Transfer Time Machine Backups without Disk Utility

Hi everyone! This is both a question and a warning.
Prologue:
In order to use Lion’s encrypted (Core Storage) external drive feature, I needed to reformat an external 1TB drive with Apple Partition Map, as that works only with GPT. The only partition was HFS+J formatted and was used as Time Machine Backup, which I wanted to preserve.
Act I:
I connected the drive to another iMac running 10.6 which happened to have enough space on the internal HD. I read this article http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5096 , which describes how to copy the BackupDB just by drag and drop. In hindsight, that was a bad idea, I should have created a disk image like suggested elsewhere, but if Apple itself suggests it, it can’t be so bad right?
So I just dragged the whole BackupDB to random folder on the iMac (after enabling ownership), and apparently it copied correctly the dir-hardlinks, as the resulting folder had the same size.
It seems that the Finder activates a special dir-hardlink aware copying mode when one does this. This is also confirmed by the fact that the Finder will refuse to copy the BackupDB together with other files, you have to drag and drop the BackupDB only.
Act II:
I reformatted the external drive as HFS+J with GPT and activated ownership..
But now, when I try to copy the BackupDB back, it continues to count indefinitely the number of files to copy!
I speculate that the special dir-hardlink aware mode is not activated, but what can I do? How can I trigger it? Is there some hidden command line tool which handles this?
Epilogue:
I think I’m stuck with this situation, so I am hoping for your suggestions.
The lesson I’m drawing from this is: use the method described in the article only if you copy the backupDB from your old to your new drive.
Final question: do you think upgrading the iMac with 10.6 to Lion would help?
Thank you very much!

I have found a solution! Apparently, this special copy mode is only activated when the Backups.backupdb dir is in the root directory of the volume.
I just used mv to move it there, since the Finder would only let me copy it. Then everything went as expected.
As an additional note (if anyone happens to be in the same situation), during this special copy mode, Locum (the process that is known for emptying the Trash) gobbled up over 2GB of RAM and the copying window showed a too large size of the files to be copied (about 410GB instead of about 300GB), but the resulting size on the disk was the expected size.

Similar Messages

Lacie 1TB external HDD recently stopped doing Time Machine backups. Disk Utility recommends that the disk needs to be repaired.

I've been using my Lacie 1TB external HDD for my Time Machine backups for quite sometime. Its never given me any problems until now.
It recently stopped doing the backups, so I checked Disk Utility and it recommended that I repair the disk. How long does it take for Disk Utility to repair a 1TB external HDD?
Other things to consider:
- Cant find the disk in the Finder, I used to be able to do that before.
- When I tried to go a Time Machine backup, it said the disk was not available.
Upon using disk utiliy, I successfully verified the disk. Then I initiated the disk repair process.
The current status:
- checking file system
- Volume repair complete
- Updating boot support partitions for the volume as required.
The progress bar says "Verify and Repair volume "LaCie"" - the progress bar does not indicate how much has been done or how long it will take.
Capacity: 1 TB (1,000,204,476,416 Bytes)
Mount Point: Not Mounted
Format: Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
All other status fields blank.
Any one know how long it will take for Disk Utility to repair the external HDD? Any other ideas as to how I can get the Lacie HDD to reconnect with the Macbook and resume normal operations? i.e. Time Machine backups, accessing contents through the Finder.

purduegrad_macguy wrote:
I've been using my Lacie 1TB external HDD for my Time Machine backups for quite sometime. Its never given me any problems until now.
Mine Failed after 3 years and 4 months of using it as a Dedicated TM Backup drive...
When I used Disk Utility for repairs... it went from 7 minutes to 4 hours and after about 10 minutes it was saying 40 hours...
So I just replace it with a New EHD...

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

Ow can I use my time capsule as a time machine backup without using it wirelessly and not as a wireless router?

How can I use my time capsule as a time machine backup without using it wirelessly and not as a wireless router?

bzb888 wrote:
I have a wireless transmitter already, would like to use the capsule just as a back up drive, I tried hooking up from the ethernet port on the imac to the one of the ports on the capsule but then my Wifi would not work. do I hook the cable to the port with the circle or the arrows?
It is better to have the TC as part of the main network in bridge. You do not need to run wireless.
If you want to use the TC plugged in by ethernet and still use wireless for internet, that is possible but the setup is rather more complicated.. the computer must not get confused about which device to use as a gateway or dns server.
See info in this thread on setting this up.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4817218?tstart=30
I need to add.. a USB drive would be cheaper, faster and more reliable. It is really poor use of a TC.

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.

How does one SUCCESSFULLY transfer Time-Machine backup to a new (larger) hard disk drive using OSX 10.5.8

I have read a number of articles about how to transfer a complete Time-Machine backup to a new (larger) hard disk-drive. Some of these articles are specifically for OSX10.6 users, which are not applicable to me since I am operating with OSX 10.5.8.
However, I have tried several times to use the Disk Utility 'Restore' function, dragging my old time-machine volume into the 'Source:' box and my new volume into the 'Destination:' box. This works, of sorts, BUT the newly created volume on the new larger hard disk-drive remains the same size as the original volume on the old Time-Machine HDD, with no apparent way of increasing the new volume's size. So I am not really any better off:
E.g. the total capacity of my new HDD is stated by 'Disk Utility' to be 465.8 GB, of which I'm told 228.2 GB is used for the Backups.backdb folder, but only 4.6 GB of free space is actually available. Yet under the 'Partition' tab of 'Disk Utility' it tells me that there is still 236.4 GB of available space.
Does anyone know how to resolve this issue without upgrading to OSX 10.6?

First, how did you prepare your new drive? See:
Drive Preparation
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder. If you need to reformat your startup volume, then you must 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 Utilities menu.
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.
If you plan to partition this new drive then be sure you create a larger partition for TM than your old volume.
Next, clone your old TM volume:
Clone using Restore Option of Disk Utility
1. Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.
3. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
4.Check the box labeled Erase destination.
5. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
6. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
7. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Destination means the external backup drive. Source means the internal startup drive.

Cannot transfer Time Machine backups from one external drive to another

Since I bought my 13 inch MacBook Pro in September 2014 I've been keeping Time Machine backups on an external 1TB Lacie Rugged. This is partitioned into three and one of the partitions contains my iPhoto library.
Last weekend I left my MBP disconnected from the power source but with the external hard drive still plugged in. Long story short - the battery level fell below the minimum needed to operate so it turned itself off and 'disconnected' the external hard drive. This resulted in a corrupted iPhoto library which is no longer accessible.
In order to restore my iPhoto Library from another backup I needed to buy a second external hard drive. Yesterday I bought a 2TB Lacie Rugged which I've now partitioned into 5.
I want to move my Time Machine backups from the 1TB Lacie Rugged to a partition on the 2TB Lacie Rugged (to take advantage of the new Lacie's Thunderbolt connection).
I read the Apple article -
HT202380: Time Machine: How to transfer backups from the current backup drive to a new backup drive
and followed the instructions precisely. About 2 hours into the transfer I came back to my MacBook Pro and saw a message saying that it was not possible to complete the transfer because I did not have the correct permissions. The only option was to click the OK button which stopped the transfer.
Can anyone advise what I should do next?
Cheers
Tricia

Hi Eric,
Thank you for your response. I came across another thread yesterday which suggested the Restore via Disk Utility method. It worked for me, too. This was after I had tried following the method suggested in the Apple article above three times but each time the message was the same ....
The operation can't be completed because you don't have permission to access some of the items.
I dare say that Apple would like to have us believe that it's a simple matter of 'drag and drop' but it certainly wasn't for me. From what I've read the permission problem crops up fairly frequently. Before the second and third attempts I had already amended Permissions on the Time Machine backups so that everyone could read and write, so that mustn't have been the problem. I'm the only person who uses my computer so that's not a problem.
The next problem I have is that I decided I would use the Restore route to transfer my SuperDuper clone rather than start from scratch. Unfortunately, the partition size on my original backup disk where SuperDuper clone is is 350GB and the size of the SuperDuper clone partition on my new backup is 300GB.
Of course, Apple says you can resize partitions using Disk Utility. What they don't say is you can downsize partitions but (in my experience and that of many other frustrated users on various forums) you CANNOT upsize using Disk Utility. I have 100GB spare on my external hard drive (from downsizing two partitions by 50GB each) BUT there is no way Disk Utility will let me increase the size of SuperDuper partition to 350GB :-(((
Cheers
Tricia

How to restore time machine backup without disturbing already installed app

Hi!
My school recently reconfigured/reformatted my macbook and install the school image. Now it is filled with applications that the school help us installed. Now how do i restore the backup that my time machine backups last time? Migration assistant or what? I did not change my mac, it is just that my hard disk got reconfigured. How do i restore backup without disturbing the apps my school installs?
Please help thanks!
ALa.

alazahee wrote:
I did not change my mac, it is just that my hard disk got reconfigured.
I'm not sure what you mean by that. Is your user account still there?
If not, and if you have either Time Machine backups or a "clone" as backups, yes, use Migration Assistant. See [Using Migration Assistant|http://web.me.com/pondini/AppleTips/Migrate.html]. Note that you must be logged-on with a user account that's named differently from any of the accounts you want to transfer, or else be prepared to rename the duplicate.
If your backups aren't either Time Machine backups or a "clone," you'll have to drag and drop or restore using the app that made them.

Easiest way to transfer time machine backup to a larger drive?

My drive was too small and now it is full, I bought a new larger drive. How can I copy the old one to the new one and have time machine just continue on? Thanks for any help guys I'm confused.

Mac OS X v10.6: How to transfer your backups from your current hard drive to a new hard drive
If you upgrade to a new hard drive with a larger capacity, you may want to transfer your existing Time Machine backups to it before using it for regular backups. To keep your existing backups on your new, larger backup hard drive, follow these steps:
Connect your new hard drive.
In Disk Utility, make sure it has a GUID partition and is formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled). If needed, reformat the drive as Mac OS Extended with a GUID partition. If you do not know how, see the steps in this article. Note: Back up any data on the hard drive before you format it.
Select the new drive's icon on the desktop and choose Get Info from the File menu.
Make sure "Ignore ownership on this volume" is not enabled.
Open Time Machine preferences in System Preferences.
Slide the Time Machine switch to Off.
In Finder, double-click the current backup hard drive to open its Finder window.
Drag the folder "Backups.backupd" to the new hard drive.
Enter an administrator user name and password, then click OK to start the copying process. This may take some time to complete because all your backups will be copied.
In Time Machine System Preferences click "Select Disk…"
Select your new hard drive, then click "Use for Backup."
Now, on your new hard drive, you will have all of your existing backups from the previous backup hard drive plus have more room for more new backups.
Mac 101: Time Machine

Transfer Time Machine backups to a new drive

Is there an automated or an easy way to transfer my current Time Machine back ups to the new Time Capsule (I am sure I will inevitably buy it]. Looks like a great system for notebook users but I wouldn't like to start again with time Machine I like having the security of back ups I have already accrued. My current drive is certainly not full and won't be for a while.

So far not very many people have had much success in copying their Time Machine backups to a new drive although the Restore option in Disk Utility ought to be able to do this. However, SuperDuper will support that capability when their new Leopard compatible version is released which should be in a week or so.
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/blog/

Unable to Transfer Time Machine Backups?

Hello community!
I'm having trouble copying 1TB of Time Machine backups to a fresh 4TB drive.
The 1TB drive is formatted AMP, Mac OSX Extended (Journaled), 1 partition, and has 11GB free. It has 2 machines backed up on it. One is a pre-Intel Dual G5 PowerMac and the other is an i7 MacBook Pro with 2 profiles/accounts.
The 1TB backup drive is working perfect to date and I needed extra space to ensure my backs are safe. Plus I am adding a new machine to the backups.
The new 4TB drive is formatted with GUID, Mac OSX Extended (Journaled), 1 partition. I have ignored ownership permissions. When I drag the backup folder from the old drive to the new it asks me for a password. I enter it. It then begins "preparing to copy to <new 4TB drive>." After about 1.5hr and 2,200,000 items prepared, I get this prompt...
"You may need to enter the name and password for an administrator on this computer to change the item named "Backups.backup".
My options are Skip, Stop, or Continnue. I hit continue. It begins to copy the data.
Error 1 @ 750GB: "Blank" cannot be converted. Please install a newer version of iWork.
Error 2: The operation can't be completed because you don't have permission to access some of the items.
Error 3: The operation can't be completed becasue an unexpected error occured (error code -8062).
Error 4: The operation can't be completed because you don't have permission to access some of the items.
Error 5: The operation can't be completed because you don't have permission to access some of the items.
At this point it just hangs at 750GB of 915GB.
Both are external. Both attached using USB to the i7 MacBook Pro.
What's the hiccup? AMP vs GUID? Pre-Intel & Intel back ups? 2 Accounts on one machine? It seems to be a permissions issue, but not sure how to troubleshoot this without messing up my backups.

Although the documentation says you can copy Time Machine backups in the Finder, it's very slow and sometimes doesn't work at all.
Launch Disk Utility, open the built-in help, and search for the term "Duplicate." Follow the instructions. Turn Time Machine OFF in its preference pane while copying the volume.

HT4848 Is it possible to partition an external hard drive that is already being used for Time Machine backups without it being erased?

I'm want to use my current external hard drive, which I use for Time Machine Backup, as a recovery disk for Mac OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.2. From what I have read, the recovery disk assistant will erase all data on the external drive unless it is partitioned. Can I partition my current backup drive without erasing it, even though it is already being used for Time Machine?

It's very simple to test. Turn off your computer. Have your time machine backup plugged in. Hold option and turn it on, keeping option held. Do you see your time machine drive? If so, select it and press enter. You'll end up in recovery. If it works, there you go. Then just click the apple and restart to get back to your regular desktop. Then you'll know for when you're ready to do the deed.
Edit...
I'm not sure if time machine will think it's an entirely different computer, though, when a hard drive changed, making an actual restore not doable. Either way, you could still reinstall mt lion fresh and then just migrate after, skipping the need for SL.

Time Machine Volume and Disk Utility

I'm trying to figure out whether or not I can use Disk Utility's Repair Disk command on a Time Machine volume. Time machine is taking a very long time to finalize its backups. I don't know if there are directory issues that need to be addressed or if it's due to the very large size of the directory. I've been using Time Machine on this computer since last January and the Time Machine directory (the disk's catalog of files used by the OS) takes up over 7 GB of disk space! It's so large that DiskWarrior will no longer work on that volume. DiskWarrior, like all 32-bit OS X applications, has a limit of 4 GB. I can't be the only one in this situation. I don't want my Time Machine backup to get hopelessly corrupted and then have to start agin. I'm trying to be proactive about correcting any issues before they become serious.

See my reply to Steve Darden in this Topic.
You should not use Disk Utility in the normal manner. Time Machine uses hard links in a non-standard manner, which will cause normal repair utilities to complain, as Steve is finding.
If you read Time Machine: Troubleshooting backup issues you will see that it only recommends Disk Utility to "Attempt to repair the backup sparsebundle", not the actual Disk Volume itself.

Migrate from time machine backup without losing pre-installed applications?

I purchased a used mac mini A1283 that came with pre-loaded OSX Lion and iWork11 on the harddrive (no CDs/DVDs).
I have a "time machine backup" from a previous mac of mine running OSX Lion but without iWork11.
I would like to restore the time machine backup, but not lose iWork11. As it is my understanding and experience from 1 attempt already, if I use migration assistant, it creates a new user account with all of my old stuff, but unfortunatelty does not inherit the iWork11 applications from the main admin user account. What is the best way to marry all my old stuff (files, settings, etc.) with the new iWork11 apps?
Thanks,
DC

If all your apps are in the top-level Applications folder, all users have access to them.
If you already have files associated with those apps in a different user account, you can transfer them to a different account. See Transferring files from one User Account to another. As noted there, that's fairly easy for some types of data, somewhat harder for others.

Transfer Time Machine backup from one external drive to another

Surely this has been covered, but I can't find it.
If you have your time machine backup on an external drive and get a new (larger) external drive, what is the best way to transfer the backup from one drive to the other (and define the new drive as the backup drive)? Straight copy ? Then to define the new drive, rename old drive to something else and name new drive the backup name?

I haven't tried this yet but a few other methods are described at http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20071128055047339

Transfer Time Machine Backups without Disk Utility

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