Clean install / Time Machine question

[dubhe]

I am currently using a WD Passport drive in my MB which I created by cloning my old system. Anyway, it seems slower and to cut a long story short I want to go back to my original 250 GB drive.

Ok, now at home I have a Time Capsule, and I have everything backed up to it, but I am not at home at the moment but still want to do this clean install.

When I created this disc I am using now, it wasn't recognised by Time Machine as the same disc, could this be because I changed the HDD name from Macintosh HD to MacBook HD?

I had to start again with my backups, which took an age to get going again, and of course I effectively lost my old data.

So, my proposal is to clean install on my 250 GB drive (currently in a caddy and attached by USB), then use migration assistant to copy everything (including VMFusion) across. Will this then be recognised by my Time Capsule when I get home or am I going to have to start again?

 

[wrldwzrd89]

Not knowing how Time Machine recognizes volumes internally I can't answer this definitively. However, I can tell you that I think your idea won't work quite as you intend. The reason is that my guess is Time Machine checks the volume's GUID (or UUID, they're the same thing) for a match against the ID in its preference file for the drive it's supposed to use for backup. When you format a drive, its UUID changes.

 

[dubhe]

Problem is I am only home for Christmas then back to work, think the wife might get a little angry if I spend a few hours on my computer! Here at work I have all the time in the world...

Makes sense what you say, I suppose if I migrate from my Time Capsule then it will allow for that change