Using Time Machine to Restore iTunes Library
Has anyone had success using Time Machine to restore their iTunes library? When I try, I get a message saying that my library is "damaged".
I have tried restoring the iTunes application in addition the iTunes folder in the users/Music folder. Same result. All of the music is there as well as the playlists; however, iTunes thinks it is damaged and creates a new, empty, library.
I know it would be possible to build a new library from the music files but I do not want to have to rebuild the playlists as they are very, very extensive.
Can anyone help? Please??
I'm having the same problem! I moved from a 2007 20" iMac to a new 15" MacBook Pro, so I bought a new external HD, copied my Time Machine backups to the new HD, and tried to restore my iTunes library from TM to my new MBP. iTunes claims my library is damaged and creates a new library file. My 80 gigabytes of media are clearly there, but they will not show in iTunes and won't play in QuickTime either. Did you happen to get this issue resolved?? It's very stressful. I have essentially lost all the music I have collected over many years.
Similar Messages
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Use Time Machine to restore my iTunes library ?
I installed this plug-in into iTunes which is supposed to organize your music collection by filling in the dates, genre and any missing album artwork, but I was not satisfied with the results. I uninstalled the plug-in, but now I was wondering if I could use Time Machine to restore my iTunes library back to the way it was before running the plugin. I tried using Time Machine to revert my music library in my Home folder, but that did not seem to restore the data back to the way it was. Perhaps there is another folder in which iTunes stores information that I need to revert? The plug-in's documentation offered no assistance in this matter.
I was thinking I might wipe my macbook then reinstall it from the disks in my Macbook box.
Yes, you can retore your iTunes Library using Time Machine but since you are running Lion you need to use Lion Recovery to reinstall the Mac OS X, not the install discs that came with your Mac.
Not enough free space on the startup disk can slow the system down.
Right or control click the MacintoshHD icon. Click Get Info. In the Get Info window you will see Capacity and Available. Make sure there's a minimum of 15% free disk space.
Freeing Up Hard Disk Space - Mac Guides -
Can you restore a slideshow in iPhoto using Time Machine without restoring the entire iPhoto library?
Afraid not.
Regards
TD -
I used time machine to restore on a formatted MAC. Now the HDD space has reduced by 100GB but I cannot see any of the files. How do I find and delete those 100GB data from the HDD?
dglenn9000 wrote:
I created a new user account just to see if it was my user Library or if there was something wrong with my system. And the new user account is doing most of the same things so I will need to do a full restore anyway.
Not necessarily. I'd suggest downloading and installing the "combo" update. That's a combination (thus the clever name) of all the updates to Leopard since it was first released, so installing it should fix anything that's gone wrong since then, such as with one of the normal "point" updates. Info and download available at: http://support.apple.com/downloads/MacOS_X_10_5_8_ComboUpdate Be sure to do a +Repair Permissions+ via Disk Utility (in your Applications/Utilities folder) afterwards. -
Can I use Time Machine to restore iMac & recover A2 app & images as they we
I have the "continuous processing" problem. I've tried most things. Disaster.
Does anyone foresee any problem with rebooting from installation disc and using Time Machine to restore to the day before I upgraded to A3?
What I'm hoping is that I shall then have my original A2 app. and its corresponding library of images.
Advice appreciated BEFORE I try this. It seems intuitively a safe bet, but...It really depends on what you told TM to exclude from the backup. If you included everything then yes.
If not you may have to manually remove A3 and reinstall A2. Also, you may lose other work you've done during that time like email, documents and stuff.
You can selectively restore from TM and just get your library back. I did a selective restore when the logic board died in my iMac, but all my pictures were on external drives and unaffected by the loss.
I'd make a separate back up of important files before doing any of this.
DLS -
I have a powerbook G4 with macosx10.5.8 (as far as I know the latest possible OS with powerPC). Can I use Time Machine to restore my data on an Intel Macbook?
Well the newer TimeMachine model as stated in current Support pages isn't directly compatible on OS X 10.5 now, as noted in above link provided.
What OS X does your newer MacBook have running in it? (Not linux?)
With the current setup you have there may be a way -among other details in the support page- to do the migration of data from Mac, including a subnote on Time Machine, in a section below the main article with triangle by it, from links here:
•OS X: How to migrate data from another Mac using Mavericks 10.9:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5872
•OS X: How to migrate data from another Mac using Mountain Lion 10.8 and Earlier:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4889
In the support articles there are various troubleshooting and help items about the technology, some data back some time and whatever still stands would be there. Some archives are no longer current and say so.
Perhaps someoone still using older PPC Macs and Leopard 10.5, will say how to backup into a G4 PowerBook, from a Time Machine.
Unless the TimeMachine backup from the older PPC G4 PowerBook is used in the migration process of transferring personal account files from there to a new MacBook running (?) OS X. This probably could be done. You may be able to access older libraries, such as iPhoto, iTunes, etc and import them from the archive, to a newer Intel-based MacBook.
Sorry for any confusion.
I'll more carefully reply in the future.
Good luck & happy computing!
PS: a different direction on archives, time machine, clones, and other devices:
•About Time Machine - Time Machine vs. Clones and Archives:
http://pondini.org/TM/Clones.html
•Apple OS X and Time Machine Tips:
http://pondini.org/TM/Home.html
{edited to add link details} -
I backed up my system using 10.6 Snow Leopard's Time Machine to an external hard drive. I did this because I purchased a new internal hard drive to upgrade my 2007 White Macbook from 80GB to 320GB. When I installed the new hard drive, I installed 10.4 (Tiger) and then 10.5 (Leopard) and once Leopard was in I tried to use Time Machine to restore my backup from 10.6 (Snow Leopard) and received a kernal panic screen directly after the bootup.
The screen had code asking for 10.6, so does this mean that the computer is searching for Snow Leopard? If so, how can I do this? Will a bootable drive with Snow Leopard on it be able to solve the issue or will I somehow need to find a way to wipe out this new hard drive?
-SteveBooting From Snow Leopard Installer Disc
1. Insert Snow Leopard Installer Disc into the optical drive.
2. Restart the computer.
3. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the "C" key.
4. Release the key when the spinning gear below the dark gray Apple logo appears.
5. Wait for installer to finish loading.
Drive Preparation and Installation
1. 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. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) 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 Security 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.
7. After formatting is complete quit DU and return to the installer. Install Snow Leopard. -
Using Time Machine to restore to new hard drive missing recent backups
On Mac Book Pro 2009 with OS X 10.5.8.
I have been backing up to Time Machine on an external drive since 2009. A few month ago I upgrade to OS X 10.9 Mavericks.
Trying to install a new hard drive and restoring from Time Machine. Just before installing the hard drive I again backed up to Time Machine.
Trying to restore from Time Machine.
Note: this link shows the screen I am on. It isn't from my computer. Just showing for display purpose.
http://www.imore.com/sites/imore.com/files/styles/xlarge/public/field/image/2014 /03/time_machine_select_backup.jpg?itok=G2WbV0Vu
"Select a backup. Select the Time Machine backup you want to restore. Only complete backups of Mac OS X appear in the list"
The problem is, the most recent "complete" restore point in the list is August 2011 (OS X 10.5.8). How can that be? Over the years I have checked Time Machine and I have back ups way past 2011.
What should I do?
ThanksDaniel Greeney wrote:
So I just purchased an internal drive (separate from my system drive) to use as a Time Machine drive, for both of my computers (only one partition). Since they will be backing up every day, I will retain much more recent material in case of drive failure.
Let Time Machine back up every hour, as it's designed. That will protect you best.
My question is this - if I have a drive failure on my current internal system drive, and the internal Time Machine is intact, is it possible for me to take my external bootable backup (say 3 weeks older than Time Machine in how recently it was backed up), make a cone of that on a new internal system drive, and then use Time Machine to restore that drive to what is most current on Time Machine?
Does this question make sense?
The question makes sense until you realize that Time Machine backups contain everything you need (unless you do something silly, like exclude your system files).
Once the new drive is installed and formatted, you can restore your entire system from the TM backups faster than you can copy the clone to the new internal HD. See #14 in the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum. Note that you use the Snow Leopard Install disc only for the Installer on it; you don't install OSX from it. -
Using Time Machine to restore an *older* BackUp drive
Here's my situation - I have currently been backing up my 2 computers (A Macbook Pro and a Mac Pro tower) to two separate external bootable drives (not Time Machines). I then take the drives off site in case of theft or fire, and know that if I need to I can always restore from these bootable backups.
However, because of the time and effort of bringing them in from their offsite location, I only back up once every few weeks, sometimes a month or more. So I just purchased an internal drive (separate from my system drive) to use as a Time Machine drive, for both of my computers (only one partition). Since they will be backing up every day, I will retain much more recent material in case of drive failure.
My question is this - if I have a drive failure on my current internal system drive, and the internal Time Machine is intact, is it possible for me to take my external bootable backup (say 3 weeks older than Time Machine in how recently it was backed up), make a cone of that on a new internal system drive, and then use Time Machine to restore that drive to what is most current on Time Machine?
Does this question make sense? I'm essentially trying to use a combination of external bootable drives and Time Machine in order to have peace of mind, knowing that I will have a complete, bootable restore, but it will then be able to become as up to date as the last Time Machine backup.Daniel Greeney wrote:
So I just purchased an internal drive (separate from my system drive) to use as a Time Machine drive, for both of my computers (only one partition). Since they will be backing up every day, I will retain much more recent material in case of drive failure.
Let Time Machine back up every hour, as it's designed. That will protect you best.
My question is this - if I have a drive failure on my current internal system drive, and the internal Time Machine is intact, is it possible for me to take my external bootable backup (say 3 weeks older than Time Machine in how recently it was backed up), make a cone of that on a new internal system drive, and then use Time Machine to restore that drive to what is most current on Time Machine?
Does this question make sense?
The question makes sense until you realize that Time Machine backups contain everything you need (unless you do something silly, like exclude your system files).
Once the new drive is installed and formatted, you can restore your entire system from the TM backups faster than you can copy the clone to the new internal HD. See #14 in the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum. Note that you use the Snow Leopard Install disc only for the Installer on it; you don't install OSX from it. -
Is it possible to reinstall Mac OS X Lion on MacBook and then use Time Machine to restore to the previous backup I made before reinstalling Mac OS X Lion?
My MacBook was not normally booting up. It would turn on, make the Apple startup noise, and the bottom loading bar would progress just a little bit, then my MacBook would shut down. I tried rebooting it many times and the same thing would happen, it would just shut down. Then, I read that I can reset the PRAM (by holding Option+Command+P+R after the Apple startup noise comes). That worked, but now I get a screen that asks me to choose one of the 4 options (see: http://images.macworld.com/images/article/2012/07/lionrecoveryutilities-289404.j pg). I choose Restore From Time Machine Backup, but it progresses to 17.6% and gets stuck there forever. I tried doing it again, and it got stuck at 17.6% again. That is why I am asking if I should just reinstall Lion, then restore a previous backup on the fresh new Lion?
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I recently took my imac in for a recall on the hard drive, they replaced my hard drive, i used time machine to restore all my files. Now when I turn time machine on it says back up failed not enough space, it is not overwriting old back ups. Why? Please help
http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
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Using time machine to recover iTunes database for metadata
In short, when I go back beyond a week in time machine I cannot find any .itl or even any of the .itdb or .xml files on my mac that I can restore with time machine. The only version that is there is for the current library which is missing 99.9% of the content.
The context:
1. I had itunes folder on my hard drive and an external with all of the content. Over the years the external must have been disconnected or what not as a sizeable media folder had also developed on the hard drive.
2. In order to free up space on the hard drive I consolidated the media and moved the library to a second external that had much more free space.
3. I ended up deleting the iTunes library on the hard disc on or around 6 april 2015. I believe I deleted the whole folder.
no dramas - everything worked for weeks
4. Today I noticed that the iTunes library was pretty much empty but for purchased music. All the podcasts, playlists and basically anything not purchased was gone.
5. I look into the iTunes folder on the hard disc and I noticed that there is a music folder with two songs that my kid likes to play. It leo has all of the usual library xml files and the .itdb / .itl files (which to be honest I have never noticed before, I had only remembered ever seeing the .XML files).
6. The "new" .itl file was created on Sunday 26 april at 5.30 pm. The whole iTunes folder it sat in on my hard drive also did not exist before this time.
7. If I use time machine and scroll back further in time than sunday there is no iTunes folder on my hard drive.
8. I thought I would just need to find the .itl file that predated this new library that was created on Sunday. Trouble is I can't find one. On any disc, hard disc, the first external or the second external. The only iTunes folder I can find with any of the database files needed is the one created on Sunday that is empty.
9. I have all of the media organised on the second hard disc however I don't want to reimport and lose all the metadata that I have built up since 2001 at least.
THE QUESTIONS
A - where should I be looking for the old iTunes database files using time machine if I used the advanced features of iTunes to move the database to the new disc
B - Can I perform some sort of system wide restore that would take me back in time to a point before last Sunday to get my old iTunes database back?
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance
LenIn short, when I go back beyond a week in time machine I cannot find any .itl or even any of the .itdb or .xml files on my mac that I can restore with time machine. The only version that is there is for the current library which is missing 99.9% of the content.
The context:
1. I had itunes folder on my hard drive and an external with all of the content. Over the years the external must have been disconnected or what not as a sizeable media folder had also developed on the hard drive.
2. In order to free up space on the hard drive I consolidated the media and moved the library to a second external that had much more free space.
3. I ended up deleting the iTunes library on the hard disc on or around 6 april 2015. I believe I deleted the whole folder.
no dramas - everything worked for weeks
4. Today I noticed that the iTunes library was pretty much empty but for purchased music. All the podcasts, playlists and basically anything not purchased was gone.
5. I look into the iTunes folder on the hard disc and I noticed that there is a music folder with two songs that my kid likes to play. It leo has all of the usual library xml files and the .itdb / .itl files (which to be honest I have never noticed before, I had only remembered ever seeing the .XML files).
6. The "new" .itl file was created on Sunday 26 april at 5.30 pm. The whole iTunes folder it sat in on my hard drive also did not exist before this time.
7. If I use time machine and scroll back further in time than sunday there is no iTunes folder on my hard drive.
8. I thought I would just need to find the .itl file that predated this new library that was created on Sunday. Trouble is I can't find one. On any disc, hard disc, the first external or the second external. The only iTunes folder I can find with any of the database files needed is the one created on Sunday that is empty.
9. I have all of the media organised on the second hard disc however I don't want to reimport and lose all the metadata that I have built up since 2001 at least.
THE QUESTIONS
A - where should I be looking for the old iTunes database files using time machine if I used the advanced features of iTunes to move the database to the new disc
B - Can I perform some sort of system wide restore that would take me back in time to a point before last Sunday to get my old iTunes database back?
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance
Len -
Using Time Machine to Restore a Full Drive: Some Questions
I have a 24" iMac C2D with a 640GB drive that is 4GB away from being full. I have a Freenas NAS with another TB and two 1TB FW800 external. I have pretty much everything backed-up in one way or another, most of it a bit scatter-shot and hard to collate, so I want to reformat and reinstall OS X Snow Leopard to get a clean start and a freed-up drive.
Once of my 1TB I have dedicated to Time Machine and it's full. I get notices now and then that it's deleting some of the data to make room for more.
My question is this:
If I reformat and kill all the data on my iMac is the data fully replicated in Time Machine? Anything I should be worried about?
I don't just want to refill my Mac again, so I mostly just want all the email back and my music, but served off-drive. Are there any pitfalls I should be aware of? I plan on going over more detailed instructions (any tips on the best tutorial?) before beginning.
JoeLjoeldm wrote:
I have a 24" iMac C2D with a 640GB drive that is 4GB away from being full. I have a Freenas NAS with another TB and two 1TB FW800 external. I have pretty much everything backed-up in one way or another, most of it a bit scatter-shot and hard to collate, so I want to reformat and reinstall OS X Snow Leopard to get a clean start and a freed-up drive.
Not the best idea. Recovering what you want will be even more scatter-shot.
MUCH better will be to delete what you don't need, and/or archive old stuff and delete it.
Especially if you have apps you want to "leave behind," the ones you want to recover will be a problem, unless you have all the original discs and serial numbers. Apps that are installed with their own installers put other files in other places, besides the app in Applications. If you don't know what and where all those files are, the app won't work properly, if at all, without them. Worse, you may not know that until much later, when you try to use a feature you haven't tested.
Ditto all the little things, like settings and preferences, plus bookmarks, browser history, etc.
You need to do some of that +*very soon.+* Your Mac will get slower and slower as the HD nears getting full. Soon apps will begin to fail, files will begin to get corrupted, eventually it will crash and not restart.
Most folks say you should keep a minimum of 10 GB or 10% of your OSX drive free (15% or 20% is much better), depending on how you use it.
Once of my 1TB I have dedicated to Time Machine and it's full. I get notices now and then that it's deleting some of the data to make room for more.
My question is this:
If I reformat and kill all the data on my iMac is the data fully replicated in Time Machine?
All the data that's now on your iMac (and any externals that are being backed-up) will be there. Things you've deleted may not be, depending on how long they were on your system, how often it was backed-up, and how old your oldest backup is. See #12 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
But if you really want to do this, I'd strongly suggest making a separate, independent backup, probably a "bootable clone," via CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper. You can test it by booting up from it and using your apps to be sure everything's there and working; plus the instant you click erase on your internal HD, you no longer have backups -- you only have a single copy, and while it's rare, backup drives occasionally fail while doing a restore.
I don't just want to refill my Mac again, so I mostly just want all the email back and my music, but served off-drive.
Not sure what you mean by "served off-drive." Do you mean you want it on an external? If so, move it there first (and be sure the external is also backed-up by Time Machine).
For iTunes, see: Moving your iTunes Music folder
For iPhoto, see: Moving your iPhoto library
I don't think you can move Mail out of your home folder. Check in the Mail forum about that. -
I lost all my pictures in Aperture and I used Time Machine to restore the lost pictures.
After losing all my pictures on Aperture and not being able to restore the the pictures using Time Machine as instructed by Apple Care. I searched the web on how to restore the pictures using Time Machine and did not find a good solution. So with trial and error this is the solution that worked and it is easy. Using Time Machine restore the entire Pictures directory. Then restore the Aperture in Application. Then go to the Pictures directory and click on the White Box label Aperture. Do not open the Aperture Application it self Clicking on the White Box label Aperture will do the trick. It worked for me and I hope it works for you. Initially I lost 9500 pictures and I was sick till it was fixed. Everything went back to exactly the way is was before, including thumnails.
Thanks for posting. I have my library on an external drive and it spins processing before it crashes. I have tried everything. I think it believes some images are corrupted but who knows.
Do you keep your photos on your internal or external hard drive? Did you just open aperture and choose new library or did you delete your old one? I am not sure what to do, I have a big aperture library on a hard drive and time machine back up somewhere. I have a mirrored hard drive so I may only have 2 copies of the same screwed up library, don't know if they back up on time machine also?
Time machine has always confused me to be honest and fortunately I have never had to use it. So you can just replace your pictures? I think I have a bunch of photos in iphoto library on my internal hard drive, I hope I don't end up with duplicates and triplicates. Although I would settle for just about anything right now. I have 15k pictures that I see briefly before it crashes. -
I am having a problem with the Time Machine in restoring Mac Mail back to a certain date. Everything works fine, with Mac Mail the active application and entering Time Machine, and I have found the mail file after the location process is done, then I hit Restore and there is a messages "restoring 480 messages", but I cannot locate them anywhere. What is suppose to happen is that a special file should appear in the sidebar of Mac Mail in the section On My Mac. Any suggestion would be appreciated.
I use Mountain Lion.Although you can restore messages from a Time Machine snapshot within the Mail application, it generally won't work with messages that were saved by an older version of Mail. In that case, you have to use an alternative method.
Triple-click the line below to select it:
~/Library/Mail/V2
Right-click or control-click the highlighted line and select
Services ▹ Reveal
from the contextual menu. A Finder window should open with a folder selected. Inside that folder are subfolders representing your Mail accounts. The names refer to the email addresses you use. Decide which ones you want to restore messages from.
Enter Time Machine and scroll back to the snapshot you want. Select the account folders you want and then selectRestore ... to... from the action menu (gear icon) in the toolbar of the snapshot window. Restore the folders to the Desktop, not to their original location.
From the Mail menu bar, select
File ▹ Import Mailboxes...
Import from the mailboxes in the folders you restored to the Desktop. The imported messages will appear in a new mailbox. Move the ones you want to keep wherever you like and delete the rest. Then delete the folders on the Desktop.
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