? Restore time machine backup to a separate computer hardrive

My brand new imac (alluminum 24") 8 gb harddrive crashed. Time machine was functioning and hopefully has all my files. Question , while I'm waiting for apple to replace (thankfully I have apple care) can I restore individual files or projects to my other imac older white version (from my external hardrive) specifically imovie project or idvd files so I can continue to work with them till the new imac comes whixh may take 2 weeks so I can work with these files? If so what's the best way to do so?

I'm not sure of what would be the behavior of Time Machine if you click the icon while a "foreign" disk is connected. If you see the backups, and can browse your file, as long as the path are kept the same (i.e. the path of your home directory on the original machine is the same as the path of your home directory on this old iMac) then I guess it is ok to just click restore on your important directories.
If that does not work, you still can manually restore your files from the TM disk in your home directory, without affecting the profiles of your children, just be aware to say in your home directory.

Similar Messages

  • Problems trying to restore Time Machine backup to a new computer

    Hi there-
    I recently purchased a new MacBook Pro and want to downgrade it from Lion to Snow Leopard. I have Time Machine backups from my slightly older MacBook Pro running Snow Leopard. However, when I attempt to restore from the Snow Leopard backup, I get a message stating I can't restore that backup because it was done on a different computer. Is there a way around this so that I can essentially just overwrite my new computer with my latest backup of the older running Snow Leopard? Thanks in advance-

    I should say though, I don't know for sure if a complete disk wipe will allow you to boot off the 10.6.3 Snow Leopard disks or not, as I don't fully understand how the firmware works. There are two parts I know of, the hardware firmware and the EFI software firmware.
    EFI supposedly has it's own partition on the drive, which should be able to be completly erased.. When I installed rEFIt however (it's a alternate firmware allowing me to boot other operating systems), it required two reboots for it to take hold.
    I also should say I've never taken a factory Lion installed machine and put Snow Leopard on it.
    So far what I've been able to determine is the firmware is blocking the booting of the 10.6.3 disks (the only retail version there is) so you can't install Snow Leopard, if the firmware can be flashed to a earlier verison the 10.6.3 disks should boot as the hardware drivers for 2011 MBP's reside on the 10.6.3 disks.
    But if you have a second Mac, then the target disk mode of the link above should work, you can also create a large  HFS+ journaled partition in Disk Utility in Lion and then use Target Disk mode of the other Mac to install Snow Leopard there.
    I wish you luck, you might have to visit MacRumors or another Mac site to get further information. The Lion machines are very new, Apple is resisting attempts to downgrade from Lion to Snow Leopard and not many have done it yet.
    I bought my machine pre-Lion so I can stick with Snow and avoid the Lion pain, but have it on another older Mac for experimental puposes (quad boot).
    I'm pretty sure rEFIt will allow you to boot off the 10.6.3 disks.
    I'm sorry if I couldn't have been more help, I'm still learning how to get around this 10.6.3 block myself.
    If I had a factory Lion machine, I would most certainly post a blog how to downgrade the SOB to 10.6 somehow.

  • Restore Time machine backup from a stolen computer to a different Mac Pro

    *My Mac Book Pro was stolen.* It had some Time Machine backups, but Time Machine had stopped working about 6 months before it was stolen. I had stopped using the USB drive since TM would never complete. (2 issues)
    1. When I plugged in this USB backup disk to the Mac Pro just now, it asked me whether to use Time Machine with it. It told it no, ask me later so I could browse it first.
    2. It looks like the old problem with Time Machine not backing up the stolen laptop shows up as a file called "2008-09-22.204132.inProgress". I am hoping that the backups previous to that one are okay. So far, browsing the files appears to me that my data is intact but perhaps spread across 40 folders.
    So now, what should I do to retrieve the data I want?
    A. Copy the data files and pictures manually without Time Machine? How do I know I will get the latest versions?
    B. Use Time Machine with this disk and somehow ask TM to restore to a different machine? (Is that even possible?) (Will it merge the files into my user folders?)
    C. Use Migration Assistant?
    D. Copy and paste the entire file structure to a directory someplace and pull off the data as I need it?
    *End result: I want my external hard disk wiped ASAP, and in the meantime I want my data files preserved.*
    The old MacBook Pro definitely did not have Snow Leopard but the MacPro does to which I want to copy the data. It probably had Leopard. But honestly my user data is not necessary, just primarily the data, pictures, DVD projects, etc.
    As a side note: My old laptop and my MacPro used the same username and password.

    lhbilly wrote:
    *My Mac Book Pro was stolen.* It had some Time Machine backups, but Time Machine had stopped working about 6 months before it was stolen. I had stopped using the USB drive since TM would never complete. (2 issues)
    1. When I plugged in this USB backup disk to the Mac Pro just now, it asked me whether to use Time Machine with it. It told it no, ask me later so I could browse it first.
    2. It looks like the old problem with Time Machine not backing up the stolen laptop shows up as a file called "2008-09-22.204132.inProgress". I am hoping that the backups previous to that one are okay. So far, browsing the files appears to me that my data is intact but perhaps spread across 40 folders.
    So now, what should I do to retrieve the data I want?
    start Migration Assistant located in /Application/Utilies. it has an option to migrate your data and applications from a TM backup. migrate what you want. note that users will be migrated to new users so to access your old home directory you'll have to log out and log in as the migrated user.
    A. Copy the data files and pictures manually without Time Machine? How do I know I will get the latest versions?
    B. Use Time Machine with this disk and somehow ask TM to restore to a different machine? (Is that even possible?) (Will it merge the files into my user folders?)
    C. Use Migration Assistant?
    D. Copy and paste the entire file structure to a directory someplace and pull off the data as I need it?
    *End result: I want my external hard disk wiped ASAP, and in the meantime I want my data files preserved.*
    The old MacBook Pro definitely did not have Snow Leopard but the MacPro does to which I want to copy the data. It probably had Leopard. But honestly my user data is not necessary, just primarily the data, pictures, DVD projects, etc.
    As a side note: My old laptop and my MacPro used the same username and password.

  • HT201250 when restoring a time machine backup to a new computer, does it affect the new operating system on the new computer

    when restoring a time machine backup to a new computer, does it affect the new operating system on the new computer?

    That depends on how you do it.
    By far the best, easiest, most reliable method is to use Setup Assistant when your shiny new Mac first starts up, to transfer your apps, users, data, etc.   That doesn't disturb either the OS or basic Apple apps that came with the new Mac.  See Using Setup Assistant on Mountain Lion or Lion.
    There is a facility to restore an entire system from Time Machine backups, including the version of OSX on the backup, but that's for use when your internal HD has been erased or replaced only.  It's not a good idea to restore the full backup of one Mac to a different one.  Depending on the circumstances, the installer may not allow it.  Even if it does, the Mac may not start up, or may kernel panic, or not work properly.

  • Restoring Time Machine backup to a drive in a "Voyager Dock"

    Restoring Time Machine backup to a drive in a "Voyager Dock"
    I would like to restore a Time Machine volume to a hard drive not installed in the computer it has backed up.
    I have an iMac 24” with a failing drive. It will eventually need to be replaced.
    I have my Time Machine back up for this computer in a Voyager Docking station.
    I would like to have Time Machine “restore” the iMac’s data to a drive in another Voyager Dock running from a computer other than the iMac involved.
    What I hope to do is bring the “restored” drive and the iMac to my Mac service provider and just have them swap the old drive for the new.
    How do I get Time Machine to do this?

    So, You're saying I can do this from a different computer with its own Time Machine?
    In other words, I have my Time Machinedrive  from the dead iMac and a fresh, formatted drive both hooked up to an unrelated computer with its own Time Machine.
    If I enter Time Machine on that computer won't it show me the data it backs up for that computer only?
    Will Time Machine know that there are two Time Machine backups (the one from the iMac and the one from the new host machine), and allow me to select the one from the iMac?

  • How can I use the Time Machine Backups from my Old Computer?

    I have two months of Time Machine backups made using my old Macintosh computer which died and I no longer have. I have now purchased a new computer and am trying to use the Time Machine back ups from the original computer, but it will not recognise them. How can I get my new MacBook Pro to use the Time Machine Backups from my old Computer? I phoned the Apple help line and they said I cannot use them and would have to delete them. This sounds crazy if you can only use the Time Machine back up file with one computer and have to delete it when you buy a new Mac. Surely there must be some way to transfer ownership (not files) from an old to the new Mac?
    Thanks
    Richard

    Thanks Kevin for the suggestion posted on MacOSXHints how to "Repair Time Machine after logic board changes".
    http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20080128003716101
    It seems as though I am not alone with my frustration with the way Time Machine uses the MAC address of a computer to tell one system from another. This means that if you have your Mac repaired with a new logic board, or replace your system with a new one, you can't resume backups where you left off. Reading through the readers who used the fix using Terminal, it appears that the fix does not always work. I contacted Apple again, but they were no help. Surely Apple should come out with a solution as more and more people use Time Machine/Time Capsule.
    It is CRAZY that after a change computers or a switch in the computer logic board that you cannot resume your Time Machine back ups.

  • Just bought a used MacBook pro after my previous died. I want to migrate my applications, data, etc from a time machine backup of the old computer to the new. Will this affect, or overwrite the Apps., data, etc existing on the new machine?

    Just bought a used MacBook pro after my previous died. I want to migrate my applications, data, etc from a time machine backup of the old computer to the new. Will this affect, or overwrite the Apps., data, etc existing on the new machine?

    No. Only those Apps that are not installed on the new will migrate over.

  • Mac Mini late 2012 Failed to Restore Time Machine Backup

    Try to restore time machine backup to my mac mini. I have made backup right after I got the machine from apple. Now due to some reason I am trying to restore it but failing again and again. Error is something like this:
    I have erase disk as default which is required for intel based model but still it didn't work. Please help me out.
    Further I have also tried installing fresh 10.8 OSX by making bootable usb. It also didn't work. A question mark appears right after I select USB Bootable Drive at start.
    Thanks

    Yes same. When I try booting MBP with same usb it goes to recovery menu, (one which comes when you press Cmd+R) I think my MBP is running mavricks thats why it dont go to 10.8 setup. Further when I select same usb in mac mini it shows following screen.
    Content of USB are:

  • Restore Time Machine backup from different computer?

    I'm going to put a new HD in my MacBook Pro.
    Once I've done it will it be possible to restore my user folder, applications etc. from a different computer's (Power Mac) Time Machine backup?

    Thanks again Joe.
    One last question. Once I've transferred my files from the Power Mac's Time Machine disk could I select that disk in MacBook Pro's Preferences as it's Time Machine backup disk?
    (Effectively stop using it as the Power Mac's backup disk & continue using it as the MacBook Pro's backup disk).
    Backing up new files on the MacBook Pro to the disk, but still be able to 'go back in time' & restore files from the Time Machine disk (backup up over time on the Power Mac).

  • Restoring a time machine backup on a bootcamped computer?

    Can I restore a Mavericks Time Machine backup to the OSX partition on a bootcamped computer and not have issues with the Windows 7 partition and boot camp? I hope this makes sense.
    Thanks

    bbour38 wrote:
    I planned on doing a fresh install of Mac OS X Lion — and clearing the hard drive and applications — rather than simply updating and keeping all my data. I figured a clean update could limit any bugs or issues I'd have.
    Unless you're having problems you can't fix any other way, there's no reason to do that.   In most cases, just upgrading is the easiest, quickest, most reliable way to go. 
    I wanted to ask if I could restore this backup onto the wiped machine once I've installed Lion. It's important for me to restore the Time Machine backup not only for my files and accounts, but also applications like the Adobe Creative Suite 5 where I only have licensing to download one copy. Is this possible, or is there any better way to do this?
    If you do a full system restore, that will restore Snow Leopard.
    Without a second partition or external HD, there's no easy way to erase your system, then install Lion, since you need Snow Leopard to do the download.
    You can, if you really want to, download Lion, but don't install it directly; instead, copy the installer to a DVD, USB stick, or partition on an internal or external HD.  See Making a Lion Install disc or partition for instructions.
    Then erase your internal HD and install Lion from the copied installer, then when your Mac starts up, use Setup Assistant to transfer everything else from your backups.  You may, however, have to re-enter purchase keys or serial numbers for some 3rd-party apps.  See How do I set up a new Mac from an old one, its backups, or a PC? for details. 
    But in most cases the result will be exactly the same as simply upgrading.

  • Restore Time Machine backup to Raid 0 (Striped set)?

    I've been struggling with setting up my Mac mini (late 2012) server with a Striped RAID set and then restoring a Time Machine backup to the new RAID 0 volume. Here are the steps I have undertaken:
    Bought a 3TB Airport Time Capsule and created a full restore of my existing Time Machine backups to it.
    My Mac mini has dual 1TB hard drives. Pressed Command + R on bootup and entered recovery mode.
    Using Disk Utility, I created a Striped RAID set by adding both my 1TB drives as slices to a new RAID set and clicked on Create.
    After the RAID set was created, I exited Disk Utility.
    Clicked on Restore from Time Machine Backup.
    The process fails as it cannot create a Recovery Partition on a RAID set.
    After much exploration, I think the problem can be resolved by attempting to Reinstall OS X on Step 5 and then attempting a Time Machine restore after the core OS is in place. Thoughts?

    Additional Information
    A Recovery partition cannot be created on RAID volumes. If your startup device is a RAID volume, you back up and reconfigure your computer to use a non-RAID boot volume. If needed, create a separate RAID volume for data which is not the target of the OS X installation. You can also create an external, bootable drive with a Recovery partition, as described above.
    See this article if the following message appears during the install process:
    "Install Failed: OS X could not be installed on your computer. OS X can't be installed on the disk because a recovery system can't be created. Visit www.apple.com/support/no-recovery to learn more"
    From:
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4649

  • Restore Time Machine backup after hard drive crash

    My hard drive on the mac book crashed, so I replaced it.  Now I need to get my time machine back up on the new drive.  I've already started using the computer and reinstalled lion, so I'm not getting the original "backup" screen.  How do I find my old time machine backups?

    Your best bet is to do a full restore from your backups.  See #14 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions.

  • Making a Time Machine Backup from a networked computer

    I have two identical macbook pro laptops with identical os  Mac OS X 10.6.7 (10J869)
    Macbook one has a frozen screen from a bad logic card. This macbook never had time machine implimented.
    Macbook two is now tied to Macbook one via firewire and I can access all of macbook one's files.
    My question is, can I make a time machine backup of macbook one using the current firewire connection and then reinstall that to macbook two?
    Thanks in advance for any help.

    Download and install SuperDuper on MBP1's hard drive.
    With MBP1 in FireWire Target Disk Mode, connect your external USB drive to MBP2 and open SuperDuper. Select MBP1's drive as the source and the external drive as the target for the clone, and select "Backup — all files". Click the Copy Now button and enter your admin password. This will make the external drive an exact, bootable replica (clone) of MBP1's hard drive, erasing anything that was on the external drive previously. It may take anywhere from half an hour to several hours, depending on how much is stored on the drive, and it will show you a progress bar to indicate how far along it is. It's a very good idea not to use the computer for anything else while this process is going on. Plan to leave it alone until the cloning is finished.
    Once that's done, restart MBP2 while holding down the Option key to invoke the Startup Manager, and select the external drive to start up from. If the startup goes normally (it may be slower than normal, but otherwise should be about the same) and the computer seems to run the way you would have expected MBP1 to run if it were working, you're ready to clone the external drive onto MBP2's internal drive. This will erase everything that's now on MBP2, so make sure anything that you need to back up is taken care of before proceeding. You'll need to back that stuff up to a different external drive from the one that contains the clone of MBP1, or to burned CDs or DVDs.( In a pinch, you can back it up to the drive in MBP1 if there's room for it there, but if you do so, keep it separate from the stuff that was on MBP1 before you cloned it, so you won't have trouble finding and identifying the MBP2 backed-up data again. And don't overwrite or erase any of the stuff that was already on MBP1 until it has been safely installed on MBP2.)
    When you're satisfied that everything from MBP2 that needs backing up has been attended to, open the copy of SuperDuper that now resides on the external drive. Designate that drive as the source and MBP2's drive as the target, and repeat the cloning process. When that's finished, MBP2's drive too will be an exact, bootable replica of MBP1's drive (and of the external drive, of course), and you will need only to copy back onto it whatever data you backed up from it before the second cloning operation.
    The success of this procedure in producing a bootable copy of MBP1's drive on MBP2's drive relies very heavily on your statement that the two MBPs are exactly the same model. If that isn't true, all bets are off.

  • Restoring time machine backup stuck at end

    Hello!
    I recently suffered a random filesystem failure and had to reinstall the OS. I was running 10.7, in fact, I turned on my MBP to install 10.7.1.
    After a lengthy download, the installer prompted me to restore from a Time Machine backup, which I'm keeping since my last hardware HD failure. I chose to restore, and the installer detected my Time Capsule, loaded the backup, and started restoring.
    I left it overnight and, come the following morning, the restore hadn't finished yet. Again, I left it while I was at work, and came back 8 hours later to find the screen in the exact same way I left it in the morning.
    After some tests trying to restore the backup (including a failed back-to-Snow Leopard attempted recovery, couldn't connect to my TC), I figured I would reinstall Lion from scratch and use Console.app to check the progress using the system log when restoring using Migration Assistant.
    My first surprise was when I tried to run Migration Assistant using the root user, which made Migration Assistant crash, so I had to create a second administrator user in order to restore my original administrator account.
    After leaving it run its course, I started noticing that the Migration Assistant was trying to restart opendirectoryd, and that it was failing to start, citing error 71 "profile could not be found" (or opened, instead of found, I really don't remember and don't have the log here with me).
    I then went into the terminal to check if the restored data was on disk, which it was, so, after a couple of attempts of launchd to restart opendirectoryd, I pulled the plug and shut the machine down cold (no shutdown process, just held the power button).
    When the computer started up again (I have verbose boot mode on), it stalled at macx_swapon (again, or something like that, I don't remember), and didn't move in the whole hour and a half I let it sit there.
    I tried booting single user mode, but the only thing I got to do was check if the restored data was there (which it was), and try to create my user (which I couldn't).
    I've had success restoring backups from that Time Capsule but for another Mac.
    Is there any way I can restore my computer back to the exact state of the Time Machine backup? FWIW, the TM backup is a data-only backup (i.e. doesn't have the OS with it), so a disk clone is not an option.
    I really would like to avoid going the "fake manual restore" option of creating the same user, moving the files manually and so on, it's a PITA
    Thanks in advance,
    Nico

    Sorry, can'thelp. But:
    I trust  TM only for rescuing individual files. I tried a full restoration of my Lion system, as a test, and everything was restored and seemed OK except half my Mail messages were missing. A few months ago, on OS 10.5.8, TM suddenly told me that it had deleted some files. The files deleted were all from Jan. 2010 to four weeks before! I know that it does this if the TM disc is getting full, but I had not created any large files in the preceding few hours. Also, the TM disc had loads of space left, yet when the message came, TM's GetInfo showed the disc nearly full!. I had to erase the disc and start again.
    I don't find TM reliable. I make my backups in the form of bootable clones, scheduled every day in Carbon Copy Cloner.

  • Unable to restore time machine backup onto a new hard drive

    I recently bought a new hard drive for my mid-2010 white Macbook. I have kept this computer regularly backed up with time machine, but just to be sure I made sure I hooked up my external hard drive prior to changing the hard drive and made sure it was fully backed up. I checked my exceptions and saw that my system files and applications were listed, so I removed them from the exceptions list and let it back up again (it only backed up a further 60MB though, so that made me a little uneasy).
    I successfully switched over the hard drive and then plugged in my external hard drive so I could do a restore from Time Machine. My external hard drive has 3 partitions: 2 time machine backups for each of my computers, and one partition for storing files that also has an old copy of 10.6 on it.
    When I booted the computer, I held option, then selected Macbook TM. When it came to the window with 4 options, including disk utility and restore from time machine backup, I selected restore from Time Machine backup. When I did so it said "No OS X Backups Were Found." Why wouldn't it have backups listed if I have been consistently backing it up? How else do I do a full system backup?
    Also, how can I be sure that I'm restoring this backup onto the new hard drive? It didn't prompt me to select that drive at any point, and I want to make sure I'm not overwriting the middle partition on the backup drive (or anything else).

    Please visit Pondini's Time Machine FAQ for help with all things Time Machine.
    You will find that Mountain Lion stores an invisible copy of the Recovery HD. You can boot from your Time Machine backup drive by restarting with OPTION boot:
    Boot Using OPTION key:
      1. Restart the computer.
      2. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the "OPTION" key.
      3. Release the key when the boot manager appears.
      4. Select the disk icon for your Time Machine backup drive.
      5. Click on the arrow button below the icon.
    Your computer should boot into the Recovery HD. You will be presented with a main window of options. Select the option to restore from a Time Machine backup then click on the Continue button.

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