Time Machine not restoring - HELP!
I had a 500Gb external drive with a majority of my data die on Christmas. No problem I figured, I have a current Time Machine backup I can restore from to a new drive. So I go into Time Machine and start the restore - about 10% of the way through a 5 hour restore it tells me it has encountered a corrupt file and cannot continue. (Why can't it just SKIP the corrupt file, continue, and tell me what files were corrupt and it had to skip at the end of the process??!! That would be too easy.) Anyway, that's not even my problem. So I figure I'll go in and manually restore items a few at a time to track down the corrupt file. HOWEVER, when I re-entered Time Machine the drive name that I was restoring no longer shows up! On any date going back 4 months! It was just there yesterday when I tried the original restore. Now its gone. So now I'm afraid I have no backup and all data is lost. Where did it go? ANY SUGGESTIONS!!!! Thank you!
donhertz wrote:
Any thoughts on forcing it to skip a corrupt file on restore so I don't have to manually restore all the files?
Try repairing the backups, per #A5 in [Time Machine - Troubleshooting|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Troubleshooting.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of the +Time Machine+ forum).
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Thanks.I have never heard of this - it does sound unsettling. I'm not sure how to fix it so that the G5 sees it, but you might try this:
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What am I missing?avanrotciv wrote:
P.S: I chose to do a clean install because I had too much trash and broken programs all over my system.
That's likely the problem. Backing-up damaged or corrupted data won't magically fix it!
I tried the normal upgrade without erasing the disk but unfortunately most of the trash was still there, so I had to star over from a clean disk.
Try repairing the backups, per #A5 in [Time Machine - Troubleshooting|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Troubleshooting.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum). Depending on exactly what's wrong, that might help. -
Time machine not restoring email file
Using Mountain Lion on MacbookPro. When I try to restore en email, I go through the procedure and hit restore on the selected email in the selected TM backup. TIme Machine reverts to the current Mail as usual but does not create the restored email. Mail screen says Mailbox Not Selected. There is no time machine folder in On My Mac and no recovered files subfolder under that. On my older MacbookPro Time Machine created these and the recovered file shows up there.
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ThanksAlthough 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 select Restore ... 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...
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Time Machine not restoring Microsoft Office.
Hello there,
My hard drive recently failed completely. Luckily, I was still covered under Apple Care and was able to get it replaced for free, and I had also just backed up all my data. The problem I am having now is that since I've transferred all of my data from my old hard drive onto my new one using Time Machine I am no longer able to access my Microsoft Office applications. There are just question marks in my dock now where these icons used to be. Why am I not able to transfer these over? Is is a Microsoft permissions issue? I was able to transfer them over when I bought a new iMac and just duplicated my user account, but it's not working on my MacBook Pro now.
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Thanks.I don't have the original discs, otherwise I would just reinstall. The confusing part is why all my apps transferred to my new iMac but not when I transferred everything over to my new laptop hard drive. Perhaps the volume copy I selected was corrupted because I backed it up when my hard drive was making weird noises and failing?
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Now all my inboxes are empty. it appears Leopard 10.5.1 created more bugs in mail than it fixes. Thanks Apple! As for corruption, it worked fine before the update and the mailboxes were empty after the update. Also, what seemed to prompt the problem was the undeletable emails I'm now seeing other people report on the discussion boards. Looks like I may be heading back to Entourage. I like the idea of the scrolling over numbers and addresses to add them to the address book, but how about you make the actual email program work first!
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After transferring the data, do as follows.
This simple procedure will clear your Time Machine settings, including exclusions. The backups won't be affected. If you have a long exclusion list that can't be recreated easily, you may prefer a more complicated procedure that preserves the exclusion list. In that case, ask for instructions. Otherwise, do as follows.
Triple-click the line below on this page to select it:
/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine.plist
Right-click or control-click the highlighted line and select
Services ▹ Reveal
from the contextual menu. A Finder window should open with a file selected. Copy the file to the Desktop. Then move it (the original, not the copy) to the Trash. You'll be prompted for your administrator password. Reboot and recreate your settings in the Time Machine preference pane. It will show that you have no backups. Don't worry; that's expected. Run a backup to test. The backup may take much longer than usual. If TM now performs as expected, delete the file you copied to the Desktop. -
My iPhoto app was digressed back to 9.5, not sure how I did it. I went to time machine and restored. Now it wont accept my password. tells me it is locked. Can anyone help me?
Run Repair Permissions in Disk Utility and see if that helps.
If not, you can select the iPhoto Library in your Pictures folder, go File > Get Info (or Command-i), go to the bottom of the info window and set your permissions to Read & Write. On the Action menu at the bottom (the one with the gear) choose Apply to enclosed items... -
Problem restoring files from a Time Machine Backup! HELP!
Heya,
I have Snow Leopard and have been using Time Macine regularly since May.... I never needed to restore any file until now...
Deleted some must have stuff.. and emtird the trash (of course!).. so went to time machine to restore it...
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G./Open Disk Utility. Click once on the external drive left-most icon (not the indented volume name/icon); what does it indicate for Partition Map Scheme? Also, do you have an Intel Mac or a PPC Mac?
Now click "Verify Disk" and see if it finds errors or if it reports "ok."
What I am hoping (this is something of a long shot) is that there will be errors found on the disk that Disk Utility can repair and then your data will be properly associated with the file names and headers. "Verify" simply reports back on the state of the file system and can do no harm; only when you click on "Repair" will it actually try to repair anything. You might want to report back first on the results of "Verify" before trying to "repair."
By the way, this Verify (or Repair) procedure can take ~ hours for a large disk that is mostly full. I did this recently on an external Time Machine drive that was 1.5 TB in size and 2/3 full and it took ~ 3 hours.
If severe errors are found on that disk, something stronger than Apple's Disk Utility might be called for, such as Disk Warrior. Hence better to report back here before roceeding with any "repairs."
The type of error I am hoping you might have is in the file system that relates the filenames and their header (and file sizes) to the locations around the disk where the actual data inside the file are located. If that file system gets damaged, your computer will have trouble finding the actual data that goes with each file. Hence getting zeros when you should have gotten data. Sometimes this can be fixed, sometimes it cannot. Often it can. If the problem is caused by a physical problem with the disk, the likelihood of recovery is low. If the problem is with the file system/mapping to the data on the drive, it very well might be fixable.
Have you had any power failures, system freezes, improper or disorderly computer shutdowns, etc. or unexpected dismounting of the backup drive anytime since you have been using it? Have you ever gone into that external backup drive in the finder and changed any of the files on it yourself, or has it only been touched indirectly through Time Machine? -
Backup contents not showing during Time Machine system restore
I just installed a new hard drive on my Macbook Pro so I'm trying to restore a backup of my old hard drive that was saved on a USB-connected external drive (model: LaCie Minimus). However, when I try to transfer the information during system setup, my backup is not showing as part of the external drive's contents. Only the backup information of two other computers are showing up, but not mine (my computer is called 'Hannah Mercader's Macbook Pro'):
However, if I plug the external drive into another laptop to view its contents, my computer's backup information is clearly in the external drive:
I am positive that I have been backing up my laptop properly using Time Machine. However, the last time that I did try backing up my laptop, it didn't work because my hard drive had failed in the middle of the process (hence the reason for needing to install a new hard drive). I've already tried to Repair the external drive using Disk Utility... everything seems OK but my backups still aren't showing when I try to set up my laptop.
Please help me to restore my last proper backup's contents!Most likely, some folders were excluded from your backups as the result of a failed or aborted software installation.
Starting from a clean installation of OS X, set up a new administrator account and log in. Enter Time Machine and 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 your home folder (in the Users folder at the top level of the old startup volume.)
You should now be able to restore your user data. 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: The next time you back up, Time Machine won't recognize any files as being the same as they were before, and will make a full copy of all files. There might not be enough space on one or more of 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 -
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. -
Does anyone know why since upgrading to ML notes are not visible in Time Machine. They used to be part of mail and could be recovered from Time machine but since ML I don't seem to be able to access notes in Time Machine. Any help would be useful.
Welcome to Apple Communities
Mail doesn't support notes. If you use iCloud, you have them in it because Notes is an application -
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. -
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http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
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