Vexing migration from a Time Machine backup

When I went to set up my new machine I elected to migrate from a Time Machine backup; imagine my surprise when the process was completed and I was staring at an exact duplicate of my old machine-only as it looked back in late 2007. I've been backing up fairly regularly, but only when prompted by Time Machine. The last backup I performed was several days before I purchased the new machine.
I opened Time Machine and was surprised to see no backups displayed, and of course no Restore option. In the course of browsing the backup medium I discovered two folders in the backups.backupdb directory named Joe Blow's Computer and Joe Blow's Computer 2. The last backup in the JBC folder was dated November of 07, and was to the best of my ability to determine, the one that was migrated to my new machine. The JBC2 folder contained all of the subsequent backups; I could browse it directly and using the Browse Other Disks option in Time Machine, but was unable to view any of the backups without first modifying the permissions.
My initial fear, that all of my post-2007 data was lost, is no longer an issue since I've simply copied all of my files from my last backup to my new machine, but I'd really like to figure out a way to re-do the migration and get my old machine moved over to the new hardware in its entirety. Given the clarity of 20/20 hindsight I probably should have just done a machine-to-machine migration via firewire, but at the moment they're not in the same location and won't be for at least a month or two.
In the research I've done so far I've seen the issue of MAC address changes implicated in similar problems; my old machine is in its original configuration with all of its originally installed components. Thanks in advance to anyone who can shed some light on this for me.

Yes this is an interesting issue. I was wondering what would happen in such a given situation because I feared it would create problems. It makes you wonder what the need would be for time machine if it can not assist you in case your computer lets you down.....

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Bought a new iMac migrated from a time machine backup and it didn't load contacts music etc

my 4 year old imac died. So we got a new 1Tb intercore i5 imac. Migrated from the time machine backup and it didnt populate itunes or contacts or photos. Am I missing something?

You should have imported the data in Setup Assistant when you first booted the new machine. If you used Migration Assistant instead, you now have another user with all the data from the old machine.

How do I migrate from a Time Machine backup of a larger hard driver to a smaller hard drive?

My old MacBook Pro has a 1 TB drive. My new one has a 256 GB drive (SSD, as you might guess). I want to use Migration Assistant to move my files from my Time Machine backup to my new MBP. But obviously not all the files are going to fit. If I leave out my music and movies and a couple other things then it will work.
So I selectively migrated just the things that would fit, thinking that I could then fire up Time Machine and restore those other files to an external drive. That doesn't work, though, because my new computer is not recognizing the old computer's Time Machine, and instead is trying to create a new Time Machine area.
What's the best way to solve this problem? The end result I want is for my users and applications to be restored to the new computer, and my movies and music to be restored to external storage.

Aha, I think I found my own answer. I had to Browse Other Backup Disks by Alt-clicking the Time Machine icon. Then I could find the directory I wanted (iTunes Music, for example) and right-click on that to restore to a different location.
Thanks to http://pondini.org/TM/17.html!

How migrate from older time machine backup (not the latest)?

My old Snow Leopard Mac had a dying hard drive. In the last few days, files were disappearing left and right.
I bought a new Lion Mac, but I don't trust the Time Machine backup for the last few days and I would like to migrate the backup from just before the problems started.
I can't figure out any way to do this. Migration Assistant only offers to import the latest backup
And the full Time Machine Restore feature, which DOES allow you to pick a backup, only works on the original machine, which will not boot any more.
Can I somehow trick Migration Assistant by deleting the last few backups from the Time Machine drive and renaming the one I want to use to Latest? (I've made a copy of the entire Time Machine folder just in case...)
Any other way to do this? I'm sure many people are in this situation.

I have this same question. My hard drive died, and the last few Time Machine backups appear to be incomplete or corrupted. New hard drive installed now. Migration Assistant and Setup Assistant first refuse to even recognize my backup drive, then insist on migrating data from the newest backup instead of an older (but definitely complete and reliable) backup. So I haven't migrated anything and am still using my old (OS 10.4) computer until i get this straightened out. Ideas?

Cannot use Migration Assistant to migrate from a Time Machine backup to a new Mac.

I have a supposedly valid Time Machine backup for both of the MacBook Pro's we have (had). My wifes is Pro is working but mine died. I am replacing it with a MacBook Air. Following the steps, I tried to Migrate all my Pro files and apps from a TM backup using the Migration Assistant but it stops at 'Looking for source' and never gets past this.
I have confirmed the wife's back up is valid using 'Enter Time Machine'. However, on that same Mac Pro, if I use the Migration Assistant, it does not find the hard drive, once again , getting stuck at 'Looking for source just like on the Mac Air.
I went back to BestBuy where I bought the Air and worked with the Apple Rep. He tried it himself on a Mac Pro they had in the store and got the same results.
We called this into MyApple and after elevating this to the next level, they still cannot explain it.
I have used this feature in the past prior to upgrading to Mavericks so I am wondering if the fault is there?
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Dave

I may have solved this (partly). A search reveal A LOT of peoplel having the same issue. One solution put forward was that the Time Machine backups were not complete. I noticed in mine, non of the backups for a quite a while have no Applications or System files backup. The solution was to do a TM reset. I did that and ran a new backup of the one MacBook Pro that is still working. After it was complete, the backup had the Applications and System data in it. I was able to open the Migration ssistant and it found the drive.
Now I just have to hope that the repair shop can salvage my malfuncitoning MB Pro so I can solve the main issue either by Migrating fromht MB Pro or make a new back up of the MB Pro after TM reset and use that for the migration. Won't till tomorrow (hopefully).
Dave

Cannot Migrate from last Time Machine Backup

My hard drive some how failed or had a file structure problem and I had to completely wipe the hard drive and start over. Fortunately I have been continually backing up my hard drive.
I have tried migration assistant, and now I am trying to transfer the information as apart of the re-loading of Leopard and it is not working out. It moves extremely slow, so far it has taken almost 6 hours and the bar has barely moved. What should I do? I know it shouldn't take this long. When I first got the computer three weeks ago, it only took an hour at best to migrate the 80-100GB of information...
Also, I have no options to stop the transfer when you do it as apart of your instal rather than with migration assistant. Something is pretty darn wrong!

Do you have the same problem with both, the migration assistant (after install) and the setup-based time machine recovery ?

I have just taken delivery of a brand new 15" macbook pro, tried migration assistant from a time machine backup, music, photos, programs etc. They now take up 350gb of my hard drive but the files are nowhere to be found? can anyone help?

Set migration assistant to run whilst on a lunch break, given that it needed 2 hours or so, when i returned all programs and applications had moved across from my time machine backup of a now dead 15"macbook pro 2009 edition running snow leopard...When i look at my new system information it shows my new 500gb drive is full of music, movies and photos and has only 168gb free, not enough to run a new migration and i don't have any boot disks for Lion so really don't want to erase the hard drive. To compound the problem i'm in Vietnam where there isn't a genius bar just around the corner, or even an aasp within 700km - what should I do?

Is the HDD in the 2009 15" MBP dead? (The original source of your data) If not, you might want ot take it out and put it in an enclosure.
You might try spotlight on know files to see if that gives you any clues where your data is located.
You might down load from the Internet OmniDiskSweeper (free) and open it. It should show you all of the files you have on your MBP and enable to locate them.
Ciao.

I can't migrate from a time machine Back up. I select my TC and it says "some backups can't be opened." My HD failed and I'm Trying to get everything back... Can anyone make a suggestion?

I can't migrate from a time machine Back up. I select my TC and it says "some backups can't be opened. Make sure that all of your network devices are connected and turned on. It appears that some backups are already in use. If you don't see the backup you need, make sure it is not currently mounted by another machine and try again."
My HD failed and i installed a new one... I'm Trying to get everything back... Can anyone make a suggestion?

Read the section E about restore issues.
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
But you should be able to mount the sparsebundle and backup the major items if they are not damaged. You might also do a disk verify to see if the corruption can be repaired.
Have a look here also for restore of selected items.
http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html

Just bought a used MacBook pro after my previous died. I want to migrate my applications, data, etc from a time machine backup of the old computer to the new. Will this affect, or overwrite the Apps., data, etc existing on the new machine?

Just bought a used MacBook pro after my previous died. I want to migrate my applications, data, etc from a time machine backup of the old computer to the new. Will this affect, or overwrite the Apps., data, etc existing on the new machine?

No. Only those Apps that are not installed on the new will migrate over.

In migrating to a 21.3" iMac from a Time Machine backup, can I do this more than once?

In migrating to a 21.3" iMac from a Time Machine backup, can I do this more than once?

David,
My apologies....I was working on questions from a different thread and thought yours was part of that one. Your question is fine where it is....
Now....that being said, I'm afraid I don't know the answer to your question. I know you can exclude certain items from being backed up in Time Machine, which would save disk space on your external drive. But, you'd first have to calculate how much disk space you're using for the different things you want to back up vs. those you want to exclude.
I think it MIGHT be possible to do what you want, but (in my honest opinion) it's a recipe for a LOT of headaches should things not work out as you calculated. Better (again, in my opinion) to just pick up a larger external hard drive and transfer everything as Time Machine was designed.
Just my $0.02 worth.

Migration Assistant from a Time Machine backup

I have a 2009 MacBook Pro. I recently had the hard drive replaced, and now I want to use Migration Assistant to restore settings and files from a Time Machine backup. The backup was done to a hard drive connected to an Airport Extreme. I am attempting to restore with the drive directly connected via USB. Migration Assistant does not recognize the backup as a source for the migration.
This is what the backup disk looks like:
If I mount the backup I see this:
I have the drive connected and the backup mounted, so neither is recognized for the migration.
MacBook Pro running OS X 10.10.1

Try using Setup Assistant.
Setup Assistant – How to re-run

HT201250 After restoring from a time machine backup using migration assistant I can't log in

Hi, I recently bought a Mac Pro and using a Mountain Lion boot disk I made installed a fresh ML install which went fine. During the final part of install it gives you the option of restoring user data etc etc from a time machine backup which I have from my MacBook Pro which again in principal went fine until I went to log in when I got the message 'An error has occurred unable to log into this account a this time'.
Looking on the web I thought at first it was a password issue so restarted with command-r and reset the password, however the same error still occurs. I don't think it is password issue as if you deliberately enter the wrong password it rejects it immediately where as with the correct password it hangs for about 15secs before throwing up the above error.
Can anyone offer any advice?
The only thing I can possibly think of is that on my MBP where the time machine backup is from my home folder is on a 2nd HDD that is not the boot disk and I only have a single HDD on my MacPro.......

You might try to access the desired Time Machine backup from "Browse Other Time Machine Disks" (click Time Machine icon in the Dock).
Also, you might find some help here.

Restoring data from a Time machine backup of a potentially corrupted drive

I seem to be the queen of failing hard drives, heh. I'm on my third in a year, and will be addressing the root cause of these failures, of course, but right now, I'm wondering how safe it is to restore from my Time Machine backup. Here's the scenario:
-- Drive started throwing I/O errors, detected via SMARTReporter, about 2-3 months ago. No change in how the machine functioned, all OK.
-- I continued to back up daily to TM & Crashplan
-- While traveling for a month (and not backing up anymore, I left TM home), the machine started acting funny. Finder freezing, etc. I decided to clear some caches (by booting into safe mode) and see what happened.
-- This caused the HD to fail completely. Recovery mode, target disk mode, booting into single user mode and command-lining fixes, and DiskWarrior all failed to rebuild the directory. Failures were in multi-linked files/directories, the catalog file, etc.
-- I ordered a warranty replacment drive (and a new hard drive cable for starters).
When I got home, I borrowed another machine and just did a Verify Disk on the TM backup. It came back totally clean. So, my question is: is it safe to restore the data from my TM backup to the new drive when it arrives?

Shouldn't be any problem.
Boot from your SL installer DVD (hold down the C key on startup or hold down Alt/option on start and choose the installer disc).
OK the language page (if present). From the installer screen, go to the menu bar and choose Disk Utility; depending on the OS version it may be in the Utilities menu or Tools menu.
In DU, select your internal drive in the sidebar (the top item with the makers name and serial no.). Run Repair Disk. If that comes up as disk OK, click the partition tab. Select the partiton from the drop-down above the graphic; 1 partiton is all you need. Go to the options button and ensure that the partition scheme is GUID (for Intel Macs) or APM (for G5 and earlier) and the file system to Mac OS Extended (Journalled). Name the partiton (usually Macintosh HD), click Apply.
When that's finished, select the new volume in the sidebar (indented to the right below the drive) and go to the Erase tab, select Security options and select zero data (one pass is more than sufficient). Click erase. That will take quite some time; probably measured in hours and dependant on the size of the drive.
When that's completed, close DU and continue with the installation.
Shortly into the installation process, you'll be asked if you want to migrate data from another source. Select 'from a Time Machine Backup' and follow the prompts.
See Pondini's FAQs;
http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/19.html
http://web.me.com/pondini/AppleTips/SetupAsst.html
That should leave you with the same setup as you had on the previous MB.

Can i restore from a time machine backup that is not the latest one?

I am trying to restore from a May 7th time machine backup. At that time my username was michaelhood. I had a system crash and when my computer was returned to me I inadvertently set it up under a different username, thinking I would do the restore later. Between May 13 and today, Time machine did backups under the name mhoo4494. Changing the name didn't let me access my May 7 backup, nor did creating a different user account. I have erased the hard drive and am reinstalling from the Install CD. I have set up a third user name. I now want to restore my data from the Time Machine May 7 backup. How do I do that? Migration assistant saw two users -- mhoo and mhoo4494 (michaelhood was not an option). I selected them both, but got no data for either -- no docs, no music, no pictures. This procedure should not be this hard~!!

Hi uclamikey90,
It is possible, using Migration Assistant, to restore the contents of your hard drive selectively. See this article -
Mac OS X v10.6: How to use Migration Assistant to transfer files from a Time Machine backup - Apple Support
In particular -
To migrate data from a Time Machine backup
In Finder, press Command-Shift-U.
Double-click Migration Assistant.
Click "Continue" and enter an administrator name and password when prompted.
Select the "From a Time Machine backup or other disk" option, then click "Continue".
Select your Time Machine backup disk or Time Capsule (enter the user name and or password if prompted), then click "Continue".
Select the Time Machine backup you would like to restore (such the most current one you just made), then click "Continue".
Select Items to Migrate, then click "Continue". Note: The "Continue" button will be dimmed until the "Calculating…" stage is complete.
A user account sheet may appear if you have a user name on your Mac that is the same user name in your Time Machine backup. You will have to give the username in your Time Machine backup a new username to avoid conflicts. Note: This will create a new user account on your Mac to hold the data from the Time Machine backup. After migration, you can use the /Users/Shared folder to transfer data files the accounts.
Migration Assistant will begin the process of transferring the items you selected to migrate. When it is finished, click "Quit" to exit.
When you reach step 7, deselect items that you do not wish to migrate. Videos, photos and music are likely candidates for this as they take up a lot of disk space. You can later put items on an external hard drive.
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
Best,
Brett L

Restoring from partial Time Machine Backup

I've backed up all my user files with Time Machine and I'm wondering if I can do a clean install of Leopard (erase the contents of the drive, install a fresh version of the OS) can I re-attach the Time Machine backup that I've created and easily restore, say, my desktop files to the new OS? Appl seems to suggest that the only way to restore your files from a Time Machine backup is to boot from the backup and restore the files using the Migration Tool. Can I just attach the new OS to my old Time Machine backup and restore piecemeil, one folder at a time (e.g. my music folder, my desktop, etc.). I ask because my leopard install is bunk (virtual memory is eating all my hard drive space, continusely, until it's empty) and I want to do a clean install, but I want to make sure I'll be able to restore the user files I've backed up with Time Machine.
Thanks.

I would be interested in this too. My 24" is coming back from repair and I'd just like to get my music and photos out of the time machine backup against a fresh OS install.
Any thoughts?

Vexing migration from a Time Machine backup

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