What will Time machine do after complted uninstal of OSX?

If I completly remove OSX from the machine, format the drive, then do a brand new install of OSX, on the new install, if I hook up my time capsule and run time machine I can re-load specific folders from my old (1st) install?
Also I used bootcamp to create a second partion that runs windows. Will that partition remain intacted if I re-install OSX? Will only the OSX partition be formatted?

I moved this question over to the Apple Support Communities > Mac OS & System Software > Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard Forum.

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What will Time machine do after a complete uninstal of OSX?

If I completly remove OSX from the machine, format the drive, then do a brand new install of OSX, on the new install, if I hook up my Time Machine HDD and run time machine I can re-load specific folders from my old (1st) install?
Also I used bootcamp to create a second partion that runs windows. Will that partition remain intacted if I re-install OSX? Will only the OSX partition be formatted?

What you want to do is make yourself a "hold the option key" bootable clone.
1: Get yourself another external powered hard drive.
Disconnect any other drive, don't want to format them by accident.
2: Open Disk Utility in your Applications > Utilities folder
3: Select the new external drive makers name and click Erase > Format HFS+ Journaled (default setting) click Security Option > Zero all Data from the drop down menu that appears. Now wait, it could take a hour or so.
The "Zero" is a extra step to map off potential bad sectors on the drive before data is laid, I do this to all my new drives once, makes the data more reliable, after that a regular Erase is sufficient unless you want to scrub the drive of any trace of data.
4: Once finished you'll have a ready HFS+Journaled external hard drive to clone to.
5: Download the free to use (donations accepted) Carbon Copy Cloner here:
http://www.bombich.com/
6: The default setting to clone one drive to another should be fine for cloning to a blank drive the first time (it takes awhile), it's just later on that CCC offers a high amount of customized backup features when you update the clone. You will need to learn to understand what will happen when you update your clone. (files that changed will be archived on the same drive for instance) For now you can just leave things be and clone A to B.
7: Once that's finished, open Disk Utility and Repair Permissions on both drives, there will be a long list of things fixed and if you do it again the same list, it's ok to ignore it.
https://support.apple.com/kb/ts1448
8: Now you can experiment and hold the option key and boot from the external drive. You will notice you can access the files on your internal drive.
Check out your clone and make sure your happy because later on when you erase your internal drive from Disk Utility (either option booted from the clone or hold c booted off the OS X installer disk) it's going to contain your old system in it's entirety.
9: Now hold c and boot off the OS X installer disk and use Disk Utility to erase your OS X partition and reinstall OS X like you want. When you go through setup use the same hard drive name and user name as before (different password) this way when you reboot and drag & drop copy the contents of your user folders from the old clone into the user folders of your new boot configuration your iTunes playlists and other "references" (pathnames) to your files remains intact
You can cherry pick user files from the clone this way, cleaning house essentially, with only what you want on the new internal boot drive configuration. But before you do that, make sure you Software Update fully and install your program from fresh sources to make sure they are pristine. Doing Software Update and installing programs first before returning files optimizes OS and programs so they are placed on the faster part of the drive near the front.
10: Once your up on your new drive good, clone that to yet another hard drive, using the same methods above and you'll have a bootable backup.
Note: TimeMachine + Migration or Setup Assistant for restoring is indiscriminate, it just copies. And TimeMachine drives are not bootable.

What will Time Machine/T.C. actually backup?

1. A firewire drive mounted.
2. a NAS drive mounted.
3. Of the mac's files, will it take everything, OS included, or just the documents/movies/music it finds? What about the desktop junk? Can you specify what?
4. Can you tell T.M. when to do the backups? or does it interrupt you all the time?
I have a time capsule, it's working, but I have yet to delve into using it as a backup. I can't decide if I should use the drive in the TC as it's intended purpose, a backup (which I would then backup again to a USB attached drive), or keep using my Lacie NAS as my main backup, and then backup everything to the T.C. and only use an external for a 3rd level of backup that I take off-site once a month.
Thoughts?

The general rule of thumb is that you need about twice as much space on the backup drive for Time Machine as you are using on your computer. In other words, if your files use 250 GB on your computer, ideally you would want to have 500 GB available for Time Machine backups. This will allow Time Machine to build a long history of backups. If you don't need to go back in time more than a few weeks or months, you can get by with less storage space.

Time Machine Operation after Re-install of OSX

Sorry if this question has been asked before.
On several occasions I have been forced through HD failure to completely reinstall OSX on my startup disk which I call HD-A
Luckily time machine has worked perfectly and when prompted to do so I have restored from my internal backup drive which I call HD-B.
The problem happens when I then try and use HD-B as my backup drive again.
Timemachine gives me an error saying the drive is full. Each time I have ended up erasing my HD-B backup drive. Re-assigning it in time machine and then it works fine.
Why is this?
There has got to be a better way to make time machine re-recognize my backup drive?
Its also dangerous because for the period of time (several hours) that I'm re-backing up by main drive then I am at risk if my main drive should go down.
Can anyone give me some tips on how to make the backup drive be recognized after a OSX re-install?
Thanks,
Steve.

Steve McRea wrote:
Sorry if this question has been asked before.
On several occasions I have been forced through HD failure to completely reinstall OSX on my startup disk which I call HD-A
Luckily time machine has worked perfectly and when prompted to do so I have restored from my internal backup drive which I call HD-B.
The problem happens when I then try and use HD-B as my backup drive again.
Timemachine gives me an error saying the drive is full. Each time I have ended up erasing my HD-B backup drive. Re-assigning it in time machine and then it works fine.
Why is this?
Because when you erase a drive, it gets a new UUID (Universally Unique Identifier), and is treated as a different drive: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1338
Its also dangerous because for the period of time (several hours) that I'm re-backing up by main drive then I am at risk if my main drive should go down.
It appears that your Time Machine drive is too small. If it were at least 2 1/2 times the size of the data it's backing-up, Time Machine would be able to delete enough old backups to make room for the new one.
It's always a good idea to keep secondary backups, and especially so if your primary backups are on an internal HD, since a problem with your Mac could damage both drives; see #27 in [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum), for some suggestions.

Will Time Machine identify a back up hard drive after main has been erased?

I went to the Genius Bar a couple of days ago and was told that in order to fix some of the problems I was having I should do a achieve and install (or maybe erase and install I can't remember.) Then use Time Machine to restore all the files on my computer except for the system and library folders (since there is a lot of stuff inside them that has been causing errors.)
My question is will Time Machine be able to identify my disk after the achieve and install? I looked at the Time Machine Backup from another start up disk and Time Machine just showed up blank. Is that what would happen if I wiped my drive? Or would that only happen if I completely erased the hard drive and not be an issue if I went with the achieve and install?

The Time Machine disk certainly shouldn't look blank - that could indicate a pro blem with your backups not running when you expect.
When you look at your Time Machine disk you should see a 'Backups.backupdb' dire ctory which contains subdirectories for each Time Machine snapshot.
If you don't see these then your Time Machine isn't backing up and you shouldn't re-install your machine :)
If you do see that, then you should be OK (as long as the subdirectories cover r ecent dates), in which case you can run the re-install - I'd go for a 'clean ins tall' and use the 'Copy my settings from a Time Machine backup' which is one of the options after the first boot.

Will time machine do a full backup of external volume (extra storage) after new logic board?

I have a MacBook Pro running leopard, that just had the logic board replaced. I haven't picked it up yet, but I am told that my hard drive and data were not touched.
I have read Pondini's very helpfull info/site, so I know that time machine will want to start a new set of backups.
Here is my question, based on my setup: in addition to the internal HD, I have a firewire drive for additional storage of files. Time machine backs up both volumes to another, larger, FireWire drive
Now, after the new logic board, will time machine make a whole new copy of the external storage drive as well as the internal? Or just the internal?
Basically, I know time machine will think it's on a new machine, but will it treat the external storage as if it were new as well?
I would appreciate any help or advice you can give me. Thanks.

Still no answer? I do have the same trouble on my iMac G5 PPC with 10.5.8: I just replaced the MOB and Time Machine insists to create a new bkup! Attempted with "tmutil" command but doesn't work on my OS...it is really impossible to tell the machine to learn the new address? I DON'T want to believe it!
Tks for any help

I have iOS 10.7.5 and if i update to Mountain lion 10.8.2 will i lose all my old applications i've purchased and other software i've downloaded? and what is time machine ?

I have iOS 10.7.5 and if i update to Mountain lion 10.8.2 will i lose all my old applications i've purchased and other software i've downloaded? and what is time machine ?

No. You will not lose any of the applications and data will be safe.
But make sure that you have working backup. This is very important.
Time Machine is the built-in backup software/application.
Best.

Time Machine stops after reset in OS X 10.9 ? What is the solution ?

Time Machine stops after reset in OS X 10.9 ? What is the solution ?

Time Machine shows the time of the last backup and it shows a MB-count while backing up.
So it seems to work. Only the Time Machine symbol does not work.
Thanks for your tip.
Greetings, AlbertenHelma

Will Time Machine delete what I delete?

If I delete some old photos to free up space on my laptops hard drive, will Time Machine do the same the next time it's plugged into back up hard drive? Or can I just run the old photos from the back up hard drive? thanks

Just to confirm, Thomas has given you the correct answer. TimeMachine keeps multiple save states (which is of great value) but the only thing you can rely on for certain is that TimeMachine will have the same data your computer currently has.
As each new hourly backup is made there is the possibility that the oldest backup set (or several of the oldest backup sets) will have to be deleted. Also, each day the hourly backups are thinned to create a single day backup and each week the 7 days of backups are thinned out to create a weekly backup. So the file you created a couple days ago (or weeks or months) and deleted yesterday may still be on TimeMachine or it may be gone. It depends on whether TimeMachine needed to delete the backup set that file was on to make a new backup set.

Time Machine Bug after Restore

Hi all,
I've been learning Time Machine and will share two possible bugs if it is helpful. I am working on a 2011 MacBook Pro, upgraded to Mountain Lion some months back, with 50 GB data on SSD being backed up to and restored from a LaCie SSD 80 GB partition so the speed is very nice: 14 minutes for initial backup and 7 minutes for a Reboot + Command + R restore.
Bug #1. Both (initial) backup and restores begin with large 60 minute estimated times in Time Machine Prefs Progress Bar but, once it gets going, finishes in 14 and 7 minutes respectively. If symptom is due to some quadratic journal searching algorithm, it may explain why APL-CARE warned me about potential 16 hour restores and could be a bug. If it is due to Time Machine just counting what has been transferred so far, then maybe not a bug (but maybe a possible enhancement request).
Bug #2. It appears that the first time Time Machine runs after a Cmd+R restore, it tries to rebuild an entire journal or record of what it has and, if you interrupt this initial backup, you break Time Machine. The next time you try to backup, Time Machine thinks Everything needs to be backed up (even though your disk is identical to what it just restored), and it Fails in my case with message "Time Machine couldn't complete the back to [my LaCie drive because my 50 GB of data is already there and it thinks it needs a full 50 GB more]" in so many words. APL-CARE (and its expert advisor) tried to call this a feature and sent me to your article HT3275 but that seems like a different issue. Since I did not believe Time Machine was so stupid, I ran the sequence again and carefully avoided interrupting Time Machine during its initial backup following my Cmd+R restore and, indeed, it took about 8 minutes to backup 4.5 MB (and rebuild whatever it does that first time). So this feels like a straight-up bug, Time Machine should scare me with a popup if I interrupt it while it is rebuilding its critical list for the first time after a restore. If APL-CARE were correct, it would mean everyone loses all history after a restore, everyone needs to Erase their backup disk and start from scratch, and methinks that too would be a bug.
Hopefully this is helpful, Time Machine is otherwise very cool and I love the Star Trek GUI.
Regards,
Dave.

And this is an ERROR in time machine. I just did a test restore again, went quickly, then Time Machine is GONE, GONE, gone trying to restore 5MB, waiting over an hour when a fresh backup takes about 15 minutes.
So only solution is DESTROY all my backups, then start over. Really dumb, and this page has no option to change my post back to a question, also really dumb.
I am going to swear now: cr*p. OK. Fix your **** software please. I'll deal with workarounds till then.
-dave

Time Machine Backups after recent upgrade to Mountain Lion

Basically to keep a long story short - i need to take my computer in for repair tomorrow. I recently did an upgrade to Mountain Lion a day or two ago. I haven't done a Time Machine backup until today (a couple days after i upgraded to Mountain Lion) because i wanted to make sure that my previous TM backup (Snow Leopard 10.6.8) was the most up to date and best update that i could revert back to if i had any issues with Mountain Lion, or any application compatibility, etc etc.
I don't have any broken applications and it seems like Mountain Lion is running better than Snow Leopard. However, as i said - i'm taking my computer in for repair tomorrow, i would like to know that i have the most up to date Time Machine backup with the new Mountain Lion so that when i restore it back from my Time Machine backup after i get it back from repair, i won't have any issues with the migration, which could potentially lead me into more technicalities.
I have a 500GB Harddrive, with about 70GB left of free space....I did the initial backup prior to upgrading to Mountain Lion, and it upgraded 400+GB of info, now, since Mountain Lion - the first backup with Mountain Lion initially said 46GB - then it went down to 14GB by the time it was all said and done....so what exactly did it back up?
Did it back up all the necessary files to keep Mountain Lion running smoothly when i restore it back to the way it was after i get it back? Did it not back everything up that it needs to? Is it safe to erase my internal drive and do a clean installation so i can take it in, and not worry about not being able to migrate things back over or applications not working correctly?
When i get it back, i presume it will come with Mountain Lion back on it and i can just boot up into the Recovery Disk and restore it from a Time Machine backup that way, correct?
Thanks for the help.
- Jason

I received the same error and experienced the same issue that you have described but after performing a Time Capsule soft reset and then toggling the TM Off and then back On I was able issue a backup now and see my previous backups.
Here is the link to where I posted my fix; https://discussions.apple.com/message/19069543#19069543. Someone else had success using a different method. The only comment / complaint that I have since the ML OS X upgrade is that TM now takes at least 20 to 30 seconds before I can click/select a backup.
I hope this helps.

Does Time Machine reset after restore?

Hello,
Suppose I have Time Machine backups for the last 6 months on an external hard drive. Suppose I restore my entire system to 3 months ago using TM. Will Time Machine still keep all the backups that were made AFTER that date, Or will TM treat that date that I restored to as the most "current" date, and delete all the backups created after it? What happens when TM starts to run again after restoring? I ask because I don't want to do anything that might cause any of my backups to be inadvertently deleted.
Best,
James

It will keep the more recent snapshots.

Time Machine Locked after MacBook Air reformatted. My MacBook Air was overfull due to an Address book issue (duplication) so after many attempts to clear space, I ended up wiping out the system and reloading Lion.

Time Machine Locked after MacBook Air reformatted. My MacBook Air was overfull due to an Address book issue (duplication) so after many attempts to clear space, I ended up wiping out the system and reloading Lion. This resulted in the Time Machine thinking that it was now connected to a different computer. Apparently this diables the existing information.
Now I can see that the back-ups exist (back to Sept 2012) but they are greyed out, therefore unavailale to restore. Again, this seems like an issue that shouldn't be happening. The whole point of the Time Machine is to enable reinstatement of data after catastrophic failure. What if my computer actually had to be replaced due to a hardware issue? How would I beableto restore anything?
The path already (unsuccessfully) taken;
Open Library on the computer, Open Time Machine, Select Correct date, drill down to correct data you wish to restore, click "Restore".
This did not work because the correct date was greyed out. Restore key was greyed out.

Time Machine Locked after MacBook Air reformatted. My MacBook Air was overfull due to an Address book issue (duplication) so after many attempts to clear space, I ended up wiping out the system and reloading Lion. This resulted in the Time Machine thinking that it was now connected to a different computer. Apparently this diables the existing information.
Now I can see that the back-ups exist (back to Sept 2012) but they are greyed out, therefore unavailale to restore. Again, this seems like an issue that shouldn't be happening. The whole point of the Time Machine is to enable reinstatement of data after catastrophic failure. What if my computer actually had to be replaced due to a hardware issue? How would I beableto restore anything?
The path already (unsuccessfully) taken;
Open Library on the computer, Open Time Machine, Select Correct date, drill down to correct data you wish to restore, click "Restore".
This did not work because the correct date was greyed out. Restore key was greyed out.

HT201250 When getting a replacement Seagate hard drive for my Imac through Apple, will they restore my system to it's current state? Or will I have to do it myself though Time Machine? Will Time machine restore all the programs as well?

Apple has determined that certain Seagate 1TB hard drives used in 21.5-inch and 27-inch iMac systems may fail. These systems were sold between October 2009 and July 2011.
Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider (AASP) will replace affected hard drives free of charge.
Will this replacement program restore my system to its current state after the new drive is installed? If not, will I have to have all my original disks to re-install all the programs on my current computer, or will Time Machine restore them as well?

Most of them will tell you to backup your data.
Time Machine is nice, but unless you are interested in archival backup, Carbon Copy Cloner is a lot easier to recover from:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-1992

Due to NAS issues, when I started a new time machine backup it did not have the old backups available. My question is do I need to delete them or will time machine automatically reclaim the space? Only one Sparse Bundle, same name.

Due to NAS issues, when I started a new time machine backup it did not have the old backups available. My question is do I need to delete them or will time machine automatically reclaim the space? There is only one sparse bundle but when I enter time machine I don't see my historic backups. I use a synology DS212 for my time machine. Started a new backup which is 218gb but it says 618 gb is occupied therefore it looks like 2 or 3 backups are still on the disk. Before my NAS issues the last backup was in 2014. As you can see there is a second sparse bundle from 2012. Not sure what that is.

This is an old message now, but what happened to me similarly was:
I had a major computer crash and through complicated pathways ended up reinstalling (Mavericks) as a new user (long story).
At least I had good Time Machine backups on an NAS drive (Synology DS212j), or so I thought - when I started Time Machine up again, the old backup file was gone, replaced by a new one using my "new computer" name. The old file was gone both by directly mounting the NAS drive and by clicking "Enter Time Machine".
It's like I had {OldShareName}.sparsebundle and then it was replaced by {NewShareName}.sparsebundle, all of the old info vanished.
(I have spent a week finding old files elsewhere and have completed a satisfactory self-restore. It pays to "archive" [my own variation of] as well as "back-up".)
My belief is that if this were a wired-netword-drive, e.g. plugged right into my iMac with a USB cable, then the old file would have remained.
But this is an NAS drive, connected directly to my Airport wireless router, and I don't know the significance of the fact that it stores its Time Machine backups as "sparsebundle" files rather than simply as plain(er) files.
As usual when things get complicated with computers (not just Apple computers) there was never a warning message. Something like "YOU'RE ABOUT TO DELETE A TIME MACHINE BACK-UP FILE!!!" would have made my life a lot simpler.
BTW, I did try a "restore from Time Machine" option the first thing I had my "new computer" (old hardware, 2009 iMac) up and running, using Migration Assistant, and it ran for many hours and then failed in the wee hours - what that has to do with anything I'm not sure.
I'm not sure that I have a question about this other than "why do these things happen to me?", but it's a warning. Apart from that I've been very happy with the stability and reliability (but not the cost or set-up complexity) of NAS vs. directly-cabled external drives.
Charles

What will Time machine do after complted uninstal of OSX?

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