Time machine dropping old backups after migrating

I recently changed from an iMac to a retina Macbook Pro. I read that I could continue my time machine after migrating my mac. My new macbook keeps trying to create a brand new backup. I enter time machine and go back to find all my old dates but it drops after a minute or so. Is my mac trying to create new backups instead of continuing? I have a second backup portable hard drive with thunderbolt. It only took an hour to do what my network storge was taking 22 hours! how can I keep my old backups without my mac trying to restart again?

For all things TM... See Pondini's excellent Information Here...
http://pondini.org/OSX/Home.html
Perhaps this is what you are looking for...
http://pondini.org/TM/B5.html
From Section B = Troubleshooting.

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Time Machine Deleting old backups after full restore

So I'm wondering if anyone else came up with this issue:
My computer crashed and so I restored my MacBook from Time machine. I've never done this before, but figured it would put everything back to how it was.
It did on my hard drive, but my Time machine external drive's backups all got wiped! I had about 1.5 years of backups and they are all gone!
I realize that hopefully the backup that I restored to should have everything I need, but I never thought to backup my backup drive before using it to restore.
Seems like a really dumb glitch in the software.

harryhewitt wrote:
Exactly what happened with me. I was using Snow Leopard, my macbook pro died, I bought a new one and restored from my HD which I had used with TimeMachine to back up to for the past 18 months. it restored brilliantly and I was impressed - passwords etc were all there.
However, I now see that I have no backups other than the last one before my old mac died. As has been said, that is a serious glitch in the software. At the very least there should be a warning that it is going to do that. And why does it need to do that?
It's a different Mac. Time Machine backs up each Mac (and each drive) separately (all other full system backup apps I've ever seen do, too); if it didn't, those who back up 2 or more to the same place would have a complete and unreliable mess.
I'd agree that the "Would you like to reuse the backup" prompt you saw on the first backup of the new Mac could be worded better, but it is explained in #B5 of Time Machine - Troubleshooting (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).

Doesn't Time Machine delete old backups when it needs more space?

I've had time machine running for a long time now. It worked flawlessly for quite some time.
Today it gave me the error that there was not enough free space on the disk to complete the backup (the error message says something like there is 360 GB of data on the Time Machine drive already, 140 GB of free space and it would require more than that to complete my backup). I have a 500 GB Time Machine disk and my Mac has a 500 GB hard drive, so I should technically never run out of space.
The Time Machine almost acts like this is the first time I've ever backed up, which is not true. Shouldn't Time Machine delete old backups to make space for the new? What's even weirder is that if I open the "Star Wars" window of Time Machine I only see one backup from March 31, 2011, but I have been running Time Machine for well over a year now. I'm totally confused as to what happened. Any advice on how to get my Time Machine back up and running (without buying a new drive) would help!

You see only one backup in the Time Machine window because Time Machine has deleted the older backups to make space to do the current backup.
Time machine needs some working space to do its backups, and so backing up a 500GB drive onto a 500GB time machine volume is not ideal.
However, I do essentially the same thing, and what I do, when I have this problem, is exclude things from the backup.
First off, figure out what you changed. If you moved things from one partition to another, then that will cause a backup of the size of the thing that was moved. This may be why you have a large backup.
When I have this problem, I exclude large things that have changed recently from the backup. This makes the backup smaller, and means that there is less working space needed. I do this until I get a successful backup. Then I remove things, one by one, from the exclusion list, and back up after each one.
So, for instance if you just put 4 new folders on your drive, each of which s 20GB of data and they are named A, B, C and D, add all four to the exclusion list, do a backup, then remove A from the exclusion list (leaving B, C & D on it) and do a backup, and continue like this, adding 20GB of backup data each time until none of the new data is on the exclusion list and you get a completed backup.
Another possible issue, if you use multiple partitions, is that Time Machine may be keeping an obsolete backup of a partition that you previously reformatted. To see if this is the case, go into time machine (The universe interface) and go back to the most recent backup it shows. Click on your computer and see what partitions show up-- are any of them old ones that have been reformatted and renamed? You may be storing a duplicate backup because Time Machine does not realize that the disk that went away isn't coming back (because it has been reformatted as a different partition)
You can right-click on these items and remove them from your backup by sleecting "Delete all backups of...." This will free up space as well.

TimeMachine not backing up, as hard drive is full. Can the time machine clear old backups and replace them with new?

Time Macine not backing up.
As the harddrive is full, Can the time machine clear old backups, and override them with new backups. For example 5 - 6 days +++ old. Backups were proformed dayly
Any help much appreciated
Many thanks,

If you have more than one user account, these instructions must be carried out as an administrator.
Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the icon grid.
Make sure the title of the Console window is All Messages. If it isn't, select All Messages from the SYSTEM LOG QUERIES menu on the left. If you don't see that menu, select
View ▹ Show Log List
from the menu bar.
Enter the word "Starting" (without the quotes) in the String Matching text field. You should now see log messages with the words "Starting * backup," where * represents any of the words "automatic," "manual," or "standard." Note the timestamp of the last such message. Clear the text field and scroll back in the log to that time. Select the messages timestamped from then until the end of the backup, or the end of the log if that's not clear. Copy them (command-C) to the Clipboard. Paste (command-V) into a reply to this message.
If there are runs of repeated messages, post only one example of each. Don't post many repetitions of the same message.
When posting a log extract, be selective. Don't post more than is requested.
Please do not indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.
Some personal information, such as the names of your files, may be included — anonymize before posting.

"Notify after old backups are deleted. Be notified if your backup disk is full and Time Machine deletes old backups to create space for new ones." I would prefer to be notified BEFORE things are deleted. Can the deleted items be recovered?

Time Machine option #2:
"Notify after old backups are deleted" Wouldn't it be better to get this notification BEFORE things are deleted? I suppose the real question is, is it possible to recover files deleted from time machine?
The bold phrase above has a checkbox. But if I leave it blank it appears that I will receive no notification at all.
I am using MacBook Pro, OS X version 10.9.5

TIme Machine is not an archival tool. And no, you won't be able to recover the files that are deleted.

Time machine will not backup after maverick

This is a major problem, not addressed in the installation instrucitons. The disk runs eternally "preparing backup", I mean all night.
This happened to two machines on entirely separate backup disks. And if we are sacraficing the old data in reformating the drive, I would like to know about that before choosing to upgrade.

Update: Finally...
At least for the Promise Pegasus R4... but I noticed on other threads that WD drives are also acting up too so this might work with them too.
I turned off Time Machine, and deleted that pesky .plist file, again. I unplugged the R4, power and thunderbolt, then played whack the gopher with the drives swapping them around randomly. I reintalled Mavericks from a fresh download, yet again, then set Time Machine to backup on a fast USB 3TB drive (which it did in 6 hours or so). Then I turned off Time Machine, deleleted that .plist file again, rebooted the iMac, plugged in the R4, reformatted it again with Disk Utility, then hooked it to Time Machine, said a few slightly heretic prayers to whatever demons came with Maverick, and 2 minutes later Time Machine started to backup and report 1 hour to complete... the hour isn't up yet, but I'm crossing everything I have 2 of...
I've noticed a few other 'didn't copy over or mesh well' things with Maverick, but that's a different thread and 2 updates from now once we all suffer through this extended beta-test by Apple.
John Galt posted this on another thread... to find and delete that pesky .plist file:
or "error ... while creating the backup folder."
and follow that to:
http://pondini.org/TM/A4.html

Time Machine: Cannot access old backups after migrating to a new mac

Hello,
I have bought a new Mac (With Snow Leopard installed on it). I have used it for about half an hour to have fun with it.
Then, I have decided to use Time Machine & Migration Assistant to restore all my files from my old Mac (Leopard). The restoration was successful and I was very happy to see that all my files and settings were there.
However, when I try to access my old backups (the ones I have done prior to buying the new Mac), Time Machine says I do not have the permissions to access it.
Is there an way to fix this? I would like to be able to access these old files.

I am having a similar problem and do not understand the solution. I have a new Macbook and transferred my data from my Powerbook G4. However, I cannot access anything! There is a no entry sign on the folders and if I click them I get this message: 'The folder “Pictures” can’t be opened because you don’t have permission to see its contents.'
Help - but please, in simple language
Thanks

Time Machine - Removing Old Backups

I am using "time machine" to back up my new iMac, the disk being used also was used to back up my old iMac and I do not require those backups any more. I have deleted those files but when I want to "empty trash" I still have the related folders etc. as it is not allowing me to remove bootx and bootefi files - need to use the option key - but this is not working...
can anyone assist in how i can clean out my trash (and 1st step confirm which is the option key on the new wireless keyboard)?
thanks Neil

You should be sure your TM backup drive has been partitioned GUID and reformatted before initiating any new TM backup for your new computer. I would do the following:
Extended Hard Drive Preparation
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID (for Intel Macs) or APM (for PPC Macs) then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
+BTW, this is the Tiger forum. TM is not available in Tiger, so please post Leopard related questions in the appropriate Leopard forum. Thanks.+

Time machine deletes old backups with new system drive

So I decided it was time to get a larger system drive. After I finished migrating to the new drive, I plugged in my Time Machine backup drive, and now it's deleting all my old backups! What gives? Shouldn't Time Machine keep doing incremental backups the way it always has? Nothing has changed except the drive -- the files are still the same. I had backups going back to 2011, so it's a bit unsettling to see this happen.

Digijohn wrote:
So I decided it was time to get a larger system drive. After I finished migrating to the new drive,
On Snow Leopard, that's what usually happens.
On Lion and later, depending on exactly how you put your data back, it usually doesn't -- TM changes the backups so they look like they were made from the new drive. And there's a way to do that manually.
But on Snow Leopard, there's nothing you can do. Note that you can still see and restore from the remaining old backups, via the procedure in #E3 of Time Machine - Troubleshooting.

Time Machine fails to backup files migrated from Windows

Hi there - I have a really annoying issue whereby I have a machine with a TC on the LAN which fails to backup.
The scenario is thus - Mac Snow Leopard server which has files migrated from an old Windows server to one specific disk. This is where all the data resides so this is the only volume I actually really need to back up.
However I keep getting the message that Time machine could not write to the device after a certain period of time with the classically unhelpful:-
Console log mumbles on about what I suspect is the path/length of path or filenames which I understand. Question is - how do I get round this? There are thousands of files in here so I cannot ask the users to go around renaming the files and shortening the folder names (to be honest it doesnt seem that they are too long to me in any case).
The files are shared using both AFP and SMB as a standard Sharepoint and the users on both Mac and PC have no problems at all accessing them, hence my confusion as to why TM has a problem with the file/folder names.
Chocolate biscuit (or equivalent for those on detox) for anyone who can throw me a bone here.
Cheers and thanks in advance,
Si

Not really sure if this is what you mean about Outlook database, but the correct answer may be in this thread's last post:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3356959?start=0&tstart=0
Basically the same information you can find here:
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/mac/forum/macoffice2011-macoutlook/help-my-ma in-identity-hosed-restore-from-time/a9992719-3ae0-479d-bf0a-7c8279653ffa
"The first time that you open Outlook after restoring a Time Machine backup, Outlook rebuilds its database to accommodate the restored items. If you have a very large database, rebuilding the database might take a long time."
Hope this helps.

Time Machine won't start after migration to new MacBook Pro.

I upgraded to a new MacBook Pro. Both machines are running OS X 10 (10.7.5 on old, 10.8.2 on new). I used an ethernet cable for the data migration.
I'm trying to use the Time Capsule we've been using all along for Time Machine, but Time Machine won't start because there's only 5.1GB free on the device and it wants to run a full backup. "The backup is too large for the backup disk. The backup requires 252.33 GB but only 5.07 GB are available."
What are my options? I'd hate to lose prior versions of all the data I've moved to the new machine, but if I have to, then I have to. But then I'm not sure how to access the Time Capsulre base as a non-backup drive and delete what's there.
Thanks for yor help.
Vince

Windows in VM is going to know it's on a different machine, so you'll still have to hop through Microsoft's hoops or you won't get updates.
Just an FYI: when moving a Fusion virtual machine, the first time you run the virtual machine, you are prompted if you "moved it" or "copied it". Selecting "moved it" will retain the UUID and prevent Windows from prompting for reactivation. (However, if it is a copy of the virtual machine and you wanted to run both copies simultaneously on the same network, you must select "copied it" otherwise the copies can't run at the same time.)
If one did select "copied it" accidentally, then just follow the reactivation prompts. As long as you're not reactivating a lot then it usually will work the normal way over the internet. Even if you're forced to call, just tell the support rep that you're reinstalling Windows and type in the really long code that they say. The few times I've had to call, it was less than 15 minutes. Again, as long as you're not reactivating a lot (so looking suspiciously like a pirate,) reactivation is a pain, but relatively quick.

How does time machine handle initial backup after upgrading to Yosemite?

HI All,
I'm wondering if Time machine will create a "new" full backup of the system after I upgrade to Yosemite.
I'm trying to make sure I can backout (revert to previous backup of Mavericks) of the upgrade should I run into trouble.
Thanks,
Eddy817

besides restoring just one file, that is what Time machine DOES. See this article:
Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions -- 14. How do I restore my entire system?
If you are deeply concerned, you may want make a copy of your entire system before updating (Clone your old system) or Install onto a Blank drive and add your files to that.
If you make NO preparation and do not have a Backup, the only way to install a previous versions is to do so onto a Blank drive. Also, you must have PURCHASED (even for $0) a copy of Mavericks, or it will not be available for re-download.

Any way to restore Time Machine deleted old backups?

Hi,
I've just discovered that Time Machine has successfully deleted my very first backup and all my files tediously archived from 2002 has disappeared. TM has failed to warn me that my disc was full.
My only question is there any way at all i can recover these files? I have unfortunately dumped all my old cdrs.<proceed to wail uncontrollably>
Help.

V.K. wrote:
nerowolfe wrote:
I am beginning to suspect that when TM informs the user that backups are being deleted, it is not with a popup on the desktop, but rather via the console only.
No. that would be totally absurd.
Absurd, perhaps, yet possibly true. From reading these boards, many people have never gotten that message, but the logs do show that old backups are being removed.
I was also being sarcastic but I suppose unless you know me, it does not show
No user is reasonably expected to monitor console for a message like that.
I agree but the facts show that very few have ever gotten this warning. Again, I was being sarcastic.
I did get a regular desktop popup warning me about this when my TM drive filled up. but as I understand this particular feature is quite buggy and many people don't get those popups.
If it is buggy as you note, then what I wrote is not so absurd after all, IMO.
TM is not quite ready for Prime Time. It is a useful tool, much like a hammer or tire wrench, but it is only a tool.

HT201250 HELP! My Time Machine deleted old backups

If any one can help me, please do so.
Yesterday i did a clean install of OS X Lion. Started importing photos from the Time Machine this morning. While at work TM has deleted all old backups, so now the latest backup i have is from 5 minutes after I did the clean install.
How can I restore an old backup that has been deleted automatically by TM?
Thankful for any help!
Lars

The problem is that Time Machine is only a temporary repository. It will always ensure that you can restore the machine to the state that it was in at the last backup. But if the backup drive runs out of space - as yours undoubedly did when you installed a brand-new system, forcing Time Machine to back up everything on the entire drive all over again - then it will start deleting older files until it makes enough room to back up the newer files.
So, if you only had one backup, with Time Machine, and it wasn't large enough (at least double what you planned on backing up) ,and you didn't restore all your files before letting Time Machine start backing up the new system, there is unfortunately nothing you can do at this point. Your data is not only gone, but it has almost certainly been written over. You could always try a data recovery tool on the backup drive, but results are likely to be poor. Some such tools are DataRescue, FileSalvage and Stellar Phoenix.
In the future, you need to:
ensure that the Time Machine backup drive has a minimum of 2 times the capacity of what you plan to back up, now and in the foreseeable future
make at least one other backup on another drive, preferably more than one (minimum of two backups total)
use a different backup program, such as Carbon Copy Cloner, for at least one of those backups
keep at least one backup off-site - but frequently updated - in case of fire, flood, theft, etc(I keep Carbon Copy Cloner backups on two drives, one of which is always in a safe deposit box at the bank, and swap them out about once per month.)

Time Machine Deleted All Backups After Restore

Had a very strange thing happen...I had to do a clean reinstall of Mountain Lion and manually add back everything from various backups. After the reinstall (including a completely new computer name), I was able to access all the old Time Machine backups to restore folders from. However, once I restored one folder, TM wrote over the entire old set of backups (over 6 months worth) with a new backup of the current state, deleting everything and renaming the containing folder to the new computer name. Is there any way I can get back what it deleted? How could this have happened?
No doubt Im done using Time Machine...no matter how anal I am about backing up, I still end up losing tons of irreplacable data (I had much of the TM backup also backed up on another external drive but, go figure that drive would fail literally simultaneously as this incident).
Any suggestions on how to move forward, if possible at all?
Thanks!

Depending on how you restored your data, Time Machine may not recognize your previous backups as belonging to the same machine. It will then delete as many snapshots as necessary to make room for a full backup of all files. Once the snapshots are deleted, they can't be recovered.
Another time, when you erase the boot volume, restore from Time Machine in Setup Assistant so that your backup history will be preserved.
As this experience shows, you need more than one backup to be safe. I suggest you start a new backup set on another, larger, external drive.

Time machine dropping old backups after migrating

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