Time Machine restore without reset?

We're no longer allowed to bring personal computers onto campus so for the last year I've simply copied my home laptop to an external and booted from that at school. It works great and serves as yet another backup. The problem is that my internal drive is larger than the external and even though the actual data would fit, Drive Genius refuses to copy to a smaller drive. So I made sure my laptop was backed up using Time Machine then did a restore to the external. That worked fine. The problem is that any time you do a restore using Time Machine it resets the backup and I lose all history, even though I restored to an independent drive. It now wants to do a full backup of my laptop againIs there any way to avoid this? The expected behavior would be that Time Machine would not reset the backup history unless you restored the drive using Time Machine for backup.

pakman05 wrote:
I went back and tried to restore my entire system to an earlier time using time machine. Instead of restoring one specific part, I selected EVERYTHING. During the restore I got an error message indicating I did not have adequate permissions to restore my “pictures” folder.
Hi, and welcome to the forums.
That's not how you do a full system restore: you can't restore the system you're running from (that would be a bit like a brain surgeon operating on himself); but unfortunately, Apple doesn't make that obvious.
To do a full system restore, see #14 in [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
I have not touched my computer for the last week so as not to make more of a mess of things
Good! Many folks make things worse by doing that.
The full restore per the link above should put everything back, just as it was.
Once this is sorted out, if you haven't already, you might want to review the [Time Machine Tutorial|http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/#timemachinebasics] and perhaps browse [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).

Similar Messages

My Macbook Pro was stolen, and I have replaced it with a Macbook Air. New hard drive is too small for a Time Machine restore. How do I restore my more-expensive apps (ie iWorks) on my new Macbook without repurchasing them?

My Macbook Pro was recently stolen, and I have replaced it with a Macbook Air. I attempted to simply do a restore from the Macbook Pro's Time Machine backup, but since the new Macbook Air's hard drive is significantly smaller, a Time Machine restore was not possible. I even tried to choose only settings or only my User Profile (option) when restoring, but the backup was still too large to do a restore onto the new machine. How do I restore my more-expensive apps (ie iWorks) onto my new Macbook without repurchasing them? Also, I reaad somewhere that if you went to the Mac App Store and attempted to repurchase the app and clicked BUY, it would simply alert you that you have already purchased the app (and trigger a re-download)... NOT THE CASE... So I just dropped another $19.99 for a second copy of Pages... Not my intention....
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
LM

you should get a usb backup drive as well. time machine has limited use in my eyes. it saves things. but older things can be errased ad space drops without telling you
nothing beats data redundancy. 2 saves is. 1. and 1 is none
im personally not fond of time machne though i use it only for a recovery parameter for a mac
id never ever myself consider time machine a genuine data backup tool. though most do consider it as such
drive clones such as superduper and carbon copy cloner can clone your entire drive for emergency recovery. and you can boot from them as well o. another mac

I performed a time machine backup without plugging my labtop into a power source. My computer died and all the settings were changed, ie the clock and date were changed back to 2001. So I tried to restore my computer using a previous time machine backup.

I performed a time machine backup without plugging my labtop into a power source. My computer died and all the settings were changed, ie the clock and date were changed back to 2001. So I tried to restore my computer using a previous time machine backup. (which I now know was wrong). However, when time machine tried to restore it said there was not enough room to do a backup. It seems that it did a half backup because some essential files such as system profiler are now missing. Can I undo this restore...? What can I do to fix this

You need to do a full system restore, per Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #14.
If that sends a message, please note the exact wording.

Time machine restore resets after 1% completed

I am at the multi-language welcome screen, I get to the appropriate Time Machine restore backup and it begins. After 1.2% completed, it just takes me back to the multi-language welcome screen. No restart, no chimes, like nothing happened. I'm restoring from a 2-week old backup via USB on my 4 month old 15' MacBook Pro.
Please! I need this thing for work tomorrow and am desperate, the restore will take 9 hours and I'm getting frustrated.

Check that the data cable to the drive is firmly inserted at both ends. If the drive is bus-powered but has an AC adapter, connect the adapter. If it's connected through a hub, connect it directly to a built-in port. Try another cable. Failing all that, continue as below.
Starting from a fresh installation of OS X, set up a new administrator account and log in. You should now be able to enter Time Machine and restore your user data from a snapshot.* 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: Time Machine won't continue your previous snapshot series, but will instead try to begin a new one, starting with a full copy of all files. There might not be enough space on 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

Time machine restore selective intonation vs full installation compromised system

I have some questions regarding the above mentioned issue
I have reviewed notes regarding selective app restore method and am aware that there are issues assossiated with failed apps since the original app installer installs files in various libraries and system settings
My backed up Mac contains rogue programs such as the programming app python 3 and various rogue bugs and system settings.
1 Does a full restore reset all backed up system settings or does it keep the fresh installation and include all your apps and settings such as mail accounts mail folders documents pictures movies podcasts etc without the bugs
2 Should the answer to 1 be a yes all compromised settings will be restored, then will I have issues with installing VMware fusion as its an encripted integrated app that I keep all my master business applications but store documents in the Mac documents area.
Other factors
1 My accounting tax business has been hacked over and over again for the last 7 months from start of tax season
2 I have lost 50% of my clients due to the interruptions and been hospitalized twice from sitting on the computer for extended hours and days reinstalling fresh system and restoring Mac documents only, 3 times over, as well as trying to learn everything about best practice, hacks etc
3 I'm using fire vault 2 however the time machine backup is not encripted are there any potential problems with either of the two methods?
4 I will be using a proxy server when I next build the Mac will this be enough to mitigate potential security breach using the full time machine restore method?
5 I have many apps that I have not purchased through the app center and have not kept the keys and will be a headache to get all my details
6 what implications are there as far as the prior keychain access is consurned? How does that get restored?
What is the most effective and efficient method to restore from time machine given above scenario?
Thanking you in advance
Peter

Thank you for your advice
I tried consulting Telstra premium services and other third party security consultants. I explained my steps and procedures upon each fresh installation and the extent of the hacking and they refused to service me. Additionally Telstra security center replied on the issue of using a proxy server that they only support windows operating systems. Last night an apple consultant told me to obtain the proxy server address and he will guide me through to setting it up. I hope this will resolve the security issue. However I'm not entirely sure. My iPhone was also hacked and 8 GB of data used in 1 day untill I caught on. Freaked me out since I had disconnected from the wifi.
I'm currently installing from flash drive and transferring my information from time machine. I think it's a full restore.
I am investing in a website in a couple of weeks however I'm not currently hosting one on my laptop.
Cheers
Peter

IWork free with new purchase but not available after time machine restore

Tried to find the best place to put this and this is the best I can surmise.
iWork is now supposedly free with the purchase of a new Mac. I received a new MacBook Pro 2 days ago. The problem is, I wanted to keep all my old settings/apps/features/files without spending 2 weeks resetting everything back up, so I used time machine to restore my machine to the state of my old MacBook Air. Unfortunately, it does not look like any iWork apps remained in the Applications folder (makes sense), but now I go to the App store and Pages, Numbers, and Keynote are all listed as $19.99.
I only assume that my time machine restore was the issue (I don't know if the apps were ever in the Applications folder at all), but since time machine is a feature Apple supports I would assume they support some way to make this work as well. How do I go about getting iWork without paying $60?
Thanks

There are several reasons why the updates don't show as free for those who already have iWork '09 installed.
1. You must have iWork '09 apps installed & they must be updated to the x.3 version. You can also download the standalone updater from this page.
2. If you are not using English as the primary language for your Mac, change to English & run Software Update. You can then switch back to your preferred language.
3. Go to Mac App Store (MAS) > Click on Store > Check for Unfinished Downloads. You will need to individually click into each application > Click update > enter in your Apple ID & password and then it will start updating.
4. Open App Store on your Mac & look at the buttons under Keynote, Pages & Numbers. If it does not say “Update” click Account under Quick Links, enter your password & click “View Account.” Next, click the “Reset” button to the right of “Reset all warnings for buying and downloading” at the bottom of this page, & click Done. Check your updates tab & iWork & iLife updates should now appear.
These are the ones I've seen work for others.

Problem after Time Machine restore

So i just did a time machine restore since i replaced the HD in my old macbook, and whenever i start up the machine it stays at grey screen and eventually pulls up a folder with a ? mark. But if I hold down option at start up and select the drive, it boots fine, even if i do a restart from start up settings in system preferences it works fine. Just if I'm booting after shut down, it won't work without holding option key, Is there something I did wrong, or anyway I could fix it?

Are the specs for the replacement drive, especially for power consumption, similar to those for the original drive? If not, it may be that new drive takes too long to spin up from a cold start or some similar, specification related issue is causing this problem.
You also should make sure that the partition scheme of the drive is not MBR & that the file format of the startup volume is "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)." Disk Utility will tell you both of these characteristics when you select the drive & the volume respectively from the list on the left. (Look at the bottom of the window for this info.)
You can also try resetting PRAM & then reselecting the startup disk in the system preference.

How do I know which id to delete and insure time machine restore?

I had a glitch on my computer of the screen going black at random. I also had a recall on my imac for the segate drive which was replaced once. I brought it to the apple store after a week then determined there was no recall on my new drive and reinstalled Mt Lion to get rid of the black screen issue. Now here is the problem i got home and plugged in my ext drive for a time machine restore. I restored everthing using migrate assitant except the applications and desktop. I was asked to create another user name for the transfer. I don't understand why i had to do this so just slightly changed my id name. I now need to find the desktop data and can't find it under either names. I searched the drive direct and found the info is there but migrate assitant doesn't show it. I tryed to restore back some other files but it was me to changed the name of the restore using migrate assitant again. How many ids do I need? How do I blow way the 2nd id without gettting rid of my backup on the ext drive. I am so confussed now and can't figure out which admin id has the info and which doesn't . I don't even know if the info made it to the imac hard drive. help!!!

I had a glitch on my computer of the screen going black at random. I also had a recall on my imac for the segate drive which was replaced once. I brought it to the apple store after a week then determined there was no recall on my new drive and reinstalled Mt Lion to get rid of the black screen issue. Now here is the problem i got home and plugged in my ext drive for a time machine restore. I restored everthing using migrate assitant except the applications and desktop. I was asked to create another user name for the transfer. I don't understand why i had to do this so just slightly changed my id name. I now need to find the desktop data and can't find it under either names. I searched the drive direct and found the info is there but migrate assitant doesn't show it. I tryed to restore back some other files but it was me to changed the name of the restore using migrate assitant again. How many ids do I need? How do I blow way the 2nd id without gettting rid of my backup on the ext drive. I am so confussed now and can't figure out which admin id has the info and which doesn't . I don't even know if the info made it to the imac hard drive. help!!!

OS X Server 3.1 Time Machine Restore

I have a Mac Mini that was running OS X Mavericks and Server 3.1 with the Time Machine Backup service running. The client Macs running OS X Mountain Lion and Mavericks do their back ups to an external USB 3 drive attached to the Mac Mini server. Back ups from the clients work fine. However, when I tried to do a restore for one of the Macs using the the Recovery HD of the Mac, the network back up drive showed in the list and after selecting it and entering in the MBPs logon credentials, I kept getting an error that said "There was a problem connecting to the server "sever.local. The server may not exist or it is unavailable at this time. Check the server name or IP address, check your network connection, and then try again". I didn't get a list of back ups on the drive to restore from. The other services running were VPN, Profile Manager, File Sharing, Open Directory and DNS. I'm using a qualified domain name for DNS (server.blah.blah.com) and that is setup correctly and working.
Has anyone else experienced the above? If so, what was used to resolve the issue?
I have since reinstalled OS X Mountain Lion along with OS X Server 2.2.2 with the same services running and DNS configuration. I can now back up AND restore from the network Time Machine drive without issue for all my Macs that back up to it.

"There was a problem connecting to the server "sever.local. The server may not exist or it is unavailable at this time. Check the server name or IP address, check your network connection, and then try again".
Is the name of your server really "server"?
I had a server named (something like) Acme Exterminators Server. I got this exact same message, naming "server.local". I solved the problem by temporarily renaming my server to "server", whereupon the entire restore process worked flawlessly. Then I changed it back when I was done.
It's as if putting spaces or special characters in your server name confuses the restore code.

Time machine restore not complete

I had to get a new hard drive for my iMac. Time Machine restored all the files and programs, but not the settings, so my desktop, my dock, all the pointers in software like Apature, etc are wrong. Why didnèt all this come back with the restoreÉ Or how do I get it back without manually setting everything up again.
Thanks
Jeff

There is a bug for some users.. but not in Snow Leopard if you are using that as per your profile. It is Mountain Lion that is the issue.
See http://pondini.org/TM/D10.html
Did you Migrate or did you do system restore?
They are different. Settings will mostly not migrate.
See Q14 and start over to do a full system restore.
More info on migration here.
http://pondini.org/TM/14.html
http://pondini.org/OSX/MigrationProblems.html
Go back to the main directory of Pondini and read through his information..
Q14-17 here on how to restore from Time Machine is most important.
http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html

Time Machine restore from WD my book live duo

Dear all and especially anyone out there who may be able to help me.
I have a MacBook Pro with Mountain Lion, a WD mybook live duo 3/6tb on the LAN, all wired.
It has been backing up through Time Machine fine until my MacBook crashed earlier this week so I have a fairly
recent snapshot of my MacBook before the crash.
I wanted to restore, after a Hard Disk erase which seemed necessary, from Time Machine but I couldn't make it work
as it kept asking me for user names and passwords of the NAS (which I entered of course) only
to result in error meesages saying the 'share' didn't exist. (Despite the fact that it does immediately
recognise the backup and location on the NAS.)
WD support advised me to first reinstall OSX ML and then use the regular Time Machine
functionality to restore my Mac.
- there is no option to fully restore your Mac through the wonderful TimeMachine time travel
functionality. I tried to restore my Macintosh HD back to a recent time point but that resulted in
nothing much (or nothing at all, I don't know). I don't see my old stuff, I still see a kind of vanilla
OSX ML installation.
- using the restore functionality (CMD-R during startup) and the time machine restore option,
results in the same nagging for names and passwords and error messages that the share
doesn't exist.
WD support couldn't tell me what the share name (and possibly password) would be for where it stores Time Machine backup
files (it doesn't show up in the list of shares when you look in the WD dashboard) and that makes sense to me as when you
tell Time Machine to use the NAS, it doesn't ask you for anything in terms of shares or passwords either.
So here I am: with probably a very good and recent complete backup at my disposal but no way of restoring it to my Mac.
So all I had and trusted to Time Machine is lost.
Is anyone out here who can help me? Anyone with a similar experience and hopefully solution? (That I can understand....I am a Mac user! :-) )
I would be enormously grateful!
Greetings from Amsterdam,
Eric

Hello Eric, not sure if this helps or is exactly what you are looking for as I am unfamiliar with the NAS issue you have. However, I recently restored my computer from Mavericks back to Snow Leopard using my WD mybook. At first I was unable to use the WD mybook for restore, as is was not recognized by the computer after the menu came up from pressing "command R" during start up. I attributed this to the WD software requiring a password to access the drive. This is the same password that you (anyone who owns a WD mybook) have to supply each time you want to use time machine to back up files. There is a simple remedy I found. You need to go to your applcations and select "WD SmartWare," type in your password, then select the "Settings" tab at the upper right hand conner. Then select "Set up drive." On the right side of the window there is the "Set Security Options," sign in using your password in the box displayed under "password," then select "Remove Security." The last step would be to save the security setting, and you are all set to use your WD mybook without a password for full system restoration. So when you restart your computer and hold (or as I found press many times) the "command R" to access the restore window at start up, you can select restore from time machine, and have your WD mybook now appear in the timemachine device window, as the device is not password protected anymore. Once your computer is restored you can follow the same steps outlined above to reinstate your password for your WD mybook. Best of luck,
Marc

Music icon changed after time machine restore

I recently did a Time Machine restore and everything went well, except now my audio icon files are white instead of black like they were before I did the restore.
Here is what they look like now:
but before they were black with the grey music symbol. Does anyone know if this is a setting that changes this?
Thanks.

If the user account is associated with an Apple ID, and you know that account password, the Apple ID can be used to reset your user account password.
Otherwise, boot into Recovery by holding down the key combination command-R at startup. Release the keys when you see a gray screen with a spinning dial.
When the OS X Utilities screen appears, select Utilities ▹ Terminal from the menu bar.
In the Terminal window, type this:
resetpassword
That's one word with no spaces. Then press return. A Reset Password window opens.
Select your boot volume if not already selected.
Select your username from the menu labeled Select the user account if not already selected.
Follow the prompts to reset the password. It's safest to choose a password that includes only the characters a-z, A-Z, and 0-9.
Select  ▹ Restart from the menu bar.
You should now be able to log in with the new password, but you won't be able to unlock the Keychain. If you've forgotten the Keychain password (which is ordinarily the same as your login password), there's no way to recover it. You’ll need to reset your keychain in the preferences of the Keychain Access application.

Computer wont boot after time machine restore

Hi Guys,
I did a time machine restore last night and after it completed and i did a restart the computer gets stuck on the gray screen. I waited like 2 hours and it still doesn't get past that screen. I have tried every boot shortcut including target mode, single user mode etc. One problem is that i have disabled sounds so i cant hear the chime therefore not knowing when to push and hold the "t" or "c" button.
Am i doing something wrong? when do i start holding c or t?
Even when i put the mac osx dvd in it won't even boot from that. also tried holding c and booting from the dvd and that doesn't work.
please help

Begin with the usual diagnostics in hopes of successfully booting your macbook. As Eric mentioned, have you tried booting with the Option key ?
If that fails, try the following, before forced to a re-install of the OS:
1: Boot up the machine via Safe Boot by holding the shift key. Since your volume is off, ideally you want to wait a second or two where the chime would come in. Note that if the safe boot is successful it will take some more time to boot as it checks for disk errors. Make sure and repair your permissions if you get through !
2: If that fails reset your PRAM, http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379

Can I Update Time Machine Backup Without Booting From The Source Drive

Greetings,
Can I update a time machine backup without booting from the original source drive?
My main Macbook Pro internal drive seemed to have died. I had not backed up in months so my Time Machine backup was old.
I replaced the drive with a new one and settled for restoring from the old TM backup because my latest info was on the dead drive and not backed up.
I just plugged the "broken" drive into a dock and it mounted.
It won't boot from the drive but I can mount it and copy from it so far.
I now want to update my Time Machine backup with the info on the 'broken" drive while it's able to be mounted.
How can I accomplish this without booting from the 'broken" drive and running time machine.
Recap...
I need to update a Time Machine backup using another hard drive without booting from the source (as I cannot). Both drives are connected via USB to my MBP and I am booted from another MBP. I want to end up with the newer info from the "broken" drive updating my older Time Machine backup.
Thank You,
SG

Hi
Time Machine will only be able to backup whilst booted into OSX, so unless you can mount the drive, and boot up the OS that is installed on the disk, then no, you will not be able to run a Time Machine backup of that drive.
You could image the drive onto another using Disk Utility
Cheers

Time Machine restore fails from Snow Leo disc. iMac 24" 2007

My hard drive sufferd some kind of crash yesterday. I booted to the SL-disc and formatted the drive. I then verified it with no errors before formatting again - this time I told it to write 0´s. The drive verifies fine in disk utility. I go into the Time Machine restore dialogue and selects the latest recovery point and it goes to work and I go to bed. Wake up the error "the OS X install could not be completed" or something like that only in norwegian. I try again with an earlier recovery point, but after a few hours it displays the same message.
The only weird thing about my setup is that the TM drive is connected through my firewire audio interface. I am at work now and came to think of this little weirdness. Can this be the problem? I seem to remember having recovered before without this causing a problem. Any other suggestions? Is my drive really troubled even though it reports no problems after the format?

It's hard to tell, but just to be safe, I'd connect the drive directly.
It might have been damaged by the crash; you might also want to repair it, per #A5 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.
When you do the restore, select Window, then Show Log and Show All logs from the menubar. These selections may require several seconds to take effect, but you can tell how far the process has gotten.
If the restore seems to get most of the way, but fails again, see if it will start up. If not, try installing a fresh copy of OSX. See what didn't get copied; you may be able to recover the missing stuff by restoring it selectively.

Time Machine restore without reset?

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