After a range of problems with the screen freezing and losing my account details following a restart I have tried to restore from time machine. After loading a restore point and restarting the iMac 24" with the latest snow leopard the machine gets to the white screen and then I see the apple and the endless circle. Now I have tried this restore with 4 restore different dates a week apart and the same problem occurs each time it takes 2-3 hours to restore but I cannot get passed the white screen on restart?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Restoring from Time Machine Backup
- Thread starter KimChip
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Yes I have reformated the disk with the 7 times reformat and then the simple erase and format verified the disk loaded the factory OS disks then upgraded to the snow leopard. Interestingly the system worked with a fresh install but then when trying to reinstall from a time machine backup this is the problem of the white screen, it goes for hours like it is waiting to load. Yes I did try migration assistant but it did not work. I thought it was because the backup was on Snow Leopard and the fresh install was on the original disks.
Yet again, here is but one more example of why Time Machine is a weak backup solution for the Mac. Not only weak, but downright dangerous.
Yes, it LOOKS simple and attractive when you first turn it on. So easy, just one switch! But the devil is in trying to get your data BACK once you've had a crash.
For some, it works. For others, well - read the original post.
To the original poster:
I suggest when you get things up and running again, that you stop using Time Machine and get ahold of CarbonCopyCloner. You'll have to set it up (not all that difficult), and you also have to remember to run it periodically (it's a "manually-launched" backup application, that only does a backup when you tell it to do one).
But if you do this, you will end up with a fully-bootable "clone" of your internal hard drive with files easily accessible in Finder format.
If for some reason the Mac won't boot from the internal, or even if you want to regular maintenence on the internal, just press the power-on button, hold down the "option" key, and the Startup Manager will let you boot from your backup drive.
CarbonCopyCloner is freeware - just download and use it.
And I make an absolute guarantee that the NEXT time you have problems with the internal drive, CCC will make repair or recovery far, FAR easier.
Yes, it LOOKS simple and attractive when you first turn it on. So easy, just one switch! But the devil is in trying to get your data BACK once you've had a crash.
For some, it works. For others, well - read the original post.
To the original poster:
I suggest when you get things up and running again, that you stop using Time Machine and get ahold of CarbonCopyCloner. You'll have to set it up (not all that difficult), and you also have to remember to run it periodically (it's a "manually-launched" backup application, that only does a backup when you tell it to do one).
But if you do this, you will end up with a fully-bootable "clone" of your internal hard drive with files easily accessible in Finder format.
If for some reason the Mac won't boot from the internal, or even if you want to regular maintenence on the internal, just press the power-on button, hold down the "option" key, and the Startup Manager will let you boot from your backup drive.
CarbonCopyCloner is freeware - just download and use it.
And I make an absolute guarantee that the NEXT time you have problems with the internal drive, CCC will make repair or recovery far, FAR easier.
You're comparing apples to oranges.
Relying on either one individually is incomplete at best. CCC (not freeware, btw, but share/donationware. Additionally, it is schedulable) has no look-back capability, unless you are willing to make multiple clones, but then it's not advertised to do so.
TM is not a bootable clone, and it's not touted as such, and is hardly "dangerous." It does give the ability to restore individual files from any point in the TM history all the way to a full restoration, which I have done successfully with no problems.
Any robust backup plan will use multiple methods, schedules, and locations. Relying solely on CCC (or SuperDuper!, my personal choice) is as "dangerous" as TM by itself.
TM, for what it's designed to do, is an elegant and well-integrated part of a complete backup plan. I've come to count on it on a number of occasions, where a clone would've been useless. Conversely, I've needed my SD! clone a couple times, and TM provided no means to accomplish the task because it wasn't designed to. In other words, it's not a matter of one or the other. Different tools, different solutions.
^^^
This
I use both religiously for the reasons stated by JNB
The only thing I would add is... for more completeness you could also include an offsite backup as well
This could be done with one of the online services, or by physically storing a backup offsite
This
I use both religiously for the reasons stated by JNB
The only thing I would add is... for more completeness you could also include an offsite backup as well
This could be done with one of the online services, or by physically storing a backup offsite
