Import Time Machine backup to new user account? Migration Assistant?

Long story short: my wife has a recent Time Machine backup from HER iMac that we would like to import as a new user account on MY iMac.
No need to import apps--just user profile, settings, photos/docs, etc.
Do I need to create a new user account for her on my iMac first? Or will it be done during the import?
Also, should I be using Time Machine for this, or the Migration Assistant?
Just looking for the easiest way to do this, as it will be a temporary situation until her new MacBook Pro arrives.
Thanks!
EDIT: Not sure if it makes a difference, but her iMac was running Snow Leopard at the time of the last Time Machine backup, and my iMac has Lion.

Use Migration assistant and import her user account from TM backup.
Don't create her user account first. Migrating her account will take care of that.
Shouldn't matter if her previous backup was SL.

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I replaced the original hdd in my early 2008 iMac. I can't move my files that were backed up with Time Machine to my new hdd using Migration Assistant. When prompted to select the "from drive", the ext. hhd does not appears as a selection. Please help!!

I replaced the original hdd in my early 2008 iMac. I can't move my files that were backed up with Time Machine to my new hdd using Migration Assistant. When prompted to select the "from drive", the ext. hhd does not appears as a selection. Please help!!

I'd recommend staring over, Pondini has created an excellent guide on how to use Setup Assistant. I'd recommend begin reading Pondini Setup Assistant tips where he talks about "Second Chance." Assuming your Time Machine backup is sound the restore should be very smooth.
Roger

Time Machine backup with multiple user accounts

How do I backup a machine using a Time Capsule/Time Machine that contains multiple user accounts? Ultimately I'd like to flexibility of using the Restore from Time Machine Backup command to port the user data of one account onto a new Mac. Thanks for any insight.

If Time Machine is enabled in one account, then when that account is active Time Machine (which is set up in that account) will backup the entire drive unless you exclude something. That backup will contain everything on the drive being backed up. You can restore either account separately, but when logged into one account you will not have access to files belonging to the other account. You can restore individual files and folders from either account, however.

Migrate time machine backup to specific user account

Hi:
I want to move my spouse from her own iMac to a user account on my current MBPro. I have plenty of disk space on the MBPro. Can I do a Time Machine backup and then migrate her entire iMac to one user account of my MBPro, leaving my current user account on the MBPro unchanged?
Thanks,
Peter

Use Migration assistant and import her user account from TM backup.
Don't create her user account first. Migrating her account will take care of that.
Shouldn't matter if her previous backup was SL.

How to move iTunes library from time machine backup to new user

I recently pruchased a new imac and woiuld like to move my entire itunes and iphoto library to a new user I set up for the new computer. I used time machine to backup my old computer (a Macbook pro I purchased in 2007), but it just transferred the exact dektop I had on the laptop, and I cannot access any of my files from the new user. So at this point I need to start with transferring the two previously mentioned sets of files to the new user, and then I also need to know how to set my computer to default to the new user when it first boots up instead of it starting up with the time machine backed up user as it does now. Thanks!

I forgot to mention the iMac is running snow leopard and macbook pro is Mountain Lion

Time Machine Backups Accessible to Network Accounts?

So I've decided to scrap portable home directories in our office and switch to network accounts for all but one user (she uses both an iMac and a MacBook Air). Everyone has an iMac at their desk and I have two Mac Mini servers running Mountain Lion Server. Server A runs DNS, directory services (and holds all user accounts), filesharing, etc. Server B runs netinstall, filesharing, and Time Machine (connected to a G-RAID fw800). Server A backs up to the G-RAID through Server B. Server B also backs up to the G-RAID.
The first thing I discovered while testing the new configuration (no local users on the iMacs) is that network accounts do not support file history in iWork documents. You can revert to a previous version of a document using pages as long as it's open but once you close it, there's no more history. I figure, that's ok. They can use Time Machine to browse previous versions of their files. Not so...
I can enable time machine, select the network disk, and authenticate with the user's password. When it tries to perform a backup, it fails, saying it cannot find the disk. I'm skeptical that it would work even if it could connect, since it would only make a backup of the client computer's local account (right?).
I can add the network mount for the time machine backups to the users' docks since the open directory server backs up, but they have to navigate through a forest of confusing folders to find what they're looking for. This is pretty much the exact path:
network>server A>backup>backups.backupdb>server HD>2013-10-03-162217>server hd>users>rachel>documents>thatfileyouneed.pages
There's got to be a better way to do this.
I want Rachel to be able to sit down at her desk, log in, and work on her files (mainly pages and numbers files). I'd like for her to be able to revert back to a previous version of her file without having to navigate through a maze of folders. Her workstation, when logged out, has nothing of value stored on it.
TL;DR - Can network users logged into an account held on a server, that's backed up through another server, click on the time machine icon and browse their files? Is there a way to get file history working on a network account?
Oh, and the stupid trackpad>natural scrolling settings keep resetting every time I log the test machine into her account on the server. What's up with that?

Time Machine icon in the dock will not do anything unless Time Machine is enabled.
Check the box marked Show Time Machine in menu bar in the preference pane. You do not have to enable TM to do that. The menu item will be grayed, but you can still hold down the option key and select Browse Other... All valid local TM volumes will appear in the list that opens, including disk images that are hosted on a network volume but mounted locally.
when the drive where the backups are stored is selected, clicking the icon (even an option click) throws up an error message.
That's a separate issue. How did you set up this volume as a backup destination? How are you backing up local files on the clients now?

Resume Time Machine Backup On New MBP (props available)

Hello Officials,
I do not mean to scare away answers, but I am an experienced Mac boy, and would be forever honored with help on (this now) complicated issue below:
Info:
My old MBP had a couple of logic board replacements, now I have the new MBP. I want to perform a clean install, and thus don't want to restore from my full time machine backup (3.3TB of data). I did use Migration-sh't-Assitant for my apps, (and proper delete process for ones I didn't want) but want further options. My main problem is that I would like to go back to having my old version of Mail (with mailbox's and rss) and my old +Address Book+. (I am aware of the longer steps to get these two to work) _As well as_, I want to resume my Time Machine backups from my old backups.
Goal:
Continue using my old Time Machine backups for my new computer. Without 'Browse Other..'.
*You Should Know -That I Know*
I can hold option for a different Time Machine, it is a terrible way to operate the machine and its files.
It is a challenge due to the MAC address.
I can just re-sync Mail with all my other accounts, but I have a lot. I don't want to do that.
Address Book, even on my 'Browse other time machine disks' this is quite funky. Open to suggestions.
I already moved the backup onto a new drive. This is different.
Link
An interesting terminal walkthrough. Unfortunately is dated and filled with errors:
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20080128003716101
I have been looking into this for hours, I'm interested in what there is.
_*+THIS IS POSSIBLE TO DO+*_
I sincerely thank you for your time, you are truly kind-
~Dylan Jones
Message was edited by: thedylanjones

thedylanjones wrote:
Hello Officials,
Hi, and welcome to the forums.
But there are no "officials" here; this is a user-to-user forum. We're all users, just like you.
I want to perform a clean install, and thus don't want to restore from my full time machine backup (3.3TB of data). I did use Migration-sh't-Assitant for my apps, (and proper delete process for ones I didn't want) but want further options. My main problem is that I would like to go back to having my old version of Mail (with mailbox's and rss) and my old +Address Book+. (I am aware of the longer steps to get these two to work)
Not sure what you mean here. Do you mean the old versions of the Mail and Address book apps, or the old data? What version of OSX is on each Mac?
An interesting terminal walkthrough. Unfortunately is dated and filled with errors:
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20080128003716101
That's outdated (2008), and not needed on Snow Leopard. When the first backup of your new Mac starts, you should get an option to "re-use" the backups. See #B5 in [Time Machine - Troubleshooting|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Troubleshooting.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum). But note that however you answer that, Time Machine will do a new, full backup of the new Mac.

Time-Machine Backup of File-Vaulted Account - Problem?

This is the situation:
I have to install the last good backup from Time-Machine. I did this but my drive was encrypted using File-Vault.
Now I cannot get past the login to my account at startup!!!!
My password is CORRECT.
I am the only user.
The login will take my password but will not progress any further past the following error message:
"Unable to log into the File-Vault Account "....." at this time. An error has occurred."
Has anybody out there heard of this happening? Does anybody see a picture of what is going on - or what could be done?
Can I ever get back my old account (complete with emails/apps/keychain/doc etc?????!!)
Regards
Greg.

O.K - So I'm now up and running again with a new installation. The Factory default installation disk has been installed.
I still have my Time-machine backup on my portable drive. The applications folder is accesible. All of my old apps are still there even though it was an encrypted HD. However, everything else is missing! iPhoto's !!!! Work documents! movies! itunes downloads etc etc...nothing in my old home folder and personal libraries are there - just the encrypted files.
Any ideas from here?

How to resolve errors (-50 and -8058) when moving Time Machine backups to new disk?

I'm trying to move my Time Machine backups (about 600GB total) to a new external hard drive. I started the process last night, but after an hour or so received two errors, each repeated multiple times:
"The operation couldn't be completed because an unexpected error occurred (error code -8058)."
"The operation couldn't be completed because an unexpected error occurred (error code -50)."
I opted to cancel the file transfer. I looked up the error codes but I'm still not sure what they mean. I found an old support article about error code -50 (Mac OS X 10.1: "Error Code -50" Alert Appears When Copying Files From a Remote Disk) and an old support article about error code -8058 that doesn't appear to be entirely relevant to my issue (Mac OS X 10.4: Error -8058, unable to eject when trying to copy a disc in Finder). I've also found a number of Support Community discussions, none of which are particularly helpful.
Questions:
What do these two error codes mean? Are the files that cause these errors somehow corrupt?
If I click "Okay" when the error dialog appears, are the files that are causing the errors transferred or are they omitted from the transfer?
If I transfer the files and click "Okay" when the errors appear, or if I use Terminal and cp -R as suggested in Mac OS X 10.1: "Error Code -50" Alert Appears When Copying Files From a Remote Disk, will I have trouble recovering files from the new backup disk?
Do I need to verify/repair permissions on the original Time Machine disk before attempting the transfer?
Is there some other method I should use (e.g. Terminal instead of Finder) to transfer the backups?
Details:
MacBook Air
Mac OS 10.8.5
Both the old and new Time Machine disks are formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)

The two drives are handled as separate drives, even if they have the same name.
In essence, the old backups are from a drive that's no longer connected; see #E3 in the Time Machine - Troubleshooting *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum.

Importing Time Machine backup from an external hard drive

Hi...to all
Last week i bought a Macbook. I pluged in my external hard drive Maxtor OneTOuch 4 Plus and it did a time machine backup on the Maxtor OneTOuch 4 Plus. The folder that was generated by the time machine on my external hard drive has the name backups.backupdb.
Then, i decided to return the Macbook and bought a Macbook Pro.
When I pluged the same external hard drive, Maxtor OneTOuch 4 Plus, although I am able to access and open individual files and folders, I am not able to copy neither any nor all the folders/files from my external hard drive to my new Macbook Pro. Moreover, I am able to access/open the files located in my external hard drive but when try to copy specific files from this drive to my Macbook Pro I get the following error message: Sorry the operation could not be completed because an unexpected error ocurred (Error code -50). Now, here is where it gets interesting: after 2 failed attempts to copy any single file from my external hard drive to my Macbook Pro desktop and receiving the above error message I am then able to copy the specific file (singular). This would mean that to copy the files and folders in the external hard drive i would need to do it on a one by one basis? If so, it would take forever...
Can someone please kindly help out.
Thanks on advance

Are you referring to the files in Time Machine's backup directory on your hard drive? If so, and if what you are trying to do is to recover those from the backup to your working volume on the Macbook Pro (which is not what your title says you want to do but seems to be implied by the body of the question) then you need to have the computer name of the Macbook Pro the same as the computer name of the original Macbook (I think that step is required), then on the Macbook Pro choose "Browse Other Time Machine Disks" from the Time Machine menu in Dock. This will allow you to recover files or folder in the usual way.
Alternatively, if you wanted to transfer all your user data in one go, you could fire up Migration Assistant and choose the Time Machine backup as the source to transfer the user data from (again I think the computer names have to be the same but I'm not totally sure).

Non Admin user can cancel the time machine backup an Admin user started?

Today I had to do a new time machine backup but as it was running the user was switched to a non admin user but that admin user was able to terminate the backup that Time Machine was running since the panel showed up on their screen. Why is that?

Barney-15E wrote:
I wouldn't think it was a bug. If I was a user trying to get something done that was processor intensive, I'd like to be able to stop the backup. As the admin, I wouldn't think missing one backup was a big deal.
The o.p. didn't seem to agree.
I'm not sure what I'd think in that situation.
But it could easily be allowed, for those who want it -- just put the TM icon in the other user's menubar before locking the preferences panel.

3 TB external for Time Machine backup of /new/ 2 TB HD

i feel like i finally got things to stop moving around with my 2 year old move to mac and i am wondering the following:
i have a 3 tb external that is backing up my MacPro internal Snow Leopard drive that is 1 TB. I also have an additional 1 TB internal drive that is running a clone backup using CCC.
i would like to upgrade to Lion and have 2 - 2 TB Black Caviar drives that i am considering using to replace the 2 - 1TB drives listed above.
should i start my TIME MACHINE backup to the 3 TB drive /fresh/ and should i expect problems with a new 2 TB primary drive?
I just can't see dropping more cash on an even bigger drive but at the same time i could use the extra space with the 2TB primary drive.
TIA

Not to worry.
See item #E3 of the Time Machine - Troubleshooting *User Tip* at the top of this forum.

Can't copy Time Machine backups to new hard drive

The external HD with the Time Machine files is unusable (it can't be written to). Disk Utilities reports missing/damaged nodes and recommends copying all files to a new volume and erasing the HD. I got a brand new HD and began copying the contents. I was able to transfer all the regular files but when I tried to copy the Time Machine files, I got this message: "The backup can't be copied because the backiup volume doesn't have ownership enabled."
I want to use the new HD as the TM volume and continue with the same sequence of backups. How can I enable the ownership soI can copy the files?
Thanks

Michael Brady wrote:
I want to use the new HD as the TM volume and continue with the same sequence of backups.
You can't.
Time Machine backups use a complex structure; everything is intricately linked together. If that structure is damaged, as yours is, they can't be copied successfully.
If you have a copy of +Disk Warrior+ or another heavy-duty 3rd-party disk repair app, it's possible it can repair the backups. DW is about $100, and probably a good investment for the future, but there's no guarantee it can fix the backups.
And it's not a good idea to mix other data with your backups. See #3 in [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 backup to new laptop

I am getting a 15" Macbook Pro. I currently have a 17" Macbook Pro backed up on an external Time Machine drive.
When I start up the new 15" Macbook Pro, I would like to transfer everything, including the operating system, from the Time Machine backup to the new computer. The 17" software is up-to-date with 10.6.4. It is a Core 2 Duo, and the new 15" will be an i7.
My question is, when I transfer, will the operating system running on the 17" be compatible with with the i7 15"?

Roger Longley wrote:
When I start up the new 15" Macbook Pro, I would like to transfer everything, including the operating system, from the Time Machine backup to the new computer.
That may or may not work, but usually isn't the best way to set up a new Mac. See #14 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum), especially the yellow box with links to a couple of Apple Support articles. Note that if you have a problem, the fix is to reinstall OSX from the Install disc.
Your best bet will be to use +Setup Assistant,+ which starts as soon as you start up your new Mac. See the green box in #19 of the FAQ. If you take all the defaults, that will transfer everything except OSX.

Can I move existing time machine backups to new, larger disk?

I have used Time Machine with success for a long time. Now I have a much larger disk drive and want to move the old backed up files to the new drive, then continue building files after that.
The current Time Machine backup file's Info says it is --get this-- 48.66 TB in size. But it sits on a 2 TB disk. I don't know if that's a mistake or a peculiar way to account for all the updates.
In the Time Machine preference screen it says I have 169 GB of 2 TB available.
Can I just copy this folder onto the new (4 TB) disk and tell Time Machine to select that as the current disk and have it continue to build and houseclean my accumulated history?
(I've started that process, but it tells me I will be copying zillions of files and will take a boatload of time to do it. It gives me a message that there isn't enough space to make the copy. But, of course, there really is.)

See Pondini's Time Machine FAQ: http://pondini.org/TM/18.html

Import Time Machine backup to new user account? Migration Assistant?

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