Restore entire system from a Time Capsule backup?

Question

Can anyone help me restore my entire system (MacBook Pro, os x 10.5.8) from a set date in time using Time Machine. I use a Time Capsule wifi for back-ups. I have found lots of tutorials and how to's that say it can be done, but none which actually spell out how to do it step by step if you're not changing Macs or using a more modern operating system.  I've been to two Apple stores with all of my equipment and the instructions from the Genius Bar haven't worked when I get home to start the back-up. One Apple store wiped my iPhone and restored and synched it to a store laptop when I had my own with me, so now those don't synch or recognize each other and I've lost all my iTunes settings. The second store said I needed to restore my Mac with a snapshot from my HD, which seems like the place I'm restoring to, not restoring from.
I want to first ensure TM is backing up to the Time Capsule and not to my Mac before I do a complete restore. The store seemed to indicate that TM was backing up to the Mac. Every Apple tutorial reads that the Time Machine recognizes it is connected to a Time Capsule and after initial setup "just takes care of itself," so this is a surprise to me and I want to triple-check my files and the snapshots in time are on an external Time Capsule. The settings in Time Capsule all look fine, but I can't tell if it's the actual back-up drive. When I go into TM I see the dates on the right hand side, but none are pink as some tutorials read they should be? Is that a new addition with later operating systems.
The problem started when I was trying to synch and charge my iPhone routinely. During the synch I received a software update window that read I should update the latest iWork software updates. So I clicked yes. Then a window popped up reading I needed to download the latest iPhone software updates, so I said yes. After two hours of downloading and installing my iPhone screen went black, read I needed to plug into iTunes, which it was. And when I unplugged and plugged it back in to the Mac and iTunes it read my only option was to Restore to factory settings. I immediately shut everything down and went to the Apple store and when I got back home iTunes doesn't open on the Mac. The phone is on a different system than the Mac. My iCal and Address book files are corrupted, missing information, some records are duplicated. And all of my photos in iPhoto are all dated with the same date from 9 months ago. The photos from recently are in the Library, but the date informaton is corrupt.
From what I'm reading I can restore the computer to what it looked like in a point in time when I know everything looked and synched correctly, a few days before the problem without losing too much data? Can anybody shed some light on this? Thanks so much.

Answer 1

smnolmagic wrote:
Can anyone help me restore my entire system (MacBook Pro, os x 10.5.8) from a set date in time using Time Machine.
See Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #14 for all the gory details.
The second store said I needed to restore my Mac with a snapshot from my HD, which seems like the place I'm restoring to, not restoring from.
There may be a misunderstanding there -- effective with Lion, Time Machine does make "Local snapshots" on the internal HD of laptop Macs, so they're available when your regular TM backups aren't.  But you can't do a full restore from them. 
And since you're still on Leopard, the only way to have backups on your internal HD would be if you'd created a separate partition on it and directed TM to back up there, instead of to your Time Capsule.
Since Lion has been out for about 18 months, the AppleStore folks may have forgotten (or never known) the differences from Leopard and Snow Leopard. 
I want to first ensure TM is backing up to the Time Capsule and not to my Mac before I do a complete restore.
Use the Time Machine Browser (the "Star Wars" display) to see your backups.  You might want to review the Time Machine Tutorial, and perhaps browse Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions.
When I go into TM I see the dates on the right hand side, but none are pink as some tutorials read they should be? Is that a new addition with later operating systems.
Yes, that's a change effective with Lion.  The "Local Snapshots" are shown in white, backups on an external HD, Time Capsule, etc., in pink.   But on Leopard, all you'll see is white.  See Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #15A for details.
From what I'm reading I can restore the computer to what it looked like in a point in time when I know everything looked and synched correctly, a few days before the problem without losing too much data?
Yes, per #14 in the FAQ as above.  Once that's done, you can then selectively restore more-current items from subsequent backups, if you want.
However, note that, on Leopard, doing a full system restore makes your internal HD look like it's an entirely different disk to OSX and Time Machine.  Once you're running on the restored  version, you'll need the procedure in #E3 of Time Machine - Troubleshooting to see the backups from the "old" disk.
Also, when you do the next backup, it will be a full one -- everything you just put back on the disk will be backed-up in full.  That will take a long time and probably a lot of space on the TM drive.