Time Machine back-up/restore after hard drive failure - lost data

Our iMac was subject to a hard drive recall. So before getting the hard drive replaced, I did a full Time Machine backup (over wifi to a HD connected to Airport Extreme). Once done, I took the iMac to the Genius Bar and they sent me home with a machine with a new copy of the OS installed.
Came home and upon setting up OSX, I selected something like "restore from Time Machine backup." Told it where the drive was.
I now realize that the most recent back-up that is on that drive is from January 2012. So I lost ten months of data. When I look at Finder at the external drive, in the Backups.backupdb folder, all of the dates there are 2012-01-10-XXXXXXX. There is also a "latest" folder in there, but that also looks old.
So first, does anyone have any suggestions on where to look for this full backup I did? When I enter Time Machine, the time bar on the right only shows "latest" and "January 2012." Interestingly, it does not have older backups either.
Note - the backup I did was a manual one. I stopped having Time Machine do automatic backups because they took way too long over the air. So I would start manual backups about once per month. I never thought to check the hard drive to see if they were there.
Thanks for any help.

I think I have solved half of this. Upon starting the Mac after the disk swap, when I went to restore from Time Machine, I disconnected the drive from Airport Extreme and connected it directly to the Mac via USB. Apparently, this is not ok.
I reconnected the drive to Airport Extreme and now can see all of the backups.
So my question now is whether (1) do I revert to the week-old Time Machine (I want to do this) and (2) do I have to do it over wifi or is there a way for me to access this backup via a direct connection? I'm worried that over wifi, it will take days to restore (it's only 100 GB, but it seems to take forever).
Thanks in advance.

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HT204057 Time machine back up via USB hard drive connected to Airport Extreme.

Why did Apple stop supporting time machine back-up via USB hard drive connected to Airport Extreme? It worked very well.

Why did Apple stop supporting time machine back-up via USB hard drive connected to Airport Extreme?
Time Machine backups are supported via USB hard drive connected to the AirPort Extreme"ac" version.
Time Machine backups were not supported via USB hard drive connected to earlier versions of the AirPort Extreme.
Some users who tried this on earlier version AirPort Extremes seemed to have some success with Time Machine backups....some had moderate success and some had no success with this. Count me in the "no success" category.
See the topic about Time Machine support for USB disks in this Apple Support document:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5924?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

How to transfer time machine back up to new hard drive

How to transfer time machine back up to new hard drive?

You may like to take a look at this thread... https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4207670?start=0&tstart=0

Can 'Time Machine' back-up other external hard drives

Can 'Time Machine' back-up other external hard drives connected to your mac as well as the mac memory itself?

As Neil says, yes, it can. But external HDs are excluded by default; you have to tell Time Machine when you do want to back one up.
See the exclusions box in Time Machine Prefs > Options.
If the drive is shown in black, just select it and click the minus sign at the bottom.
If it's shown in gray, though, it's not formatted for a Mac, and Time Machine can't back it up (and you can't remove it).

Restoring time machine back up to new hard drive

Today, I went to a computer store and had the hard drive replaced on my Macbook Pro 2008 model. I was running snow leopard, but with the update the guy updated my OS to Mavericks, he hasn't put anything else on the computer though.
What I want to do is restore back up from time machine (situated on an external hard drive). However I don't want my system to glitch or revert back to Snow Leopard. I want the back up to run on Mavericks. What is the best way to run this back up?

Hey jshark1,
You can use Apple's Migration Assistant (located in /Applications/Utilities) to bring your data to your new system hard drive. See this article for an overview of how to do it -
Move your data to a new Mac - Apple Support
While the article is about transferring the information from another computer, it also allows you to do so from a Time Machine backup. Start from the sections labeled Choose a connection method.
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
Be well,
Brett L

Time Machine "Backing up to multiple hard drives"

I had problems when switching between two external hard drives using Time Machine.
Upon speaking to Apple Tech Support I learned that when getting an error code that prevents me from using one of my hard drives, that there is a work around. Seems that when using two hard drives at different times an issue may be encountered. The solution involves using Terminal in Utilities and typing in code from Apple plus the error number on your computer. I'm no expert so won't try to go step by step but the solution worked in Terminal and the code started with sudo chown `id -un` "/Volumes/Time Machine Backups/.0016cbd00dc9"
Disregard the numbers after Time Machine Backups since that is my own error code.
After entering the 'sudo, etc...' it will ask for your computer password.
Then, in Terminal type in sudo chmod 400 "/Volumes/Time Machine Backups/.0016cbd00dc9" and the return key again, and again your computer password.
That all helped solve a problem that even Disk Utility with the Installation Disk didn't help. The problem arises when trying to back up Time Machine between 2 different external hard drives.
Hope this helps some of you...

filterfactor wrote:
That all helped solve a problem that even Disk Utility with the Installation Disk didn't help. The problem arises when trying to back up Time Machine between 2 different external hard drives.
This will keep TM from objecting to the new drive, but you need to be sure the right things are getting backed-up to both drives. This has been discussed here before, and never confirmed, as far as I know. You can be a big help to us by confirming whether this actually works.
Do this please, both for us and so you're confident that both drives contain complete backups:
Download the TimeTracker app, from www.charlessoft.com.
It shows most of the files saved by TM for each backup (excluding some hidden/system files, etc.).
1. Turn TM off temporarily (so it doesn't interfere by doing a backup).
2. Perform backups to both drives.
3. Add a small test file to your home folder.
4. Do a +Back Up Now+ to the first drive.
5. Using +Time Tracker,+ confirm that the test file was backed-up to the first drive.
6. Do a +Back Up Now+ to the second drive.
7. Using +Time Tracker,+ see if the test file was backed-up to the second drive.
Post the results here. If it actually works (the file gets backed-up to both drives), we'll put this into step-by-step instructions for others who want to do this.

How to Copy a Specific Time Machine Back-Up to Ext Hard Drive

I'm transitioning from a MBP early 09 to a MBA mid 11. I pruned the MBP pretty well to migrate items from it to the Air, but I want to preserve the last "full" Time Machine back-up of the MBP to an external hard-drive. Not the "latest" - as the lastest back-up includes the pruning need to migrate necessary items from the Pro to the Air - but one dated a few days before I began the pruning. How do I get that specific back-up (currently on External Hard Drive A - 250 GB) onto a new external hard drive (Ext Hard Drive B - 1TB)? I want to preserve that specific back up then ERASE Ext Hard Drive A to use as a portable for the the MBA. Thank you.

don't delete anything on the TM drive using finder. you can do it from TM interface. however, in your case it will not help because TM will always make a full backup after a system restore like you did and there is absolutely no way to avoid it. as suggested you might want to reformat the TM drive and start backups from scratch.
BTW, to delete a single backup you start TM, scroll back to that backup, click on the "gears" action button in Finder's toolbar and select "delete backup".

Time Machine Back Up of Damaged Hard Drive

Hi everyone. I've searched through the forums for this, but I have not found an answer specific to my problem (at least that I could find).
Is it possible to perform a Time Machine back up of my damaged internal hard drive to my Time Capsule, but using a bootable external hard drive with Mountain Lion installed?
The issue is that I cannot start up my Macbook Pro (2011) itself. It gets stuck on the grey screen with a progress bar at the bottom that reaches under 1/4 of the way through before the screen goes black and the computer shuts down (silently, without the typical electronic *beep* when it is forcibly shut down).
I booted up from my external hard drive and ran Disk Utility. When I tried to repair the disk it gave the following message:
"Error: Disk Utility can't repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files."
Although I have a recent back up, it doesn't contain the very latest work I have done and so if at possible, I would like to perform a back up if at all possible, before erasing and restoring.
(I assume booting up from the Time Capsule itself is not possilbe? And even if it were, could a back up be performed?)

Try cloning it to your Time Capsule/external hard drive.
Clone - Carbon Copy Cloner (Often recommended as it has more features than some others)
Clone – Data Backup
Clone – Deja Vu
Clone - SuperDuper
Clone - Synk
Clone Software – 6 Applications Tested

Can Time Machine back up a failed hard drive, and how long will it take to prepare?

1. The hard drive in my 2009 MBP has failed. My Time Machine external drive failed about three weeks ago, and I don't know if I'll be able to restore from it. Is it ever possible to backup a failed hard drive with Time Machine? The machine boots, it just comes up beach balls if I use any applications for very long.
2. I'm trying to back it up right now. I have Time Machine running to a new external drive. It has been stuck on "preparing backup" for about 20 minutes. Everyone says that preparing a first backup takes some time, but no one says if "some time" is 15 minutes or one hour or more. What is a typical length of time for preparing first backup? At what point should I walk away?
If it's not worth trying to back this drive up myself anymore, I'd love to just drop the thing off and get the hard drive replaced -- but if it's worth doing, I'll take the extra day to back up what I can.

You might have better luck using a clone.
Clone - Carbon Copy Cloner (Often recommended as it has more features than some others)
Clone – Data Backup
Clone – Deja Vu
Clone - SuperDuper
Clone - Synk
Clone Software – 6 Applications Tested
Commonly Used Backup Methods

Time Machine backups extremely slow after hard drive replacement

I'm having trouble with Time Machine backups following a hard drive replacement. The Apple Store replaced my MacBook Pro's damaged hard drive three days ago and I successfully restored my system (OSX 10.6.8) using a Time Machine backup. The computer is running fine now, but ever since the repair my Time Machine back-ups take a very long time (>2 hours per backup, versus 30-60 seconds before the repair). I know that the intiial backup of a new computer can take a while but I'm now onto complete backup #10 since the repair and they are not getting quicker. I'm not adding/changing many files or software in between backups. The backups appear to be successful but the external hard drive and computer fan are running nearly constantly, which is concerning (and annoying). Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks.

Peruse Pondini's TM FAQs, for information.

Will Time Machine Back up an External Hard Drive Attached to my Mac Pro?

Apple TV is GREAT, but it quickly filled up my hard drive. My thought is to take my folder that contains all of my personal files and put it on an 1TB external hard drive. I'd then "point" iTunes to where this new folder is. First, is that the right approach? Will that mess anything else up? Second, can I have Time Machine then back this external hard drive up? So, I'd like to have Time Machine back up my Mac HD and the external HD. If Time Machine won't do this, is there a good back up program for Macs that is very turnkey?
Thanks in advance!!!

GregT wrote:
Apple TV is GREAT, but it quickly filled up my hard drive. My thought is to take my folder that contains all of my personal files and put it on an 1TB external hard drive. I'd then "point" iTunes to where this new folder is. First, is that the right approach? Will that mess anything else up? Second, can I have Time Machine then back this external hard drive up?
If the drive is formatted +Mac OS Extended,+ yes. While it's connected, go to TM Preferences > Options. If it's listed in the exclusion box, just select it and click the minus sign at the bottom.
If it's listed in gray, however, it's either formatted wrong or corrupted, and you can't remove the exclusion.

Can Time Machine back up an external hard drive plugged into a Time Capsule

I have iTunes and iPhoto libraries that have outgrown the hard drive on my laptop so I've moved them on to an external hard drive. Since I'd like to move around the house with the laptop, I've plugged the external hard drive in to the Time Capsule so that the files on the external hard drive will be accessible on the network. Now that my really important files live on an external hard drive, I want to back it up.
Time Machine is backing up my laptop's internal hard drive to the Time Capsule drive, but I can't seem to figure out how to make Time Machine also back up the external hard drive that's plugged in to the Time Capsule.
Is this possible?

I understand that [Chronosync|http://www.econtechnologies.com/pages/cs/chrono_overview.html] ($40 U.S.) can do that, but I've never used it.
If you do that, you'll want to back it up to a disk image on the TC's internal HD, or a separate HD. See #Q3 in [Using Time Machine with a Time Capsule|http://web.me.com/pondini/TimeMachine/TimeCapsule.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum) for details.

Will Time Machine back up two internal hard drives on the same computer?

Hi,
I'm running a Quicksilver G4 - the last of the dual booters - and I have two hard drives installed. One is an 80Gb carrying the OS, apps, and iMovie projects and photos.
The original 60Gb drive is still in there, and has the old OS9 and all my work on there, and my iTunes library.
I currently back up to a MyBook 500Gb firewire external drive. It's partioned into 3 sections. One for long term storage, not backed up. The other two hard drives are backed up completely in the other two partitions, using Retrospect.
Can I use Time Machine two back up these two drives, and what do I need to do to the partions?
I thought it best to ask first.

Thanks Ewan,
What I'd like to do is to abandon Retrospect and use Time Machine only for both the internal drives. The remaining part of the external drive just used for storage and not backing up, I'd like to leave how it is, I just drag and drop there.
On my partions, I've allowed 80Gb and 60Gb partitions, the same size as the drives, though neither drive is more than half full.
When you say I can change the disk volume for backup, do you mean that I have to give Time machine a seperate instruction and schedule for backup? That wouldn't be a problem.

Can Time Machine back on one external hard drive (work files) to another external hard drive (back up)?

Can Time Machine on a Mac Book Pro 10.5.8 back up an external hard drive (working files) to another external hard drive (WD dual backup)?

I have Mountain Lion here ready to upgrade, but I'm scared of what will happen - there's always something when you upgrade, but I guess that's for a different post!
Yes, it's a different post, but let's make a comment any way.
Your power pc apps will not work when you upgrade to Mountain Lion. You will have to replace all the apps you use.

Can Time machine back up to two hard drives?

I want to make a Time machine back up to two different external hard drives. I can't use RAID-0 because the size of my external drives is different.

http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html

Time Machine back-up/restore after hard drive failure - lost data

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