Reformat internal drive but keep old backups

Now that college is over, I have some time to play around and fix some problems. I want to reinstall Leopard on my PowerBook after reformatting the drive. I do NOT want to fully restore from TM, just selected folders, such as Music and Pictures.
I want to continue using the old backups.backupdb. Do I have to do anything special on the fresh install of Leopard? I have backups going all the way back to the day 10.5 was released that I'd like to keep and access from the TM application.
Also, will it backup everything again after the fresh install?
Any advice will be appreciated. I don't want to do anything til I hear back I don't want to mess anything up.

sorry i couldnt find a way to edit.
what it comes down to is, can I trust that TM will perfectly restore my Pictures folder and Music folder (including iTunes)? I don't have enough room to duplicate my Music folder as a standalone on my external HD.

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Change hard drive but keep old settings? Is it possible?

Hello,
I am a bit new to Mac, but liking it. Here's a question.
My sister has a 2.0 GHz MacBook with the standard 60 GIG hard drive. She has some applications and files and music and pictures, etc. on the computer. She bought a new 120 GIG internal hard drive and has asked me to install it for her. I looked up how and to do it, including formatting the drive, and it looks pretty simple, including with instructions from Apple.
Here's my question: I have an external USB drive. Is there any way I can copy the stuff that's on her current drive to that external drive, including applications, preferences and the like, and when installing the new drive move that stuff to her new drive so that we don't have to install all the software and apps again. Can this also be applied to the OS? A few weeks ago, I updated her OS (to 10.4.7) and firmware and other OS updates. Can these OS settings also be moved to the new drive from the external USB drive?
Thanks.
iMac Core Duo 17" Mac OS X (10.4.7) 1.83 GHz, 1.5 gig RAM

Yes, use Disk Utility's Restore function to make an exact copy of the internal drive to the external. Then swap the old internal for the new one. Then you can boot from the USB drive, open disk utility again, and clone everything back. If you find that you can't boot from the drive, just boot from the install DVD and open Disk Utility from there.
It sounds like your sister currently has no backups. She REALLY REALLY should get her own external drive and make regular backups to it. Super Duper is a good app for this.

After I configure my time capsule to my newly replaced macbook hard drive, are my old backups still available?

After I configure my time capsule to my newly replaced macbook hard drive, are my old backups still available?

How old was this backup? It sounds like it was at least several weeks old.
You can look directly in the TM backup for the music.
1. Connect to the external HDD the backup is kept on.
2. Open a Finder window and select the backup drive in the left hand panel. Double click into the folders until you see a list of folders with dates.
These are the incremental backups. You can start at the top or the bottom of the list but I suggest you double Latest/<HDD Name>/Users/<Account Name>/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music. From this location you can start looking for the "missing" music. When/if you find it you can simply drag-n-drop to ~/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music on the internal HDD.
If the music is actually not in the backups (for whatever reason) then you've got a problem.
You can download the uploaded files from the cloud by deleting the affected tracks from the iTunes library (but not the cloud!), highlighting multiple tracks at once, right-clicking and choosing "download."

HT201250 How can I revert to my internal drive for time machine backups after using an external drive?

Hi. I've been using an external drive for time machine back ups and decided to revert to my internal drive, but it isn't available in the time machine options. The only available option is to set up a time capsule, which I don't own.
Is it because not enough space is available on my internal drive (approx 50GB)?
Thanks!

50 Gb free on your internal drive is relly very low and of course not enought for a any kind of backup.
How big is your internal HD ? If you have left only 50 GB free it is probably 90% full. Let's imagine you have a 500 Gb. This means 450 Gb data and 50 Gb free. How can you backup 450 into 50 ?
Second point. The backup on your internal HD is a nonsense evenif it is big enough. If it stops working you will have no bakup.
Do you have an iMac or a portable ?
The portable automatic uses the internal HD if the external is not connected, but this is intended for a short time.
This could give you some more links to read about https://discussions.apple.com/message/20726927#20726927

Macbook 2012 not booting from internal drive but booting from external usb drive

hi everyone!!
here is what happened:
i have worked all day on my macbook pro, normally. when i got home and turned it on (i always power it off for rolling with it) it just didn't load the OS.
i run mavericks on a i7 mid 2012 macbook pro 13". it had an accident on last december and fell on the ground, but i've changed the hdd and it worked normally until last week when this happened.
i have a copy of my system on a usb drive and tried to start up from it and it worked.
i took my hdd from inside the lap top and started from it (yes, the same hard disk that was inside the machine) and it worked.
i took the macbook to an apple store and the "apple genius" that was there started up my machine from inside with another hdd running yosemite that they have in the store for testing.
today i bought a new hdd and put it in. but i can't format it or install the system. i had these 2 errors on disk utility
"partition failed with the error: wiping volume data to prevent future accidental probing failed"
and
"restore failure an error (32) occurred while copying. (broken pipe)
so:
it loads from my internal drive, but only when its connected via usb
it loaded the apple store drive internally
it does not format my new drive nor install the system on it
ANY suggestions, please??? it's really difficult to me to solve this problem...
thanks a lot!!!

Must be a bad SATA cable undetected by Apple Techs. A result of the drop but they are also quite fragile.
Disturbing the cable can cause it to work for a while. Cheap repair at iFixIt.

Restore using Time Machine to new hard drive, but last "full" backup was 2012. how do I restore the rest of the Time Machine backups, particularily IPHOTO libraries for each user?

Restore using Time Machine to new hard drive, but last "full" backup was in 2012. How do I restore the rest of the Time Machine backups, particularily IPHOTO libraries for each user?
I entered Iphoto for my user and only photo up until 2012 were in the library. I thought the restore would do the incremental Time Machine backups too.....
Running 10.8.2

It usually means you are running Mavericks but have an earlier version of iPhoto. Open the App Store and upgrade your version of iPhoto to the Mavericks version.
The iWork apps are free with a new iOS device since 1 SEP 2013. They are free with a new Mac since 1 OCT 2013. They are also free with the upgrade to OS X Mavericks 10.9 if you had the previous version installed when you upgraded.The iWork apps are free with a new iOS device since 1 SEP 2013. They are free with a new Mac since 1 OCT 2013. They are also free with the upgrade to OS X Mavericks 10.9 if you had the previous version installed when you upgraded.
iWork and iLife for Mac come free with every new Mac purchase. Existing users running Mavericks can update their apps for free from the Mac App Store℠. iWork and iLife for iOS are available for free from the App Store℠ for any new device running iOS 7, and are also available as free updates for existing users. GarageBand for Mac and iOS are free for all OS X Mavericks and iOS 7 users. Additional GarageBand instruments and sounds are available for a one-time in-app purchase of $4.99 for each platform.

I would like to store my music files on a external harddrive when using itunes instead of using my internal drive but cant seem to configure the macbook to do this. can someone tell me how ?

I would like to store my music files on a external harddrive when using itunes instead of my internal drive but can't seem to configure the computer to do this. can someone tell me how ? .

Copy the entire /Music/iTunes/ folder to teh external.
Hold Option and launch iTunes.
select Choose library... and select the iTunes folder on the external.
Make sure the external is connected and ready before launching iTunes.

I am trying to edit a project originally started on another computer, by someone else and saved onto an external h-drive, but keep getting 'general error 48' when I try to render it to work further. Can anyone help?

I am trying to edit a project originally started on another computer, by someone else and saved onto an external h-drive, but keep getting 'general error 48' when I try to render it to work further. Can anyone help?

Is this problem only occurring with the project you copied from an external drive, or with any FCP project?
For example, if you were to create a new project, do you still have this problem?
In FCP, if you go to the menu FInal Cut Pro > System Settings and look at the Scratch Disks Tab, is it set where you expect it to be? Have you tried switching the scratch disk to a different disk?
MtD

Trying to edit a project started on another computer and saved onto an external h-drive but keep getting 'general error 48'. Can anyone help?

I am trying to edit a project originally started on another computer, by someone else and saved onto an external h-drive, but keep getting 'general error 48' when I try to render it to work further. Can anyone help?

Oisinbessy wrote:
sorry to be a dufus but is the Final Cut studio forum part of apple support communities?
Here is the forum.
Russ

Restarting iPhone new but still keeping old backup

I want a clean slate on my iPhone but I still need to keep my old backup (for texts, pictures) for court/legal purposes in an upcoming case, but in the mean time I don't want them on my phone and I cannot erase them.
My question is if I back up to my phone to computer, factory reset my iPhone, create a new apple ID, can I still eventually whenever I need to restore it those pictures and texts will still be there?
I hope my question is clear enough. I understand that I'll have to repurchase everything and set every thing up new again, but I need to know if those things will be forever lost.
Also, if and when I create everything new, when I plug into my iTunes (obviously under my current apple ID) is it going to mess up if it's still logged in to my old ID and not my new one? Can I still sync my music on it and everything?
Thanks

Thanks everyone for your input. ibanez737 and vereyezuhn are correct. Wireless to wireless ports generally take between 30 minutes and 24 hours. Landline to wireless ports generally take between four and ten days. If your still receiving calls on your previous phone with your previous carrier, your port may not be complete.
Please note: Actual processing time may vary depending on the complexity of the port and your old service provider. For additional information regarding Local Number Portability or to check on the status of your port request, please click on the following link: support.vzw.com/faqs/Switch20To20Verizon20Wireless/faq_local_number_portability.html
To complete the port to Verizon Wireless, ensure both phones are completely powered off. Power up your Verizon Wireless device, dial *228, send, and choose option #1. If you continue to receive calls on your previous phone, you may check the status of your port request by calling 877-LNP-4VZW (877-567-4899).
KinquanaH_VZW

MacPro won't boot from (2) internal drives but will from DVD

My MacPro hung this morning, blank screen but mouse red LED working. I restarted it and it booted into my 2nd internal drive with 10.5.2 rather than "Macintosh HD". Checked Time Machine and seemed to be all good.
I used the DVD to get TimeMachine to do a complete restore from internal drive 4 onto the main Macintosh HD. This got as far as saying something like "restore complete, click to restart using restored disk".
After clicking I just got a beachball of death.
Used DVD to run disk utility, clean bill of health on all drives except verify permissions gets 15% through then stops.
Now, when I try and boot from either of my two startup disks the MacPro starts up, goes to greyscreen then I get a couple of little clicking noises and the whole thing shuts down.
Tried unplugging everything then just put power lead back in and monitor connection,
Tried running Apple Hardware Test (as it boots from disk but not drives, thought it might be a power supply problem) but AHT gets to "test 1" then locks up
I can boot into single user mode, am about to try FSCK but running out of things to try.
Can I access files from the desktop and put hem onto a remote machine or USB stick from Single User Mode - or access/mount my drives from the DVD. In the "old" days it was poosible to boot to a desktop from a CD - can that still be done?
Cheers
Beardy man
Message was edited by: Beardy man
Message was edited by: Beardy man

I always keep spare drives, and use SuperDuper to keep images even of drive volumes.
Keeping one drive to OS only and no data or prefs helps.
Having an emergency drive or partition: a must (sort of like Micromat TTPro eDrive only better).
Pull the drive for now. Maybe Data Rescue II later. And a FW case you can throw it into for repairs or to recover files.
I am surprised you don't get the "stop" sign, a circle + slash, that often indicates corrupt journal/directory and no boot device where it expects to find one.
TechTool Pro, commercial $90 5.0 is due soon, hopefully they were just waiting now for 10.5.5 to be out and see if it would change or alter (or break) their utility.
Backups, whether TS or a clone made with SuperDuper, are critical, should run on their own automatically in background, and the OS doesn't have to be that large, fit it on 60-100GB disk image so you don't have to worry about partition and size.
For now, use the DVD to install OS X on a new drive partition to begin to build a foundation from which you can do more and mark this as emergency-only. You can clone it later if needed to a "working" system. SuperDuper is free for full copy, or use Disk Utility Restore even to set the source and 'target' destination volumes.

How to Replace existing Hard Drive with new Hard Drive, while keeping old files

Hi All,
I have recently replaced my hard drive on my Macbook Pro, with a new hard drive. The old Hard Drive was 160 GB, while the new one is 320 GB.
What I did before replacing it was clone my hard drive using "SuperDuper". I cloned it to the new hard drive and then simply removed my old hard drive and installed the new one with the clone on it. Then I booted it up and began running it. In fact I am using it right now.
My questions are:
Is this a good practice?
Will this work, without problems, indefinitely?
Is this the prescribed way to upgrade ones laptop hard drive?
The reason I did it this way was because I upgraded to Mountain Lion via the apple store download and I do not have the CD for the OS. So I figured if I could make a bootable copy, that might work. So far everything seems fine, but I really just want to know if this will last for a long time. I plan on also making a partition with Windows on it also, so I was wondering if anyone can comment on that too.
If anyone can comment or give any advice on this topic I would really appreciate it.
Thank you very much!
Cheers.

Every thing is fine except Super Duper does not clone the recovery partition. If you start your MBP holding the OPTION key, you should see the internal HDD and the ML recovery partition.
You can reinstall ML or reclone using Disk Utility>restore.
Ciao,.

Storing most of music on external drive but keeping library on local drive

As I think many have experienced, my hard drive is filling up. I would like to but most of my music on an external drive. This I know how to do. But I would like to keep the library itself on my local drive. This is so that when I am not home with my external drive connected I can still use iTunes to download and update podcasts and download new purchased music from iTunes Store.
I know that I can store some media files on another disk than the library, I do this with a few large video files. But I would like the music folders to stay organized, just on another drive.
Is there anyone with a solution like this? Apologies if I missed this in another thread...

I just found the following tutorial on moving iTunes music:
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/moving-your-itunes-library-to -a-new-hard-drive/48
and it seems to answer my question. I can just change the preference for the location of the music folder, and new stuff will automatically download to my portable internal drive when the external isn't connected. Seems a lot of people have questions about external drives but it is hard to search for them because of so many different ways of posing the questions.
Anyhoo it would still be nice for a separate preference in iTunes to determine a separate location for podcasts. I will have to send in a suggestion.

Problem importing with internal drive, but external drive works

Hi,
I was importing a CD in iTunes and this one track refused to import, noises sounded like it couldnt read it, and i had cleaned it multiple times. Plugged in an external USB CD drive, and it worked straight away.
Why is this?
Thanks!
J

I received a new hard drive and an enclosure today. However, when I plugged the new hard drive into the computer's internal SATA slot, the computer did not recognize that new hard drive. When I connected the new hard drive to the computer externally through the enclosure, the computer recognized it. Moreover, the computer also recognized my old hard drive when I connected it externally through the enclosure. So it seems that my problem does not reside in the hard drive, but in the SATA cable.
I wonder if there might be any probable reason other than bad cable? I am still able to install OS X to both the hard drive if I connect them externally.
Thanks in advance!

Does Choose Backup Disk to change backup drives copy the old backup?

I am about to install 10.5. I plan to use TM with my FW800 LaCie 500GB drive until I get a RAID. I see that one can change backup disks with System Preferences > Time Machine > Choose Backup Disk. When you do this does the entire backup get copied from the old disk to the new one? If so, great. I can format the LaCie drive and redeploy it.

When you attach and choose a new drive for backing up, TM will begin a new full backup. It does not copy from one backup drive to another. But once that backup is done, you'll have two drives that can be used by TM (not at the same time). If you don't want one of them, you can erase it. However, as you probably suspect, the new backup will not have the history of old backups that the old drive has.
If you search around the forum, you might find one or more old posts that talk about performing a copy from one backup drive to another, using CCC or SuperDuper, I think. So what I think you want to do is probably do-able. Just look for those posts, you'll get the details.

Reformat internal drive but keep old backups

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