Time Machine reinstallation help!

My computer has been completely restored to new and i want to reinstall all my information from my time machine, how do I do this?

Hi there,
You may find the article below helpful.
Mac Basics: Time Machine
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427
-Griff W.

Similar Messages

Time machine restore help

I've recently been having issues with my early 2008 black Macbook. I ran the apple HW diagnostics and determined it is a bad hard drive. I went out and bought a new 500GB SATA HD, and attempted to restore my system using a Time Machine backup. I booted into the Leopard Disc that came with my computer, formatted the drive, and ran the Time machine restore. Everything appeared to go fine (took about 2 hours, no error messages). However, after the machine rebooted and attempted to boot into OSX an error similar to this popped up. http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/7792/pict0017lo8.jpg
Any thoughts as to why this is happening? I don't really want to start over with a clean install, that's why I have Time Machine!
Other information:
My computer originally had Leopard, and was upgraded to Snow Leopard.
I have boot camp setup on my mac for Win 7. (I know this isn't backed up or restored as part of a time machine backup, which I'm O.K. with.)
Thanks in advance for all your help.

Any number of possibilities. First, did you prep the drive properly:
Extended Hard Drive Preparation
1. Boot from your OS X Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger, Leopard or Snow Leopard.)
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, 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.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
Any brand new drive should be setup per the above because they usually are configured for use on PCs rather than Macs.
Second, depends on how you went about the process of restoring your system. Select Mac Help from the Finder's Help menu and search for "time machine." Look for an article specifically about performing a full system restore. Also, see User Tips for Time Machine for help with TM problems. Also you can select Mac Help from the Finder's Help menu and search for "time machine" to locate articles on how to use TM. See also Mac 101- Time Machine.
What you saw was a kernel panic screen. Panics at startup may be indicative of a hardware problem. You might give this a try:
How to run hardware diagnostics for an Intel Mac
Boot from your original OS X Installer Disc One that came with your computer. After the chime press and hold down the "D" key until the diagnostic screen appears. Run the extended tests for a minimum of two or three hours. If any error messages appear note them down as you will need to report them to the service tech when you take the computer in for repair.
Some "common" error indicators:
SNS - sensor error
MEM - memory error
HDD - hard disk drive error
MOT - fan error
To assure the problem isn't with your backup you might consider installing OS X by itself. If all is OK, then you can complete the TM restore using Migration Assistant.

HT1338 lost word document. time machine no help. suggestions?

lost word document. time machine no help. suggestions?

Need more info. How do you think you lost a Word Document?
Try Easy Find, Search program, and search for *.doc*. That will turn up all Word Docs with both the .DOC and .DOCX extension on your complete hard drive.
If it is truly lost, Deleted, then you are basically SOL. Unless you do have a recent TM backup that has that file included.
As for recovering it from TM do a search for Pondini TM FAQs.

Time Machine recovery Help!

Hi forum.
I have Time Machine setup on a MacBook Pro backing up to a Time Capsule.
Now the user has lost his iphotos and we want to get them back from the backup.
When I "enter" timemachine, I cannot navigate, it seems the interface is locked on "today". The Arrows dont work and the timeline on the right shows no other date than today.
Yet on the timecapsule, there is a sparseimage 500gb with 245GB free. Mounting the sparseimage there is a folder for the computer and a ONE SINGLE file in there called DDMMYY.inprogress . That file is 136MB big and was last modified on the 27th of November (looks good my data must be in there).
Problem: I cannot access this file. How can I access it?
If I try to copy the file to another drive it says "cannot copy the file Error -1426"
Help!
Is there anyway to view the contents of this file directly?
Thanks for any tips
the wumpus
PS - sofar, Im not impressed with Time Machine. I set it all up to backup, it backs up fine for months, and when you need it it fails you. Sofar 0/10 (given Im doing things corectly...)

You mean going into the pictures folder and entering time machine?
As I said, I tried that and I cannot navigate inside timemachine at all (the arrows dont work) nor do I see any dates.
Or did you mean something else?
Thanks

Time Machine Error - Help!

Hello everyone. I am having a problem with backing up my time machine in Lion and get the following error message: "The backup was not performed because an error occurred while copying files to the backup disk. The problem may be temporary. Try again later to back up. If the problem persists, use Disk Utility to repair your backup disk."
Here is the context and history. I recently installed Mavericks on my Mac Mini (late 2009), which was causing all sorts of problems and constant computer crashes. About a week later I used TM to restore to the previous OS version and backup (Lion) before the problems began, and the computer is now working normally as before, except for TM. Initially I thought it was a problem with the drive, so I tried a TM back-up on my second back-up disk but got the same above error message. Thinking it had something to do still with the disk or older back-ups there saved, I erased one of the disks (using disk utility), performed disk repair, tried another TM back-up but continue to get the same error message. Any suggestions of next steps to try? I am not great with code or computer speak, so would greatly appreciate easy instructions if possible.
One last thing to note, this problem only began after doing the TM restore mentioned above. TM was still working normally even with Mavericks, so intuitively I am guessing something went wrnong during the restore, but everything seems to be working fine except with TM. I have done disk repairs also on the Mac HD and no errors were found. Please help!
Cheers!

This is happening to me too.
It seems that the HD randomly becomes unavailable.

Time Machine / Email help?

Good morning,
I am hoping somebody is able to help as I am totally baffled by an issue I am having.
I purchased a new Macbook Pro today so decided before I formatted my old one, I would make a time machine image so I could transfer the data straight across to my new machine. I thought this would be simple but I have stumbled across an issue.
I plugged my external HDD into my new Macbook and opened time machine to transfer my files. It advised me it was not set up on the new machine, so I went ahead and set it up, this made a new image of my new Macbook onto my external device.
When I open time machine it will only open it for this mac and there is no way to choose the time machine backup from my old mac which is extremely frustrating.
Now, I know you can access files without using time machine by openening the HDD and browsing the files, or browse other time machine disks. I used this method to download all my files with no issues at all but what I really need is my mail folder from my old Macbook.
I located the library folder but within there is no 'mail' folder. I used terminal to unhide files but this seemed to have no effect on the external HDD.
If I plug the external HDD back in to the old mac it again tells me no time machine is set up on this product and wants to make a third image.
Please help as these emails are vital!
Regards
Nicola Rutherford

Today this happened again: lost all the emails on MobileMe account. This time I am sure there was no interference with checking mail from the office or any other computer other than iPod Touch.
Switched on email. Opening an email it got stuck and after a minute everything in the mobilme inbox disappeared.
I use the iPod Touch to check email so now and then. Up until now no surprises.
Start to feel very uncomfortable that this can happen at random. Fortunately I back up on GTech external harddrive, but nevertheless. Any clue?
(I have posted this message wrongfully under Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger, it should have been Mac OS X v10.5.7 Leopard. Do not know how to move this to the right forum.)

Time Machine Restore Help Needed

Hello All,
I replaced my hard drive and restored from Time Machine.
I have a MacBook Pro that just missed the age barrier for Mountain Lion, so I have the latest Lion - 10.7.4.
Now that my laptop is more or less back in shape, I cannot play music in iTunes, the message says can't find originals. I have tried restoring the Music file again, but to no avail.
As well, my Mail is messed up. It has been running for 2 hours now with the message "Importing Mailbox . . ."
Alas, iPhoto cannot locate my pictures.
I need help. When I backed up to Time Machine before all this happened, everything had backed up and was working. I clicked ctrl R to begin the back up.
HELP - I am not sure what to do. I havn't had the heart to check my videos!! As well, my budget spreadsheet in excel was an original document when it was backed up, not it is an 'alias' and I am getting the message that the original cannot be found.
Thanks to all who can offer some guidance - this is way to stressful.
Clint

Well, iPhoto and Mail are back to normal. But for the life of me, the following are still giving grief - ANY SUGGESTIONS would be welcome:
I cannot play music in iTunes, the message says can't find originals
my budget spreadsheet in excel was an original document when it was backed up, not it is an 'alias' and I am getting the message that the original cannot be found.
Clint

Need to restore trashed time machine backup - help

Help..
I was recently burgled and my iMac and my backup drive ( on which I used TIme Machine) were taken. So I lost everything. (No, i didnt have the time or extra monel to create another backup for off-sire storage, a mistake i will never make again)
I have an older ext harddrive that I used to use for Time Machine backups, but since i decommissioned it from being a backup drive, I deleted (trashed) the TM backup folder on it, and have written new data on there.
So far the situation is sounding grim, I know.   Surely there must be a chance of recovering at lease something from the drive.
Will things like MacKeeper or Stelar phoenix Mac Data recovery (or others) work?
Please help. I have lost the majority of my life's work (some was on other drives thankfully).

MacKeeper is something to avoid.   Period.   There are data recovery services but they do tend to be expensive.   Type 'data recovery' in the search box above, you will certainly find some recommendations ... the link below is typical.
Accidentally erased external hard drive: Apple Support Communities

Time Machine problem - help!

My Time Machine disc is full. I was expecting it from now on to delete old backups automatically, but it just kept failing to back up instead. What should I have done?
What I did though was go into the options and reselect the same disc. This has had totally the wrong effect: now it is trying and failing to start a whole new backup in the tiny amount of space available.
How do I (a) get Time Machine to reconnect with the old series of backups sitting on the disc and (b) delete them as necessary to continue backing up?
TIA
Nic

mrmarbach wrote:
- I stupidly told it to use the same disc it already was using. It seems to have started a new backup. There is only one entry.
That shouldn't have changed anything -- you should have gotten exactly the same message.
So my first step was to try to reconnect with the old backups in order to then delete things as suggested on your website.
That won't help; you don't have a new Mac, new Logic board, or a new or erased internal HD.
There is no sign of the year's worth of backups. Would these have been automatically deleted when I reselected the disc?
It shouldn't have deleted anything at that point.
But, the first time it failed for lack of space, it would have already deleted all but your most recent backup, trying to make room for the new one.
The disc is still claiming to only have c. 10Gb available. Adding up the folders, there is only 1500Gb of data there.
It sounds like something else may have happened, or perhaps there's a problem with the backups. You might try repairing your backups, per #A5 in the Troubleshooting article.
But you can't just add-up the folder sizes; there are hidden and system files you aren't authorized to see, so their sizes won't show up.
Use Get Info on your internal HD and the TM drive; the size of a full backup should be a few GBs less than what's on your internal HD (TM automatically excludes some things, such as system work files, most logs and caches, trash, etc.).
But there may also be the remains of a failed or cancelled backup, although in this scenario it's doubtful, unless there was a failed backup before the one that ran out of room. That will be automatically recovered on the next backup, but could be taking up some space.

I need time machine restore help

Can someone please tell me what the screen should look like when I do a complete restore onto a new hard drive? The blue candy cane bar is spinning. There is no percent complete or hours until completion showing. It ran all night. 500G hard drive. I think it could possibly take 20 hours but I don't want to let it run if it is virtually locke

First I would like to say thank you for replying to my question. After 24 hours of the blue candy cane bar just spinning and spinning I decided to open the disk utility option that was being offered. I noticed that the same number of files and gigs were still on the hard drive. I figure it was NOT doing anything. So I opted for a restart and held command R again and tried it with a slightly older time machine file. This time it started right up and now I see the progress bar. It has 7 hours left to go. Hoping this will actually work. It will save me so many hours trying to drag files from my old hard drive. BUT I am going to mark that you answered my question just because you replied and I am certain that if I had not discovered this on my own you would have known the answer. So thanks for the help. (editing so that hopefully it will let me click the correct support acknowledgement)

ALL Photos missing after Time Machine restore (help)

So, I accidently formated the wrong drive while in Windows, (big oops) which gave me the opportunity to take Time Machine for a test drive.
I put the DVD in, and was able to restore from the TIme Machine drive. Very impressed! Everything came back just as I had left it except - whats this? The default Leopard wallpaper instead of a picture of my son? Huh strange, I thought. Until I noticed I had no photos in iPhoto.
There seems to be reminents of photos in the iphoto database - the size is 1.3gb instead of the 7gb it used to be. But 0 photos in iPhoto 08.
I went into iPhoto and choose File/Browse Backups. I selected Nov 8th, which was the last day of my backup and showed all 7000+ photos, and clicked "Restore All". This brought up something odd - a 2nd iPhoto icon in the dock, which showed a progress bar for the restore. Once the restore was completed, I still had a 2nd iPhoto icon the the bar, which was iPhoto running - but no photos in iphoto! I exited the 2nd iphoto, which disappeared, and launched my normal Iphoto icon. Still no photos! (That just seems odd that it would launch iPhoto with a 2nd icon)
So, I moved my iphoto database, and launch iPhoto in order to create a fresh database - thinking maybe that was the issue. I then did File/Restore again, and went through the whole processes again, including the odd 2nd icon. Still, no photos! And another 1.3gb iphoto database!
Is it normal for a Time Machine restore to not include your photos? Surely you are not supposed to restore them separately from within Iphoto?
What do I do now? At this point, everything went very well - except no photos! Which is awful and not at all expected! 7000+ family photos! At least, if I ask iPhoto/Time Machine to restore 'all photos' you would think it would restore 'all photos' - not show a progress bar, and then show me no photos!
p.s. I just tooked at the iPhoto Library. The 1.3gb is in /Data/ which contains folders 2000-2007, my Events, and thumbnails of all the photos - but no actual photos (the 'Originals' folder is missing).
I then went back in time, and found the 8gb iPhoto Library database. I supposed I could copy it over manually via Time Machine, and not iPhoto's Restore/TM - but - i'm so far off track of how this should have went I don't know what to think!
p.s.s. So I did just that - copied the 8gb iPhoto Library manually from TM, and pasted it in place. I help down option, and launch iPhoto, selecting the 8gb library - and BOOM... no photos!
Something is #$%# up here.
Message was edited by: metzen79

This is what it says in the help file:
Reverting to a previous Mac OS X version
If you’ve used Time Machine to back up your computer, you can easily revert to a previous version of Mac OS X if you’re experiencing trouble after installing an update.
IMPORTANT: Reverting to the previous version of Mac OS X will erase any additions or changes you’ve made to the files on your computer after installing the new version of Mac OS X. To save new or revised files, copy them onto a different disk or back them up using Time Machine before you follow these instructions. Use Time Machine only if you’re reverting to a previous version of Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard), since Time Machine is not available with Mac OS X 10.4 or earlier.
To revert to a previous version of Mac OS X:
Insert the disc you used to install the new version of Mac OS X, and double-click the Install Mac OS X icon.
In the Installer, choose Utilities > Restore System From Backup.
In the Restore Your System dialog, click Continue.
Select your Time Machine backup volume.
Select the Time Machine backup you want to restore. To restore your computer to the state it was in before you installed a new version of Mac OS X, choose the most recent backup.
Follow the onscreen instructions.
If you backed up any individual files as described under the Important message above, you can restore them now. If you backed them up using Time Machine, recover them using the Time Machine application. (You’ll find the Time Machine application in the Dock or in the Applications folder.)
Hope this helps
Denisimo

I cant restore raw files from time machine. HELP!?

I have lost all my personal photos, but knew I had a backup through time mahine. however time machine won't allow me to restore any folders that contain RAW files. Please HELP!

Were these RAW files in an iPhoto Library or just a folder on the hard drive. For problem with Restoring from Time Machine see this website: Time Machine - Troubleshooting
OT

Time Machine Hangs - Help!

I am trying to run Time Machine for the first time on this PowerBook G4.
Three times now backup has gotten to 11.07GB of 36.72GB, then stops progressing.
The backup drive is a 500 GB Maxtor USB drive that I used Disk Utility on to erase and format as Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
The widget "Time Machine Buddy" shows the following:
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/Backup Drive/Backups.backupdb
Ownership is disabled on the backup destination volume. Enabling.
Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: HD
Backup content size: 36.8 GB excluded items size: 33.1 MB for volume HD
No pre-backup thinning needed: 44.07 GB requested (including padding), 465.61 GB available
Waiting for index to be ready (909 > 0)
Any help or insight would be appreciated. Thanks.

Very curious. I'd guess your CPU usage is running at or near 100% at all times, no?
Some threads here suspect memory, though, for Bus Errors. Have you added memory, especially 3rd party? You might try running hardware diagnostics. If you're not having any other trouble, this seems doubtful.
Mdworker is associated with Spotlight. First thought here is, have you excluded your TM drive/partition from Spotlight? If no, do so, at least temporarily. (Use System Preferences/Spotlight, then it's Privacy pane.)
If it's trying to index your TM drive and repeatedly crashing, writing crash logs, and restarting, it's likely using-up most of your CPU, slowing the backup to a near halt. Actually, you might want, temporarily, to exclude EVERYTHING from Spotlight -- it's probably completely confused.
You can use the Activity Monitor app (Applications/Utilities) to see how much CPU is being used by mdworker, etc. Select All Processes, then sort by the CPU column.
Once it's under control, start TM again. If your backup then runs normally, that will confirm the problem, and you can begin to remove things from the exclusion list.
You've also probably got a whole passel (technical term) of crash logs and huge system logs. You can clean them out via the Console app, or with OnyX or similar apps.

Newbie asking iMac Pros for Time Machine Backup help

I have tried to do a lot of reading (FAQ & Google Search) about Time Machine. I have to admit it seems more than a bit complicated to me. In fact, perhaps I read and searched too much.
1) I have a wireless mouse and a wireless key board which work well with my iMac, although my mouse seems to use-up/run-down batteries (I do use rechargeable usually) somewhat fast. I have my DSL modem plugged into the Ethernet slot. I assume that means I can not use an ethernet cable with a Time Capsule drive. Will a wireless Time Capsule drive run as easily as my mouse and keyboard have? I'll be honest, $299 seems a bit steep if my iMac's life is only going to be around 3-4 years. Of course, losing everything on my internal HD wouldn't be a picnic either. I have manually backed up data such as mp3's, photos, and other files onto a Mentor HD, but it is not nearly big enough for Time Machine.
2) If I were to buy an external drive that I hook-up via USB cable, I need a iMac Pro to give me a good idea as to which ones seem to have had the best "life." I have a 1T internal drive; I assume that I should buy a 1T external drive, although I can't see me actually using that much space. Could I get by with a 500g, I wonder.
3) Finally, I would really appreciate if you could give me some pointers on what would be the best drive and best way for me to use Time Machine. I can come up with $200-$400 that may be necessary, even if I complain about doing it.
Thanks in advance if someone can help guide me.

JohnHusk wrote:
A) Time Capsule is NOT a wireless external HD as such; in other words, I can not just store my Time Machine backup data on it WITHOUT hooking it up to a Network.
well, that would be the most convenient solution.
you can turn the TC's wireless off and, by using an _*ethernet switch*_, could hook up both modem and TC to your iMac's ethernet port. i haven't tried such a setup but i believe it should work.
another option that i haven't tried would be to share your iMac's internet connection wirelessly with the TC by enabling +internet sharing+ in system preferences > sharing.
B) I can hook my DSL router into Time Capsule, but then I would have to configure Airport in order to connect my iMac to the internet?
yes. the setup is very easy.
C) ... I do not have a home network.
if your iMac has an airport card, you do
and I have my printer hooked-up to my iMac via USB.
the TC has an USB port for sharing e.g. a printer on your network
I do have a 7-year old working Dell Dimension that is not currently hooked-up to the Internet, unless I remove the Ethernet cable to the iMac and plug it into the Dell.
again, using an ethernet switch, it can be hooked to your iMac along with the modem. or, it could be connected to one of the TC's ethernet ports.
in fact, i have both my Macs and my Apple TV hardwired to my TC. additionally, by using *powerline adapters* _*such as these*_, i have an older airport extreme and two PC's connected to it via ethernet as well.
I'm just not grasping the overall concept too well. I read the section about Time Machine in my "Mac OS X 'In Depth'" Manual. I also have been trying to search the forums and use iMac Basics on the Apple Home Site.
see _*Time Machine 101*_ for more information.
JGG

IPhoto library corrupted by Time Machine? Help!

Hi,
I need some advice. It appears that I have lost thousands of photos. I know that's not true cos I have a Time Machine backup, but I want to run my situation past you before trying to recover my library. You see, I had a Time Machine backup error. Actually, scratch that, I had a problem with iPhoto not showing some particular photos. They showed up as just a dotted outline, yet when I chose 'show original file' or clicked to edit the photo, it appeared. So, the photos were there, but the thumbnails had a problem.
After some time spent searching for a fix, I started iPhoto with the command and option keys pressed and chose all options to rebuild iPhoto. This looked like it was gonna take some time (I have over 4500 photos) so I left it alone and went to bed. In the morning, iPhoto appeared to be fixed but Time Machine had reported an error while backing up. I clicked ok, did a new backup by clicking 'backup now' which worked fine and carried on as usual.
I've used iPhoto some more today and then, this evening, another TM backup failed. I tried again, and it failed again. I searched the internet to figure out why and discovered how to view the log file. This reported this: Jun 19 21:22:59 lee-webbs-intel-imac /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[10907]: Error: (-8062) SrcErr:NO Copying /Users/leewebb/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Library6.iPhoto to /Volumes/Time Machine Backup/Backups.backupdb/Lee Webb’s intel iMac/2010-06-19-210546.inProgress/5A645817-7095-47FC-A658-A447B5A5814C/mac hd/Users/leewebb/Pictures/iPhoto Library
Jun 19 21:23:46 lee-webbs-intel-imac /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[10907]: Copied 1656 files (294.5 MB) from volume mac hd.
Jun 19 21:23:46 lee-webbs-intel-imac /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[10907]: Copy stage failed with error:11
Jun 19 21:24:17 lee-webbs-intel-imac /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[10907]: Backup failed with error: 11
So, something seems to be wrong with the iPhoto library. I reckon that the rebuild process was somehow interrupted/corrupted by a TM backup. Following some instructions I found in C3 here: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2057525 I ran a verify on my TM backup drive. This returned with OK. I then excluded my iPhoto library from my backup and ran the backup again. It worked fine, which would confirm that the iPhoto library is indeed the problem. Good. Ok. So, that's where I am now. Except it isn't. When I now start up iPhoto, my library has shrunk down to 748 photos! Eeek! What's happened, and what can I do about it? In iPhoto, those 748 photos add up to 1.4gb yet the iPhoto library file is still 12.87gb.
Please can you help me.
I just want to make sure I do the right thing instead of panicking. I've switched off my TM backup for now.
Many thanks,
Lee

Does your library work as it should? Try a minimal backup: launch iPhoto with the Command+Option keys depressed to rebuild the library. Select the last three options.
Click to view full size
Another option would be to rebuild the library with iPhoto Library Manager as follows:
Using iPhoto Library Manager to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library
1 -Download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.
2 -Click on the Add Library button, navigate to your User/Pictures folder and select your iPhoto Library folder.
3 - Now that the library is listed in the left hand pane of iPLM, click on your library and go to the File->Rebuild Library menu option
4 - In the next window name the new library and select the location you want it to be placed.
5 - Click on the Create button.
Note: This creates a new library based on the LIbraryData.xml file in the library and will recover Events, Albums, keywords, titles and comments but not books, calendars or slideshows. The original library will be untouched for further attempts at fixing or in case the rebuilt library is not satisfactory.
Then keep the old library excluded from the Time Machine backup and run TM to see if the new library will backup normally.
OT
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto (iPhoto.Library for iPhoto 5 and earlier versions) database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
I've created an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger or later), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. There are versions that are compatible with iPhoto 5, 6, 7 and 8 libraries and Tiger and Leopard. Just put the application in the Dock and click on it whenever you want to backup the dB file. iPhoto does not have to be closed to run the application, just idle. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.
NOTE: The new rebuild option in iPhoto 09 (v. 8.0.2), Rebuild the iPhoto Library Database from automatic backup" makes this tip obsolete.

Time Machine reinstallation help!

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