Replacing main HD, how is time machine going to be affected?

I am going to have to replace my internal main HD (just failed). I was using an external HD for TM. I also made a clone of my failed HD few weeks ago (lucky). Now, once I have my new HD installed and transfer my clone back to the new HD, is time machine going to work from where it left off (before the failure) or am I going to have to reset and start fresh with TM?
Thanks

TM should recognize the cloned drive. However, since your clone is a few weeks old I would restore your system from TM. This will give you a more recent version of your computer.
To do that, make sure TM drive is connected, start from the leopard install DVD and once past the language screen go to the Utilities menu and choose restore from TM.
Follow the instructions. Your system should be restored to the most recent TM back up and you can keep using TM as normal. I've done this a number of times on two computers and never had a problem. However, I've seen posts here by people who had some trouble with full system restore from TM. Hopefully yours will be ok. If not you always have your old clone.

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How does time machine handle deleted files

I've recently grown into a 1.5TB external hard drive where I back up my iMac through Time Machine. I'm a photography hobbyist who does a lot of processing work on my photos in Photoshop, therefore I'm regularly generating sizable data to back up.
My question is, using some hypothetical numbers:
Pretend I create 50GB of new data by importing a lot of photos onto my iMac, then Time Machine does it's thing before I can decide what photos I want to keep or trash. I later go back and edit my photo catalog and decide I only want to keep 1/2 of photos from that previous import, reducing that data to only 25GB. Will Time Machine keep those old pictures on my external drive, even though I deleted them from my iMac? Will Time Machine ever recognize I threw away those files, assume I don't want them, and overwrite them? Or is Time Machine going to keep using my my external drive to back up everything until I used up all of the externals space?
Message was edited by: Michael Streubert

Understanding how TM deletes things can be difficult, but I'll try to summarize it:
-TM will back up your system every hour.
-After 24 hours, TM will delete all but one of the 24 previous hourly backups. The one it decides to keep will become your "daily" backup. You have no control over which of those 24 backups it will select to keep as the daily.
-After 30 days, TM will start to delete the old daily backups too. It will keep 4 of the last 30 backups, one for each week.
-After your TM disk fills up, it will start to delete old backups to make room for new ones.
So, after you delete them from your main HD, the length of time that they kept on the TM drive can vary. If the files existed for only a few hours, then there is a good chance that they will be purged from the backups the following day. Or they might be kept for weeks or months, depending on if TM decided to keep those backups as the daily or weekly. It's kind of a crap shoot.
If the files existed on your main hard drive for between one and seven days, then they will remain on your TM backup drive for at least a month. After that they are at risk of being purged out.
If the files existed for more than a week, they will stay on your TM drive until it fills up. After that, they are at risk of being deleted.
I hope this helps.

How retrieve Time Machine purple backups?

How retrieve Time Machine backups older than now? Am using Lion (10.7.2). In Time Machine, all my backups that are older than 'Now' have purple date/time stamps and bars, and no 'populated' finder-like window to enable access to my older-than-now backups. My TM backups are on a Drobo S.

Kadege wrote:
Hello Pondini, I've got the same problem, nearly all dates are purple, older than some days. This moves with the time, some days ago, 25-Dec was available, today it isn't (but 26-Dec is).
Do you mean the Dec 25 backup is no longer shown in the TimeLine at all? If so, either it's been deleted, or your backups are corrupt. If you didn't delete it, try to repair your backups, per #A5 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.
Or, if you mean the Dec 25 backup is there, but is faded-out and you can't select it, that's because whatever's in your Finder window before you Enter Time Machine wasn't included in that particular backup -- select something else before entering Time Machine, or in the Finder sidebar once you're there. See #15A in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions for details, especially the pink box there.
When accessing the Backup on TimeCapsule via Finder directly, I can see the volume (500 GB) has left 19,37 GB free. I can see, too, all the backups, which are purple in Timemachine, exist (beginnin in July 2011 when I bought the computer).
Yes, eventually, Time Machine will fill all the empty space available to it. Before that, it will periodically "thin" your backups, per the schedule on the Time Machine Preferences window -- all but the first of the day are deleted after 24 hours; those are kept for a month, then reduced to one per week.
Once the drive gets near full, it will start deleting the oldest backup(s) to make room for new ones. Since you have your first backups, that hasn't started yet, but probably will before long.
including system-sofware and applications, which I don't backup by Timemachine.
That's usually not a good idea. It saves relatively little space (perhaps 10-20 GB), and no time (after the first backup), but it means you can't do a full system restore from those backups, or use them with either Setup Assistant or Migration Assistant to set up a new Mac, or to transfer your stuff if you have to erase or replace your internal HD. Once you get this sorted out, I'd strongly recommend removing those exclusions.
Message was edited by: Pondini

How does time machine back up separate but computers on the same drive

Thinking about hooking up a hard drive to APBS to use as a time machine for several macs /iPads, how does time machine keep these different devices separate? How does it keep the backup info separate? Thanks

APBS is usually called AEBS or Airport Extreme Base Station.
You can only do Time Machine to the newest one.. it is not supported on earlier models.
See http://pondini.org/TM/Home.html
Look for Gory details about airdisk.
Also it is going to help you to actually read how Time Machine works on network drives.
What you are asking has all the answers there.
http://pondini.org/TM/Works.html
ipads do not backup like macs.. there is no time machine.
ipads backup to itunes or to icloud. The backup to local itunes can then be backed up by TM to the disk you are using.
Please note even though Apple now says it works.. I have seen reports where the old problem has come back.. it works for 6-8weeks and then the backup corrupts itself and you have to start over.

HT201250 Circle and cross through iTunes icon afte the seagate hard drive replaced and restored data from time machine backup.

Circle and cross through iTunes icon: had the seagate hard drive replaced and restored data from time machine backup. Why does the iTunes icon have a circle and cross through it? As though incomplete? tried everything and still Circle and cross through iTunes icon.

No it isn't something you'd find on the computer, it has to be custom installed from the 10.6 installer disc or Software Update if it wasn't before. It allows you to use older PowerPC applications on your Mac. On the other hand double check the version of iTunes you have does not require 10.7 minimum either.

How does Time Machine Handle separate Boot and User Volumes?

I recently installed an SSD and set it up as my boot drive, and I'm using another hard drive for my Home folder, if I ever run into a scenario that I need to restore my entire system, how will Time Machine handle it?
Will it restore my system back to the drives that they came off of?, in other words will my Boot volume be restored back to the SSD and my Home folder back to the hard drive, or will it restore everything back on the one disk it asks me to select before I click restore?

Michael Hoover wrote:
Ok, so if I tried to access a backup from booting with the Snow Leopard install disk I won't be able to select which volume I need to restore?
You would restore the OSX volume via the procedure in #14 of [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).
You would restore the data-only volume separately, via the "Star Wars" display, per #15 in the FAQ.
I guess I would be better off doing incremental backups with Carbon Copy Cloner on 2 partitions on the same volume.
That would also take two separate operations to restore. (It would be a good idea to do such backups +*in addition+* to Time Machine backups, in case there's a problem with either disk drive or backup app, or a user error like erasing the wrong disk.)
Your scenario is actually quite unlikely; you'd rarely need to restore both volumes at once. If the SSD fails, you'd only need to restore it; if the HD fails, you'd only need to restore that.
It would get a bit more complicated if you get a new Mac, especially one with a single volume. That's one of the reasons it's a good idea to keep at least a minimal Admin account on the OSX volume.

How Does Time Machine Help If... iCal Data Lost?

Hi,
How does Time Machine help if, say, your iCal database gets messed up? Or, how does it help if you accidentally delete all your playlists from iTunes? I'd be interested to know.

That's a very good question (although probably better directed at Apple than us). Because Time Machine is new and Apple's in house programs handle data in different ways, there are a range of different means of recovering data for different applications. Not very user friendly and iCal is one of the least user friendly ones.
As an experiment, because I don't make much use of iCal and have no real idea how it works, I tried to find out how to restore its data. Starting with working with the application: nope, not TM aware at present. OK, where does it restore its data? Next step Spotlight where, as it happens, the obvious search "Calendars" brings up a folder in ~/Library labelled that with a whole lot of mysterious stuff in it. I'm pretty sure that restoring that folder would do the trick. No doubt, if you could figure out which Calendar belongs to what in the above folder you could restore a single calendar that was causing problems. Still, Apple's clearly got some work to do to make this more transparent. Roll on iCal4!
(By the way Mail also restores from within the program).

How does time machine work when being used with a mac pro?

How does time machine work when backing up a mac pro?
Considering the fact that the mac pro can hold 8TB and a external (non NAS) hard drive can hold only 2TB does time machine only backup the OS disk.

macnewcomer22 wrote:
Considering the fact that the mac pro can hold 8TB and a external (non NAS) hard drive can hold only 2TB does time machine only backup the OS disk.
Time Machine will backup everything by default, on every disk in your Mac.
Choose System Preferences > Options to exclude items. You could exclude everything except your OS...but I'd think it is your data that's more important to you, if you have to make choices.
See...
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1964018
While it's true you can store almost 8TB, how much do you think you'll actually store? If you have 1TB of data you want to store then a 2TB drive can do it. Also when your TM drive begins to get full it will begin deleting the oldest backups to make room.
You could also get a Drobo with 8 bays...
http://www.drobo.com/products/index.php
-mj

How can I erase my iMac and replace with a different MacBooks time machine back up ?

I have a 2008 iMac and it's contents are backed up on my time capsule. I want to lend the iMac to my sister. She has a 2007 MacBook that is giving her problems. Her MacBook is backed up I
On a time machine file on an external. My question is
How can I replace all the data on my iMac with her time machine back up?

Is it possible to create a new user log in on my iMac and have all the info from my sisters time machine file transfer? Then the iMac would have two users me and her?
Thanks

How to install a new 360 GB hard drive to replace my 60 GB using Time Machine?

How do I install a new 320 GB hard drive on my MacBook using Time Machine? I have purchased the hard drive and know how to take out the old drive and put in the new drive.

To transfer your current hard drive I like the free application Carbon Copy Cloner. It makes a bootable copy of everything on your hard drive http://www.bombich.com/index.html

How can I replace my keychain access from Time Machine

My Keychain is no longer working and "Keychain First Aid" and scraping keychain plist didn't help either. I'd like to replace it with my Time Machine backup. What files do i need to restore?

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3103934

Mac book pro hard disc replacement and back up from time machine

Recently i replaced my mac book pro's hard disc and now i am facing various problems such as:
Itunes does not recognize any of my devices (iphone & ipad) and iphoto can not import my photos.
Before replacement i had made back up with time machine. Can You please tell me how i will brink my laptop
Into initial condition through time machine and all to be again as it used to be before disc's replacement
Thanks in advance
Stavros

Hi bodegakc,
If you have the serial number then please use the below mentioned link to download the product you are looking for .
CS5.5
Also before installing Please go to Applications-->Utilities--> Adobe installers and if there is any uninstaller for CS5.5 , you can remove it and do a fresh install.
You can also use creative cloud cleaner tool before installing.
Use the CC Cleaner Tool to solve installation problems | CC, CS3-CS6
Thanks
Nikhil Gupta

How does Time Machine handle large files?

I'm relatively new at the whole Time Capsule / Time Machine process and have learned that large files (eg aperture library) are backed up each time there is a change and this can lead to the TC filling up quicker than normal.
How does this work with daily and weekly backups?
For example, if my aperture library is, say 1Gb and I import a load of photos from my camera and this goes up to 2Gb. I've learned that I should disable time machine while I'm in Aperture (or at least before 10.6...not sure now). So given I've done that, imported the files to Aperture but want to edit them later and ultimately move them into iPhoto to keep the Aperture album small.
When I turn back on Time Machine, the next hourly backup will know the library has changed and will back it up, this will go on until a day backup has been taken - this deletes the 24 hourly backups? or does it merge them?
If I then do the editing the following week, then export the photos and the library is now back to 1Gb again....backed up hourly/daily/weekly etc what am I left with??
Do I have an original, the 2GB version and the new 1Gb version...ie 4Gb......is there a cunning way I can work to change the files within a week so only one of the changes is in the backup?

Orpheus999 wrote:
When I turn back on Time Machine, the next hourly backup will know the library has changed and will back it up, this will go on until a day backup has been taken - this deletes the 24 hourly backups? or does it merge them?
The Time Machine panel of System Preferences says this:
Time Machine keeps
- Hourly backup for the past 24 hours
- Daily backups for the past month
- Weekly backups until your backup disk is full
Each time Time Machine runs it creates what appears to be an entirely new backup set, although it does this in a way that doesn't require it to copy files that have already been copied. So merging isn't necessary. Another effect of how it operates is that each unique version of a file (as opposed to packages of files) only exists on the backup volume once.
According to the contents of my Time Machine backup file, hourly backups are literally kept for 24 hours, not until the next "daily" backup. For a "daily" backup, it seems to keep the oldest "hourly" backup for a day.
If I then do the editing the following week, then export the photos and the library is now back to 1Gb again....backed up hourly/daily/weekly etc what am I left with??
Do I have an original, the 2GB version and the new 1Gb version...ie 4Gb......is there a cunning way I can work to change the files within a week so only one of the changes is in the backup?
You might be able to exclude those files from being backed up at certain times, but I can't be sure this would result in older copied of those files being retained.

How does Time Machine handle disconnected external media drive ?

I have an external drive connected to my iMac, and backup to a Time Capsule.
I prefer not to keep that external media drive connected all the time...
When I disconnect that external media drive and Time Machine runs, does TM perceive this as "deleted"?
With that drive disconnected, does TM then "release" the prior media drive backup and replace it as it needs space?
When I reconnect the external Media Drive, does TM see it as "new" or recognize it as the prior data and (presuming it's not over-written it) simply manage it incrementally?
Ultimately - do I need to either ensure that the external media drive is always available to use TM, or do I run the risk of screwy / uncertain behavior if it is sometimes present, sometimes not.
Gosh I hope that was clear for you experts out there ;-)
D

an external drive backed up to a TM would forever be retained in the TM... never flushed,
Correct. Except.......if the backup drive is close to becoming full, Time Machine will start to delete the oldest backups to make room for new backups.
So, if you have been backing up the external drive for the last year, and the backup drive is running out of space, you may not be able to go back a full year in Time Machine to see exactly how the external drive looked a year ago. You might only be able to go back 10 months, for example, instead of 12.
Most users really don't ever need to go back more than a few weeks or maybe a month or two to pick up a file that they might have accidentally deleted, so the fact that you might not be able to go back a full year or more to see how the drive looked at that time in the past, is not really that important for most users.
Most of us need to know that we have a complete, up to date backup of the external drive in case it fails.
Time Machine will warn you whenever it starts to delete the oldest backups, so if you really do need to be able to go back a year, or two years, or however long it has been since you originally started to back up the external......and you don't want Time Machine to start deleting the oldest backups of the external to make more room.....then you will need to add another backup drive and start backing up everything to that new drive.

Complicated corrupted main drive and lost Time Machine back-ups question

Here's tough one I can't pin down answers to: I have an iMac Early 2008 running Lion. The main hard drive system (probably) corrupted over the course of 2-3 months until it became unusable. I had Sophos on it, but removed it about a month ago and reliability improved but only for about a week. Finally the hard drive crashed. I used the Recovery partition while able to have Disk Utility add a second partition to my back-up drive, which contains Time Machine back-ups, my iPhoto folder and a few other files but no system. I installed Snow Leopard from disk to the new partition, checked the first partition, which seemed fine, then upgraded the Snow Leopard partition to Lion and updated and ran under a temporary user. Next I explored the main drive, which Disk Utility said was fine, but doesn't always show up. While in Disk Utility, I noticed that the first partition on the back-up drive showed up as empty! After some panicking, I've a second back-up drive on the way, but how do I access the TIme Machine back-ups, get my original user back and get access to over 15 years of files that are locked into that user?
My (2nd) back-up drive arrives tomorrow, so I'll able to get to work soon.
Thanks for any help.

Ok so wahat you mean is I need to name a partition "Time machine" in order for TM to back up any volumes and TM will always start with the volume titled Timemachine ?
so as I stated
A. All my OS applications _________Rename this to time machine or can I ues the volume name it is now?
B. All my files for those applications ---------Once that is done TM will back this up?
C. All My Itunes / Music etc---------Once that is done TM will back this u last?
Also I did a test run and I geet the error msg that the backup disk of my OS needs 1.36 TB but only 1.34 exists. The orignal OS disk has only 232GB of data why is tome machine asking for all that space?
I set the partition at 1.34 so there would be way more than enough space to copy.
R

Replacing main HD, how is time machine going to be affected?

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