Restore system to new laptop from Time machine backup???

Hi I understand from reading a number of discussion that you can do a full system restore to a new HD (on the same laptop). If I upgrade my laptop am I able to 'transfer'/restore the whole system from a Time Machine backup to the new laptop? Meaning all, setting, apps, files etc etc? Is there a way to do this?

Yes indeed. It's about as close to painless as possible.
And you can transfer directly from the old Mac (usually best), or Time Machine backups, or a "clone" of it. Your choice.
Your best bet is to use +Setup Assistant.+ See #19 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum) for details.

Similar Messages

Possible to restore iTunes safely to a new mac (from time machine backup) without using setup/migration assistant?

Hello all,
I have just acquired a new MacBook which I want to set up completely fresh. The only data I really need to restore/copy to it, besides a few document folders, is the iTunes library from my existing iMac. The iTunes library has been backed up using time machine on the iMac (using a portable drive). I’ve heard it might be possible for me to plug the time machine backup into the new MacBook and then option-click the time machine icon in order to 'browse other backup disks' and then restore iTunes. Would this work and would all my devices still sync with iTunes? I’m just a bit nervous because apple has migration assistant and setup assistant for doing this sort of thing - I just really don’t want to use them because the only thing I want on my new MacBook from the whole of the time machine backup is literally the iTunes library. I don’t want to start restoring user accounts which you must do with the assistants.
Thank you.

Thank you ever so much for the replies. Just one thing: the link you provided seems to discuss restoring individual items on the computer for which a backup has been made. On my macbook I can't click "enter time machine" which I'm guessing is because the time machine backup is for my old iMac (hence my comment about control clicking the menu bar).

Restoring Address Book on new computer from time machine backup of old comp

Hi,
Just bought a new computer and figured that e-thing I need is in the time machine backup. I am having trouble though finding my Address Book data. If someone knows how to do this, I would appreciate it very much,
Thanks,
Crazy

Hey mate... well I never use migration assistant cos i always like to have a totally new system on the new computers without the quirks of the last one.
Can you use migration assistant once you JUST to get hold of the Address Book or do you also need to import a whole bunch of other stuff... I just don't know cos I have never used it.
Thanks heaps,
Crazy

Restore Lion 10.7.3 from Time Machine Backup Fails

Follwoing a hard disk failure and installing a new disk, I connected to my Time Capsule to restore my Mackbook Pro running Lion.
Choosing the latest backup resulted in it restoring about 36% of the drive and failing with a subsequesnt reboot from which the system was unable to root to the hard disk.
After repeating the restoration process, I kept choosing backups from Time Capsule, going back choosing an older one each time following a restoration failure as described above.
Once I chose the latest 10.7.2 backup, restoration completed.
I have since attempted to choose and restore several of the 10.7.3 and 10.7.2 backups in the sequence on the Time Capsule, and ONLY the 10.7.2 backups are fully recoverable.
I believe there is a bug in 10.7.3 which prevents backups from restoring off of a Time Machine Backup that is not in 10.7.2.
Can anyone else confirm this?

No. It will not fix my issue, per say...
I have essentially had to restore from backup of a 10.7.2 dated version, and update everything back to where it was before it failed with 10.7.3, and then put all the latest updates on to include the TM update... Now hopefully I can rely on my backups... again... not that I knew I couldn't...
I really do not feel good about this... So, ALL data & settings are going into Dropbox and onto External RAID media, as well as I am presently making an image of my disk... which by the way is SSD now.
Fortunatley the 10.7.2 backup worked and it only required a few hours to get the system updated back to where it was b4 the crash, but had that not happened, I would have been looking at a couple of days...

How to restore a deleted iCloud note from time machine backup?

The short of it... one of my kids decided they didn't need certain notes, therefore deleted them!!!!
(my fault i did not have notes/synced/off on new device!),
but they are important and iCloud is synced across all devices and those notes are gone.
Wasn't sure if a device/ restore from back up would work - didn't.
Tried some of the Apple Communities/ going to lib/ turn off wifi/ move the 3 files to desktop/ move back to lib file, nothing.
Could I get some 'really specific' step by steps? seems others have had success, and maybe i'm in TM when I should be on my Mac or vice versa?! or in the wrong library?
My TM backups just does not let me get anywhere to restore those deleted notes.
Any help would be wonderful!
Thanks
Thinking Apple should have given us an iCloud safety net or at least allow TM/ iCloud to be userfriendly.

I used this to restore my deleted notes from Time Machine, hope this helps others
closed Notes,
turned WiFi off,
entered finder/go+option/ to 'get to library': /Library/Containers/com.apple.Notes/Data/Library/Notes/
entered TM and selected the 3 files/ hit restore/ keep both (just to make sure, then I deleted the newer file, not the 'restored' file when this worked out)
opened notes and my deleted notes were back so I copied my notes into pages as a backup,
turned on WiFi and the notes disappeared!
replaced my restored notes by copy/pasting my backups into notes/iCloud....
notes/mac would not show across iCloud.... don't remeber this being an issue prior to Mavericks when 'all' notes were selected?
Apple needs to hear from us so they can fix glitches like this. TM was created for instances like this, hopefully this is just an oversite. Pass this along to Apple Feedback/iCloud/bug. If enough of us flag such issues, hopfully it's addressed on the next update.
Dear Apple, this should be much easier than it is. We should be able to open Notes, go into Time Machine, and restore anything regardless if it's on my Mac or on the cloud.

Restore data to different laptop from time machine

Hello! All my data from my old macbook was saved in TM on an external HD. Now I bought a macbook air and would like to restore some of my old data from the external HD (TM) to my new laptop. The air has less memory than the old macbook had. How to choose the data I need for restoration onto my macbook air?

Apple does not make a device suitable directly to do what you want.
There are NAS devices from the big three that provide proper raid disks, mirrored backup, rsync and itunes servers.. although the itunes may not do what you need. Netgear Synology Qnap.
But the solution often adopted by Apple fanbois.. is to use a Mac Mini as a media centre. You don't need a brand new one.. even a 2ghz C2D from a few years ago will work well enough.. you need to add disk capacity via firewire.. would be preferred as it is much faster than USB.

HT201250 Restore playlist to iTunes from Time Machine backup

I need to restore my playlist to iTunes from Time Machine backup. Anyone know how?

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.

Restoration of /var/log/secure.log from Time Machine Backup

I have a need to restore /var/log/secure.log from Time Machine Backup on Lion Server, but can not find any entries for this file in the Time Machine archives even when using the find command. It seems like it is not backed up. I'm hoping that this is not the case; if it is it represents a pretty large mistake from a security perspective.
Is there something that I'm missing?
Thanks

gracoat wrote:
...sigh...
Try time machine and see what happens... I dare ya!
I've helped several folks here who were using TM on Snow Leopard Server quite successfully. In most cases, as in most cases of trouble with backups on client Macs, they were having hardware problems.
Granted this is a 10.6 server page, but they haven't updated open LDAP in a way that would change it's database functionality, nor have they changed the way time machine backs up and what it backs up.
Nowhere there does Apple say that "Time Machine is NOT a suitable backup solution for a server" or anything like that.
The article clarifies what it does, and does not, back up. So it may or may not be a suitable backup solution depending on individual situations.

How do i restore photo albums from time machine backups without duplicates?

how do i restore photo albums without duplicates from time machine backups? thx

Worth updating? Totally a personal decision. For some it would be. For others it would not?
Upgrading, if there are no problems, does not affect your data. And since bad things do happen you always have a good backup. Especially when doing any upgrade.
Your password question has nothing to do with iPhoto. Try it in the OS forum
LN

Restored system from Time Machine backup disk but the system could not start-up

On MacBook Pro early 2008, restored the entire system from Time Machine backup disk to the entire disk.
The previous system on the backup disk had FileVault turned on.
The restore completed successfully and I was prompted to restart the system via the new restored system disk.
I heard the normal start-up sound, then the Apple logo, but it stuck at the logo screen. And the cooling fan run at almost full speed?
I have been waiting for a few hours, guessing it might FileVault the disk.
Finally I have to shutdown the machine as it stuck at the logo screen forever.
Anyone has the same issue? Any ideas?

BTW, I also tried Repair the system disk, Fix permissions via Disk Utility.
I guess I must lose some files either during the backup or the restore.

During upgrade to Lion on Macbook Pro the upgrade stops at OS utilites after rebooting asking to restore from time machine backup or install new copy

My Daughter is currently upgrading her MacBook Pro to OS X Lion. During the upgrade the system rebooted and then stops at the OS X Utilites menu. I have installed this same upgrade on My MacBook Pro and the family iMAC without issue. Did the upgrade encounter a problem? The only options are to Restore from Time Machine Backup, Reinstall Mac OS X, Get help, or Disk Utility.
I'm not sure how recient the backup is on the TimeMachine for her system and she is concered that she may loose a lot of updates she has made to iTunes and iPhoto.
Please help.

I have 8 GB of RAM, but would that even matter during install? Performance once installed and running sure, but I questiong whether the installer would demand that much more, or why it would affect mountain lion when restoring from a time machine backup.

Imac won't restore from time machine backup after HD (hard drive) recall replacement

I have an imac bought in 2011, running Snow Leopard. It required an HD replacement due to the 1 TB Seagate recall - the replacement was done by a certified Apple repair station yesterday. Before the guy left he started a backup/restore from my latest time machine backup set. It failed. I attempted it two times and got error messages that it failed and the computer needed to be restarted to try it again. No luck. I called the guy back and he told me to call Apple Care. Not thrilled about that response since the guy had just left my house I did what he told me to do. (A quick sideline here: I recognize that a time machine backup should be no big deal and SHOULD work everytime, but it doesn't. It irks me that Apple is replacing my HD through no fault of mine and yet they don't allow the restore of data to be a "covered" expense in this process - this isn't just because this was an authorized repair guy - the Apple store would have done the same).
Back to the issue. When I called apple care they pretty much had me try the same thing again with an earlier back up set. To my knowledge, it didn't work. I say this because it looked like it was working and when I came back to the imac later, it had restarted and once again booted to the OSX install. (The boot disc is still in the imac). When I tried to boot from another location, one did not show up to boot from so I assumed that the data didn't transfer and it forced another restart. So, I tried something else. I tried to re-install the snow leopard OSX without using the restore function. That appeared to work and then when the machine restarted it asked if I had another mac and I chose the option to get the files/apps/etc. from my time machine backup. The computer chose what I can only assume is the most recent backup set (It chose what I know to be a subfolder that appears under the dated backup folder - Macintosh HD--which btw is confusing seeing as that's always the name of the HD on the imac). I again stepped away from the computer so it could do its thing for two hours. When I returned, I was back to the MAC OSX screen that asks you to choose a language. There were no more options to choose DISK UTILITY or RESTORE FROM BACKUP, etc. When I clicked on English it took me right back into the screen where you say whether you have another Apple that you want to transfer data from. I realized that the imac must have restarted and I assumed maybe it was because the boot disk was still in - except how do you get the disc to eject? I also initially assumed that the backup had somehow failed again and triggered a restart. I tried to choose the option to just set up the machine without transferring data and when I got to the choose a name for your HOME folder message I tried to enter the same name I had it as before and it wouldn't allow me to do so, saying that that name was already in use. I also tried a different name and that didn't work either - got the same message (I assume if it is not the same name that it won't sync up with the time machine data from the backup set). So, I almost tried the "select time machine backup" option again until I looked at my HD space. Clearly, there is space that has been used. HD space was 997 at the start and now it's 636. My initial thought is to somehow get back into the setup area where I can use disc utility and erase the whole thing and then start over but 1) I don't think it's going to work even if I could get back there 2) I have no idea how to get this thing to reboot into that mode 3) I can't get the boot CD out to even try to restart to see if this thing did what it was supposed to, SO NOW I AM TOTALLY STUCK! I have not called Apple Care back because quite frankly they were useless the first time. I have a call into the repair guy but who knows how much help he will be. In the mean time, I have a million things to do and a computer that isn't working - Whoever said Apples never have issues needs to be seriously censored!
A few other notes: I use Time Machine Editor to run my backups weekly. It was set up that way from the get go by an Apple rep who came to my house to get us up and running. Editor should not effect the way that time machine does its work, so I doubt there is relevance but thought it worth mentioning.
One other note is that the Apple Care agent tried to have me do something called a "Source" something or other from the disk utility screen but when she realized that my backup file (shown by date) contained many other sub files (11-27-12/MacintoshHD/MyNamesIMAC/etc.), it was not possible to run this operation - thus we aborted. Sorry I don't remember the name of the process and unfortunately now can't access that option to go find it.
If you can help me, I would be eternally grateful! I am open to having a phone conversation if you are willing to give me your email to mail you my number. I have so much work to do this week and this was the last thing I needed. Did I mention this was supposed to be EASY?
I used to be quite the geek with my PC - still on the learning curve with the mac but not enjoying it. I am fairly tech savvy and I can follow instructions for a step by step solution if you've got one.

I got a recall and had the drive replaced. I have retored 3 timesa dn even had apple do the job and it is still not right. I still can't get a simple ghost of the data from time machineback tot he new drive.
This is Apple's explaination as taken from their web page.:
Restoring your entire system from a backup
If you are restoring a backup made by a Mac to the same Mac
With your backup drive connected, start up your Mac from the Recovery system (Command-R at startup) or Mac OS X v10.6 installation disc. Then use the "Restore From Time Machine Backup" utility.
Note: If "You can't restore this backup because it was created by a different model of Mac" appears when restoring a backup that was made on a different Mac, follow the onscreen instructions.
I even posted this information on the community and apple removed it... because they don't like the:
Off-topic or non-technical posts
Non-constructive rants or complaints
But here is my experieince:
Take in 27iMac running 10.6.8, 5-7 days, what a joke, my boss will be happy to pay for a week without working. Finally get, "if you have TM back up, 3 days." Get machine back with 10.6.3, hit the R recovery, click TM back up, runs for 2 hours, reboots, looks great. Box up take back to office... update to install - OH NO, still running 10.6.3. Updates crash with no specific error on install, BUG PROBELM, nothing runs.
Call Apple... after hours, tells me to boot using 10.6.2 disk, wipe, reinstall OS, udate to 10.6.8, THEN do the restore. GREAT! Only thing 10.6.2 DVD won't read... now back on phone... take back to the store, Genius says, he'll ix it just like it was. PROMISES it'll be fixed.
Pick up next day, supposedly, booted to disk, wiped drive, reinstalled, updated to 10.6.8 and THEN did the RIGHT restore... Looks GREAT... apps run and 10.6.8 OS. Back to the office... NOT RUNNING right!!!... fonts messed up, drop box app needs new install, cocktail needs upgrade, Fetch not working, memorized paths gone... back ups locked out of permissions... ***!!
4 hours on phone with apple and still no rsolution - to missing "settings". Seems there are THREE WAYS TO RESTORE (according to apply tech)... Running MIGRATE ASSISTANT and being able to choose your files, including settings, "R" RESTORE after they load a new OS... or NOW WAITING for them to send me a bootable 10.6.3 disk and then boot from disk, w/o installing OS and doing a restore from TM. I think this is done via the disk Utilties application.
So now can't back up without doing a full 400 GB back up since permissons are screwed and possibly destroying any good back ups... can't work, like having hands tied behind back. WAITING for solution! Very upset!!!
I did my first restore just like they said and now an 10 days without proper machine. Just FYI. I thnk I am going to make the store do the tech work so I have somthing to fall back on.

Can't restore from Time Machine backup error message

My hard drive on my Macbook failed a few days ago. Just makes a clanking noise and won't boot up etc... I installed a new drive, formatted it, and selected restore from Time Machine backup from the installer screen. It started restoring from my backup I had on an external drive and everything was fine untill it got about 6% done then get a message that says "An error occured when restoring from the backup" It is pretty non descriptive. It also says please restart your system and try again or something to that effect. I tried again, same problem. When I try to copy files over manually I eventually gets some error that says there is a problem with a file and it will quit. Any ideas on how to get my data? I can see all my files on there, but can't get them. My backup disc is just used for backup on this one machine nothing else, so it shouldn't have a problem. Help!

Good to hear MA is doing something!
>I have never had much luck with Time Machine...
Same here, not one good backup or restore, can't tell which.
You can set any of these to Clone/Update as often as you wish...
Carbon copy cloner...
http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html
Or SuperDuper...
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/
Or the most expensive one & my favorite, Tri-Backup...
http://www.tri-edre.com/english/products/tribackup.html

Problem migrating to new Mac mini Server from Time Machine Backup

I sell my old Mac mini Server and after I purchase the new one (unibody). I had the Time Machine Backup but I'm not able to restore it to the new mac mini. I started it with the Server Install DVD into it and I went to Utility menu to choose "*Restore from Time Machine backup*" but it said that *it was not possible to restore the backup to this machine because its a different hardware, and suggested to use Migration*. So I restarted it and when it asked me to choose between "setting up a new server" or "transfer information from an existing server" I chose this last. In the next menu didn't appear any Time Machine backups so I mounted the time machine backup and copied the Latest hd backup to an external firewire hd and I connected it to the new one. In the migration menu list appeared my backup but there was a *yellow triangle icon* over it and the message "*Migration is not supported from servers which are configured to use dynamic network addresses. Configure the source system to have a manual network address and try again*". But how can I config a static address into my backup if I can't restore it into a machine? I don't have anymore the old mac mini to restore the backup and make any change in the configuration!
Any one can please help or give me suggestions?
Many thanks

I solved it!
I changed the network settings by editing /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/preferences.plist
So I successfully restored my SL server installation, but now I have an issue with Ethernet and SD reader. See this post if you are interested:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=11709463#11709463

Duplicate Admin accounts on restoring from Time Machine backup

I need help to remove duplicate accounts, created after restore from Time Machine Backup.
Here is the situation:
1. I was running SL on a Mac Pro with Time Machine backup. I had 5 User Accounts on the Login Window: Shared (Admin account), Dear Wife (DW, also Admin), Kid1 (managed), Kid2 (managed) and Guest (standard), and two 750 GB hard drives, HD1 and HD2.
2. Mac Pro would not boot past the Apple logo with spinning icon.
3. After talking to with Apple Support, it turned out that HD1 had crashed. I took it in to the Genius Bar, where they checked and confirmed HD1 crash and took it in for repair.
4. Apple replaced HD1 and reinstalled SL.
5. I picked up the Mac Pro. At home I reconnected TM and restarted.
6. Upon restart, I clicked on restore from TM backup and there was only 1 TM backup visible to select. After several hours of Transferring Information, about 700 GB was restored
7. Upon finishing restore, I saw the same Login Window as before crash, with the same 5 accounts - Shared, DW, Kid1, Kid2, Guest.
8. Issue: From the Login Window, logging into Shared and clicking on HD1>Users, I now see: Home Icon with Shared1, and four additional folders: Shared, DW, Kid1, Kid2
It seems I now have duplicate Shared accounts in the User folder - Shared1 with the Home icon, and a separate folder with name Shared.
I cannot "Move to Trash" Shared, since I get the message: “Shared” can’t be modified or deleted because it’s required by Mac OS X.
When I go into System Prefs>Accounts: I see My Account: Shared, and Other Accounts: DW, Kid1, Kid2, Guest. After unlocking the accounts, and right clicking on Shared for Advanced Options, I see:
User: "Shared"
-- Account Name: shared
-- Home Directory:/Users/shared1
Question: How do I consolidate or get rid of the duplicate Shared/Shared1 account? I have 350 GB of video/pictures/music in each of these accounts, which is unnecessarily eating up the new HD1.
Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

I solved the duplicate account problem.
I had used Setup Assistant to restore from TM Backup and that gave me the duplicate accounts, i.e., method used was:
http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/19.html
After carefully reading Pondini's FAQs, I instead used the Restore and install Method, i.e.,
http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/14.html
No duplicate accounts anymore, problem solved.

Restore system to new laptop from Time machine backup???

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for