backed up with Time Machine, clean install lion, trouble

[gnychis]

I didn't know how to concisely put this in the thread title, but I did a backup with Time Machine and did a clean install of Lion.

I set up a new user and then I only want to restore my music and iPhoto library. When I click on "Enter Time Machine" all of my old backups from previous to my clean install show up as "purple" in color and I cannot access all of the files on the time machine. I believe this is because I am not authenticate as the user? For example, I can't see the desktop, etc.

How can I authenticate my old backups? Is there something else I am missing?

 

[marc11]

Don't you have to restore from Time Machine Back Up using Migration Assistant and then select what you wish to restore/migrate?

 

[The-Pro]

You can't just go into time machine. Like the above poster said. Use migration assistant.
1st pic: choose the top one, then enter you password
2nd pic: choose the bottom one
3rd pic: click continue
4th pic: you can wait for it to finish calculating the sizes. Once its done calculating, you can choose exactly what to import and what not. Press continue and it will start copying.

It will take some time. Just so you know, if users is ticked, it will migrate the user from before the clean install. You can't have your current user name be the exact same one as before the clean install. CHANGE IT!! Id recommend to transfer the user. its easier.
Once its done migrating, you can delete/logout the user you are currently in, and log into the user that has been migrated over. From there everything will look like you left it before the install.

 

[robgendreau]

Yeah, the down side of "clean" installs is that you can "lose" your Time Machine backup.

From your computer's viewpoint you have started over. The backup it has is from some other dude. So naturally it will tell you to b***er off if you try to restore. Like "restore to what? you erased everything!"

So that's why you use Migration asst. I mean if you didn't want to migrate, why did you do the clean install?

BTW, there are some ways you can just go into the Time Machine backups and pluck stuff out. But you shouldn't unless you already know what you're doing (if you have to ask….).

Rob