Time Machine after Restore

My mid-2011 21.5 inch iMac running OS 10.9.5 had been running very slow (all 4GB of RAM was constantly in use) so I dropped it off at an Apple Store Genius Bar for a week of diagnostics. The tests showed all the hardware was fine so they wiped the drive and suggested I rebuild it from my Time Machine backup excepting do not load the “settings” portion. I did that and I don’t think that helped the memory or speed issue much, but now I cannot run a Time Machine backup. TM thinks there is an archive from a different machine on my back up drive and there is not room for another.
How do I tell Time Machine to use the existing archive?
Thanks,
Mike M.

Eric - thanks for those links, and I actually did see them before I posted. But those instructions include having transferred "Settings" when restoring (from my original Time Machine backup) but the Apple Genius Bar folks suggested not to copy that portion since it may have been the cause of my problem. (Time Machine never asked whether I wanted to create a new backup...) So I don't know if that messes up the solutions on your links. After reading it a couple of times, it sounds like my solution would be to follow the "pink box" steps in B6 but frankly I'm not 100% sure (because I did not transfer  "settings") .
In any case, I may just start a new archive on another hard drive and eventually delete the current one when it gets old enough.
Thanks,
Mike M

Similar Messages

  • How to set-up  Time Machine after Restore

    After having restored an entire system back from Time Machine, it looks to me as Time Machines wants to completely backup all data already held on the hard-disk. With this effect, the harddisk is not big enough. I do not want to buy another disk. Is there any way how to persuade Time Machine that it should use the existing data on the disk?

    Hi Aulia,
    I don't believe that you will be able to have Time Machine understand that you only want it to continue with the same data : once it has detected that a file changed, it makes another copy, even if you know that it's the same file : it's based on messages telling it that a file has changed, not on files comparison.
    I think that the "inprogress" file will be replaced by another one if you let TM do it's job : it won't make a third copy of your data. If there is enough space on the disk, you can let TM continue, and try to manage with the following trick, with patience and much care.
    Make sure that the "Action" menu is visible in a Finder's window (it is if you did not customize the toolbar to remove it), and dive into Time Machine. Select a item in the window : the Action menu now has an item that should read "delete all backups of this element" (or something like that : I'm translating my French version). Take care that "all" here really means ALL versions in the backup : the only copy left would be on your main disk.
    The next backup may not make a fresh copy unless you help it a little : after all, there was no message telling TM that the original was changed, since it was not ! Just do anything in the folder containing the item that you deleted from the backup (like creating and immediately deleting a folder there) : this will tell TM that something has happened there, the next backup will check the folder, detect the missing element and make a fresh copy.
    Having only one copy of a really important folder may not suit you, even if it's only for the short delay until the next backup. You can make a copy of it, and run TM to backup the copy (a right click on the icon in the dock shows a "backup now" item). You now have a backed up version, you can delete the original, and all the backup copies of the original with the previous method. But if you rename the copy back to it's original name, it will be saved again... just iterate one more time !
    I hope that this can help you, but please do not hesitate to try and validate your method on small copies before you delete something in your backup !
    PS : I just tested my proposals with my 33Gb iMovie Events folder : a new copy of an event folder is created in the backup each time you rename an event, and I gained more than 40 Gb by deleting all previous redundant versions.
    At least, it works for me !

  • How to get back into Time Machine after restore?

    I have a MacBook. I had to take it in for repairs. Fry's gave me a loaner Macbook. I successfully used the Migration Assistant to copy all my backups onto the loaner Macbook. All my apps and docs seem to be here.
    But now I want to be able to "mount" to my old Time Machine backup "stream". I tried the control-click on Time Machine in the dock to connect to a previous backup, but when I enter Time Machine I can't find any history. I should have like 2 years worth of backups.
    Any hints on how to "get back on" an old time machine sequence after a restore?

    RichieW13 wrote:
    I have a MacBook. I had to take it in for repairs. Fry's gave me a loaner Macbook. I successfully used the Migration Assistant to copy all my backups onto the loaner Macbook. All my apps and docs seem to be here.
    But now I want to be able to "mount" to my old Time Machine backup "stream". I tried the control-click on Time Machine in the dock to connect to a previous backup, but when I enter Time Machine I can't find any history. I should have like 2 years worth of backups.
    Any hints on how to "get back on" an old time machine sequence after a restore?
    TM keeps the backups for each Mac separate, and normally only shows the ones for the Mac it's running on, even if there are other Macs' backups on the same disk/partition.
    Also, sometimes TM will start a new "sequence" of backups, as if they were from a different Mac.
    To see these "other" backups, you need the (badly named) +Browse Other Time Machine Disks+ option. It's available by holding down the Option key while selecting the TM icon in your Menubar, or by control-clicking (right-clicking) the TM icon in your Dock.
    You'll see a selection screen showing all the disks/partitions that have TM backups on them. Select the one you want, and you'll be taken to the normal TM "Star Wars" interface, where you should see all the backups on that disk/partition.

  • Updating Time Machine after restoring from backup

    Hello,
    I use both SuperDuper and Time Machine to back up my MacBook Pro to an external drive. My computer's internal hard drive recently died, and my most recent backup was from SuperDuper, so after I replaced the internal drive, I restored my system using SuperDuper.
    With the new internal drive, Time Machine still recognizes my previous backups and lets me access my old files -- but when I try to create a new backup, it wants to delete nearly one year and 100 GB of old backups from the external drive to make room for new ones. I'm not sure why it feels the need to do that; all the Created and Modified dates on my files appear to have been preserved, so only the usual incremental update should be needed, and I have over 50 GB of free space on my backup drive for it.
    I'd prefer not to lose that archived content. Any idea how I can continue using Time Machine without starting from scratch?
    -Ken

    kengagne wrote:
    With the new internal drive, Time Machine still recognizes my previous backups and lets me access my old files -- but when I try to create a new backup, it wants to delete nearly one year and 100 GB of old backups from the external drive to make room for new ones. I'm not sure why it feels the need to do that; all the Created and Modified dates on my files appear to have been preserved
    That's not what it uses to determine what needs to be backed-up (since they can be changed), but it doesn't apply to this case anyway.
    Since you have a new drive, even if it has the same name as the old one, Time Machine knows it's a different drive and will back it up completely. You cannot prevent it.
    This is actually for your protection; if you had a drive named "Music" and replaced it with a different drive, with different content but also named "Music," surely you'd want Time Machine to know it was different and back it up?
    In fact, you can have two or more drives on the same Mac with the identical names; OSX (and Time Machine) know they're different, and can keep them separate without a problem.
    If you really need backups kept that long, you need a bigger drive for Time Machine. Your best bet is to let it start fresh on the new one, and keep the old one "on the shelf" until you're sure you don't need it anymore. You can always view and restore from the old one, via the +*Browse ...+* option, per #17 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
    Or, if you really want to, you can copy the backups from the existing drive to a larger one, then continue backing-up to them. See #18 in the FAQ.

  • Cannot back up to time machine after restore

    I've been using Time Machine successfully on my 2009 27" iMac 3.06 ghx Core2Duo (Mountain Lion 10.8.2).
    Recently I started having drive issues, so as usual, I ran Disk warrior 4.4 and it came up with some errors that could not be fixed and it suggested backing up all my data, wiping the drive and restoring from a backup.
    I booted into recovery mode, wiped the drive and restored from my lastest time machine backup. Everything was restored successfully, except now Time machine is ignoring my previous backups and wants to make a brand new initial backup and there is not enough room on the backup drive to do this.
    How do I make it use the previous backups and continue on from there without making a brand new complete backup? I would like to avoid wiping the drive and starting anew.

    Time Machine has no way of knowing that the restored files are the same as they were before, so it backs up everything.
    What you should do is start a new backup on a new, larger external drive. You need more than one backup anyway to be safe. When you're sure you'll no longer need the data on the old drive, erase it and start over.

  • Restore Time Machine after restoring Hard Drive?

    My iMac HD crashed and the good news is I was using Time Machine and it appears to have done an excellent job of restoring the drive. However, it is now trying to do a "full backup" onto the drive that already has the TM data so of course there is no room. Apple support describes this as normal behavior, but to me "normal" would be allowing me to pick up where I left off as if the drive had never failed. The only solution I can think of is to erase the TM backup and start over, but then of course I can never go back in time and the time machine is no better than a mirror image of the drive the day it died. Anyone know how to tell TM to go directly to incremental back ups?

    geocip wrote:
    Just to close the loop I did a quick erase using disk utility and started a new backup. If anyone from Apple is reading this,
    No, nobody from Apple (except, perhaps, a moderator watching for language, rants, etc.) reads these forums. Make suggestions here: http://www.apple.com/feedback/
    it would be a nice touch to have an option once the disc has been restored to continue the time machine archive or start a new one. At the very least a waning that tells you a full backup will commence and whether or not your drive has enough capacity.
    Agreed, but it doesn't always do a full backup (sure wish somebody could figure out why), and If there isn't room, the backup fails almost immediately, with a fairly clear message.
    At the end of the day of course this is so much better than restoring a windows volume it's not even funny!!

  • Can you restore 10.5.8 from Time Machine after installing 10.6?

    After problems with Mail, I'd like to go back to 10.5.8 to get my files back. Can you use Time Machine to restore the whole system?

    Yes. Check Pondini's tips in the Leopard Time Machine forum.

  • Restore Mac from Time Machine, after grey screen

    I'm working with an iMac running Mountain Lion from 2011 with Intel chip
    The computer keeps loading up to grey screen. I was able to get to the screen where I get to choose
    Restore from Time Machine
    Reintsall OSX
    Get help online
    Disk Utility
    I try to restore from Time Machine but after i " select a backup" date it keeps seacrhing for disk and stays stuck on page that says Select a Destination.
    This is my fathers Mac and I'm trying to help him fix it. Any help would be greatley appericated
    Thanks

    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

  • How to restore files from Time Machine after Clean Install of Mavericks

    How to restore files from Time Machine after Clean Install of Mavericks. I know the data is there but seems unaccessable because I may have changed the Computer or Owner name. Is there any way to fix that now?

    Hi Linc,
    my back-up data is managed by Time Machine; the actual data is on a second internal Hard Drive with a capacity of 1TB - not partitioned. I am using Time Machine and have access to all data backed up since Mavericks Clean Install but not the data prior to this date.
    When I open the 1TB drive in Finder I can see a folder "Backups.backupdb/Sigi's Mac Pro/ followed by many folders of backup dates going back to 2010-09-20-103441 and up to 2014-02-07-142414 all followed with folder Macintosh HD.  February 7th  2014 was the date of the clean install.
    These Backups are followed by backup date folder 2014-02-08-075554 with a subfolder of MacPro-320GB (this is the name I assigned to my Boot Drive during formatting; I suspect I should have assigned the same name as before ie. Macintosh HD) and 2014-02-11 with a subfolder Macintosh HD, these are the ones I get access to by way of Time Machine > Restore.
    Weird thing is on Febr 11 when I relised my possible mistake and renamed the Bootdrive back to what it was initially ie. Macintosh HD despite this I have access to all backup data since the Clean Install in both folders MacPro-320GB as well as Macintosh HD but not to any data prior to the Clean Install.
    Is there something that Time Machine knows and prevents access or is it simply a matter of renaming the subfolder 2014-02-08-07554/MacPro-320GB to ........./Macintosh HD?
    I like to restore selectively and not everything - It was hard work reinstalling apps that were supposed to be the troublemakers (ref my discussion on Maverick problems) but I now need to get onto data specific to some of these apps as well as other data I may have missed. Long story? Yes and sorry.
    Sigi

  • I have Photoshop Elements 10 on a new Mac, using Yosemite 10.1.1 - PE locks up every time I try to sign in. This software was restored to this computer from Time Machine after a theft of my old Mac. How can I fix this?

    I have Photoshop Elements 10 on a new Mac, using Yosemite 10.1.1 - PE locks up every time I try to sign in. This software was restored to this computer from Time Machine after a theft of my old Mac. How can I fix this? It keeps telling me that there are missing files, too. If I upgrade to Elements 12 or beyond, will this fix the problem?

    You can't sign in because there is nothing to sign in to. For PSE 10 the only sign in was to photoshop.com, which has been dead and gone for a year and half. Just skip the sign in. Reinstalling will not change this.
    PSE 8, 9, 10 Can’t Sign In, Error 404 | Barbara's Sort-of-Tech Blog
    PSE is locking up because it's looking interminably for the non-existent photoshop.com server.

  • Configuring Time machine to Restore after a failer

    Hi
    how to Configurr Time machine to Restore after a failer ? should i just set the time machine to backup to the external hard disk that have the backup and it will automatically detect it and can use it ? what if there is another backups for another Mac's ?

    PureHeartKnight wrote:
    Hi
    how to Configurr Time machine to Restore after a failer ?
    Do you mean you want to recover your entire system from your TM backups? If so, see item 14 in +Frequently Asked Questions+ at the top of this forum for details.
    Or do you mean, once your Mac is recovered, how to start new TM backups?
    When you first boot after restoring, you may want to immediately turn Time Machine off, as it's next backup will probably be a full one -- everything it just restored will be backed-up again. You cannot prevent this, only delay it. It will of course take quite a while, and a lot of space on your TM disk, so you may wish to wait until you're sure your system is the way you want it, or even erase your TM disk with Disk Utility and let your backups start anew.
    what if there is another backups for another Mac's ?
    That may become a problem. TM knows which backups are for which Mac, and will not mix them. But if there's not room for the first backup of the restored Mac (see above), you have two bad choices: erase the disk, and start both Macs over again with TM; or delete all the backups for the failed Mac via the TM interface (see item 12 of the same article).
    If you decide to erase the disk completely, you may want to partition it before beginning backups, so each Mac's backups have their own, exclusive partition, to prevent this hassle in the future. See item 5 for instructions if you want to do this.

  • When using Time Machine to restore some Mac Mails, after clicking restore, a message shows "restoring 480 mesages.  They are supposed to appear on Mac Mail sidebar in a special folder.  They are not there and I have no idea where they are?  Would apprecia

    I am having a problem with the Time Machine in restoring Mac Mail back to a certain date. Everything works fine, with Mac Mail the active application and entering Time Machine, and I have found the mail file after the location process is done, then I hit Restore and there is a messages "restoring 480 messages", but I cannot locate them anywhere. What is suppose to happen is that a special file should appear in the sidebar of Mac Mail in the section On My Mac.  Any suggestion would be appreciated.
    I use Mountain Lion.

    Although you can restore messages from a Time Machine snapshot within the Mail application, it generally won't work with messages that were saved by an older version of Mail. In that case, you have to use an alternative method.
    Triple-click the line below to select it:
    ~/Library/Mail/V2
    Right-click or control-click the highlighted line and select
    Services ▹ Reveal
    from the contextual menu. A Finder window should open with a folder selected. Inside that folder are subfolders representing your Mail accounts. The names refer to the email addresses you use. Decide which ones you want to restore messages from.
    Enter Time Machine and scroll back to the snapshot you want. Select the account folders you want and then selectRestore ... to... from the action menu (gear icon) in the toolbar of the snapshot window. Restore the folders to the Desktop, not to their original location.
    From the Mail menu bar, select
    File ▹ Import Mailboxes...
    Import from the mailboxes in the folders you restored to the Desktop. The imported messages will appear in a new mailbox. Move the ones you want to keep wherever you like and delete the rest. Then delete the folders on the Desktop.

  • TS3423 Mac book pro stops responding after Maverick OS restart. Currently have a circle with a line through it after 20+ hours. Tried to shut it down and use the Time Machine to restore but no response. How can I restore with Time Machine if it will not s

    Mac book pro stops responding after Maverick OS restart. Currently have a circle with a line through it after 20+ hours. Tried to shut it down and use the Time Machine to restore but no response. How can I restore with Time Machine if it will not start?

    sonjadg,
    you can purchase a replacement pair of grey installation DVDs for your MacBook Pro from either Apple or iFixit. If Startup Manager is only showing an OS X Installer volume, then it sounds like the Mavericks installer had a problem midway through its installation process. To fix this, you’re going to need to erase your internal disk and reïnstall your original version of OS X from the grey Mac OS X Install DVD, use Software Update  to get it back to 10.6.8 (presuming that your MacBook Pro originally came with Snow Leopard), and then restore from Time Machine.

  • HT201250 When restoring Time Machine after a failure, does it also restore the files to the same order, for example - within iPhoto I have pics/ videos in folders and sub folders organised as family/events etc - will it go back to this exact order after a

    When restoring Time Machine after a failure, does it also restore the files to the same order, for example - within iPhoto I have pics/ videos in folders and sub folders organised as family/events etc - will it go back to this exact order after a restore?

    Hi Stavros0203,
    When restoring your entire system from a Time Machine backup, it is restored to the state it was when that backup was made. See this article for reference -
    OS X Yosemite: Recover your entire system
    Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
    Best,
    Brett L

  • Could not restore CS5 using Time Machine after changing to Mac OS8.3

    Could not restore Photoshop CS5 using Time Machine after changing to Mac OS8.3 - the change was dictated by a power supply problem (now fixed) in my Macbook Pro - that has been fixed.

    Restoring the Adobe application via Time machine is not a good practise and may cause other issues as well.
    Please install the application properly rather restoring.

Maybe you are looking for

  • Full screen video crashes iBooks

    just updated iPad 2 to iOS6. Now, when I play a video full screen within an iBook-Authored book viewed in iBooks, and then close the video, the entire ibooks display is offset about 50 pixels down from the top of the iPad (horizontally) and I cannot

  • Dvd problems( new time user)

    I have dvd-r home movies, that i burned on my pc , but ,the will not play on my new imac...also I'am having trouble burning dvd's, for that matter! I'am new to imac ! thanks

  • Can I use a "clicker" in Captivate?

    Couldn't find this answer anywhere, so I hope someone can help me. I am using Captivate 5 and am generating presentations that basically work as PPT slideshows. These presentations do include forward and back buttons. They are used by both single use

  • Title in Modulepool

    Hi all, How to set title in Dialog Programming Thanks & regards, Sinha.

  • HT1338 os x 10.5 can't update anything

    My Mac is OS X 10.5.8, and I can not update anything now. How should I do? Should I need upgrade my Mac? Thanks~~