Lion wont install. My hard drive is thinks it's time machine.

I can't install lion because it says that my hard drive is used for time machine backups.  What can I do?

You can easily use an external HD. If your machine has Firewire 800 that would be the fastest option. If it doesn't then a FW drive would be OK too. USB would work but would be really slow. I'd recommend any of the following:
OWC Mercury Elite Pro series
LaCie d2 Quadra series
G-Tech G-DRIVE series
Personally I use the LaCie's however OWC and G-Tech are terrific and I would be happy with thier drives too. All have similar build quality and features. Once you retire the iMac you could also use the drive as a backup or for other external storage.

Similar Messages

  • HT4718 Installed new hard drive, click on restore from time machine, get to 'select a destination' but just keeps searching for disks.. any help please?

    Installed new hard drive and want to restore from time machine.
    Get as far as 'select a destination'  then it goes no further - just keeps 'searching for disks'
    Help anyone please?

    1. Be sure your drive is attached and mounted.
    2. If you have already written any data to the drive, back it up before proceeding to the next step.
    3. In the Finder, choose Go > Utilities. The /Applications/Utilities folder will open.
    4. Launch Disk Utility.
    5. Click the icon for your external hard drive in the sidebar on the left.
    6. Click the Erase tab along the top of the window.
    7. From the Volume Format menu, choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
    8. Enter a name for the external hard drive in the Name field.
    9. Click the Erase button.
    Make Sure that you choose the correct drive

  • After installing Lion, my iomega ex. hard drive no longer recognized for time machine

    Is all my back up gone? Lion does not see the iomega external hard drive. No more automatic backup? How can I restore to Leopard if Lion doesn't recogize the Iomega?

    Thank you Jon for your reply.
    I forgot to mention that I am actually in the process of becoming a certified apple portable hardware technician. Just started going through the training program.
    I've taken many Apple computers apart and replaced most everything in them. I had to replace my original hard drive from Apple a few months ago after it was having serious problems.
    I am familiar with DiskWarrior and such programs. But that's just the thing. The Hard drive is coming back with no errors and is working fine when attached to the iBook externally via Firewire.
    I was thinking it has something to do with the logic board. But being I am not quite that advanced in my tech training I am unable to answer the problem on my own.

  • After install of Lion, secondary internal hard drive used for backup and time machine is not showing on the desktop.

    After an install of Lion, my secondary internal hard drive used for backup and time machine is not showing on the desktop. Cannot be located with Disk Utility either. Contains vital files! please help...

    I have a TB internal drive, but this is what it shows for memory slots:
    Memory Slots:
      ECC:    Enabled
    DIMM Riser B/DIMM 1:
      Size:    2 GB
      Type:    DDR2 FB-DIMM
      Speed:    800 MHz
      Status:    OK
      Manufacturer:    0x0000
      Part Number:    0x000000463732353642363145353830304600
      Serial Number:    0x00000000
    DIMM Riser B/DIMM 2:
      Size:    2 GB
      Type:    DDR2 FB-DIMM
      Speed:    800 MHz
      Status:    OK
      Manufacturer:    0x0000
      Part Number:    0x000000463732353642363145353830304600
      Serial Number:    0x00000000
    DIMM Riser A/DIMM 1:
      Size:    1 GB
      Type:    DDR2 FB-DIMM
      Speed:    800 MHz
      Status:    OK
      Manufacturer:    0x80AD
      Part Number:    0x48594D5035313241373243503844332D5335
      Serial Number:    0x42076007
    DIMM Riser A/DIMM 2:
      Size:    1 GB
      Type:    DDR2 FB-DIMM
      Speed:    800 MHz
      Status:    OK
      Manufacturer:    0x80AD
      Part Number:    0x48594D5035313241373243503844332D5335
      Serial Number:    0x4207631E
    DIMM Riser B/DIMM 3:
      Size:    Empty
      Type:    Empty
      Speed:    Empty
      Status:    Empty
      Manufacturer:    Empty
      Part Number:    Empty
      Serial Number:    Empty
    DIMM Riser B/DIMM 4:
      Size:    Empty
      Type:    Empty
      Speed:    Empty
      Status:    Empty
      Manufacturer:    Empty
      Part Number:    Empty
      Serial Number:    Empty
    DIMM Riser A/DIMM 3:
      Size:    Empty
      Type:    Empty
      Speed:    Empty
      Status:    Empty
      Manufacturer:    Empty
      Part Number:    Empty
      Serial Number:    Empty
    DIMM Riser A/DIMM 4:
      Size:    Empty
      Type:    Empty
      Speed:    Empty
      Status:    Empty
      Manufacturer:    Empty
      Part Number:    Empty
      Serial Number:    Empty

  • Hard drive packed up, but had Time Machine backup. I installed new sad and upgraded to Mountain Lion., but I can't find iPhoto library and photos or iTunes songs? Is there an answer to this?  Graham

    Hard drive packed up, but had Time Machine backup. I installed new ssd and upgraded to Mountain Lion, but I can't find iPhoto library and photos or iTunes songs? Is there an answer to this?  A backup run did not install either photos or songs. Graham

    Thanks so much but none of that helped.  It was driving me crazy because it would back up another external drive.  I just changed the name of the drive from iPhoto/iTunes Library to Media Libraries and IT WORKED!! I guess for some reason it didn't like the drive being called iPhoto or iTunes ???? I don't understand but I have tried so many solutions and exchanging things out but the name change did it????!!!
    Thank you for your help and replying to this.  Guess I made my own issue!

  • HT201250 I have two external hard drives. One is my Time Machine backup drive.  The other I use for external storage of files (documents, photos, movies, etc).  Can I set Time Machine to backup BOTH my Mac hard drive and my other external hard drive?

    I have two external hard drives. One is my Time Machine backup drive.  The other I use for external storage of files (documents, photos, movies, etc).  Can I set Time Machine to backup BOTH my Mac hard drive and my other external hard drive?

    Yes you can make multiple backups on one hard drive, for example if you’ve 1TB hard drive installed in your PC and you’ve two Mac Machines with 500GB drive each then you just make two backup images with size of 500GB each.
    http://www.halfspot.com/use-your-pc-hard-drive-for-time-machine-backup/

  • Can I switch external hard drives and still access old Time Machine backups?

    I have a Mac Book Pro linked to 2 1TB external hard drives, one used as my Time Machine Back up, the other used as a manual ad hoc back up and to store even older files.
    The TM back up drive is now full. If I just unplug it/switch it off and plug in and set up a new 2TB hard drive as my TM back up, will I still be able to access the back ups on the original TM drive if necessary, through TM?
    Wil it be a start over situation with the new drive, performing a complete back up to begin with?
    Or would you advise me to transfer the old back folder to the new drive, given that it will be larger?

    Hi den.thed,
    Thank you for this - I think the easy option by far appears to be to leave existing backups on disk 1, and plug in disk 2 and start over.

  • Working in adobe illustrator - computer crashed - will not soft boot or reset PRAM - should i reinstall from CD snow leopard 10.6.3? I have an extra hard drive in my MAC with time machine on it set to do auto back ups. How do i recover ?

    working in adobe illustrator - computer crashed - will not soft boot or reset PRAM - should i reinstall from CD snow leopard 10.6.3? I have an extra hard drive in my MAC with time machine on it set to do auto back ups. How do i recover ?

    Well first you have to figure out what is wrong with the machine and solve that problem first.
    Your post is very vague on what occured, and there are many types of "crashes" it really depends upon what see on the screen and what the hardware does, we can't see it to tell you, so you have to tell us.
    I suggest you run through these user tips and provide more information about your hardware.
    Disconnect the TimeMachine drive for now
    ..Step by Step to fix your Mac
    Help us to help you on these forums
    Create a data recovery/undelete external boot drive
    If this is going way over your head, there are local PC/Mac techs that will assist you for a fee, Apple only does hardware repairs and is advised to use them if you discover it is, especially if under warranty/AppleCare.
    Hard drive and RAM upgrades can be handled yourself or by a outside tech in many older models of Mac, but don't expect Apple to cover the new parts.
    Install/upgrade RAM or storage drive in Mac's

  • I just replaced my hard drive and restored everything from Time machine. However, I am unable to open iphoto and the following message appears Your photo library was not found. Do you want to find your iPhoto Library?

    I just replaced my hard drive and restored everything from Time machine. However, I am unable to open iphoto and the following message appears Your photo library was not found. Do you want to find your iPhoto Library?
    Where do I find this library?
    thanks
    Shak

    Twas quite a hassle if I am honest which was eventually resolved but I don't feel qualified to help anyone through the process as it required a trip to my local apple store and a genius bar appointment.
    Personally, I would do anything like moving pictures out of folders etc. Certainly not creating a new users. i don't think that is an elegant solution
    Try the following which MAY just about rescue the situation for you but if they don't work you may have to do something more drastic.
    (1) Holding down Cmd & Alt at the same time, start iPhoto by clicking on the iPhoto icon. From the resulting menu choose Rebuild photo library by selecting all available options given to you and then pressing REBUILD!
    If that doesn't work
    (2) Fire up Utilities. Go to migration assistant. Chose 'From another Time machine back-up'. Open the 'Users' option that comes up next and from there select Pictures, then uncheck everything else like Applications etc (you don't want to do a full migration of everything) and click go.
    If that doesn't work, take a deep breath and this step is rather complicated but it worked for me. First of all close iPhoto! Then go to new Finder window.
    From the Finder window choose Pictures, then iPhoto library, press CMD and the letter i. It brings up a new window. Go to Sharing & permissions. From there select the padlock to unlock settings. and then select User account, then press the 'cog' icon next to +/- abd choose Apply to enclosed items.
    This may take a while. Once completed, re-open iPhoto.
    And that should (I stress should) cure it.
    Good luck.

  • I am trying to get space on an external hard drive which has some old time machine back up files that I do not need but can not eliminate, even by going into the time machine, clicking on the backup file to be eliminated and using the drop down eliminate

    I am trying to get space on an external hard drive which has some old time machine back up files that I do not need but can not eliminate, even by going into the time machine, clicking on the backup file to be eliminated and using the drop down menu with the gear box symbol to eliminate

    I cannot find this 300GB "Backup" in the Finder, only in the Storage info when I check "About This Mac".
    You are probably using Time Machine to backup your MacBook Pro, right? Then the additional 300 GB could be local Time Machine snapshots.  Time Machine will write the hourly backups to the free space on your hard disk, if the backup drive is temporarily not connected. You do not see these local backups in the Finder, and MacOS will delete them, when you make a regular backup to Time Machine, or when you need the space for other data.
    See Pondini's page for more explanation:   What are Local Snapshots?   http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
    I have restarted my computer, but the information remains the same. How do I reclaim the use of the 300GB? Why is it showing up as "Backups" when it used to indicate "Photos"? Are my photos safe on the external drive?
    You have tested the library on the external drive, and so your photos are save there.  
    The local TimeMachine snapshot probably now contains a backup of the moved library.  Try, if connecting your Time Machine drive will reduce the size of your local Time Machine snapshots.

  • I have an external hard drive set up as a Time Machine backup on my IMac. I want to add a second external hard drive and put my Aperture Photo Library on it. Is there a way to have the photos on this second hard drive automatically back up to the Time Mac

    I have an IMac with an external hard drive set up as  a Time Machine for automatic backups. I want to add a second external hard drive and load my Aperture Photo Library on to it so that the library can be shared by both me and my wife. Is there a way to automatically backup the photo library that will be on the second hard drive to the Time Machine hard drive?

    Open System Preference > Time Machine
    Click Options....
    Ckick on external disk in list and hit the - button below the list to remove from the Exclusion list
    Allan

  • On imac 10.6.8 using current version of Aperture.  How can I access the Aperture Library  on my external hard drive that I use with time machine for backup?  I can only access the application but not the library..

    On imac 10.6.8 using current version of Aperture.  How can I access the Aperture Library  on my external hard drive that I use with time machine for backup?  I can only access the application but not the library..

    Go into Time Machine (the program not the bundle on the extrnal disk) and using Time Machine's browser go to the Folder where the library lives. You could look in the library bundle in Time Machine but that won't really tell you much,
    If you want to make sure it truely has backed up your library you will need to restore it and open the restored library with Aperture.
    If all this still has you confused you need to read up on Time Machine in order to get a feel for how it works, for what it is doing and for how to restore files from it.

  • I want to know about time machine if i can use the hard drive that i use for time machine back up as a normal hard drive too or if it's only for time machine

    I want to know about time machine if i can use the hard drive that i use for time machine back up as a normal hard drive too or if it's only for time machine
    and if it yes i want to know if i have 1TB hard disk to use the 500gb for time machine and the other 500gb for normal use

    thank you very much because i am considering to buy the porsche design hard disk 1TB and i want to have it for normal use and for time machine is a pitty to give 1TB for back up only again thanks and i know seperate the back and the working jobs are better but the i have to have 2 hardisks and i want only 1

  • Can you unplug the external hard drive you are using for time machine

    can you unplug the external hard drive you are using for time machine and then plug it back in and it work normals because i have a mac book and don't want to always be carrieing the external hard drive every where i go so can you ?

    Yes, that will work fine. It will back up normally once you plug it in again. I do this with my MacBook.

  • HT201250 i have plugged in a hard drive into my macbook, opened time machine, but my hard drive does not appear. why?

    i have plugged in a hard drive into my macbook, opened time machine, but my hard drive does not appear. why?

    Look in the Utility folder which is located inside the Applications folder.
    You don't want to do anything with the disk on a PC if you want it to work on the Mac. They both use different formats.
    Allan

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