Time Machine Nightmare-Cannot Restore From External
A few days ago I routinely ran Disk Utility. It reported that 1) my HD was corrupt, and 2) it was irreparable. It was recommended that I backup as many files and reformat as soon as possible.
I had been backing up regularly to a WD 1TB external hard drive (FW) since last spring, using Time Machine, so I wasn't concerned (at first). Apparently, though, it turned out that drive was also corrupt. I got this error message when mounting it to the desktop: "Mac OS X can't repair the disk 'Time Machine.' You can still open or copy files on the disk, but you can't save changes to files on the disk. Back up the disk and reformat it as soon as you can."
Before reformatting my hard drive then, I did another complete Time Machine backup, this time to a *different* external hard drive, a WD 1 TB drive (USB). I figured now I was covered—or so I thought.
After reformatting my hard drive, though, I (like an idiot), instead of trying to restore from the lastest backup (the USB drive), tried first to restore from the "Time Machine" external (FW). The process "seemed" fine until I restarted the computer. What I was left with were a large number of missing files (including Safari, Quicktime, Quicken and Skype, among many others), but more importantly, I can't now restore from the USB backup either (which, again, is what I should have done in the first place). Every time I try to open Time Machine preferences, Terminal is opened instead, nor can I access Time Machine through System Preferences, because those won't open at all! Lastly, if I "Enter Time Machine" through the menu bar, it doesn't see the USB backup drive, even when it's mounted.
I have searched the discussions and haven't found anything remotely similar to my problem. My system is FUBAR. If anyone has any idea how I can restore it from the last Time Machine backup I did just prior to reformatting, I would be forever in your debt. HELP PLEASE!!!
Thank you in advance,
David
I am running OX 10.7.4 on a 2 GHz Intel core 2 Duo MacBook with a 250 GB hard drive and 2 GB of RAM.
It has been my experience that Time Machine is sometimes problematic when the restore conditions are not perfect. I don't have a magic answer to cure your problem.
When I experienced TM difficulties I started a secondary backup by cloning to an external USB drive which is bootable. This way one has a bootable troubleshooting drive which can be cloned back to the original if needed. Cloning is now my primary backup method. I keep TM for recovery of individual files from a specific time.
http://lifehacker.com/5839185/the-best-disk-cloning-app-for-mac-os-x
http://macs.about.com/od/readertoreader/ss/Readers-Choice-Awards-2012-Time-To-Vo te_3.htm
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Time Machine and Powerbook away from external hard drive
According to Apple's Web site:
+"When your mobile Mac is connected to your backup drive, Time Machine works as you’d expect. When it isn’t connected, Time Machine also works as you’d expect. It keeps track of which files have changed since the last backup and backs them up accordingly."+
except this doesn't seem to be happening for me.
Everything is exactly as I'd expect when I'm in the office connected to my external hard drive - hourly backups during the day. However, if I'm away from my desk for a few hours and then come back to the hard drive and plug it in I'd expect (from the description above) to see the hourly backups appear in time machine for when I had my Macbook switched on. If I'm away for a couple of days I'd expect to see one backup per day.
So, here is my question, if I'm not actually connected to my firewire attached Lacie hard drive is Time Machine doing anything? It would help me if I create a file away from my desk that I have the hourly time machine backups held locally to retrieve if needed. If this is not the way it works, it's not the end of the world for me, I just need to be aware that the latest backup will be when I had the external drive connected and I'm getting nothing while I'm away - and maybe Apple chould clarify their marketing blurb .
David.You are welcome.
Also keep in mind that while the drive is connected you can initiate a Back Up Now at any time (right click the Time Machine icon in the dock). So if you are about to try something worrisome or complex with your system or your data files, you can trigger a backup, do your task, and know the backup is there to recover from so long as it's still the same day. I.e., you can make the incremental backups happen more frequently than hourly by explicitly requesting them when you want them.
The thing that confuses most people is probably this idea of hourly backups becoming daily and then weekly. They are not merged when that happens. Of all the backups taken in a given day, only one survives. And of the seven of those in a given week, only one survives, even though there is still plenty of room on the drive. And when the drive runs short of room the oldest backups start getting deleted (although you are asked before that happens, just in case you want to start afresh with a new drive). So the backup that survives as the daily backup is a complete snapshot of your file system at that specific point in time, without regard to changes that might have been captured in other hourly backups during the same day.
So Time Machine works best with files that stick around for a while or when you discover a file has been accidentally damaged or deleted relatively soon after that happens.
--Bob -
Using Time Machine to backup data FROM external disk to ANOTHER external
i have my itunes library and my iphoto library on an external WD disk connected to my MacBook Pro. So, i have a lot of nice data on that disk that i want protected... but Time Machine is not playing nice with the external hard drive. It's not listed on the list of items "Not to backup", yet when I go into the Time Machine interface, i can't go more than 1 level deep in Finder when selecting the external disk.
has anyone seen this behavior? it's supposed to work.
thanks!Did you backup your data from that external disk using some other backup software before?
I am also trying to figure out problems with external HD using time machine to back it up. Am not quite sure yet why it is not working right. -
How can I access old Time Machine backups after restoring from Time Machine?
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While in Time Machine, press the key combination shift-command-C. The front window will show all mounted volumes. All snapshots should now be accessible. Select the one you want and navigate to the files you want to restore.
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Clean Install of Snow Leopard
Be sure to make a backup first because the following procedure will erase
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1. Boot the computer using the Snow Leopard Installer Disc or the Disc 1 that came
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After the chime press and hold down the "C" key. Release the key when you see
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Download and install Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1. -
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Janet.b wrote:
About 3 years old...pretty dated now I guess. Am thinking I may just need to have it upgraded by a Mac tech.
For what the Apple Store's charge you can buy almost buy a new computer.
Just for giggles I brought my old laptop in for a drive upgrade and asked, they wanted $600 for a drive that only cost $120 at the time and it was a slow 5,400 RPM drive. The new Mac's of a similar make were going for $1000.
I did the drive replacement myself, got a faster drive of better quality for $300 instead.
Then another time I asked for a RAM upgrade from 4GB to 8GB, they wanted to charge $400 + $35 for the labor.
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So you see what's going on here.
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No and Yes
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Problems such as yours are sometimes caused by files that should belong to you but are locked or have wrong permissions. This procedure will check for such files. It makes no changes and therefore will not, in itself, solve your problem.
First, empty the Trash, if possible.
Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it, then copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C:
find ~ $TMPDIR.. \( -flags +sappnd,schg,uappnd,uchg -o ! -user $UID -o ! -perm -600 \) 2>&- | wc -l | pbcopy
Launch the built-in Terminal 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 Terminal in the icon grid.
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