Restoring from Time Machine doesn't work

I am attempting to restore from Time Machine on my 13" Late 2008 MacBook, but the restore stops about halfway through.
Some background information: A few weeks ago my computer started exhibiting some weird behaviour. It would turn the disk off or log me out after a few hours (I typically sleep with it on and use at as my alarm clock). Then, apps would crash and quit unexpectedly. It would kick in the HDD when I was not using anything that required it, and the fan would turn on for no reason. Then the worst thing happened: Some days I would get the dreaded "You need to restart your computer" screen multiple times. It almost seems like a virus. The problems persist after multiple PRAM and SMC resets. Sure enough, I tried turning on my computer yesterday and it just won't even start. It would give me the Apple logo, a spinny loading indicator, and then it would give me a very slow progress bar. As soon as the progress bar gets to about one tenth of the way, the computer turns off.
I have everything backed up to a very recent Time Machine. I opened the computer in Recovery Mode and verified the disk. It needed repair. So I repaired it, and it said the repair was unsuccessful and needed to be restored. So I tried restoring it. I ended up having to erase Macintosh HD and reinstalling Lion (which thankfully I could do over the Internet). After reinstalling that, I tried "Restore from Time Machine." It got to about 30% of the restoration and then took me back to the Utilities page spontaneously. It didn't give me an alert or an error of any kind. It has done this multiple times. I may try Migration Assistant and see how that works. I know that a 4-year old MacBook is a bit of a dinosaur anyway, but the machine has been very useful and powerful for the whole time I've had it, and this is not how I'd like to see it die.
I also have a lot of important data on the Time Machine and fear that whatever afflicted my MacBook may afflict the MacBook Pro I intend to get soon, which I will load my TM onto.
Any and all help is deeply appreciated.
-Sam Taylor

I have always had problems restoring from my backups. I just replaced my hard drive and did a restore and now there are no icons in the dock (all ?'s) and I cannot click on my Applications folder in any finder window. (Oh, and the fans run constantly at top speed after being on for about 3 minutes.)
This is probably the 10th restore I've done in the past couple of years and I don't think one has worked for me.

Similar Messages

Lost Photos . Restoring from Time Machine didn't work. HELP!

Here's what happened. I pray someone can help. I've lost precious childhood photos.
1. I made a folder with a few albums inside.
2. I was going through my photos and moving appropriate ones into the albums.
3. With maybe 10-15 photos I would get the big, black exclamation point when I double-clicked on the photo to see a larger version of it.
4. Researched how I could fix this problem.
5. Tried all the iPhoto Repair Library (command/option open iPhoto) options. Didn't fix the exclamation point problem.
6. Downloaded iPhoto Library Manager. Started to run "Restore Library" but noticed it looked like the program froze, so I canceled it.
7. Went back to iPhoto and realized I had lost at least half my photos! PANICKED!
8. Decided to use Time Machine and my back-up hard drive to restore the iPhoto Library.
9. Started TM, but again it appeared like it wasn't working, so I cancelled it again.
10. Went back to iPhoto and noticed my photos were back but the exclamation point problems was still there.
11. Since TM appeared to work, I ran it about two hours after which time a window popped up saying something like "Can't continue operation. Only option was to click "Ok."
12. Opened iPhoto, and I'm back to missing half my photos (all of which appear to be from 2009 and earlier).
Majorly stressed out right now. Please can anyone help me?
Running OS X Yosemite 10.10.2 and iPhoto 9.6.1
Thank you!

Try this:
Starting over from scratch with new library
Start over with a new library and import the Originals (iPhoto 09 and earlier) or the Masters (iPhoto 11) folder from your original library as follows:
1. Open the library package like this.
2. Launch iPhoto with the Option key held down and, when asked, select the option to create a new library.
3. Drag the subfolders of the Originals (iPhoto 09 and earlier) or the Masters (iPhoto 11) folder from the open iPhoto Library package into the open iPhoto window a few at a time.
This will create a new library with the same Events (but not necessarily the same Event names) as the original library but will not keep the metadata, albums, books slideshows and other projects.
Note: your current library will be left untouched for further attempts at a fix if so desired.

IPhoto 09 - some recent events lost after restoring from Time Machine

recently my early-2009 iMac hanged during boot up on the white screen. so i a restore from Time Machine and it works. this freezing occurred twice of the last one week, which i did 2 restore to last backup. then i notice there's an issue with iPhoto 09. i notice some latest events which supposedly been backup during the restore point, appears 'blank'. when i enter Time Machine, i see all previous events but the recent day or two, it just turn out to be black squares, and when i enter the events there weren't any photos but just files with names.
i tested again but loading in a couple of new photos into iPhoto yesterday night, back it up and double check in Time Machine, it is (the new photos) there. about 6-hours later i make a check again (on Time Machine), the photos event became the black square again. this is really a pain for me as i have lost enough photos
i desperately need help on this. anyone?
here a couple of the screenshot from my Time Machine:
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t272/mujiland/Screenshot2010-05-29at104554PM. png
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t272/mujiland/Screenshot2010-05-29at104602PM. png

Hello mook,
So if I understand:
1.) The goal is to restore the iPhoto Library from a point before the issues started happening
2.) When you try to go backwards in Time Machine while inside the iPhoto window you get a blank Library when you get to the date range you want.
What to do:
- As you cannot seem to access the iPhoto contents using the iPhoto window I would suggest the following:
1.) Navigate using the Finder to ~/Pictures (or whatever folder you are currently housing your iPhoto Library in)
2.) Rename the current iPhoto Library to something else (Like iPhoto Library Old etc)
3.) While looking at this Pictures window, activate Time Machine and go back in time to a date when YOU ARE SURE iPhoto was working fine and had the images you want
4.) Click on the iPhoto Library in the Time Machine window and click on Restore
-- This will restore the Library from the date in question
-- You will have 2 libraries once the restore is complete. The freshly restored library and the old library. Keep the old library just for safe keeping until such time as you determine you have all the pictures you want. Then you can do whatever you want with it (trash it, etc)
Hope that helps.

After a restore from Time Machine my login password does not work.

My HD crashed and I replaced the HD. I then restored from Time Machine. After it was done restoring it prompted me for my apple ID and password and account info. Now when I try to login, the password does not work. After several failed passwords, it says I can reset my password using my apple ID. How do you do this? I click on the message and it just disappears. I can't login!

Is it your actual Apple ID login password that you're talking about (which is obviously working since you got into this forum) or the password for your user account. If the latter, simply boot to your ML Recovery partition (holding down the Command and R keys while booting) and set a new password via Terminal.
Boot into your Recovery partition and, from the Utilities menu, open Terminal. In Terminal, type in:
resetpassword
...a small app will run allowing you to select a user and change the password for that use. Enter the new password twice (the second time to verify) and give yourself a password 'hint'. Then reboot and use your new password on your account.
Clinton

Restore from Time Machine & OS X install not working

Mid 2009 Macbook Pro
Installed new hard drive, reformatted to GUID, hard drive is verified.
Booted from USB Recovery HD
Selected Restore from TIme Machine
Plugged in external, it shows up, click on it, back up from this morning is there, pick new formatted hard drive
Get error "An error occurred while adding a recovery system to the destination disk. Restart your computer, and then try restoring again."
Do exactly that 3 times
Then try installing OS X
Get this error "An error occurred while preparing the installation. Try running this application again."
Try that 3 times
Reset PRAM
Tried both again same errors

Hi, and welcome to the forums.
First, are you running Leopard or Snow Leopard? Your settings at the bottom of your post say Snow Leopard, but this is the +Leopard > Time Machine+ forum, so I'm not sure which is right.
Did you do the full system restore, starting by booting from your OSX disc? If not, what exactly did you do?
Exactly what is wrong with Software Update? What happens, or doesn't happen?

Quirks and problems after a restore from Time Machine

I had need to restore from Time Machine. It did the job, but it wasn't as easy as restoring from SuperDuper. Apple iTunes Store passwords and iTunes registrations were all lost, requiring me to re-enter passwords for the various users' authorizations to play music (and burning a user on each of those accounts.)
As I used the restored system, there were several things that weren't quite right and had to be fixed as I encountered them. One persistent issue is that Safari cookies aren't working. For all the sites that had cookies to recognize me and log me in, the cookies no longer work. I have to log into the sites on each visit now. It will remember nothing.
Is there a general purpose restore tonic that will fix all these quirks?
I'm thinking of going back to SuperDuper and just set it up back up to a different volume each night for a week to have a full week's worth and skip this Time Machine mess.

In Safari, some of that password stuff is indeed handled by cookies from the various sites, but a lot of it is actually handled by the "autofill" function which fills in form fields (in this case name and password) with whatever you last used there -- independent of any cookies.
While running Safari, go to Safari / Preferences... Go to Security. Be sure that you are allowing cookies to be received in the first place.
Then go to Autofill. See if you have the item checked to allow recording and automatic filling of "User names and passwords". You can edit the list of them to see what's currently in there.
If this doesn't do it for you, you might want to try selecting Safari / Reset Safari... from the menu bar. The panel will allow you to select which data items to reset.

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 after SSD upgrade

Macbook Pro 13" mid-2009, 10.7.5 Lion
I just swapped out my 160GB HDD with a 250GB SSD on my MBP. When I booted up, I pressed Command-R to try to get into recovery mode but all it does was showing a gray folder with a question mark on it.
I had previously backed up my HDD with time machine. My original HDD is no longer available because I tried to upgrade to Mavericks (since the command-R was not working) and upon restarting my MBP was locked with system pin code (that is another nightmare all by itself)
What are my options besides getting a 10.7 Lion CD from the apple store and try to boot it up that way? and then restore from time machine?
Any other way I can get into receovery mode?
Thanks (My MBP is now a brick sitting on my desk)

It's a bare drive so it isn't formatted and it doesn't yet have a Recovery HD installed on it.
Your computer originally came with a version of Leopard installed. You can reinstall it if you still have the original discs that came with the computer. Or, if you have a retail Snow Leopard DVD you can reinstall Snow Leopard from which you can then upgrade to Mavericks (Lion is no longer available for re-download.) It's unlikely your local Apple Store has a Lion USB flash drive or DVD although you can certainly make an appointment and ask for their help.
You should see if you can boot from the Recovery HD invisible image in your Time Machine backup drive. Connect it to the computer and use OPTION boot to get the boot manager. If you see a Recovery HD on your backup drive displayed, then boot from it.

System Restore from Time Machine Back up and Mail

Hi
I have around 16,000 Messages in my Mail 3.2 Inbox. I use Gmail IMAP service. One thing I like about Mail is that next to all my messages there are these arrows that indicate whether I have replied to or forwarded a particular message and clicking on them takes me to my response to a particular email.
I need to reformat my MBP HD and want to do a system restore through Time Machine.
My question is, will Mail return to my current state (with all the arrows and tags) after I do the complete restore from Time Machine.
Any help on this is highly appreciated.
Cheers!

Mheck21 wrote:
I replaced the internal because I need more space, I'm not an expert, but I've done it before. I wasn't having trouble I was just running out of room and decided to upgrade?
Ah, ok, that rules that out.
I think it wasn't backing up because it was showing I had files on the external but I couldn't locate them. It's my understanding that the external must be blank to back your computer up with time machine.
No, it doesn't have to be empty (although Time Machine works best if it has its own, exclusive space). Without the error message(s), we don't know what is/was wrong.
I have run the Verify Disk on the internal and it says its all good.
Ah, good. That means you don't have directory problems.
I have not run a Repair Disk Permissions. I am not sure how to do that? Is that also located in the Disk Utility.
Yup, same window, different button.
I tried to just run the update from the update software option in the apple on the top left. I also then ran the combo that I downloaded from the apple site.
With what results? Did they compete? If not, what message did you get?

Unable to restore from Time Machine

Hi
I'm having some problem restoring from Time Machine. Here are the steps i've taken to do that but it won't boot after restoration.
Macbook Pro, 2011 Model with 10.7.3.
1. My Mac have 3 partitions (MacHD, Drive A, Drive B) - MacHD has Lion and all other apps, A & B are for my stuff like music, movies etc...
2. I backed it up using Time Machine but in the option I only back up MacHD (A & B) are not backed up.
3. Restarted and Command-R into Disk Utility
4. Erase MacHD using DU. Note: I enabled FileVault so once that's done, its locked but it can be unlock from Disk Utility
5. Restore from TimeMachine, now here's the problem
Once time machine is finished, it reboots my Macbook but keeps going back to the set up screen.
I tried to change the start up disk but this is the error i have is this “you can’t change the startup disk to the selected disk. Building boot caches on boot helper partition failed”
Now i've tried these steps
6. Tried to use http://d43.me/blog/126/building-boot-caches-error-when-changing-startup-disk/ --> by going into Terminal but still doesn't work
the command in that help doesn't work, sudo nano /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.Boot.plist
7. Tried Reinstall Mac OS X but the screen come up and said 103days 40hrs to dl the god darn Lion (note I have Lion installESD.dmg stored on Drive B, is it possible to access that and install from drive B?)
8. Can't seem to find the Lion Recovery partition, how can i boot into that? When hold Command-R, it boots into Internet Recovery for 15 misn then go back to the choose languague and the 4 options (restore from TM, Reinstall OSX, Disk Util and somethign else I can't remember)
Basically I want to either restore from my TM back up to current state or re-install new OS X to the MacHD without wiping out the whole drive.
Thanks for your help.

Yes, but you would need to erase/reformat the hard drive to re-install Snow Leopard.
Star with Section E in the first linked article.
Time Machine Troubleshooting
Time Machine Troubleshooting Problems

Cannot restore from time machine

I installed a new SSD into my late 2012 mac mini along with the current HDD. Turned it on formatted the SSD and everything work fine. Next I wanted to transfer OSX and applications to SSD and use HDD for just storage. I backed up using time machine. I looked into a few different was to transfer OS. DIsk utility was wanting to create a fusion drive from the 2 drive. I went with this option.
It wiped the drives and made a new single storage group. I tried restoring from time machine a couple of times but this would not work saying: 'An error occurred while adding a recovery system to the destination disk' I went back into disk utility and checked the disks. Repaired the errors it said and tried again. Did not work.
Next I tried deleting the disk again and installing Mountain Lion from scratch from the internet option in recovery mode. This took I long time and got as far as nearly installing osx but got stuck on 15 mins remaining. I left this all day while I was at work.
Tried doing this a second time and it started downloading from the internet again but something must have gone wrong because when I came back it was back in recovery mode screen.
So not sure what else I can try to get this fixed. There is a suggestion online that this is a known problem with Mountain Lion and 2012 machines, but that doesn't really help me get working agian. The only other thing I can think of trying is un-fusioning the 2 drives and trying to install on just one to see if this works.
Does anyone else have any other steps to try?

Some drive partition configurations can result in the OS X Installer reporting that it cannot create a Recovery System. If this happens, you might want to quit the installation and create an external OS X hard drive with a Recovery System first. You can continue installing OS X on your computer's startup drive after creating an external Recovery System.
Where did yo install the SSD? Lower bay (one nearest the bottom cover) or the uppter bay (normally empty on single drive Mini?
Some users have reported problem with an SSD in the upper bay. Maybe because of the new cable or because of that SATA bus.
Try installing the SSD in the lower bay iff it is not there. Also if yo do not want a Fusion drive, disconnect the HD during the install if the SSD has enough space for the TM backup

Cannot restore from Time Machine since upgrade to 10.7.3

I am using a Mac Mini (Mid 2010) using the 2nd HD for backups of Time Machine.
Yesterday, the Mac could not start up and always stop at the First Aid panel (which contains i) an option for restoring from time machine, ii) reinstall Lion, iii) help online ... Whenever I choose restore from backups, the Mac was frozen at the multiple language choice panel. So, I have to reinstall OS Lion. It's successful. Then I restore from backups in 2nd HD and the strange thing happens. It doesn't matter what version of backup I choose, it appears that the contents in my wiki is updated only to March 2012. When I browse the Time Machine, it's really a surprise that I update 10.7.3 by the end of March 2012. Since then, despite the fact that the backups run regularly and backups versions appear in Time Machine, the contents of my wiki (which is added and modified everyday) are not updated. All backups under 10.7.2 are okay.
Can anyone know about this problem?
Best regards,

Well, I know about the problem but do not know a solution I am afraid. I had the same problem where the wiki, calendar and addressbook were a couple of months old after a restore from time machine two weeks ago. I did not relate this to the upgrade to 10.7.3, but that could easily be the case. I never did time machine restores before.
I was able to restore calendars from client side time machine backups (a lot of work), but the wiki I could not restore to an up-to-date version. My guess is that files were restored correctly, but not the postgresql databases. So I started to make daily backups from postgresql myself now. This post helped me with that:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/17008934#17008934
Another thing I started doing was creating a bootable clone on a usb disk with carbon copy cloner, which is incrementally updated twice a day now.
But I hope that Apple will fix this in an upcoming update. I would be nice if you could rely on Time Machine backups.

Web services problem after restoring from time machine!

I am getting this message every time i reload or log in to the wiki pages created on the snow leopard server after i have restored from time machine due to hard drive problems.
*The versions of the server and UI don’t match.*
*Try clicking Reload; if that doesn't work,*
*please make sure both server components are up-to-date.*
*Client: WikiServerUI-200*
*Server: WikiServerUI-198*
Anyone have a clue how to fix this issue?
I tried to restore/restart/update/....
Nothing worked....
Please elaborate as much as possible if you have any idea how to get rid of this nasty pop up every time you browse between pages or different wikis.
Million thanks in advance
cheers
/samer

I've the problem as well. When visiting my wiki-server I always get this popup message:
The versions of the server and UI don’t match. Try clicking Reload; if that doesn't work, please make sure both server components are up-to-date.
Client: WikiServerUI-198
Server: WikiServerUI-200
After a harddisk replacement I restored the server installation from TimeMachine back to the harddisk. From thereon I have the problem.
What is the problem exactly and how can I get rid off that message?
Thanx, Harold

Toasted my installation. Restoring from Time machine to 2 hard drives?

I just installed a second hard drive into my macbook pro. SSD is the system drive and HDD is the data drive.
When it was still working, I had my home folder on the SSD and my iTunes and Photo libraries on the HDD. Things were good.
Then I decided to move the entire home folder to the HDD.
Sys Prefs -> Users -> right-click the user -> advanced -> "move the home folder"
and again, everything was good.
Then I read something about having the user Library folder on the SSD is a good thing.
So I moved the home folder back to the SSD. Rebooted and all my prefs were now gone. Figured I messed up something and didn't want to troubleshoot.
So time for a restore.
Attempt 1
- Open Time Machine, select both hard drives, selected a past date and hit restore.
- Got a message that I didn't have enough space.
* I figure this is because time machine restores the entire contents of each drive as entire new volumes as a first step.
Attempt 2
- Go into recovery mode COMMAND+R
- Discovered I don't have a recovery partition
* I guess this is because I cloned my original system drive to the SSD using CCC and it didn't move this part.
Attempt 3
- I created a LION USB Install Key
- Booted from it, and selected 'Reinstall Lion' (because I read an article that I could recover my files after Lion had finished installing)
* Discovered that it reinstalled 10.7.0 and I would have to apply all patches on top. It didn't restore my HDD either.
* Later found out this method only restores the main system drive.
Attempt 4
- Now that I have a recovery partition, I booted from it.
- I selected "Restore from Time Machine Backup"
- Was able to select my Time Capsule, and it gave me choices on which date I would like to restore to.
- I selected and hit restore.
* It's about 25% done now. And I realize that i should've done this in the first place.
Question: Will this method restore both of my hard drives?

hsmp wrote:
Question: Will this method restore both of my hard drives?
No, only a single OSX drive. If both were backed-up, and both contained OSX, there was a (not very obvious) option to select which one you wanted.
See Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #14. Section (g) shows this.
If you want to restore the "other" drive, and it contains OSX, run the restore again and select it.
If the other drive doesn't contain OSX, use the "Star Wars" display to restore it, per FAQ #15.

Restore From Time Machine Without DVD

I'm trying to set up a "simple" robust backup system for my father-in-law who is computer/mac neophyte.
I have an external USB drive with two partitions. One partition has a very thin bootable 10.5 which has only Disk Utility and DiskWarrior in the Dock; the other is set up for Time Machine, pictures, etc...
My question is, from the 'boot' drive, how can I restore the main/internal drive with the Time Machine backups? Is there a way to extract that "Restore System From Backup..." utility from the DVD?
Thanks

Thanks for the response V.K. I did the "thin" OS to allow him to run Safari (web search, etc...) in the event his main drive didn't work. Yes, I did have the idea of installing the install image on a small partition, but that would mean there are two bootable options and extra levels of complexity. Plus, it seems a little silly to carve out 8GB just for that utility.
Here's what I want to tell him (his name is Jim BTW) -
Jim, if you are having problems with your computers, here's what you should do:
1. Reboot and hold down the option key
2. Select the "Boot" drive
3. After the desktop shows, launch Disk Utility from the Dock
4. Select "Jim" and press [Repair Disk]
5. If you get errors try it again
6. If you still get errors, quit Disk Utility and launch DiskWarrior from the Dock
7. Select "Jim" and Press [Rebuild]
8. Press [Replace]
9. Quit DiskWarrior
10. Reboot, hold option key, Select "Jim"
11. If it still doesn't work/flaky, reboot hold the option key
12. Select "Boot"
13. After startup select <not available> to restore from Time Machine
It's the "<not available>" utility that I'm looking for...

Restoring from Time Machine doesn't work

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