Using Time Machine to "go back" before Mac Mail problem

My wife's Mac mail account stopped receiving email 3 days ago. Attempts to fix it have been futile. (It can send but not receive. The activity monitor suggests that it is getting hung up on a particular email as it stalls at 13 out of 233.) Considering using Time Machine to go back to just before the problem. Questions: Is it possible to limit TM to (1) my wife's acct only or (2) Mail only?
My wife will definitely provide me a gruesome death if I lose her emails!
Cheers,
Nigel

Thanks, applefandan. I just haven't used Time Machine quite enough to a gained confidence, but after a little bit of experimenting and a bit of Youtube coaching (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fes93NW_KE0) I went back to pre-problem, and had no trouble getting back the mail my wife had lost over the past several days.
Now on to the next problem! . . .

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If my Mac ends up with a virus, can I use Time Machine to go back before the virus?

I have recently just bought a 2TB external hard drive and have just backed up using Time Machine. I was just wondering, if my Mac was to become infected with a virus, would I be able to use Time Machine to restore my machine to back before it became infected with the virus? (So I didn't have to do a full factory setting resortation)
Thank you in advance for any assistance with this query.

My apologies. As a computer user since the days of Mainframes in 1970's, I tend to be rather precise in how I phrase things (a legacy of the old punch-card days). Also I write medico-legal reports for a living, again a field where precision is rather essential!
I saometimes forget that just because I read and write the word 'virus' as meaning just that, others (as you say) are prone to use it as a blanket term for malware and other 'irritations'.
Thanks for your clarifications WZZZ. Hope winter in the Big Apple is treating you well.

Upgraded to Lion, and now using Time Machine to go back to 10.6.7

Unfortunately, I have started this already. I have had major problems with login from Lion so I am using Time Machine to go back.
Are there any pitfalls? I am restoring it to pre Lion a month old. But that is better than my struggles with Lion.
Any guidance?

ravimk wrote:
I have 1TB disk; it requires 450+ GB space; it has more than it needs. Is there a way that I can ask the current time machine to write over one of the past. Not sure how to do it. I will try to readup. Any input would be great.
Time Machine will, by design, fill all the empty space available to it with backups, then start deleting the oldest ones when it needs room for new ones. That way, it can keep your backups for as long as possible.
You can delete selected backups, or all backups of selected items, via Time Machine if you really want to. See #12 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions.
If you really need the space, to permanently reduce the space available, partition the disk your backups are on.

HT201250 i would like to use time machine but also back up other file to my external drive?

I just got a WD T3 external hard drive and I would like to use time machine but also back up other files that to the drive. Can anyone help me out.
Thanks Mark

You would need to go to your Applications folder>Utilities>Disk Utility> and there create Two Partitions on your external hard drive, naming them differently. Then you could go back to your desktop, open the dock, right click on the Time Machine icon and select "Open Time Machine Preferences". In there select the external hard drive Partition that you want to use for TM. The other external drive partition will be available for other uses.
Hope this helps

How to store photo's on external drive and still use Time Machine and secondary back up plan

So, My Macbook Pro is now going on 4 years old and I've accumulated around 15,000 photos in iPhoto now. I would like to move everything (or at least everything older than 12 months) onto a portable external drive, but i'm not sure the best way to do this and still keep a good back up plan. My current process is the following -- I have external HD same size as my current internal drive on the MBP, which is formatted that i use Time Machine. I also have a paid subscription to Crash Plan online cloud back up that is connected to my laptop drive (CrashPlan is constant and easy, so I just USB plug in MBP to EHD a few times a month and that's it). If I were to move most of my picture/video's/important docs to an external drive, how would I back that up with Time Machine, and if I did, how would I back up my laptop drive with Time Machine also, and what drive would I assign my Crash Plan online account too? Cant seem to wrap my brain around the easiest and best method. (In short, I want most pics/video's stored off the laptop so that my HD is not consumed; but still easy to access if needed, and easy to back up) Also driving this need for a solution is the fact i would like my next lap top to be an Macbook Air, which I know I can't keep my current set up would not work. Any thoughts are appreciated.

if your internal drive has 250 GB and the external drive with the iPhoto library as well, your TimeMachine should have at least 1 TB.
I have read over some of CrashPlans support docs and it sounds like it will be able to back up and restore the iPhoto library, and as long as you restore the entire library and not single photos, it will save and restore all metadata as well.
I studied their documents to. They are saying they can backup any filetype. And they are saying the iPhoto libraries or Aperture libraries will be backed up automatically, when they are in in the Pictures folder, because the Home folder will be backed up.
On their screenshot you can see, that the libraries are backed up as a nested set of folders, and not as a package. That let's me doubt that the dependencies within the package will be treated correctly. To restore from the backup they recommend to restore the set of nested folders. What I could not find anywhere in the documentation is any information on the filesystem they are storing the backup on. If it is not Apple's MacOS Extended (Journaled, not case sensitive) the restored library may be corrupted, because the internal links in the databases may not work. Try to find out something about the filesystem on the backup servers, before you entrust your iPhoto library to that servers.

How do you use Time Machine with more then one mac

I just bought a new external hard drive and want to back up my iMac & MacBook Pro using Time Machine. But I do not want to use my airport network.
I will keep the hard drive connected to the iMac, but want to, as needed, plug my MacBook Pro into the Hard drive to back up.
Is this possible? Do I have first partition the new backup hard drive?
Any help is appreciated... Jim

Ok... I am back again.
I decided to plug my backup drive into the USB port on the Airport extreme.
On my Macbook Pro, which I connect wirelessly, I was able to start Time Machine... Time Machine saw the backup drive and did a backup.. Yes it took a long time Anyway all is cool with that.
My iMac is connected to the Airport Extreme by Ethernet. On the iMac when I started Time Machine, it does not see the backup hard drive. I can see and share the hard drive... works fine. But no luck with TM seeing the hard drive on the iMac.
Questions is will Time Machine work with a computer that is connected to airport extreme by ethernet. If yes how o you set it up and what might be wrong??
I might mention that the reason I have the iMac connected with an ethernet cable and not wirelessly is because the iMac does not stay connected well to the internet and when it is connected has a very slow connection. My MacBook Pro is all the way across the house and has a great connection.
I have guessed the slow connection was because the Airport Extreme sits right next to the iMac and maybe there is some kind of interference.
Thanks.... any help is appreciated.

Can I use Time Machine to recover backed-up files from a stolen computer?

Hi everyone,
I used Time Machine to back up my MacBook Pro but unfortunately it was stolen this week. I'm going to buy a new MacBook Pro and would like to recover the backed-up files from my old computer via Time Machine, though not necessarily transform the new computer into a clone of the old one. Can anyone point me to step-by-step directions for how to do this with Time Machine? Is there a way of using Time Machine to select, a la carte, which backed-up data you want to restore to your new machine, or is it an all-or-nothing deal?
Thanks for your help and advice!

Yes. Use the migration assistant.
First, I'd set up the new computer and choose not to migrate any data (this sometimes causes issues). Run all software updates, then run the Migration Assistant (In applications). It will allow you to choose a time capsule to migrate information from. You will be able to choose what information to pull from the time capsule: it won't simply clone the old computer.

Using time machine, multiple computers back- up and update

hi all,
to start off, i'm planning to buy a new iMac in the Q1 2009... the comming update, and i'm wondering:
whit time machine, is it possible to let's say back up my macbook.
and whit the new iMac update from the backup so my iMac is in sync whit the macbook?
and when i add, change or kill a file, time machine update's this in the backup, and my macbook will notice this and update the macbook of the backup the iMac changed?
hard question, hope somebody out there can help me by answering or refering me,
cause i realy want this to be true, gheghe!
Kind regards,
Lennart.
Message was edited by: Lennart Hendriksma

Lennart Hendriksma wrote:
hi all,
to start off, i'm planning to buy a new iMac in the Q1 2009... the comming update, and i'm wondering:
whit time machine, is it possible to let's say back up my macbook.
and whit the new iMac update from the backup so my iMac is in sync whit the macbook?
you can use use Migration Assistant to migrate your settings and data from the TM backup of the macbook to the new imac. you'll also have an option to do it during the initial computer setup.
This is a one time operation. You can not use Time Machine to keep computers synced after that. each computer has its own TM backup and they don't interact with each other.
and when i add, change or kill a file, time machine update's this in the backup, and my macbook will notice this and update the macbook of the backup the iMac changed?
sorry, I don't understand what you are asking. please rephrase.
hard question, hope somebody out there can help me by answering or refering me,
cause i realy want this to be true, gheghe!
Kind regards,
Lennart.
Message was edited by: Lennart Hendriksma

I need to restore my email settings using time machine but can't find the mail.plist in the backups

Hi, i can find my mail.plist by opening library/preferences holding the option key, but I can't replicate this when i'm searching for the same file in time machine. I have somehow deleted my mail settings and am trying to restore using time machine. Any ideas? Thanks

In Finder under Library/Preferences/ i found the following which I think is what you are looking for:
I "highlighted" this file in Finder FIRST, and then leaving Finder Open, I also opened Time Machine and when TM opened, Finder was displayed in it as seen above and I could then select dates going back to Restore this file from just fine.
Hope this helps

How do I access photos stored using Time Machine on a back up disk from an old Mac without importing the whole library to my new mac?

I just bought a MacBook Air and don't want to store all my photos on it. I'd like to be able to store and access them on a separate back up disk but iPhoto won't allow me to access these saying:
"The iPhoto library is a Time Machine backup, and so cannot be used as the main library. Reopen iPhoto with the Option key held down to choose another library."
Can I use my back up disk to store my photos? If not, how do I get my photos from iPhoto onto my back up disk?
Would love any help!
Thanks in advance :-)

You need to first restore the Time Machine back up. This excuse a TM back up is condensed and fragmented and so it needs to be expanded and reassembled before iPhoto can understand it.
After that, moving the Library is simple:
Make sure the drive is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
1. Quit iPhoto
2. Copy the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to the External Disk.
3. Hold down the option (or alt) key while launching iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library' and navigate to the new location. From that point on this will be the default location of your library.
4. Test the library and when you're sure all is well, trash the one on your internal HD to free up space.
Regards
TD

Using Time machine backup drive on new mac

Hi
I have an external hard drive that has a time machine backup on it. I want to use it on a re-installed mac, the re-installed mac has quite a few new files on it.
Can you just plug it in and copy all the files across to the newly installed Mac and carry on - or is there a danger of anything going missing?
Thanks for your advice.

Turn off TM or set the backup drive to null. Rename your computer in Sharing preferences to the same computer name of your old computer. Turn TM back on and reselect the backup drive. TM will behave as you expect. Of course if the file dates on the new machine are all changed since the migration, then TM will correctly assume that they require backing up. You will then find that there will not be sufficient space on the drive for the new backups. If this occurs then you should simply erase the backup drive and start your TM backup anew.

HT201250 using time machine to transfer files from mac to mac

i just bought the new iMac 27inch. My previous Mac was Mac OSX Version 10.6.8. I want to transfer files from my old mac to my new mac. I learned Migration Assistant does not support this transfer because my old Mac is too old.
I want to transfer photos that are on my old mac --- such as my itunes, photos that are in iPhoto and CS 5.0, and a few other files on desk top and in documents.
What do i do?

What if you won't have both computers at the same time. In my situation I'm selling my machine and using the money to purchase a new machine. If I backup with time machine and then run migration assistant on the new machine can't I copy everything over to the new computer with time machine?

I want to use Time Machine to ONLY BACK UP ONE FOLDER

Is that possible? Thanks!

With the "Options" button in the "Time Machine" system preference, you can list all the folders you don't want to backup. You could include the top level System and Libray folders, other user's home folders, and most folders in your home folder.

In Mac os 10.5.8 firefox will not open at all. Updated latest version, used time machine to get back to older version and still will not open. Have to force quit with message Firefox not responding

Crash reporter fails as well. Says report cannot be forwarded to Apple.

Hey kbroch,
Have you tried starting Firefox in Safe Mode? Hold down "shift" while Firefox is starting up. If the crash doesn't happen in Safe Mode, you should read [[Troubleshooting extensions and themes]].
There is also a lot of useful stuff in the [https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/Firefox-not-start Firefox won't start] Knowledge Base article. If you've recently upgraded, you might want to check out [https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/latest-firefox-issues#w_firefox-crashes-when-i-start-it this article] as well.
Hopefully this helps!

Want to use Time Machine as wireless back up only - no internet

Im searching everywhere and unable to locate how to set up my TM as a wireless back up only. Im already hooked up to the internet and only want to use the backup feature in TM. Can someone give me directions or point me to the thread? thanks

Welcome to the discussion area!
By TM, I take it that you mean Time Capsule, correct?
If you want to backup using wireless only to the Time Capsule, you have two basic configuration choices to consider:
1) Connect the Time Capsule to your existing wireless router using an ethernet connection, and turn off the wireless on the Time Capsule. Backups will occur over your current wireless network. For most users, this is the easiest and most reliable way to configure a Time Capsule for back ups.
2) Configure the Time Capsule to "join a wireless network". In this configuration, the Time Capsule can be located virtually anywhere that it can receive a good wireless signal because it becomes in effect, only a wireless backup device.
Configuring the Time Capsule to "join" a wireless network can be quite tricky, even for experienced users because you must know the exact type of security the wireless network is using. It sounds simple, but different manufacturers use different names for the same thing, and it can be a challenge to get the device configured correctly without multiple tries. If you already have an Apple main router, this will be much easier to configure.
Post back for more details.
Message was edited by: Bob Timmons

Using Time Machine to "go back" before Mac Mail problem

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