Time Machine - Restoring Files only to a fresh install of OSX

Hi folks,
had my 17' MBP for about a year now and love it, although in the last couple of month it's become frightening slow, jerk video playback and what not.
So I'd like to Format the Mac and re-install Snow Leopard to get full performance back, I have a Time Machine but don't want to do a system restore as I won't get any benefits of renewed performance etc, I'd just like it to restore my non-system files and possibly iTunes to avoid any iPhone/iPod/iPad syncing issues.
Is there any way of restoring just files only without having to manually pick them out of the Time Machine once I've formatted/re-installed Snow Leopard?
Thanks!

mlamb64150 wrote:
can you use that technique for iTunes as well?
no. you would restore iTunes using the finder.
you should restore the entire iTunes folder (not just the iTunes music folder).
JGG

Similar Messages

Time Machine Restoring files and folders Only on a Clean Install

Hi all
I am getting a new hard drive this week. I have done a few TM backups on 3 different external drives.
Here's my question please and thank you for reading this.
I am doing a clean install. The reason for this I want to get rid of COMPLETELY some Microsoft Office apps and a few more which are headaches.
So I will set up a new machine.
The only items I would like to restore is Mac Mail and my iphotos catalogues.
Q: Will TM backup allow me to or just ask me to restore these certain items or is it the whole shabang.
Q: Some items in my Documents folders as well like letters done in Pages.
thanks

You do not say what Operating System you are running?
There are some caveats.
You will have to format your new drive with Disk Utility. Command R may take you to internet recovery.
I loaded Mavericks on a new machine, Used a Bootclone with the Set up Assistant to move everything over- tried to use the same Time Machine, but it would not recognize the old backups. At that point I had to start over with TM.
In your case you may have the same bad luck, and be left with no TimeMachine backs to get what you want.

Time Machine Restored Files

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated
Yesterday my internal Western Digital hard drive became corrupt some how.
I turned on my MacBook Pro - Snow Leopard 10.6.6 to find it stuck on the boot up screen with the Apple Logo
I searched on various different forums to try to get out of the boot up screen but all failed.
But it came to loading the install disks that came with the MacBook Pro and using Disk Utility. I was unable to repair disk permissions and the only option was to Verify. I Verified the disk and it said it was corrupt and was unable to repair.
I had another Western Digital Hard drive empty and I just installed a fresh new copy of Snow Leopard via the install disk.
I thought I could restore my Mac from Time Machine as I back up almost every other day.
After installing Snow Leopard on the New Hard drive i plugged in my Time Machine and Entered Time Machine. I clicked the Macintosh HD and clicked Restore at the bottom right hand corner of Time Machine.
The process took about 5 Hours to restore 234.52 GB of data. I went to sleep and woke up to find out for the files to be restored to be done. However nothing was back in its place. My iPhoto photos, iTunes songs, documents, and applications were no where to be found. I know that data was transferred because at the fresh install the Info on my Hard Drive said Used: 18 GB and now it states Used: 251 GB.
Can anyone please tell me if I overlooked something or if I missed or messed up on a step. The data from my Time Machine was transferred hoping for my Mac to be Restored, however it was not.
Thanks in advanced,
Marc

Marc3l028 wrote:
Can anyone please tell me if I overlooked something
Yes. That does seem like a reasonable way to restore your system, but it doesn't work that way. Among other things, you can't restore to the disk you're running from.
Apple does document how to do it, but it's not exactly obvious, and lots of folks miss it.
Start over with a full system restore, per #14 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions.

Why is Time Machine displaying files only in the present not the past?

Hi,
My PowerBook G4 recently had its Logic Board replaced. Since Time Machine identifies the machine to backup thanks to its MAC Ethernet address and, since after a Logic Board switch my MAC Ethernet address had changed, I had to reconfigure TM so that the external hard drive reassociates with the new MAC Ethernet address and continues to backup in the same backup folder. For that I used this hint posted on MacOSXhints.com :
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20080128003716101&query=time%2Bmach ine%2Blogic
While performing this hint enabled me to have my new backups in the original backup folder, and access all my backups through finder, I cannot view any backups in Time Machine star-field mode. Whenever I click on "Enter Time Machine" I correctly warp into the star-field, but I only see the present. I cannot go back in time and the time line on the side doesn't show any dates in the past. The finder window at the front displays only what is currently on my PowerBook HDD, and the finder windows that precede it are all dark grey, empty and un-clickable. What is peculiar is that when I click on Time Machine Preferences, the Panel can show the date of the oldest backup.
To sum up: Time machine has no problem backing up my files in the original backup folder of my external HDD (I can see all my new backups in the same backup database folder as the ones before the Logic board switch), I can access all my backed up files via Finder, but when I enter Time Machine star-field mode, it doesn't show me any of my backups. I really like the ease of use of the star-field mode, and I find it frustrating to have to look at my backups in plain old Finder.
What I don't know is whether hint I described above might have introduced errors that provoked the error or whether this might be due to the fact that while my computer was going for repair, I connected the external HDD containing my backup with two computers running Mac OS X 10.4 to retrieve some backed up files.
My case must probably be quite rare, but since I haven't found any solutions to this date, I'm posting it now.
I would be extremely grateful if anyone had a solution for this, or an intuition on the different parameters to modify to correct this Time Machine problem. Any contribution will be helpful. Thank you very much.

gbullman,
You say that the logic board was replaced? Then you will not be able to continue backups to the SAME backup set.
*_Time Machine Always Performs a Full Backup After a Full Restore_*
Actually, this is normal. Anytime your hardware has changed, or you have reinstalled the operating system again, Time Machine will perform a new full backup.
*Full Backup After Restore*
Bear in mind that in all cases Time Machine will perform a full backup after a full restore. This is normal. Time Machine will resume incremental backups after the full backup has completed. To view previous backups, Control-click or right-click the Time Machine icon in your Dock or Option-click the Time Machine menu extra and Choose "Browse Other Time Machine Disks," then select your previous backup volume. You will enter Time Machine and be able to browse your previous back ups and restore files. [http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1338]
So even on unchanged hardware, if you reinstall your system software and restore your user data, Time Machine starts anew, and you will not be able to resume backing up with the same history as the previous backups.
While there may be ways to fool/hack Time Machine into recognizing previous backups without performing another full backup, they are likely rather elaborate. Ultimately, though, in a couple of months, all the effort to preserve old backups may seem pointless. After all, Time Machine will eventually purge away that data anyways as it replaces it with new files.
It may simply be easier to begin a fresh series of backups while saving the previous backups until your satisfied that you have enough history built up. Then delete the old backups.
*Why Can’t I Resume Backups?*
You see, Time Machine was designed to restore your Macs’ immediate environment in case of system crashes or accidental deletion of user files. As a result, reinstalling your Mac OS system software or changing your hardware requires a fresh set of backups since older backups would not accurately represent the current state of your Mac.
Additionally, if a user has had to reinstall the system software, then resuming backups to the same set could later reintroduce the very issues that forced the reinstall in the first place. Furthermore, maintaining backups that were started with an older Mac, introduces the possibility of restoring system files that were never intended for the new Mac.
If you require long-term archival storage of files, then you need another backup strategy.
Hope this clarifies some things.
Cheers!

Time Machine restore Files Missing

QUESTION:
Why won't my Time Machine backup restore properly?
FACTS:
I have done a fresh reinstall of the OS onto a new hard drive.
I have then used the Time Machine to restore the files. It takes about 2 hours to goes through 60GB of data.
The new hard drive is has 50GB Available out of 120GB. Indicating that the restore files are somewhere on the Hard Disk.
After reboot, I cannot see any of the restored files in my login. Just the basic Applications.etc
After restore I have folders
System 6.5gb
Library 2.4GB
Applications 1.1GB
Documents 584MB!!
Applications (Empty!!)
Downloads (Empty!!)
Movies (Empty!!)
Music (Empty!!)
Pictures (Empty!!)
Public (Empty!!)
Sites (Empty!!)
Some of my important Applications are missing such as Photoshop, Entourage and Microsoft Office.
The Documents folder in the Time Machine is over 30GB!!
My Music Folder in the Time Machine is about 16GB!!
COULD IT BE THIS?
1
Something to do with the User Accounts (Login).
I had to create this login before I applied Time Machine.
I believe I used exactly the same password and name for it, but could the OS be deciding that it is a new User and nbot allowing access to the Time Machine?
2
Whatever the reason: Can anyone think of a work around?
I havn't done any new work on the machine yet, so I am happy to start over and install the OS again and then Time Machine - if I needed to be done in a different order.

Progress...
I held down the (Option) Alt Key and it gave me the OS install as well as the Hard Disk.
It is booting off the OS-USB
I know this is going to allow me to reinstall the OS again.
OK During installation it gives me Restore option
Top Menu>Utilities>Restore System from Backup... (Time Machine Symbol)
OK PROBLEM - It is looking for the Time Machine Backup, but I need to remove the USB drive so I can plug that TM disk in!!! The macbook Air only has one USB socket.
Ive carefully unplugged the USB and plugged the TM disk in.
To refresh I done "(Go Back)"
Now "(Continue)"
The Rainbow spinner is rotating... Obviously it is looking tfor the next bit of code on the USB which is now unplugged!!!
Ive put the USB back it - but the spinner continues
I'm stuck again

Can I Use Time Machine Restore Files to a New Computer?

I use Time Machine to backup my data to an external drive. Let's say that my computer crashes and I buy a new computer with Leopard installed.
Two Questions:
If I plug my Time Machine drive into the new computer, will I be able to recreate the old files and settings? Or does Time Machine only work to restore information on a specific computer?
If Time Machine WILL restore the documents onto a new computer, what happens if the first computer is Power PC and the new one is Intel?
Thanks!
Message was edited by: Dan D\'Errico

Dan D'Errico wrote:
I use Time Machine to backup my data to an external drive. Let's say that my computer crashes and I buy a new computer with Leopard installed.
Two Questions:
If I plug my Time Machine drive into the new computer, will I be able to recreate the old files and settings?
Yes - see my comments below regarding "Migrating User Data From One Mac to Another".
Or does Time Machine only work to restore information on a specific computer?
No
If Time Machine WILL restore the documents onto a new computer, what happens if the first computer is Power PC and the new one is Intel?
Then you should choose to Migrate your personal data over but NOT Applications. They may likely not be compatible with the new system.
*_Migrating User Data From One Mac to Another_*
*Firewire Disk Mode*
If you have a FireWire cable, you can connect one Mac to the other via FireWire Disk Mode. Then use Migration Assistant to transfer all of your files and applications over from the older Mac. It should result in a virtually identical setup as your previous Mac. Follow the instructions in this KB article:
“How to use FireWire target disk mode”
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661
*Using Time Machine Before Initial Launch of New Mac*
Before starting the new Mac for the first time, attach the hard disk that contains the Time Machine backups from the old Mac.
Start the new Mac and begin the setup process. At some point it will ask you if you would like to Migrate/Import user data from another computer or a Time Machine backup disk. Follow the prompts and select the date of the backup you would like to restore your user data from. Once the migration is complete use Disk Utility to repair any permissions issues.
*Using Time Machine After Initial Launch of New Mac*
If you have already created a User Account on the new Mac using a DIFFERENT Username and Password from the old Mac, then do the following:
Attach the hard disk containing the previous Macs' Time Machine backups to the new computer.
Go to Applications --> Utilities --> and launch Migration Assistant.
At the welcome dialogue click "Continue." You may be required to enter your Admin password.
For Migration Method chose "From a Time Machine backup or other disk".
Select the hard disk containing the previous Time Machine backups. (Give Migration Assistant some time as it scans the disk for eligible data to migrate.)
Now select which User Accounts you would like to migrate over.
However, if you have already created a User Account on the new Mac using the SAME Username and Password as the old Mac, then you will need to do this:
Create a new User Admin Account on the new Mac with a completely unique name.
Now, delete the first User Account you created on the new Mac - The one that is identical to the old Mac. (Of course, backup any important files that were created using the new User Account before deleting it.)
Finally, use Migration Assistant as described above to move the old User Account data over from the Time Machine backups.
*Full Backup After Restore*
Bear in mind that in all cases Time Machine will perform a full backup after a full restore. This is normal. Time Machine will resume incremental backups after the full backup has completed. To view previous backups, Control-click or right-click the Time Machine icon in your Dock or Option-click the Time Machine menu extra and Choose "Browse Other Time Machine Disks," then select your previous backup volume. You will enter Time Machine and be able to browse your previous back ups and restore files. (http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1338)
Let us know if this was helpful.
Cheers!

Time machine restore returns only empty folders

I need to restore several folders with lots of files within. When entering TM, I see the files and folders. Selecting on one or several folders and clicking restore, copies only the first and empty folder over. I can repeat this by going back to TM, this time selecting all the files within the folder and click restore. I get asked for my password and all files are succesfully restored. However, there are many folders with many files and I think TM should be copying folders and there contents. The same happens if I manually try to do a copy and paste via the finder.
Background to this: I had my harddrive replaced on my iMac. During set-up, I restored all my contents from the timemachine backup. No problems here. I had one folder, which I had deleted before the last backup from which I restored the iMac, so went back in time to recover it. Then run into problem above.
Folders and files have rwx permission. I have searched through all the discussions, but not found an answer to this.
Thanks for help.

Additional information:
When trying to restore the folder and files to a different destination, I get the error code 36, items can't be read or written.
Checking permissions: the folders in TM have drwxrwxrsx. User is correct = me, group is staff (unknown to me and not in my accounts). So it seems a permission problem. Only thing is strange, that I can restore the files one by one.
Have also checked pondini's troubleshooting tips, still not sure as all files. Should I reset the group on the backup disk? or my own iMac. Seems a bit too risky for me.

Time Machine: restore file to different computer

I would like a recommendation on how to restore a file from the Time Share volume of one mac to a different mac.
I have 2 machines: macbook pro & mac air both both running latest mountian lion. Each keeps its own time share volume on a network server. The two have some sync'd shares, but in general, they are not fully sync'd.
the macbook pro is in the shop for repair for a few days and I'd like to fetch some of it's files from its time machine backup onto the macair. I'm a little reluctant to simply fire up Time Machine on the mac air and respecify it's storage volume to be the macbook pro's volume. I'm concerned about internal configuration changes Time Machine might make to the mac air, including making changes that might cause it to have to do a full (not differential) back up when I reconfigure the mac air's Time Machine to use it's own backup volume after I'm done getting files from the macbook pro backup volume.
In addition to simply getting access to some of the files of the mac in the shop, I want to get the mac calendar from that machine and use it on the mac air. I understand that this may be somewhat trickier.

Not sure how this article applies to my problem Eric. I simply want to get a few files from the backup volume of a different computer, so that I can work on them while the other computer is being repaired. The article you cite talks about restoring a full backup to a different computer.
I think I did find a way to do what I want. I'm able to log in to the network backup server and access the shared volume where the time share backup image I'm interested is stored (as a sparse image). I'm able to open the sparse image as a volume on my desktop and have access to the files inside. I should be able to copy these onto the operable laptop (the macair) without upsetting the backup image, so that's what I intend to do. If and when I see that that works, I'll note it in this thread

Time machine restoring files, but nothing appears - suggestions

I'm running OSX leopard on my iMac G5. Recently, the hard drive crashed, but I had everything backed up. Restoring files from Time Machine/Time Capsule worked fine - except that mail storage folders and the address book are blank.
With the mail folders, I located the archived files in users/library/mail/mailboxes and found all the .emix files. The restore said they were being loaded, but when I went to see them in Mail, there's nothing there. However, they are loaded in users/.../.../mailboxes.
How do I see them in the Mail app?
Secondly, the address book disappeared. I'm also looking for it in library, but I'm not having any luck. Help!
Art

try reindexing mail.
quit mail and delete the file /users/username/library/mail/envelope index. then start mail and let it import (that means reindex) your messages. not sure what's wrong with address book. its data is kept in /users/username/library/application support/address book. quit address book and move the file AddressBook-v22.abcddb from that directory to the desktop. start address book. that file should be rebuilt from metadata. see if it works now.

Time Machine Restoring files that are packages

Whenever I try to restore iwork/pages files or other files that are packages with the help of Time Machine I end up with a folder instead of a file. This happens when I want to keep both the original file and the older version. It makes me worry if my Time Machine backup on the external hard drive is corrupted in some way and needs to be replaced.
Thank for any suggestions.

muberts wrote:
Whenever I try to restore iwork/pages files or other files that are packages with the help of Time Machine I end up with a folder instead of a file. This happens when I want to keep both the original file and the older version.
Hi, and welcome to the forums.
Does it happen if you don't specify keeping both? (Try restoring to an alternate location, per #16 in the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip* at the top of this forum.)
I doubt corruption in your backups would cause this, but you can run a +*Repair Disk+* on them. See #A5 in the Time Machine - Troubleshooting *User Tip* at the top of this forum.

Can I restore from backup of time machine of Mountain Lion on a fresh install Older Snow Lepord

Currently I have OS X 10.8.5 on my macbook pro.
I have done much of the recovery tricks stated on variour threads. SO as apple support suggested I even tried the internet restore of the OS.
After a long wait the installable started and I selected the option to reinstall the OS. But it prompted back that that the version which I have installed on the the macbook pro was the latest and hence can't be replaced. So the option to restore from my time machine and I was able to work on the mac for sometime. I thought the issue was resolved, but it doesn;t seems so.
So will it be wise to completely wipe out the OS and reinstall from scratch. I have snow lepord OS DVD which originally came with the mac.
So if I install from scratch snow lepord, will I be able to restore files which were backed up on OS X Lion (current OS) ? Kindly advice.

I got a discussion thread here which suggests I can't
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3214393?start=0&tstart=0
Please help ...

Time Machine - restores files I didn't select?

Okay, so I fired up time machine put in a selection in the window (actually "dashboard"), changed selection to "Preferences" folder and "Filename", so I basically get the following:
com.apple.dashboard.plist
com.apple.dashboard.client.plist
which are the files I want to restore..I press the arrow and scroll back in time to the last backup...works great.
I select these two files and click restore, at which point I'm sure it restored every file in my Preferences folder from that time.....luckily my backup wasn't that old but what did I do wrong?

Okay, so I fired up time machine put in a selection in the window (actually "dashboard"), changed selection to "Preferences" folder and "Filename", so I basically get the following:
com.apple.dashboard.plist
com.apple.dashboard.client.plist
which are the files I want to restore..I press the arrow and scroll back in time to the last backup...works great.
I select these two files and click restore, at which point I'm sure it restored every file in my Preferences folder from that time.....luckily my backup wasn't that old but what did I do wrong?

Time machine restored files are locked and can't unlock them

After upgrading to an SSD, i was having problems with restoring files from Timemachine. i fiexed that by naming my ssd drive the same as the drive that was backedup using time machine. now, i can't seem to edite any of the files restored in Documents from the backup. not can i edit or add content inside the folders withing documents. i dont know whats going on. they appear lock and there is no way to unlock them. it says i will need to duplicate the items!
i'll run a permissions verify once. in the mainwhile, if u guys know about this please let me know. thanks.
Neerav

Stay calm!
Ok- saying 'locked' besides their name when you open it is Lion-speak for the fact that it hasn't been edited in a while. It should, once you try and edit it, pop up a dialogue offering you the chance to duplicate or unlock the file. In the instance that the second option isn't available, try some or all of the following:
-As the poster above said, try doing a get-info (cmd i) on a file/folder and seeing if it's locked. Uncheck it if it is. If you find they are ALL locked, you can change it on multiple items at once by selecting them and pressing cmd alt i
-If that didn't help, try looking at the permission at the bottom of the get-info pane. Does it say you have read-write access? If it doesn't, unlock these options with the little padlock at the bottom and change it so that you do.
-You can also try going to a high-level folder (namely, one with a lot of stuff in) and doing what I just described, then under the read-write permission hit the little cog-symbol and choose 'apply to enclosed items'. See if that helps.
-My final suggestion would be to find a free application called ACL fix. This helps repair dodgy or messed--up permissions using a simple drag and drop interface. Download that, and drag the affected folders onto it as per the instructions. Hopefully it should fix everything up.
Try all that, then let me know what's what

Can Time Machine restore files to an external drive?

I normally keep my iTunes folder on an external USB drive because it does not fit on my 80gig internal drive. I was able to successfully use Time Machine to back up my iTunes folder to a dedicated external Time Machine drive (great!). I now want to restore my iTunes folder to a new bigger external drive that I purchased to replace my exiting USB drive which is beginning to have some problems.
Here is my challenge: When I try to restore my iTunes folder (60gig) I am not prompted for a destination. I believe Time Machine is attempting to restore to my desktop? Since my internal drive doesn't have capacity how can I restore my iTunes folder directly to an external drive?

Axel,
Yes, I'm certain. I store my own iPhoto and iTunes libraries on a secondary partition of my internal hard drive, so I am familiar with this usage. As it turns out, I also have a partition created on my external drive, the same one being used for TM, that has the same name as my secondary internal partition.
When I open the mounted partition that has the same name as the internal secondary, then click the Time Machine icon in the Dock, I am taken to the backup of the secondary internal partition. If I select my iPhoto library (for example), then click the "Restore" button, I am returned to the "current" Finder, where the library is being copied to the same-named external partition.
A potentially confusing explanation , but it affirms that Time Machine is looking at the volume's name.
Scott

Time Machine - 35 Min Backups On A Fresh Install (Pondini)?

Here's the scanario:
June 10th - system went haywire (ended up being a problem that dealt with Verify Disc - used the installer CD to fix). I fixed everything but then TM was suddenly taking 50 mins to back up (as oppsed to 5 -12 beforehand). 1st steps - repared pemissions - no help; next deleted TM Pref and rebooted Finder - no good; reset PRAM - no good; then started in Safe Mode (again - no resolution).
So I reinstalled 10.6 from the disc and did the 10.6.8 Combo update and came back to current. I wiped the T/M clean. Did a virgin backup. All was well. After that, backups were 5 - 7 minutes consistently.
Was well anyway until installing the last Security Update ( - 003) and/or Java Prefs update (seems to me they came up about the same time, so I'm not sure if one of them is the culprit). That was last week (instalation).
Anyway - since then, I'm back to backups taking 30 - 45 minutes (and Widget shows the jump to that from 5 -7 minutes to over 30 minutes happening all of a sudden).
Any idea what's going on?
I'm thinking about wiping T/M external clean and doing a virgin backup (but what is frustrating is that my oldest backup is only since June 10th when I did that before).
I see no use in again reinstalling 10.6 - lest I have to do it every dadgum single time I do a security update.
Any help - most appreciated!

I got a discussion thread here which suggests I can't
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3214393?start=0&tstart=0
Please help ...

Time Machine - Restoring Files only to a fresh install of OSX

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