Looking to format and start fresh....time machine backups

I have a 13" MBP purchased with Snow Leopard, currently running Lion. I am looking to start from scratch - just because I have a ton of stuff on here that I don't need, a bunch of junk. I just feel like it is time to start over.
That being said, I have my re-install disk that came with the laptop. I also have time machine backups from earlier today.
My questions are - if I go through with this and re install fresh-
1. How do I get back to Lion (I ultimately want to get to mountain lion)
2. What will happen with my time machine backup from my laptop now (pre-format) once I start running time machine on my laptop post-format? Will it over write? Will I still be able to access the archived data?
Thanks
sb

You don't use the 10.6 disk or the TM drive.
You need to copy your Users folders to a regular external storage drive, not just TimeMachine as it will restore stuff you don't want.
10.7 has a Recovery HD partition on the drive which you hold command r boot into to erase and install OS X Lion onto the Macintosh HD partition. Provided you have your AppleID and password, fast, good Internet connection.
Create the same named user on the machine as before.
You then hit AppStore and update to 10.8 if your machine qualifies for it.
You then hold option key and click on Purchases to redownload any software you installed from there.
You if 10.8, then need to turn Gatekeeper in System Preferences to "Install from Anywhere"
You then install 10.8 compatible software from outside sources.
http://roaringapps.com/apps:table
Last you connect the external storage drive and go through your folders and cherry pick what you want and don't want on the new setup. Nothing from the User/Library folder.
Then once that's complete, you create a couple of bootable clones, each on their own external drive using Carbon Copy Cloner, these are hold option key bootable drives for restoring or use when the hard drive dies or becomes corrupted.
You then hook up TimeMachine, it will update to 10.8 and your new configuration wiping all the old stuff pretty much away due ot the large change, or else you can keep it disconnected to restore back to 10.7.5 with, but you need to erase the drive c booted from the 10.6 disk first as you can't go backwards with TM, only on a wiped drive.
Most commonly used backup methods
https://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718

Similar Messages

I am out of space on my Macbook Air and have a Time Machine Backup. I want to complete reset my mac, but wonder if I can pick and choose what I restore to my computer? Can I also use my time machine backup and external storage as well?

I am out of space on my Macbook Air and have a Time Machine Backup. I want to complete reset my mac, but wonder if I can pick and choose what I restore to my computer? Can I also use my time machine backup as external storage as well for the files I don't need everyday?

If you are using "Restore from Time Machine Backup" option from OS X Recovery, you can only choose from the broad categories presented.
... Can I also use my time machine backup as external storage as well for the files I don't need everyday?
To be clear, if you are asking if you can use the volume containing your Time Machine backup to store additional, non-Time Machine files, the short answer is yes.
It's not a good idea though, since the Time Machine backup will eventually fill all available space, after which it begins to remove old, "expired" backups to make room for newer ones. The presence of additional files doesn't change that fact, and Time Machine will not erase them, but you will encounter a dilemma should you want to store additional files on that volume when there is no remaining space. You will have to make room for them on your own, by deleting existing files. Furthermore, since Time Machine cannot back up its own volume, those additional files will not be backed up by Time Machine.
The easy solution for what you describe is to purchase additional external storage. External USB hard disk drives have become very inexpensive; about $55 will buy a perfectly suitable 1 TB drive.
You can also choose to replace your MacBook Air's internal storage with a larger capacity one. Look for a suitable replacement from OWC / MacSales:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/SSD/OWC/Air-Retina
That gets a little more expensive but it is the optimum solution.

I just installed a larger hard drive, and used my Time Machine Backup to transfer my info back to the new hard drive. When I open Iphoto, my thumnails are there, but they aren't linked back to the actual photos.I see the photos in my HD. What should I do

I just installed a larger hard drive, and used my Time Machine Backup to transfer my files back to the new hard drive. When I open Iphoto, my thumbnails are there, but they aren't linked back to the actual photos. I see the original photo files in my HD. Is there a way to link the Iphoto thumbnails back to the original files?

Use the Firewire cable and t boot the old Mac's hard drive to the new Mac's desktop and transfer your entire iPhoto folder.
Use Disk Utiliy to erase'format HFS+ Journaled your TimeMachine drive and use the free Carbon Copy Cloner and clone your new boot drive to the external, it's hold option bootable.

I have had to reinstall my Mavericks OS and use a Time Machine backup. Now when I open InDesign I get Error:5 , AMT subsystem failure. Do you know a fix for this?

I have had to reinstall my Mavericks OS and use a Time Machine backup. Now when I open InDesign I get Error:5 , AMT subsystem failure. Does anyone have a fix for this?

I have had to reinstall my Mavericks OS and use a Time Machine backup. Now when I open InDesign I get Error:5 , AMT subsystem failure. Does anyone have a fix for this?

If i upgrade from 10.6.8 to Mountain Lion and do a Time-Machine-Backup, is it possible to restore my mac on Mountain Lion?

If i upgrade from 10.6.8 to Mountain Lion and do a Time-Machine-Backup before, is it possible to restore my mac on Mountain Lion with this Backup made on Snow Leopard?
Thx guyz

You don't need to restore anything.
Just upgrade. That replaces Snow Leopard with Mountain Lion, without disturbing anything else.
But by all means, always keep up-to-date backups, in case something goes wrong.

Starting a Fresh Time Machine backup?

After a long, arduous journey trying to install Snow Leopard, I am finally returning to my regular workflow. I am having one small problem with Time Machine though.
I have a hard drive hooked up to an airport extreme with 2 backups (sparsebundle files) on it... one is my backup from Leopard and the other is my girlfriend's backups. I would like to keep my backup from Leopard and just start a fresh new backup from Snow Leopard. How can I do this?

mbw234 wrote:
Pondini wrote:
Yes, but it will take much longer than simply partitioning. Of course, that's assuming there's enough contiguous free space on the disk to partition it. You might have to manually "compact" the sparsebundle(s) first.
It wouldn't take any longer than when did my very first time machine backup will it?
The initial backup should be about the same. I'm talking about partitioning vs. copying the sparse bundle.
I want to start over because my upgrade to Snow Leopard destroyed my hard drive so I had to do a clean install, and then my restore from time machine didn't go well, so I ended up restoring my system manually (re-installing apps, move files/folders one by one). So I rather not continue my Leopard backups since my system is completely different now.
Ah, now I see. Whatever you do, then, TM will do a full backup.
If you let it continue to the existing sparsebundle, that will, of course, take a lot of space, and TM may have to delete a number of old backups, but it shouldn't be a problem unless there's a problem with the old backups.
If there is a problem with them, then I'd recommend either doing the copy and delete (you may not be able to copy them), or running a +*Repair Disk+* (not permissions) on the sparsebundle via Disk Utility. You'll probably have to mount it first, and perhaps drag it into DU's sidebar if it doesn't appear automatically.

HT201250 Mac OS 10.6 - How to restore OS and Data from Time Machine Backup

my exisitng iMac have a defective hard drive that i need to be replace. how do i restore the OS and data to the new hard disk? i have Time Machine backup from the previous hard disk. (note: the OS is 10.6, and i do not have the install disk)

cindy1023 wrote:
i had a hacker get in my computer, got all my info used my name and passwords to convert safari into windows on another computer? and APPLE IS THE ONE GAVE HER THE PASSWORD.
There is no way to "convert" Safari into Windows. And very unlikely for a hacker to get into a Mac.
But, ok, your system is all messed-up somehow.
First, what version of OSX is on your Mac? If you don't know, click the Apple icon at the upper-left of the screen and select About This Mac. You'll see a display like this:
We need the Version number.
Second question: do you have backups made with Time Machine (on an external HD or the like) that you want to restore, or do you want to start your Mac over fresh, the way it came from the factory?
p.s. i dont have the disc it came with , my daughter set it up for me to get started !
You may need that, depending on what version of OSX you're running, to restore the backups or start fresh.
You really should have a copy of the original disc, as there's an Apple Hardware Test on it, tailored to the hardware on that Mac. You'll need it it there's ever a problem. If your daughter can't send it, call AppleCare (800-275-2273),and give them your serial number -- they can send you a replacement for a nominal fee.
Sorry, but it's late here, and I'm going to bed, but will be back tomorrow.

I had my hard drive replaced and since my Time Machine backups say failed

I had my hard drive replace and since my Time Capsule backups are failing. The exact message is:
The backup was not performed because an error occurred while copying files to the backup disk.
The problem may be temporary. Try again later to back up. If the problem persists, use disk utility to repair your backup disk.

No, replacing your hard drive has nothing to do with it. There is a problem with your backup drive. As far as Time Machine is concerned replacing a drive is no different than buying a new computer. Time Machine will need to make a brand new backup from scratch.
If you have a large enough backup drive this may not be a problem. Otherwise, you may not have sufficient space to maintain a new backup and keep the old one. So, I would suggest under the circumstances that you erase your backup drive, then start a new Time Machine backup from scratch.
Drive Erase
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After Disk Utility loads select the volume you wish to format from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the Disk Utility main window.
3. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Erase button and wait until the process has completed.
For additional help with Time Machine: Visit Pondini's Time Machine FAQ for help with all things Time Machine.

Can I use the same hard drive to back up my photos and also do Time Machine backups?

I bought a 1T external hard drive today for my MacBookPro with the intentions of backing up my iPhoto library, and then deleting it to make more space on my hard drive.
I also tried and failed to install Time Capsule because my Verizon modem won't let Time Capsule run with it unless I use Time Capsule as my wireless.
That said, I want to back up my computer, and even though I copied my iPhoto library already, I have plenty of space to do a Time Machine backup as well.
Is this something I can do? Please let me know. After two hours on the phone with Apple only to learn Time Capsule was a waste of money, I'm hoping I don't need to buy another external HD yet…

If you want to use the drive for both TimeMachine and storage, attach the drive and then open Finder > Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility. Choose the new hard drive from the left sidebar, and then in the main panel choose Partition.
Choose the number of partitions to be two. Click the first partition and change the size if you do not want the default half of the drive. Name the partition (such as Backups), then accept the default format Mac OS X Extended (Journaled) and the partition table as GUID. Click Apply and confirm you want to erase the drive.
Then do the same for the second partition, but of course, give it a different name.
When finished Quit Disk Utility.
Turn ON TimeMachine in System Preferences and direct it to your backup partition.

After Mountain Lion update - problems synching contacts and accessing previous Time Machine backup

I have just set up a MacBoook Pro with a new SSD drive to replace the internal hard drive. I made sure I had a current Time Machine then connected the SSD drive externally and installed Mountain Lion. I installed the SSD drive into the computer. Before restoring applications from the Time Machine backup, I enabled the root user, logged on as that and deleted all other accounts as I have previously had issues with creating a new account from a backup and making that the 'home' user.
All went well except that a few seconds after I opened Contacts they all disappeared. They were replaced with two entries - one for Apple and one with the name of the home account.
I tried to retrieve Contacts from the Time Machine backup. I could see all the past dates but they were all red and inaccessible.
I looked at Contacts in my account at iCloud.com - they were the same 2 contacts as my local machine. I went through the installation process again but made sure that there was no connection to the Internet on completion. My contacts were intact. I exported them to a file and turned on the Internet. A few seconds later, my Contacts were gone..!
I imported from the backup I had made but, after a few seconds they were replaced with the two contacts from iCloud. Nothing I tried would allow me to add the contacts and have them synch to iCloud. I finally found a workaround:
1 disconnect from the Internet
2 import Contacts from the export file
3 select all contacts (ctrl-A) and drag them to the 'on my mac' account in Contacts
4 connect the Internet and watch all the contacts disappear from the iCloud account
5 select all contacts from the 'on my mac' account adn drag them to the iCloud account.
6 watch them synch to iCloud
I still don't understand the problem - perhaps someone can enlighten me - but here's the workaround if someone is having the same problem.
And I still can't access the Time Machine backup that I used to setup the MacBook Pro. Looking at the files within the Time Machine the backup. it looks as though it is probably a permissions issue but I don't see why as the account I am using is the same name as the one used to create the backup. Any guidance would be appreciated.
Jeff

I think you went about this the wrong way. ok....
Could you please try this... (1) Open Address Book - keep it as the main window. (2) Enter Time Machine from the icon in the menu bar... do you have that icon? If not, Open System Preferences, Click Time Machine, put a check mark in Show Time Machine in Menu bar. Close System Preferences. Go back to your addressbook. Make it the primary application open. Now go to the icon in the menu bar that represents TimeMachine and click Enter Timemachine. You should see your stuff...
if you dont...
I would also try...
Open system preferenes. go to the icloud tab. sign out. then sign in.
jdxxs wrote:
I have just set up a MacBoook Pro with a new SSD drive to replace the internal hard drive. I made sure I had a current Time Machine then connected the SSD drive externally and installed Mountain Lion. I installed the SSD drive into the computer. Before restoring applications from the Time Machine backup, I enabled the root user, logged on as that and deleted all other accounts as I have previously had issues with creating a new account from a backup and making that the 'home' user.
All went well except that a few seconds after I opened Contacts they all disappeared. They were replaced with two entries - one for Apple and one with the name of the home account.
I tried to retrieve Contacts from the Time Machine backup. I could see all the past dates but they were all red and inaccessible.
I looked at Contacts in my account at iCloud.com - they were the same 2 contacts as my local machine. I went through the installation process again but made sure that there was no connection to the Internet on completion. My contacts were intact. I exported them to a file and turned on the Internet. A few seconds later, my Contacts were gone..!
I imported from the backup I had made but, after a few seconds they were replaced with the two contacts from iCloud. Nothing I tried would allow me to add the contacts and have them synch to iCloud. I finally found a workaround:
1 disconnect from the Internet
2 import Contacts from the export file
3 select all contacts (ctrl-A) and drag them to the 'on my mac' account in Contacts
4 connect the Internet and watch all the contacts disappear from the iCloud account
5 select all contacts from the 'on my mac' account adn drag them to the iCloud account.
6 watch them synch to iCloud
I still don't understand the problem - perhaps someone can enlighten me - but here's the workaround if someone is having the same problem.
And I still can't access the Time Machine backup that I used to setup the MacBook Pro. Looking at the files within the Time Machine the backup. it looks as though it is probably a permissions issue but I don't see why as the account I am using is the same name as the one used to create the backup. Any guidance would be appreciated.
Jeff

Recovering Notes and Reminders from Time Machine Backup

There doesn't seem to be any consistency for how Time Machine recovery works with apps. With some apps, like mail, if you're in mail when you enter Time Machine, you actually see your old (backed-up) versions of mail from which you can simply recover an email message. I just upgraded from Lion to Mountain Lion and Notes and Reminders are now their own apps. If I open Time Machine with either Notes or Reminders on the screen, TM opens with a Finder window. Is there any way to recover individual Notes or Reminders (as in mail) through TM? Or, is there a way to recover an entire Notes database from TM?
Thanks,
John

First run Time Machine to make a current backup of all your files.
Next, make a backup of your current notes by mailing them to yourself.
Then backup Reminders using
Reminders > File > Export...
To restore Notes and Reminders from Time Machine:
- Login to iCloud.com.
- Notes.
- Mail each note to yourself as a backup.
- Quit iCloud.
- Reminders > File > Export...
- Turn off wi-fi.
- Quit Notes.
- Option-Go > Library > Containers .
- Enter Time Machine.
- Select a date.
- Restore com.apple.notes .
- Restore com.apple.reminders .
- Start Notes.
- Start Reminders.
- Turn on wi-fi.

How to manually start a Time Machine backup?

Is there any way to invoke a time machine backup?
It seems that it's set on its schedule and that's that .... you can't tell it to run a backup.....

Make sure you have the TM icon in your dock (drag it from Applications if necessary)
To start a back immediately, right-click the icon and select 'Back Up Now'

Sophos found a virus and trojan in Time Machine backup. What to do?

I ran Sophos Anti-Virus last night and it found two Windows viruses (one of them is Troj/20120158-P, a trojan, the other is Mal/TibsPk-A, a "malicious behavior" type). Both are attachments on emails that are in Time Machine only. Obviously I'm not worried about them affecting the Mac, but I'd like to avoid accidentally sending them to some poor victim who's using Windows.
I can track down the files by going into the drive and manually deleting them, but would that mess up Time Machine? Is there a better solution?
Thanks!

You should never poke around in your Time Machine backups to delete files in the Finder. That can damage the backups. You also should make sure that Sophos does not attempt to quarantine files from your Time Machine backup. In fact, you probably should ensure that Sophos (and any other anti-virus software) never touches your Time Machine backups in any way, even just for scanning. Let Sophos do its job of keeping the malware off your main hard drive, and leave Time Machine alone to back up freely without interference.
As for how to handle those e-mail messages in your backups, I would just leave them. They're not doing any harm there, and there's almost no chance that a chain of circumstances would arise that would result in you restoring those messages and then sending them to a Windows user. They will eventually be removed from your backups, when the backup drive fills up and Time Machine has to start removing the oldest deleted files from the backup to make room for new stuff.

I have recently Re-imaged my 24intel 2Gb Ram Leopard, after carrying out and checkign the time machine Backup., I have recently Re-imaged my 24intel 2Gb Ram Leopard, after carrying out and checkign the time machine Backup.

I have been having issues with the iMac and so decided to Erase/Install from scratch after first carrying out a Time Machine backup (which I checked had worked)
Once installed I tried to mount the USB drive and it didn't show.
I checked all the usual features and Preferences but finally cheked Disc Utility.
Disc Utility showed me the onboard drive with the Sectors/Partitions whilst the External WD Drive USB showed only as a single line with no sectors/partitions.
After rebooting a few times the drive mounted once and I got 90gb of data off it but then it failed again never to return since.
I still keep on getting the 'Virtual Drive' for backup software mounting every time though so it appears that the physical drive is ok.
Any ideas on getting it to mount or getting my data back??

I have been having issues with the iMac and so decided to Erase/Install from scratch after first carrying out a Time Machine backup (which I checked had worked)
Once installed I tried to mount the USB drive and it didn't show.
I checked all the usual features and Preferences but finally cheked Disc Utility.
Disc Utility showed me the onboard drive with the Sectors/Partitions whilst the External WD Drive USB showed only as a single line with no sectors/partitions.
After rebooting a few times the drive mounted once and I got 90gb of data off it but then it failed again never to return since.
I still keep on getting the 'Virtual Drive' for backup software mounting every time though so it appears that the physical drive is ok.
Any ideas on getting it to mount or getting my data back??

How to reinstall Mail and itunes from Time Machine backup

My Mac Pro is running slow and AppleCare have advised to do a clean install of 10.6.6
All my files are backed up and I have done a TM backup. I want to be able to reinstall Apple Mail with all my family email and business email accounts & emails in it and also iTunes with all music and podcasts.
Is there any way I can do this directly from a back up of Time Machine without having to reinstall the whole thing once my machine has had a clean install.
Thanks in advance
Matt

First, reinstall OS X as you've been instructed to do. Upon completion of the installation Startup Assistant will give you the option to restore from a TM backup or other external drive. Restore your Home folder, Applications, support files, and network preferences which should return all your files.
If you restore your old system entirely then you will have what you now have - a slow running system.
But before you perform all of the above what you might try first are these:
A. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer. Now restart normally.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
B. Kappy's Personal Suggestions for OS X Maintenance
For disk repairs use Disk Utility. For situations DU cannot handle the best third-party utilities are: Disk Warrior; DW only fixes problems with the disk directory, but most disk problems are caused by directory corruption; Disk Warrior 4.x is now Intel Mac compatible. TechTool Pro provides additional repair options including file repair and recovery, system diagnostics, and disk defragmentation. TechTool Pro 4.5.1 or higher are Intel Mac compatible; Drive Genius is similar to TechTool Pro in terms of the various repair services provided. Versions 1.5.1 or later are Intel Mac compatible.
OS X performs certain maintenance functions that are scheduled to occur on a daily, weekly, or monthly period. The maintenance scripts run in the early AM only if the computer is turned on 24/7 (no sleep.) If this isn't the case, then an excellent solution is to download and install a shareware utility such as Macaroni, JAW PseudoAnacron, or Anacron that will automate the maintenance activity regardless of whether the computer is turned off or asleep. Dependence upon third-party utilities to run the periodic maintenance scripts had been significantly reduced in Tiger and Leopard. These utilities have limited or no functionality with Snow Leopard and should not be installed.
OS X automatically defrags files less than 20 MBs in size, so unless you have a disk full of very large files there's little need for defragmenting the hard drive. As for virus protection there are few if any such animals affecting OS X. You can protect the computer easily using the freeware Open Source virus protection software ClamXAV. Personally I would avoid most commercial anti-virus software because of their potential for causing problems.
I would also recommend downloading the shareware utility TinkerTool System that you can use for periodic maintenance such as removing old logfiles and archives, clearing caches, etc. Other utilities are also available such as Onyx, Leopard Cache Cleaner, CockTail, and Xupport, for example.
For emergency repairs install the freeware utility Applejack. If you cannot start up in OS X, you may be able to start in single-user mode from which you can run Applejack to do a whole set of repair and maintenance routines from the commandline. Note that AppleJack 1.5 is required for Leopard. AppleJack 1.6 is compatible with Snow Leopard.
When you install any new system software or updates be sure to repair the hard drive and permissions beforehand. I also recommend booting into safe mode before doing system software updates.
Get an external Firewire drive at least equal in size to the internal hard drive and make (and maintain) a bootable clone/backup. You can make a bootable clone using the Restore option of Disk Utility. You can also make and maintain clones with good backup software. My personal recommendations are (order is not significant):
Backuplist
Carbon Copy Cloner
Data Backup
Deja Vu
iBackup
JaBack
Silver Keeper
MimMac
Retrospect
Super Flexible File Synchronizer
ynchronizer
SuperDuper!
Synchronize Pro! X
SyncTwoFolders
Synk Pro
Synk Standard
Tri-Backup
Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQs on maintenance, optimization, virus protection, and backup and restore.
Additional suggestions will be found in Mac Maintenance Quick Assist.
Referenced software can be found at CNet Downloads or MacUpdate.

Looking to format and start fresh....time machine backups

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