How do I copy a Time Machine Ext Drive contents to another external drive

[slobizman]

I've got an external drive that was a Time Machine backup drive. It's at the police station as evidence for something and they will not let me take it back. However, they will let me come down and make a copy of it. I might only have one shot at this so I'm trying to think of the best way to do it successfully and quickly.

Can I just bring another external with me, my Macbook, and then copy the files from the Time Machine backup external drive to the other external drive? If so, what is the facility for doing this quickly? I'm kind of new at Macs and am unsure. I do not have an extra Mac that I can simply use Time Machine to restore to to replace it's contents.

Thanks so much!

 

[johnnyi]

Hi

:Finder
:Applications
:Utilities
:Airport Utility
: Double Click the Time Capsule
: Disks
:Archive
Then connect your usb hard drive to it

Regards
Jonathan

 

[slobizman]

So, when I plug the Time Machine External Drive into my macbook pro, even though it's not been used with this macbook before, it will recognize it?

Any guess as to how long the archive would take? Is it very slow?

Hi

:Finder
:Applications
:Utilities
:Airport Utility
: Double Click the Time Capsule
: Disks
:Archive
Then connect your usb hard drive to it

Regards
Jonathan

 

[johnnyi]

oh what this is only when the time capsule is functional i guess it wont be working on a wireless network am i right ?.

Jonathan

 

[slobizman]

The external drive is not a Time Capsule. It's a USB connected external hard drive backed up with Time Machine.

 

[johnnyi]

Oh okay sorry my bad thought u had a time capsule.You would need some software like SuperDuper it basically clones one drive and burns it to another.

http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html

Regards
Jonathan

 

[slobizman]

But since it was created on a Mac using Time Machine via a USB cable, can't I just now connect it via a USB cable and have Time Machine recognize it?

Oh okay sorry my bad thought u had a time capsule.You would need some software like SuperDuper it basically clones one drive and burns it to another.

http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html

Regards
Jonathan

 

[johnnyi]

Time Machine will recognize it but it you want the information off the backup then you will need that software.I am not aware of anything that can be done apart from the software.

Jonathan

 

[slobizman]

Thanks.

Would it matter that I don't need a bootable copy of the external drive? Just need to pull off files? (trying to avoid buying software for a single use)

Time Machine will recognize it but it you want the information off the backup then you will need that software.I am not aware of anything that can be done apart from the software.

Jonathan

 

[johnnyi]

You dont need to buy that software is Free!

 

[skorpien]

I second SuperDuper. It will clone the external onto the new one so you can do whatever you want with the files at a later time. I'm curious as to what happened to have it detained as evidence though...

 

[johnnyi]

I second SuperDuper. It will clone the external onto the new one so you can do whatever you want with the files at a later time. I'm curious as to what happened to have it detained as evidence though...

a think you scared him lol.

Jonathan

 

[QuarterSwede]

Thanks.

Would it matter that I don't need a bootable copy of the external drive? Just need to pull off files? (trying to avoid buying software for a single use)

SuperDuper! is free to use. You can buy the full version which unlocks extra features but you don't need them for this task.

1. Download SuperDuper!
2. Take in your Mac and extra external hard drive
3. Plug in Time Machine Hard drive and extra external hard drive to Mac.
4. Use SuperDuper! to copy Time Machine's Hard Drive to extra external hard drive.

 

[superwoman]

I just did this the other day: migrating my Time Machine backup from one external drive to another. No 3rd party software necessary. Just use Disk Utility's restore function.

First of all, turn-off Time Machine.

Then connect up the two drives to the mac, and use Disk Utility's restore function to "restore" the original TM harddrive's content to another drive. After copying, Disk Utility will perform a verify operation to ensure that data is copied correctly.

Then disconnect the old drive, go to Time Machine preferences to select the new drive as the Time Machine drive, and turn on Time Machine. That should do it!

The only problem here is that the whole restore and verify process can take several hours. My original TM harddisk was 500GB, and it took about 3 hours to complete. Furthermore, they were connected on separate buses: the original drive was on USB2, and the new drive was on FW.

 

[slobizman]

Thanks to all for the great help! Much appreciated.