Transferring backups from a non repairable external HD to a new HD

So I basically have my life's work on a hard drive. something happened with it randomly and it couldnt mount the the part of the HD that has all my data on it. (I'm on a porsche design 1 TB external HD) Tried to repair it with disk utility, and I got a notice that said "can't repair, back up as many files as you can and reformat." so I bought a WD 1 TB Passport. However, I can't transfer my backups from my porsche design HD (corrupted?) to my new WD passport. Every time I try to transfer my back up files, I get a pop up that says "can't transfer data because ownership isn't enabled" but all my 'shares and permissions' and read & write. Im on the latest version of mavericks if that helps at all. Literally Every Single Song I've produced in the last five years is on this drive, including master tracks to albums. been going crazy looking for a solution for the last few weeks. whats up macworld?
I might add (before I installed the latest version of mavericks) that I couldnt transfer backups from my old HD to my new due to "files being in use". even with all applications shut down. Im on a late 2008 aluminum body 13" macbook. (not a macbook pro)

Hi,
Take a look at this post:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/21975259#21975259
Specifically the accepted solution and the part that deals with "Ignore ownership on this volume". Try unchecking that, if it's checked, and see if you have access to copy the data. HTH.
-NifflerX

Similar Messages

Transferring backup from Time Capsule to external HD?

Have had many headaches with trying to use Time Capsule wirelessly for backups and also as a router for internet connectivity.
Finally decided to invest in an external HD with 3T of capacity. It is a 'plug and play' unit, already GUID partitioned and I want to transfer my Time Machine backups (that go back to Nov 2010) in total to this new HD, which is connected to my desktop computer with FW800.
Here's my question: This article suggests that all I have to do is to drag the Backups.backupdb folder to my new external HD, but this is not found on my Time Capsule.
Instead, I have the following:
[Folder Icon} Desktop (containing 0 items)
KO's MacPro.sparsebundle
There is a total of 1.39 TB on the Time Capsule, representing backups for the past 2 years.
So do I just drag these 2 items to my external HD?
Also, I'm not confident that copying the files wirelessly is the way to go. However, I've had spotty success with trying to use the TCapsure via ethernet.
Any suggestions?

Apple now recommends this method for backup of the TC.. see.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5096
Pondini covered it ages ago and with better detail.
http://pondini.org/TM/18.html
Read the whole thing carefully.. inside the sparsebundle is the backup.. you do not copy the sparsebundle just the backup.
There is a total of 1.39 TB on the Time Capsule, representing backups for the past 2 years.
So do I just drag these 2 items to my external HD?
Also, I'm not confident that copying the files wirelessly is the way to go. However, I've had spotty success with trying to use the TCapsure via ethernet.
Any suggestions?
That is never going to work over wireless.
By the time you get it half way something will happen and corrupt it and you need to start over.
TM backup are fairly difficult beasties to backup IMHO.
You must get your ethernet working. I would strongly advise you do this in isolation.. Setup a computer and the TC.. and copy the file across.. no other network connection.. If it still give issues.. something is actually wrong with the TC. How old is it and what model, please give A1xxx from the rubber foot.
The final method.. is to extract the TC hard disk and put it in a USB holder. Then do a copy on the computer, disk to disk. this is much faster btw if you use sata connection on your Pro.. in fact you can do it in a few hours.
http://www.ifixit.com/Device/Apple_Time_Capsule

Transferring pics from my pc formatted external HD to my new mac

So this is my first mac and I had all my pics on my pc and I figured i could just put them on a external HD and than just drag them onto my mac. well i was wrong. none of the pics can open and when i go to look at the pics on my pc they dont even show up. Its like they got deleted when i look at them on my pc. when I open those folders on my mac it just gives me an icon that just says "Thumbs". so i have no idea what to do.

Hi, dglad86.
so now i can never look at them again is what you mean?
Not at all. Unless you took the trouble to erase the pictures from your PC, they're still on it, and you can look at them on it any time you like.
Your problem apparently is that you didn't properly copy them from the PC to your external hard drive, and as a result, what was on your external drive wouldn't open on your Mac. We don't have any idea exactly how you tried to copy the pictures to the external drive, so we can't guess what you did wrong. But it should be a simple matter for you to locate your pictures in Windows Explorer, drag-copy them to a folder on the external drive (which does not remove them from the PC), and then drag-copy them from the external drive to a folder on your Mac's desktop (which does not remove them from the external drive). If you are instead trying to drag pictures from the window of an application running on the PC, there's no telling what you're actually copying: perhaps only thumbnails in a format that's unique to that application and won't open on the Mac.
Message was edited by: eww

Transferring Aperture from my Macbook Pro 5,5 to a new MacBook looks complicated. If I purchasea new, updated Aperture, can I open my old vault on an external disk in the new Mac?

Transferring Aperture from my Macbook Pro 5,5 to a new MacBook looks complicated. If I purchasea new, updated Aperture, can I open my old vault on an external disk in the new Mac?

Mac OS X 10.7 Help: Troubleshoot a network printer

How to backup from Time Capsule to external HD?

How to set up files backup from Time Capsule to external HD?
Here is configuration: MacBook + MacAir + Time Capsule (which I use as a storage) + 2Tb WD MyPassport (USB connected to TimeCapsule)
I keep files like photos on TimeCapsule to be available by WiFi and I want to set up my Time Machine to backup picture folder from TimeCapsule to MyPassport HD.

Time Machine can't back up a network volume. You'll have to use third-party software. I don't have a specific recommendation. There is no efficient way at all to back up a Time Capsule, which is why it should only be used as a backup destination, not as a general-purpose file server.

I did backup from my Imac to external hard drive, how can I unzip that backup to my mac

I did backup from my Imac to external hard drive, how can I unzip that backup to my mac again

It may be Time Machine, but Time Machine doesn't store backups in .zip folders. Open Finder and select your backup external disk in the Finder sidebar, under "Devices". If you are using Time Machine, you should see a folder called "Backups.backupdb".
If you are using Time Machine and you want to restore a full Time Machine backup, there are different methods depending on the Mac OS X version you are using. Open  > About this Mac, see Version and tell me what version you are using

I just restored my 13" MBP i5 at the apple store to the newest version of Lion after issues with a previous Time Machine backup from Snow Leopard- this time I created a new account and just ported files and folders, and now MS Office doesn't work. Help?

I just restored my 13" MBP i5 at the apple store to the newest version of Lion after issues with a previous Time Machine backup from Snow Leopard- this time I created a new account and just ported files and folders, and now MS Office doesn't work.
^^ that's the main problem. Here's the full history.
I bought a new 13" i5 MBP, early 2011 edition. I had an old white Macbook 2.14 ghz core2duo on Snow Leopard. I attempted to port over my time machine backup, but encountered problems in that my User was inaccessible from the new computer after the import finished, and I had to go in and change the root password, etc, and for some reason or another, I couldn't install any programs at all from that administrator's account. By "couldn't" I mean I could install them, but upon installation they would never boot. So, I took it to the apple store and did a clean install from the most up to date Lion OSX. Then, I created a brand new admin account, instead of trying to import the old one, and things seemed great. Then, I just imported my old files from the TM backup, but not any system settings, permissions, or user data. Just my Docs, pics, vids, apps, and itunes stuff.
Here's where things get weird again. I imported this stuff under the name "old", but all of these folders have a red negative sign on them, marking them as restricted. So, from my main admin account, I cannot even peruse these folders. Since I didn't import user data, I can't sign in to the "old" account to change permissions. I already tried to change the permissions from system preferences, but that didn't change anything. And now, for whatever reason, of all the apps that were imported then, MS Office is the only set of apps that does not work. When I click on it, it just says there was a problem and asks if I'd like to send a report to apple. I tried reinstalling it to no avail. I'm an English student, so i really need access to Word. Can anyone help? The Apple store is a major detour for me and would like to fix this issue myself.

Most likely you have Office 2004 which are PPC-only applications and will not work in Lion. Upgrade to Office 2011. Other alternatives are:
Apple's iWork suite (Pages, Numbers, and Keynote.)
Open Office (Office 2007-like suite compatible with OS X.)
NeoOffice (similar to Open Office.)
LibreOffice (a new direction for the Open Office suite.)

HT1311 i tried to do a backup from my old iphone as i have a new one that was signed into another itunes account. it said i cant do it because the iphone rejected the request. how do i get around this? i have signed out of the old acct and into mine on th

i tried to do a backup from my old iphone as i have a new one that was signed into another itunes account. it said i cant do it because the iphone rejected the request. how do i get around this? i have signed out of the old acct and into mine on the phone

What is the precise wording of the error message that occurs on the old iPhone when attempting to do a backup?
Are you attempting to backup via iTunes on the computer or iCloud?

I'm in the process of transferring stuff from appleworks on os10.4.11 to my new minimac. I've two database files -how can I transfer these?

I'm in the process of transferring stuff from appleworks on os10.4.11 to my new mini mac. How can I transfer two database (DB) files?

I do not know of any application that can open them, sorry.
Or then again (sorry it's early here)
Filemaker claim that Bento can open them, I there is a free trial available, and Bento is cheap.

Moving a Time Machine backup from a directly connected external disk to that disk on OSX Server

I have an iMac that has been using an external drive for Time Machine (TM) backups since 2013, so there is a lot of history in the backups. I now have a Mac Mini running OS X Server, and would like to transfer the drive to the Mac Mini, but continue to use the drive as the backup disk, that is, doing TM backups via the TM service on the server. However, if I simply stop TM on the iMac, disconnect the drive, connect it to the Mac Mini, tell OS X Server to use the drive as a backup disk, and tell TM on the iMac to use the Server TM service, it seems that a new backup file is started, rather than continuing to use the old one (symptom: when I enter TM on the iMac, I don't see any of the previous incremental backups).
Is there a way to persuade OSX server to continue to use the old backup file, rather than start anew, losing my history?
Both the Mac Mini and the iMac are running Mavericks and the Mac mini is running the latest version of OSX Server.
thanks

What you are attempting is complex, and I am not certain whether it would be successful. I recommend you buy a new drive and start a new backup today, and set the old drive aside.
I have a somewhat different view of the benefits of what you are calling "History". I think that History just adds complexity to the Backup structure that makes it LESS likely you will be able to do a Restore. And Backups are only as good as their ability to do a proper Restore.
Copies of the currently-present files is all that Time Machine promises to keep -- older files that have been removed from the current source are not necessarily maintained on the Backup. In my opinion, a fresh, clean Backup from today is more likely to be able to Restore the things you need most -- without any error messages.
The most requested Restores are things Users broke or discarded today or yesterday, and those will be readily available tomorrow and going forward. In the event you need some really old copies of something, you can try to get them off the old Backup drive you set aside today.

Transfering pictures from iphoto's to external hard drive

Hi All,
Could someone help me as I'm going around in circles?
My hard drive is nearly full, so I need to transfer my photos from iphotos to my external hard drive and delete them on my powerbook. Everytime I either drag the 3200 pictures and drop into my hard drive or copy and paste it comes back saying one of my pictures is busy so it's unable to complete the process. And this stops the computer transfering any photos? I've tried moving the pictures in question, but then it quotes another picture?
Can anyone advise the best way to transfer photo's to my EHD without this challenge ocurring?
I would appreciate any advise.
Kind Regards
Danny

It may be a terminology issue but Apple uses the word "import" for any transfer of photos from the phone to a computer (or to an external drive attached to a computer). http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4083
You can (I believe -- haven't tried it) import them directly to an external drive attached to a Mac by using Image Capture. Image Capture is in Lauchpad -- probably in the "Other" folder in Lauchpad. Easiest way to start it is via Spotlight Search. It can be set to open automatically when a phone or camera is connected by opening iPhoto and going to menu named iPhoto and opening Preferences.
With the phone connected, the bottom of the Image Capture window allows you to select where you want the photos to be saved.

Backups from internal drive to external drive

How do I transfer my backups from my internal hard drive to my external hard drive? My internal hd is 500GB and with backups, it takes up 274GB. My external is a 2TB hard drive with plenty of room to spare. Any help is highly appreciated. Thanks!

Mac Basics: Time Machine
User Tip: Most commonly used backup methods
Emergency backups you didn't know you had!

Moving Time Machine backups from Time Capsule to External USB Drive

Hi all,
hoping someone out there can help I'm trying to move my time machine backups from my old Time Capsule to my external USB drive. I've already used the Airport Utility to "archive" my Time Capsule to a USB connected WD MyBook Elite.
Right now my WD MyBook Elite has both the archive, and recent (roughly 5 backups) of both my MacBook & MacMini. I've tried to follow the seemingly simple steps located in the FAQ's here [URL="http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/18.html#id22"]Copy NETWORK backups to be used LOCALLY[/URL] , but I cannot past step 1.
[Quote]Right-click the new volume on your desktop or Finder sidebar and select Get Info. If the Ignore ownership on this volume box is checked, click the padlock at the lower right and enter your Admin password at the prompt. Then remove the check mark from the box and close the window.[/Quote]
There is no option to "Ignore Ownership" in Snow Leopard for the Spars Bundle or when expanding it to see its folders.
Any advice?
I'm basically trying to combine my backups to unit them into one seemless backup each for:
Mac Mini & MacBook.
Thank you in advance.

Dark Heart wrote:
[Quote]Right-click the new volume on your desktop or Finder sidebar and select Get Info. If the Ignore ownership on this volume box is checked, click the padlock at the lower right and enter your Admin password at the prompt. Then remove the check mark from the box and close the window.[/Quote]
There is no option to "Ignore Ownership" in Snow Leopard for the Spars Bundle or when expanding it to see its folders.
That's not referring to the sparse bundle you're copying FROM, but the new volume you just formatted on the USB drive you're copying TO.
If you didn't just format the partition, that box may not be shown -- it not, there's no problem and you don't need to do anything in that step.
I'm basically trying to combine my backups to unit them into one seemless backup each for:
Mac Mini & MacBook.
I'm not sure what you mean by that: you cannot combine the backups of two different Macs. You can put them both on the same hard drive, either in two different partitions, or, if any are going to be backed-up over a network, in a sparse bundle.
If I've misunderstood, please clarify exactly what you're trying to do.

Transferring files from original imac AND external CD for old imac

I have an original iMac that has tons of files on it I would like to save. I created a LOT of materials when I was teaching and they are all on the old iMac. It also has two games I bought on floppy discs that I would really like to keep. I tried to load files on a Passport, but the iMac won't recognize it. I have two other old iMacs (not quite originals) as well, but they won't take the Passport either. They will both take a flash drive. I can take word processing files (I can't even remember the application at the moment) off the older one and convert them to Apple Works on the other one, then take the converted files to our iMac 9.1 and convert them to Pages. Then I put them on the Passport. It is a pain, but at least it works. I can also save the documents as pdfs and put them directly on the newer iMac and copy and paste in a Pages document.
The original iMac does not lend itself to any of this. What is the best way to transfer files? It seems like a very long time ago I tried to connect it to my newer iMac with an Ethernet cable but it wouldn't accept the cable. If I am remembering correctly I called Apple Support and they said it lacked something that would allow it to connect. I do not remember if I have tried a flash drive on it or not. I believe I did and it would not recognize it.
Also, does anyone know how I can manage to save a copy of the games? Since I bought them on floppies I can't reinstall them if something happens, but I believe it is within the law to make a backup copy. Someone please correct me if I am wrong. I do have an external floppy reader for the original iMac, but it only works on user created floppies, not commercial ones. If I can manage to hook up to a flash drive or another computer and I simply save the game application, will that be enough? Or is it not possible to know until I try? Will saving the application get all the necessary files?
My second question concerns the newer (but still really old) iMacs. My daughter would love to play some of the games she used to play on them, but the CD drives do not work. Does anyone know where I can get an external CD drive that we can attach to these old iMacs so she can enjoy her games? The computers work fine; she just can't insert the CDs, because it's next to impossible to get them out again.
I believe on the "newer" two we are running OS 9, at least on one of them. I do not recall the OS on the original, but it is whatever it came with. OS 8, perhaps? It has been probably half a year since we fired it up.
I appreciate any advice and help anyone can give me. We really like these old iMacs, which is why we still have three of them. If we can save the files off the original iMac, we would still keep it so we could play our two old games from time to time. :-) I would part with one of the other old iMacs, but I really need to get the files first, and since it won't take a Passport I'm wondering if I'm stuck putting files a few at a time on a flash drive. Do you think it would take an ethernet cable? It seems like I tried to connect to my newer iMac but I couldn't get the computers to recognize each other. I followed all the steps for sharing, but I still couldn't get it to work.
Thank you so much.

Have you formatted the Western Digital Passport drive as a Mac OS Extended (HFS+) volume, or is it factory-formatted for PCs? If the oldest iMac is only running OS 8, it can't recognize HFS+ volumes. It was OS 8.1 that introduced that feature. Additionally, the version of the USB support files (which is somewhat OS-dependent) on the iMacs hard drives affects what will or will not be recognized by those older computers. With each successive release of the USB Adapter Support, the database of supported devices was broadened. The easiest way to transfer the contents of the iMac's hard drive is to physically remove it from the computer and connect a USB-to-IDE adapter directly to it. These adapters come with an external power supply to provide the 12 & 5 volts needed to power the drive. The data connection block is designed to fit either a 3.5" hard drive or the smaller 2.5" laptop drive, as well as newer drives that connect via SATA. It has an included USB cable that connects to a standard USB port, enabling direct reading/writing/file transfers from the hard drive to the computer to which it's connected. These adapters are not Mac-specific in terms of design, so you can buy one at a PC store and use it. For the purpose of identifying such an adapter, here's one that's often recommended in these Forums, carried by Other World Computing. As I mentioned, this adapter is not platform-specific, so you can buy/use a less expensive one sold by PCs stores. I bought one for $15 from Micro Center (PC store), and it has worked with Macs and PCs. As for removing the hard drive from the old iMac - and I assume that it's one of the original models with a tray-loading optical drive (as opposed to the slightly newer ones that have a slot-loading optical drive), you can find directions for accomplishing that if you do a web search. The link that I had for one site (that was good for years) is no longer valid. The iMacs that have a problem ejecting disks are undoubtedly slot-loading models. There are two wide rubber rollers inside those optical drives that grip the disk to pull it in or feed it out. Over time, the rubber dries out, causing the rollers to lose their natural gripping capabilities. If those iMacs have a FireWire port on the side, I'd suggest an external FireWire optical drive. Today, the only type you'll find is a DVD±RW drive, which is more than you need for your intended purpose. A basic CD-ROM drive isn't manufactured/sold anymore. Other World Computing has a few FireWire optical drives, but their least expensive model sells for about $100. Obviously, that costs more than the value of the entire iMac at this point, but the drive will also have USB connectivity as well. You may find other uses for it with your other computers (Macs & PCs), especially if they don't have a CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, or DVD±RW drive. As for transferring a program itself, there could be other associated files. You'd want to check the Extensions and Control Panels folders for any that are named to likely indicate being a part of the program's installed files. The Preferences folder will probably have a file that has saved game settings, but a new one would be created when you run the program in another supported computer. Depending on the age of the program - and you indicated that it was on floppy disks - its compatibility with newer, pre-OS X releases might be limited. The external USB floppy drive that you use with the older iMac should read commercial floppy disks, but it will not recognize the older 800K (Double-Density) Mac-formatted floppy disks. They're disks that typically format as 720K floppies in a PC, but the variable-speed FDD in older Power Macs was able to fit an extra 80K of data onto those disks. A standard 720K "PC" floppy disk should be read by that drive, but it can't recognize an 800K "Mac" disk. A 720K/800K Double-Density floppy disk only has the slide-lock hole at one corner, while a High-Density (1.44 MB) floppy disk has an additional hole at the opposite corner to differentiate it from the older type.

Transferring backups from old TC to new TC

I've been very happy with my 500gig TC, especially once I felt it had really rescued me, ie through finding old files using Time Machine. Now we've added a Mac to the house and prices have dropped, I should upgrade to a 2TB TC. The problem is that I want to transfer the old backups so the new TC has a year and a half of Time Machine history on it. Is it as easy as buying a new Mac and transferring settings?

northern blue wrote:
I assumed because this was an Airport Utility option it compressed the data.
No.
I would think that it wouldn't delete anything, that would not make sense would it?
Correct. But don't delete anything yourself until you're sure it's been copied properly.
I found the following article in support, and I did exactly what it says to do, Whew, I thought I might have screwed it up.
No, that's the right procedure. But if it didn't copy everything, there's likely a problem of some sort.
It sounds like you have both Time Machine backups and other things on the TC's internal HD. If so, that's going to be a problem, if it isn't already. Once you get this sorted out, either use the TC's internal drive exclusively for TM backups, or use the external, or make a partition on the external, exclusively for them. See #Q3 in the Using TIME MACHINE with a TIME CAPSULE *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum.
Just guessing, but if it only copied 100 GB of 500 GB, it may have skipped your backups because they're corrupted. If so, try to repair them, per #A5 in the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip,* also at the top of the +Time Machine+ forum.

Transferring backups from a non repairable external HD to a new HD

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for