkVolumes 1 " in Terminal. However without using the trick that I keep getting errors with Time Machine gets error message 45 when attempting to back up to the Network Drive straight after making the Drive discoverable. I know Apple niched Time Machine back ups on network drives after or toward the end of Leopard and thats why it is so hard to do it now but I was hoping someone can aid me in my never ending problem?

Hi Barney
What format is the drive on the router? It has to be HFS+ (Extended, journaled).
Sorry Barney, that's not correct in this context. The user must create an HFS+ sparse bundle and then upload it to the network drive. The network drive will be formatted as its formatted.
I also believe it has to be an Apple Airport Extreme router.
Again, that is not the case. I am successfully using Time Machine to an Iomega network drive for the last 12 months. No issues at all.
However, you are making your backup completely unreliable.
There may be an element of truth to this, however, I have used the "Star Wars" interface to recover individual files directly. If I should need to perform a larger recovery and for some reason I can't get the usual access through Apple software, I have established that I can directly access the sparse bundle on the drive and mount it on the computer. Once there, I can just copy files directly from it. The sparse bundle folder structure makes it easy to get the latest version of every file with a couple of mouse drags. This means that I will always be able to get access to my backups.
Apple nixed it because they couldn't get it to work reliably. I imagine they only support that sort of thing on their own Time Capsule because they can control the wireless transmission and error checking (and they sold TCs specifically for that purpose).
I don't know why Apple nixed it - I've had zero problems with this configuration and it is by far the most sensible way to use Time Machine. It seems completely pointless to have a portable MacBook and then have to physically connect a drive to it permanently for backup purposes.
I've only had personal experience with the Iomega drive - maybe it only works with a limited number of manufacturers?
Bob
Message was edited by: Bob Lang1

How to use Time Machine with an external drive?

Hi…I’m new to this, I hope someone can help me=)
I’m trying to back up my Macbook Pro 10.6.8 using Time Machine with an external drive Seagate Backplus Slim. I’ve tried several solutions that I’ve found through different forums but still wouldn’t work.
Every time I opened Time Machine, it has this appearance:
Then when I click “Select backup Disk”, it goes on like this:
And after I click “Set Up Time Capsule”, it has this:
It keeps saying that it couldn’t find AirPort wireless, even though I have good WIFI connection.
Anyone know what I should do? Please help….Thanks everyone

Ayuphie ~ In your Time Machine Preferences panel, slide the OFF-ON switch to the ON position:

How to use Time Machine with newly cloned source disk?

I've got an iMac (10.6.8) which I'm using with a Time Capsule and Time Machine.
Recently, the iMac's internal disk started to fail. Instead of going through the effort and expense of replacing it in a fairly old computer, I added an external FireWire disk, cloned the internal disk onto it using Carbon Copy Cloner, and then unmounted the internal disk. Now I'm running the exact same system off the external FireWire disk (with no obvious performance loss, I'm happy to say).
When Time Machine saw the new disk, it started to prepare to copy everything on it. I don't know if it was going to treat it as a separate set of backups (like a separate computer), or treat it as a massive update to all the files on the same computer.
Here's what I want to happen, in order of preference:
(1) Get Time Machine to treat the new disk as the same filesystem as the old disk, and update only the files that have changed.
(2) Have Time Machine start a new backup folder. The initial backup will be slow of course.
(3) Time Machine treats the new filesystem as continuous with the old one, but with 300GB of sudden "changes" (because all the files are "different"). This is my least preferred option.
Can anyone advise me as to what my options are, and to what Time Machine will do if left to its own devices?

I think that the way that Time Machine works, you will either have to go with your option (3) [inefficient from the perspective of disk space usage] or simply erase the backup drive and start anew with a new Time Machine backup process [efficient from a space usage perspective but you lose all the verisoning info from previous backups].
Time Machine will see the cloned drive as a physically different drive with lots of files that it has never backed up. I think the only way it could tell that they were the same files content wise as what you had backup up earlier would be to do a bit by bit comparison (which Time Machine does not do). I think Time Machine might look at some file meta data and there might be a way to spoof it so it thinks what you want it to think, but imagine the work required to do this for hundreds of thousands of files. Some disk clone software claims to try to do this and some have bit by bit cloning options, but Time machine will still see that external drive as a physically different (never backed up) drive from the internal one that it has backed up. It might be nice to have a Time Machine option so you could tell it what you want it to assume and do, but Time Machine has a fairly simple interface and doesn't present the user with such an option (to my knowledge).
If it were me, I would buy a new Time Machine backup drive and use that to backup the external cloned drive (now your primary drive), while saving the original Time machine backup drive as an archive with all its versioning, which provides you with additional backup redundancy and history. After some time has passed, you could eventually decide to erase that (by then, older) Time Machine backup drive and use it for some other purpose.

How to use Time Machine/Migration Assistant

I have a 2008 Mac Pro that died. I now have a 2010 Mac Pro. The 2010 Mac Pro only has the original Apple software installed so far (updated to 10.6.8).
I have a Time Machine backup drive from the 2008 Mac, as well as an additional hard drive that may contain all or most of the data from the now dead 2008 machine.
Presently, I must use OS 10.6.8 because of my need to run some legacy software. How do I use Time Machine from my 2008 Mac Pro to get my items on the 2010 Mac Pro?

Here is another point of view:
Setting-up a new Mac from an old one, its backups, or a PC
And another speedup to consider at this juncture:
User Tip: Creating a lean, fast Boot Drive

How to use Time Machine before and after installing a new hard drive

So basically I'm buying a new hard drive for my Macbook pro and I have a lot of files on my computer that I would like to save. I have never used Time Machine before so I need help on how to set it up before AND after installing the harddrive so my files get transferred onto the new hard drive. Thanks in advance

wjosten wrote:
Me, I would never use Time Machine to do this. What I'd suggest you do is get an exterior enclosure for your new drive. Then use either Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper to clone your existing drive to your new drive. Once done, verify your clone is bootable & all of your data present. Then swap drives & use your old drive for Time Machine backups(after erasing it). Then get another drive & exterior enclosure to regularly clone your new drive to.
Unless he was swapping for a lower capacity HDD or to a lower capacity SSD, then the old drive would make a lousy Time Machine disk. However, whenever I swap out a disk I do exactly what you do. CCC to get the ol drive onto a new one. Test by starting up to the new (but still external drive). Then replace the internal drive.
I usually just sell the old drive on eBay. My Time Machine backup is always 2X the size of the internal drive, which I believe is a bit above recommendations, but works for me. The price of large external drives is almost the same as smaller internal ones.

TS3161 how to use time machine to reconstitute old iPhoto library

In moving photos in other files to the Pictures Folder, I somehow changed the iPhoto Library. How do I use Time Machine to put the iPhoto Library back in the right place with the picture data for iPhoto prior the the additions to the Picture folder.

Open Home/Folder/Pictures/iPhoto
Click the Time Machine icon in the toolbar and enter...
Go back in time and click restore...

How to use Time Machine to restore previous OS

I have a 2009 27-inch iMac, still running Snow Leopard 10.6.8. I would like to upgrade to Yosemite, but the more I read on this forum, the more terrified I get. If I try it, and then run into some of the hideous problems I read, can I use Time Machine to get back to where I am now?

or maybe do a 'baby step' upgrade to Mountain Lion. Would that make any sense?
That does not make any sense - even if you could do it which you cannot.
An easy way to revert/retreat is to make a bootable clone (SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner work well) on an external drive. If you need to retreat, you can do that from there.
but the more I read on this forum, the more terrified I get.
Incidentally, I suggest you forget the anecdotal "problems." OS X 10.10 is stable and works well. This place is like a hospital where everone is sick. Here, everyone posting has a problem. None of us post "everything is working well comments" - which would be silly in any event.
IMHO, your bigger risk is to continue to run your computer on back level and unsupported software. Sooner or later, you are going to have problems.
Barry
P.S. Like everything else, the above is my opinion

How to use Time Machine to backup a disk image

I have my iPhoto libray in a disk image in the shared folder so that it can be shared by two user accounts. Is there a way to use Time Machine to backup the mounted image? I don't want to backup the entire disk image file every time there is a change in iPhoto (over 200GB!). I'd like to just backup the changes, but so far, it doesn't seem to work?

There is no way to back up a mounted, writable disk image with Time Machine. If you want to keep data on a disk image, the best option is to convert it to a sparsebundle, which consists of many small files instead of one big file. It will be backed up much more efficiently, but only when not mounted.

I should know how to use Time Machine to set up new MBA

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