Saving files when restoring HD with Time Machine

My Macbook Pro is a complete mess since upgrading to Mountain Lion...No wireless printing, super slow, freeze ups, up to an hour to boot! I have tried everying to fix the problems. My only option now is to restore the hd using Time Machine to before I downloaded Mt Lion. However, that was about 3 weeks ago and I don't want to lose documents I have changed or created since then. Can I retore the hard drive without restoring/losing the docs, photos, etc. I've made since installing Mountain Lion? All I want to restore is the operating system.

you were restoring the wrong thing. no user data is ever stored in the applications themselves. it's stored in your home directory. but it seems that your attempt to restore itunes.app has corrupted it. so go to the main Applications folder and delete iTunes.app. then restore it from TM. TM should let you do it. stop and post back if it doesn't.
also restore the following items from your home directory:
homedirectory/music/itunes (warning: it is big!) and the file homedirectory/library/preferences/com.apple.itunes.plist. once all those things are restored start itunes.

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My macbook pro mid 2009 OSX Lion 10.7.4 randomly Hanging when backing up with Time Machine

My macbook pro mid 2009 OSX Lion 10.7.4 randomly Hanging when backing up with Time Machine to Time Capsule. Anyone else have this issue?

bumping this up. Same issues persist even with 10.7.5

Since upgrading to Mountain Lion, I cannot restore emails with time machine. In Lion TM created a folder in Mail called recovered emails(or similar) No such folder is created since ML. I am able to see the email I want to restore, but it then disappears

Since upgrading to Mountain Lion, I cannot restore emails with time machine. In Lion TM created a folder in Mail called recovered emails(or similar) No such folder is created since ML. I am able to see the email I want to restore, but it then disappears

I am inside Mail, waiting for the TM 'recovered mail' folder to appear - which it doen't.
I only looked in my home folder after trying several times from within my Main app.
Marion

Restore Mac with time machine, consequences for itunes library

Ok, here is the problem, if there is one. (Using SnowLeopard)
(I want to restore my Mac because I want to install Windows 7 as additional OS. However, therefore have to install OS X once more because otherwise partitioning the disc does not work).
I want to set up the computer completely in a new way, but with the help of time machine, so that the computer looks exactly the same as before with the only difference that I will be able to partition the hard drive afterwards.
I am in particular concerned about how Itunes will behave in this situation:
Since I have a very huge Itunes library and it took me a lot of time to create it, I want to be absolutely sure, that it works afterwards in exactly the same way as it does now, that means basically: Not being necessary to import any music into itunes library again, instead the music should appear in exactly the same way as I see it now when I open Itunes with all the artwork etc. This should normally be the case with time machine. But it is getting more complicated now and this challenges me regarding my itunes preferences:
I did NOT go for "organizing itunes library by itunes" + did NOT go for "copying files to itunes library when importing music". THis basically means I use my own structure of folders, some of the music is located extern, same is located on the mac. Itunes work perfectly fine with this preferences until now. Timemachine does only back up the music located on the mac harddrive of course. However Itunes on the other hand can reach the extern music and play it in the same way as the music located on the mac. Me as a consumer, I do not realize when using itunes where the music comes from.
So if I restore my computer and using timemachine to set it up, will itunes still work in the way it works now? In particular will itunes still know where all the different media files are located and that some of them are located extern? I do not want to import 200 albums once more. Otherwise I forgo installing Windows.
I am not exactly sure how Itunes works and how timemachine behaves in connection with itunes (especially with my settings), thus I would rely in your help now. I would appreciate your comments. Thanks for your help.

christian111113456 wrote:
Thanks for the hint.
However, does this safe my problem? When trying to partition my harddrive, it always says that a file has been changed and thus partition is not possible to proceed. So if I clone this harddrive and then reclone it back, woudn't I get the same error?
not if you have enough space on the drive overall. the most common reason for this error is hard drive fragmentation. cloning to an external, reformatting and cloning back defrags the drive as the cloning is done on file level not block level. I thought that's what you were trying to do. doing a full system restore will achieve the same thing as it also defrags the drive. and the end result will be exactly the same if you do a full system restore or clone. why did you think doing a TM restore would work when cloning wouldn't? of course, you need enough free space overall to do it. how big is your hard drive, how much space is used and how big do you want the bootcamp partition to be?

Retrieve iPhoto files from external drive with Time Machine

I can retrieve all other files with Time Machine (including photos in Pictures) but not my iPhoto pics. Have read a few suggestions but having trouble following.
Thanks in anticipation, Ernest.

If you are trying to restore individual photos saved in iPhoto, you cannot do that. Instead, you need to restore the whole iPhoto library.
To prevent the lose of the most recent photos, go to the folder where you have got your iPhoto library (by default, Pictures) and copy it to another folder. Then, in that folder, open the Time Machine app (in /Applications/Utilities), navigate through your backups and restore the iPhoto library you need

Can't restore apps with time machine

I can't restore an app (or any file) from the Application folder with time machine. The folder is "grayed out" as soon as I go back in time.
I have checked permission.
Thanks for any hint!
Rolf

Some troubleshooting information:
Time Machine Troubleshooting
Time Machine Troubleshooting Problems

Restore System with Time Machine?

It seems to be this SHOULD be easy - but in three hours I just haven't been able to figure it out.
How do I do a system restore with time machine?
I did a back up a week ago. Yesterday I had some kind of major glitch that messed up an unknown number of my files. I figured "that's okay, I'll just restore everything to last week and that will be fine." Except I can't seem to find out how to do that!
I have no idea how many files are affected, but last week it was all fine. I did a diagnostic and it says my hardware is fine. I did the safe boot start up and everything is supposed to be okay on my drive. But my files and software is still messing up - and I think if I can just put it back to last week, I'm fine.
I do not have a CD that works (I found one, put it in, and the system won't boot from it). I do have my backup drive. What do I do?

See if the instructions here work for you:
http://pondini.org/TM/14.html
You really should get replacement installation disks from Apple Customer Service. They will need the serial number of your MBP and there is a charge.
Ciao.

Can I do a fresh install of os x to new SSD and restore applications with time machine?

I am upgrading to a new ssd. I have my current system backed up with time machine. Can I install/format (extended journaled) and then recover my time-machine stored application to my new ssd?

"BTW, you should NEVER use the Finder to copy items from TimeMachine. Use the TimeMachine application to recover files and applications."
I don't know how to use the finder to copy files. I am assuming I will be propted to use the TimeMachine application as a part of the clean install from snow leopard ( I am not upgrading to lion as of yet...). I will have my mac os x disk, time machine partition on a seperate external hard drive, BlacX 2.5/3.5 HDD usb docking station and new blank crucial m4 ssd at my avail. save for my wits...

Can't find files after restoring them from Time Machine

Hi!
Yesterday I formated my macbook pro and re-install Mountain Lion. Before that I made a backup using Time Machine.
When I wanted to create full system restore I couldn't do that. Neither using migration assistant neither with Mountain Lion startup disk. But that was yesterday story. I guess I was one of those unlucky guys who can't do a system restore because some strange reason.
So what is the problem today: They someone says that I should enter a time machine and do a restore of a Macintosh HD. Restore of the whole hard disc.
And I did that.
And now I can't find those files on my Macbook. I can see on disk space that they are on the disc but I can't find them.
Is it because of the different user account or something like that?
It would be really great if I could get a full system restore but it would be also great if I could just see all the files that i restored.
THanks for the help guys!

That's not the right way to restore. Delete the folder named "Macintosh HD" in the Volumes folder. It will take a very long time.
Most likely, some folders were inadvertently excluded from your backups, and as a result you can't restore your data in Recovery, Setup Assistant, or Migration Assistant.
Starting from a fresh installation of OS X, set up a new administrator account and log in. You should now be able to enter Time Machine and restore your user data from a snapshot.* I suggest you do this in two stages. Quit all applications except the Finder before you begin.
Restore all the visible items at the top level of your home folder.
Hold down the option key and select Go ▹ Library from the Finder menu bar. Enter Time Machine and restore all items in the Library folder. Log out and log back in as soon as the restore is complete.
Any other invisible folders or files at the top level of your home folder that you want to preserve will have to be restored separately. For most users, that isn't necessary.
You'll have to reinstall all third-party applications from scratch, or restore them from another kind of backup, if you have one.
You'll have another problem if this is a new computer, or if you erased the startup volume: Time Machine won't continue your previous snapshot series, but will instead try to begin a new one, starting with a full copy of all files. There might not be enough space on your backup volumes for that. There are different ways of dealing with that situation, depending on your needs. The easiest way is to set your backup drives aside, if possible, until you're sure you'll no longer need the data on them, then erase them and start over. Meanwhile start a new backup on one or more empty storage devices. If that solution isn't workable for you, ask for instructions.
*If you don't see any snapshots in Time Machine, exit the time-travel view and then hold down the option key while selecting
Browse Other Backup Disks...
from the Time Machine menu, which has an icon that looks like a clock running backwards. Select the backups of your computer by its previous name. If you don't have the Time Machine menu, open the Time Machine preference pane in System Preferences and check the box marked
Show Time Machine in menu bar

HT4500 how do I transfer files I backed up with Time Machine in an external disk to a PC?

I back up using Time Machine in an external hard drive in my Mac Air. I need to open those files in a PC, but I can't open the files. How do I open them from a PC?

TimeMachine first saves a complete state of your Mac's boot drive, then it saves incremental updates consisting of changes and uses placeholders (file names with no content) for those files that didn't change between states.
Now it will do this until there isn't enough room on the drive and then it starts deleting older states.
So it does it like this so there isn't any duplicated files wasting precious drive space.
Now what does that have to do with your problem? Well there is no TimeMachine software for PC's that can decode this mess and get to the files you want.
However if you understand a bit more details about it, then you can perhaps recover your files.
TimeMachine uses the same drive formatting as on a Mac, OS X Extended Journaled otherwise known as HFS+ or JHFS, and Windows PC's can't read that format natively.
However there is third party software called MacDrive which you install into Windows that can read that drive format.
The next trick, if it works, is to look a the TimeMachine folders and find your data, but have to recall when it was created as to go back into the correct folder or else you will find the empty placeholder with the same name and no data.
Next if you can recover files, is being able to open those files in a compatible PC program, which a lot of Apple software and OS X based software might not have PC versions.
Neutral formats like Mp3, jpg, .mov, .doc, .txt and so forth can be opened on other platforms using other programs, however the more platform or proprietary the files are in, then the harder it is to find a PC version that will work.
What you can do is to use the TimeMachine drive on a temporary Mac (OSX version has to be same or later than on the TM one) and restore the users accounts/software to that Mac and then go about retrieving data or simplifying the data or transporting it into more neutral/cross platform formats.
LibreOffice is excellent for this as it's the only Office suite that's cross platform with Linux, Windows and OS X, plus works with OfficeMac/Office Win files. So pasting into that will preserve a lot of formatting etc, that will be lost if you just pasted into txt format.
I've been aiming to create a transition to Windows User Tip, perhaps one day I will.

Freeze when restoring Mail from Time Machine backup

I had to have the logic board and solid state drive replaced on my Retina MabookPro and before I dropped it off at the Genius Bar I did a full Time Machine backup to an external drive. I have my fixed Mac back, and restored from that backup, but when I try and start Mail it says "Mail needs to import your messages" and then begins the progress bar for importing my messages. The problem is that it always freezes somewhere during the import, and now I am afraid I have lost all of my old mail.
First off, why does it need to re-import? Why can't it just work off the orignal Mail database backed up via Time Machine? And secondly, is there an advanced rebuild or other option that can hopefully recover my mail database? Anything else to try?
-Lewis

Quit Mail. Force quit if necessary.
Back up all data. That means you know you can restore the Mail database, no matter what happens.
Triple-click the text on the line below to select it:
~/Library/Mail/V2/MailData/Envelope Index
Copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C). In the Finder, select
Go ▹ Go to Folder
from the menu bar. Paste into the box that opens (command-V), then press return.
A Finder window will open with a file selected. Move the selected file to the Desktop, leaving the window open. Other files in the folder may have names that begin with "Envelope Index". Move those files, if any, to the Trash.
Log out and log back in. Relaunch Mail. It should prompt you to re-import your messages. You may get a warning that the index is corrupt and that Mail has to quit. Click OK.
Test. If Mail now works as expected, you can delete the file you moved to the Desktop. Otherwise, post your results.

Somehow, my iTunes music disappeared. I restored it with Time Machine and have all of my music. However, my playlists and song ratings did not restore. Does anyone know if there is anything I can do to restore my playlists and ratings? Thanks.

Somehow, my iTunes music vanished from iTunes. I was able to restore my music from Time Machine, but I lost my playlists and song ratings. Does anyone know how I can restore the playlists and ratings? Thanks in advance for any help.

iTunes as you see it is more than just a file or two. It is all the contents of the iTunes folder including the critical library.itl file. That holds pretty much all the information about what you see when you start iTunes. You need to restore the whole iTunes folder, not just media files.

How to restore ical with time machine

I have (some how) lost all of my appointments in my "Work Calendar" within iCal except for one entry (which is strangs).
I have been trying to restore from Time Machine, but, the user interface for iCal through Time Machine is "not easy" to figure out or to use.
I am unable to open the iCal folder as I can do with other ones to restore the data.
How can I do this - I have never been able to do this restore in iCal & Contacts.
Please can any one help me?

Frank Lowney1 wrote:
Another factor that may be relevant is that I seen iCal appear and disappear from the MobileMe list of things to synch. It's out of view 99% of the time.
If you are talking about something you see in System Preferences>MobileMe then it's not relevant - iCal does not in fact sync, it reads the calendars directly from the server (though there is by default a cached local copy) and as I said the settings in that prefs pane are nothing to do with iCal any more.
iCal is controlled in System Preferences>Mail, Contacts& Calendars and you should check that your MobileMe login details are correctly entered there - please see http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4758
As to the process I detailed, in the first set of numbered instructions, please make sure that when you have exported your MobileMe calendars you import them back into a calendar listed under 'On My Mac' - these cannot be deleted by MobileMe and from your description it sounds as if you may not have done this. Given your problems, I would suggest choosing new name sfor the calendars, at least temporarily.
Then when you reconnect to the internet it should not be possible for MobileMe to delete the calendars and you can proceed with the next steps.

Restoring MBP with Time Machine but apps are missing

Hi,
I have multiple problems, so I'll keep it brief.
RAM failed on my early 08 MBP. It corrupted the parttion thing and wiped my HDD. Nice.
Apple replaced RAM & HDD under warranty.
Have data backed up using Time Machine, but not the apps (I thought I was saving space that way, big mistake).
Restored from scratch using install disks + Time Machine but I have very few apps now, i,e. no Address book, Mail, Calendar etc, i.e. the important stuff.
Is there a way I can cherry pick those apps from somewhere to reinstall them while retaining my data on the MBP?
Or do I have to start over, do a clean install using disks and then cherry pick my data off the TM backup?
Oh, an the **** install disk is now stuck in the thing. Ggggrrrrr. Assuming I can get that out, what's the best course of action?
Thanks very much in advance.

That's the weird thing, Although the install disks have the logos of iChat, Mal etc on the initial screen, once you click continue and go through it, even using the 'custom' options, the onyl apps on my disks are: upgrades to iMovie, iPhoto, GarageBand & iDVD plus iWeb. No Mail, Address Book etc.
Anyone else had this experience?

Can't restore system (with Time Machine) after Hard Drive recall

Hi, so first a bit of history...
- Purchased my iMac in 2010
- Upgraded iMac to Mountain Lion in 2012 (I downloaded it so don’t have install disks)
- iMac hard drive was recalled 2013 (Seagate 1TB) – before taking the iMac back, I made sure Time Machine was up to date
I got my iMac back yesterday – I’ve now tried to restore it twice from the Time Machine. On both occasions the progress bar has got close to the end, then just frozen.
Any ideas? I’m wondering if the Mac store restore these recalled Macs with the original OSX it was purchased with, and since my back-ups have been on a newer OSX that might be it. But even if that is the problem, I have no idea how to fix it.
It may have been answered already, but I can’t find any same questions on here.

Hi, sorry I never use TM.
Have you looked through Pondini's extensive TM help site?
http://Pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
Can't imaging something not being covered there.

Saving files when restoring HD with Time Machine

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