Move Time Machine backups from old drive to new, larger drive?

Hi folks,
My external HDD that TM writes to is full. Its oldest backup is only a month ago. I'd like to keep older backups so I'm going to buy a new, larger HDD to use with TM.
I'd like to keep the existing backups that I have, the ones that go back one month.
Is there a way to transfer these from my existing external HDD to my new one, and have TM still recognise them on the new drive?
Many thanks,
Ken.

Hi Pondini,
I've another Time Machine question here: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2732322&tstart=0
Got no replies.
Have searched your excellent Time Machine documentation, but no joy.
Just wondering if you've any ideas on how to use TrueCrypt with Time Machine. Would be most grateful.
Tx and best regards,
Ken.

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How do i install time machine backup from old mac to newer one

Hi, I know how to set up a brand new imac with full info and settings from an old mac from a time machine backup on a portable drive, BUT.... this time i have a 2011 imac in my studio already in use that we want to be completly swapped with full info and settings/software etc from an older 2009 imac, which we may sell on.
I have backup up via time machine the older 2009 mac, but when i plug this into the 2011 imac how do i completly wipe it and set up with info from the time machine?? it was easy doing it on a factoryt new mac but not this.
thanks
lee

If I have understood you properly, you want to migrate the data from the 2009 iMac onto the 2011 iMac but keeping the existing files on it.
To do this, use Migration Assistant > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4889 It will create a new user with the transferred files from the old iMac.
If you want to wipe the 2011 iMac and restore everything from the 2009 iMac, the most reliable way is erasing the hard drive, reinstalling OS X and restoring the backup. If you are using the same OS X version on both iMacs, you can restore the Time Machine backup without having to reinstall OS X, just starting from the Mac OS X DVD (or Recovery HD, if you have OS X Lion or Mountain Lion)

Can't view time machine backups from old computer on new computer

My macbook pro laptop recently died and I am trying to access its time machine backup data through Finder on a different computer. In each one of my folders from different dates, however, the majority of the computer folders I would like to access (i.e. desktop, documents, dropbox, etc) have a little red "no" sign in the corner and prompt the following message when selected:
"The folder “FolderName” can’t be opened because you don’t have permission to see its contents"
How can I gain permission to see its contents? As the former user, I know whatever passwords are restricting these files, but I don't know how/where to go to give permission to these folders. I've tried going into Disk Utility and changing the permissions there, but to no avail, despite successful changing of the "Sharing & Permissions" to "Read & Write" for all listed accounts.
I'm currently trying to view this on an imac OSX 10.6.8. The dead MacBook pro ran OSX
thanks
kate

Hi Kate,
It sounds like you're running into an issue trying to recover that was on your previous Mac from a Time Machine backup. The article linked below will walk you through the process of recovering the data from your older Mac's Time Machine backup.
OS X: How to migrate data from another Mac using Mountain Lion and earlier
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4889
Time Machine or other disk migration
If Migration Assistant isn't running on the target (new) Mac, open Migration Assistant (located in /Applications/Utilities/), select "From another Mac, PC, Time Machine backup, or other disk" then click Continue.
Connect your external hard drive if necessary.
Type in your admin password when prompted and click OK.
When the target Mac asks you for a migration method, select "From a Time Machine backup or other disk", then click Continue.
Select the Drive, Time Machine backup, or Time Capsule. If you select Time Capsule you will be prompted to enter the Time Capsule password. After entering the password, select the Time Machine backup.
Close all other applications on the source Mac, then click Continue to start the migration options.
The source Mac will ask you to select items to migrate.
You can customize your selection by clicking to open the disclosure triangles.
After you click Continue, the Migration Assistant will begin to transfer files to the target Mac. The amount of time that it takes for migration to complete depends on the amount of data being transferred and the speed of the network.
Note: To view documents that were migrated, choose Log Out from the Apple () menu, then login as the migrated user. The migrated documents will be located in the migrated user's home folder.
I hope this helps.
-Jason

Moving Time Machine Backup from Old Mac to New Mac

I had my old MacBook happily backing up via Time Machine to my Time Capsule. Then I bought a new MacBook and moved all my files etc across with the Apple Migration Assistant.
However, having problems with TM - tells me there is no room on my TC to complete my backup (not true, plenty of disk). However, I suspect this is because it views the backup data on my TC as "owned" by the old Mac and hence that chunk of disk is unavailable to the new Mac.
Is there a way to associate the old backup data with the new Mac?
Or do I need to wipe the TC clean and start all over again?
Thanks,
SM

Hello only:
I performed a similar migration a couple of months ago. In my case, I used a SuperDuper clone on an external firewire drive as the source, but what you describe (#1) should work fine. In any event, keep the G5 handy as you can firewire attach it to the new Mac if you wish.
If I were you, I would just delete the files you do not wish to move from the G5, run a backup now for Time Machine, and then proceed with your transfer.
Barry

Move Time Machine backup from hard drive to Time Capsule

I have a new Time Capsule. Can I move my existing Time Machine backup from a hard drive to the TC? The tips given back in 2010 in this forum are no longer available.

It is extremely difficult if the disk you are talking about is plugged into your computer.. TM does different kind of file for network drives.. so you need to trick it.
See Q18 here.
http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html

Transferring Time Machine backup from old to new Time Capsule

After transferring my old Time Machine backup from a 5 year old Time Capsule to a new Airport Time Capsule, my MacBook Air wants to start a new full Time Machine backup to the new TC. I was under the impression that the Time Machine backups would pick up where they left off. Was I mistaken? Is the backup supposed to begin anew even if you've transferred an old backup?
Also, if it must begin from scratch, how would I access the old TM backups if I needed to restore a file from the old backup?
Thanks for any help you can provide.

pmpknetr21 wrote:
After transferring my old Time Machine backup from a 5 year old Time Capsule to a new Airport Time Capsule, my MacBook Air wants to start a new full Time Machine backup to the new TC.
How far did you go? By that I mean did you allow the MBA to actually start the backup.
It can be very simple thing.. I have done it lots of times in my repairs to Time Capsules.. if I move a sparsebundle to another location, TM will not even check for the old sparsebundle until it start running.
So the operation is as follows..
Move the sparsebundle.
There is an Apple document as well as what Pondini produced.
Transfer TM backups..
Apple doco. http://support.apple.com/kb/ht5097
Pondini doco http://pondini.org/TM/18.html
As long as you are talking network backups it doesn't much matter. The same rules apply to moving the sparsebundle.
When you reset TM to the new location of the backup.. it will always tell you it will begin a new backup..
As long as you did not change the computer name.. or install a new OS or upgrade.. only when the backup actually starts will it look for existing sparsebundles.. find it.. and begin from where it left off.
So you simply have to start. Wait for TM to figure out there is an existing sparsebundle with the correct name.. and start what will often be a deep scan of the existing sparsebundle. So it can take a long time.. and we do still recommend doing this first one by ethernet.. albeit on an Air that does mean buying the thunderbolt to ethernet dongle.
As a general principle I generally recommend people do start a new backup. Archive the old one.. it is easy to access old backups.. Again see pondini FAQ.. 14-17 on all the neato things you can do.

Need Help Regarding Time Machine Backup from Old Drive to New Drive

Hi All,
I have a 250Gb hard drive which is my Time Machine Backup which is full now, so, I got another 1TB drive. Now, the problem is how can I transfer the old back from the old drive to my new drive which is empty and then continue to use the new 1TB drive as my new TM Backup.
Please if anybody can help me really appreciate the efforts,
Thanks In advance
saurabh

you can clone the old TM drive to the new one using either the restore function in disk utility or one of 3rd party cloners like CCCloner or Superduper. once the cloning is finished, select the new drive as the TM drive in TM system preferences.

Move Time Machine files from old TimeCapsule drive to new TimeCapsule

My old 1TB Time Capsule died from bad power supply. I replaced it with a new 3TB Time Capsule and started backing up.
I removed the hard drive from the broken 1TB Time Capsule and put it in a new hard drive enclosure. Now, I'd like to add the old Time Machine backups to the new Time Capsule, and use the old drive as an external hard drive.
How do I make that transfer and merge the new and old backups into the new Time Capsule?

You cannot merge backups.. you should have copied the backups and then continued using them.. and of course you can still do that. But you have to do it from scratch.
IMHO you are better retaining the old backups as an archive.. say for 6months.. beyond that you are unlikely to need them.
There are details here of how to copy the TM backups.
http://pondini.org/TM/18.html

Unable to recover Mavericks via Time Machine on iMac (2011). I have one Time Machine backup from this week On new Time Capsule. I already attempted safe boot and NPRAM reset. Hard drive and permissions verified as ok.

Some more history - I'm not too techie so added everything in I thought might be significant!
- Installed Mavericks on iMac in October 2013
- experienced regular low memory issues - used Memory Clean app as a workaround
- last week decided to upgrade installed memory from 4gb to 16gb. Faster loading but still running out of memory - just takes longer to do so.
- also last week purchased 2gb Time Capsule (to back up 660gb on 1TB drive)
- one successful Time Machine backup completed last weekend.
- I decided to try and clear some space, tidy my folders, old music files, delete duplicates etc (Not system files)
- then tried out 'time machine restore' just to test it out. Deleted files and folders recovered ok using Time Machine menu (the one that looks like outta space)
- yesterday, Avast Anti-Virus flagged virus detected (sorry, I didn't manage to capture details) and quarantined file, but I couldn't get any windows to respond so forced Mac to shutdown.
- attempted regular reboot , system hanging on white/ apple symbol screen.
- attempted Safe reboot - reboot stalls at mess 'BootCacheControl: unable to open /var/db/BootCache.playlist no such file or directory.
(I don't know if this is significant)
- attempt NPRAM reset, reboot hanging at Apple symbol still
- attempted reboot into Disk Utility. HD drive verified ok. Permissions checked and Safari permissions fixed (only)
- finally attempting restore from Time Machine Backup via Disk Utility. Stalls at 'select a backup source'. Menu is 'searching for Time Machine Backup....'
Nothing is listed, after a few mins machine just goes to sleep.
My Time Capsule and networks are all switched on. No idea what to try next!

Most of the problems like this that people report on this forum are due to bad "utilities" like Memory Clean and Avast.
Your Mac probably didn't have a virus. There has never been an OSX virus "in the wild". Third party antivirus software is of very dubious utility on Macs. Macs are not PCs. OSX has anti-malware protection built into it already.
Do you have any other third party "utilities" on your Mac, such as CleanMyMac or MacKeeper?
Is the RAM you installed the recommended type of RAM for your Mac?
Take a look at this page: Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup
But your OS may be damaged beyond repair, or beyond what disk utility is able to repair.
In that case you have a few options:
There is a small chance that a (reputable) third part utility like Techtool Pro 7 may be able to fix your OS.
Try to boot into single user mode (restart, hold down ⌘S until you see a black screen with white text) and repair your hard drive. Here's a reference with directions: Repair Your Hard Disk in Single User Mode | Everything Macintosh
bite the bullet, boot into the recovery partition or internet recovery, and erase your HD, reinstall Mavericks from scratch, and start over. Your documents are probably still on your Time Machine Backup. I wouldn't reinstall the documents via a migration- you don't want to reinstall bad system files along with your documents- but you could copy them one by one back to your internal HD. And most importantly- don't reinstall any third party "utilites" like Memory Clean or Avast (or any other third-party antivirus software, for that matter).

Restore Time Machine backup from WD My Could (a network drive)

Good morning. I recently had my hard drive replaced on my iMac. I had been using My Cloud as the repository for my Time Machine backups. When I started my iMac when I got it home, it is not recognizing where the Time Machine backups are and it does not allow me to navigate to a location to find it. It seems as if the utility is looking for the backups to be directly connected to the machine and not over my network.
Has any encountered this same issue and successfully resolved it? If so, how?
I was on Mountain Lion and now I am on Yosemite.
Thank you,
Jay

Time Machine does not support the use of a 3rd party NAS.
Try taking a look here for possible help. Pondini

How-to move time machine backup from an old Time Capsule to a new one?

As written on the title, I need to move my old backup from an old 500GB to a new dual-band 2TB Time capsule, but I have not found any hint.
I've found many suggestions how to move the backups between externa HD; from external HD to a Time Capsule; between Time Capsule and external HD.
But nothing about my needs.
Someone can give me an how-to or at least some hint?
Many thanks to every one!!!

Cesare Cerutti wrote:
As written on the title, I need to move my old backup from an old 500GB to a new dual-band 2TB Time capsule
I was able to do that by using the Finder to copy the "sparsebundle" files from the old Time Capsule to temporary storage, replacing the Time Capsule, then copying the "sparsebundle" files from the temporary storage area to the new Time Capsule. If your temporary storage is limited and you have more than one "sparsebundle" file to migrate, you can copy one at a time.
AirPort Utility also has an "Archive" function that you could use instead of a Finder copy.
I believe I saw recently a method of copying directly from one Time Capsule to another, although I can't find it at the moment. If that option makes sense for you, I'll look further.

HT5096 cannot move time machine backup from one ext drive to another. pls help!thanks!

my time machine file is about 390GB and it is on a 1TB external harddrive. I have been trying to move the backup to a new 2TB external harddrive. it stopped copying any more files after transferring 466MB. I repeated the same procedure several times,but with same result. any advice? thanks!

Apple support article:
Time Machine – Transfer Backup to a New Drive
Another good source of information:
Time Machine Troubleshooting

Is there a way to get my photos off an old time machine backup from an external hard drive?

Is there a way to get my photos off an old time machine backup from an external hard drive?

You will have to connect the Time Machine HDD and click on the Icon. You will see one folder called Backups.backupdb. Click on that and you will have to continue until you find the home folder. The iPhoto library (where the pictures are, not the application) will probably be in your pictures folder. You will have to drag that to your desk top. Then you will have access to individual images.
Ciao.

How do I move time machine files from one external drive to another?

My original external drive isn't big enough. So I've bought a second larger one. How do I move the earlier Time Machine backups from Ext Drive #1 to Ext Drive #2 so I can access my full history, and leave Drive #1 for other backup items?
Ext Drive #1= SimpleTech 120 GB
Ext Drive #2= WEstern 500 GB

When you are ready to pass the 320GB drive on, I would format it. That will make the entire drive available to him to use as his TM. I would be sure that each drive has a unique name so that there will be no confusion for TM as to which computer goes with which drive. If you want to start fresh with the 500GB drive, I'd format it as mac-extended-journaled. When you connect it the first time to your computer, you will be asked if you want to use it as your TM. If you are not prompted to select it as your TM, you can configure TM by opening system preferences, click on TM, click on "change drive" and choose your new drive.
Another choice is to follow the steps in my previous response for restoring your current TM to the new drive by booting from a Leopard start up disk and accessing Disk Utilities from there so you can restore the drive. It is essential that the new hard drive is the exact name as the old TM hard drive. In this last scenario you would continue adding to your current set of backups.

Moving Time Machine backups from Time Capsule to External USB Drive

Hi all,
hoping someone out there can help I'm trying to move my time machine backups from my old Time Capsule to my external USB drive. I've already used the Airport Utility to "archive" my Time Capsule to a USB connected WD MyBook Elite.
Right now my WD MyBook Elite has both the archive, and recent (roughly 5 backups) of both my MacBook & MacMini. I've tried to follow the seemingly simple steps located in the FAQ's here [URL="http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/18.html#id22"]Copy NETWORK backups to be used LOCALLY[/URL] , but I cannot past step 1.
[Quote]Right-click the new volume on your desktop or Finder sidebar and select Get Info. If the Ignore ownership on this volume box is checked, click the padlock at the lower right and enter your Admin password at the prompt. Then remove the check mark from the box and close the window.[/Quote]
There is no option to "Ignore Ownership" in Snow Leopard for the Spars Bundle or when expanding it to see its folders.
Any advice?
I'm basically trying to combine my backups to unit them into one seemless backup each for:
Mac Mini & MacBook.
Thank you in advance.

Dark Heart wrote:
[Quote]Right-click the new volume on your desktop or Finder sidebar and select Get Info. If the Ignore ownership on this volume box is checked, click the padlock at the lower right and enter your Admin password at the prompt. Then remove the check mark from the box and close the window.[/Quote]
There is no option to "Ignore Ownership" in Snow Leopard for the Spars Bundle or when expanding it to see its folders.
That's not referring to the sparse bundle you're copying FROM, but the new volume you just formatted on the USB drive you're copying TO.
If you didn't just format the partition, that box may not be shown -- it not, there's no problem and you don't need to do anything in that step.
I'm basically trying to combine my backups to unit them into one seemless backup each for:
Mac Mini & MacBook.
I'm not sure what you mean by that: you cannot combine the backups of two different Macs. You can put them both on the same hard drive, either in two different partitions, or, if any are going to be backed-up over a network, in a sparse bundle.
If I've misunderstood, please clarify exactly what you're trying to do.

Move Time Machine backups from old drive to new, larger drive?

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