Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Time Machine - I don't want to lose 60 GB : ) !!!

I

igmolinav

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Aug 15, 2005
1,126
4
Hi,

In February, my ibook G4 was experiencing a Kernel Panic, so I thought on backing up the information.

I backed everything up in an external hard drive and erased some 60 GB of information from the computer. I did this, knowing that Time Machine had saved a copy of my entire information, (some 120 GB).

Now, in April, I needed to restore all the information back to my ibook in order to work on that information. Well, no problem, I started the ibook and then plugged in the external hard drive.

The only thing I noticed is that the little icon from "Time Machine" was working. I clicked on it and then I had two choices:

*Stop Backing up
*Enter Time Machine

I have two questions with this regard:

1. What happens if I stop backing up ??

2. I clicked on the choice "Enter Time Machine" and it gives me three choices:

* Cancel
* Today (Now)
* Restore

How can I restore to February 2011 ??

3. Does Time Machine backs up different "Time Machines", I mean, according to different dates or it only saves THE LATEST back up ??

Thank you, kind regards,

igmolinav : ) !!!
 
Hi,

Thank you for your message : ) !!!

Mmmm .... Let's see, hopefully I haven't screwed things up here ; ) !!!

Time Machine has been used only twice on the ibook G4. That was two months ago, and today!

Two months ago, after I had backed everything, I erased some 60 GB, because I feared that "that extra weight" on the hard would worsen the kernel panic being experienced by the ibook. Today, as soon as I connected the external hard drive, Time Machine started to work and to back up information.

Ohh Man, I just hope i haven't lost all that information !!! I cross my fingers and wait for your advice. I have a new MBP that I wanted to plug in all the information.

Very kind regards,

igmolinav : ) !!!
 
There should be a timeline on the right side where you can scroll to which date you want to restore. Then navigate to the location of the files you deleted and restore them.
 
So it sounds as if you do not leave TM software "on" all the time? That is not how time machine is intended. You need to leave it on all the time. As Jolly giant pointed out- you should NOT delete anything off the primary drive you are hoping to backup. Remember, the purpose of having any backup system is to have a SECOND copy of things- because any hard drive can fail in seconds with no notice- so if your backup copy is really your only copy that is living dangerously. anyway, I think you get the point.

Others will chime in here, but you *might* be able to use time machine to restore that 60GB of data.

Then you could use migration assistant to transfer all your files to your new computer from your old computer once it is restored. (if you can.)

Another option might be to use the time machine backup to restore, but the problem here is that if you use the oldest time machine backup(feb. 2011 you might get the 60GB left, but might not have all the files and pictures saved since then. So I guess at that point you would have to go through the computer and transfer manually any files that were added after that Feb 2011 backup.

So either way you are looking at a pain in the A$$ to restore all your stuff- and there is unfortunately no guarantee you can restore everything.

I don't believe it was the extra HD data that was causing your kernal panic. Restoring operating system may have resolved that issue.

I would also suggest after you get all this resolved, you obviously run time machine all the time. I would also suggest that you find a way to backup all your important data a second way- either an external HD copy using SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner software or at the very least backup up to DVD's and keep this backup off site- in other words at your work, or other family member in case of theft or fire.

good luck and I would wait to act until other (more qualified) MR members chime in.
 
Hi,

There should be a timeline on the right side where you can scroll to which date you want to restore. Then navigate to the location of the files you deleted and restore them.
Click to expand...

Yes, I saw the timeline ! So, you say, to double-click on the "February line - that was my 1st time with Time Machine" and then click on restore ?? Besides the ibook, could I also do it on my MBP ??

Thank you, very kind regards,

igmolinav : ) !!!
 
igmolinav said:
Hi,
Besides the ibook, could I also do it on my MBP ??
Click to expand...

What do you mean "it"?

Once you get everything restored on your iBook (hopefully) then you can use time machine to backup the iBook again and then use the time machine backup to transfer everything over to your MBP using migration assistant.
 
Hi,

Thank you : ) !!! Now I get it, first restore and then migrate the information!

I thought, I could just "migrate" the information with Time Machine to the new MBP !!!

Very kind regards,

igmolinav : ) !!!
 
igmolinav said:
Hi,

Thank you : ) !!! Now I get it, first restore and then migrate the information!

I thought, I could just "migrate" the information with Time Machine to the new MBP !!!

Very kind regards,

igmolinav : ) !!!
Click to expand...

Well, you can migrate the info with time machine but you have to choose a date to migrate from. So in other words:

Feb 2011 time machine backup sounds like it has the 60GB of data plus some other data.

The most recent TM backup does NOT have the 60GB of data but it does have the things you have created and imported since the Feb 2011 backup.

So neither backup is complete. That is why I think you could restore the 60GB, THEN backup again to get a complete time machine backup. Then transfer to new computer using migration assistant.

this is what the apple site says about using time machine for migrating:

Migration with style.
If you’re setting up a new Mac with files from an old Mac, Time Machine can help simplify the process. Just use Migration Assistant to copy portions of any Time Machine backup to a new Mac, or select “Restore System from Time Machine” in the Utilities menu on your Mac OS X install disc. Choose any date recorded in Time Machine to set up your new Mac exactly as your previous Mac was on that date.

So I would rec. researching this option, learn all about it from Apple.com, MacRumors (using http://mroogle.*************/ to research past MR forum threads on the topic) and then try out what you find out.

good luck.
 
Hi,

I have (unconsciously) made several back ups of Time Machine because of a 750 GB external hard drive there are only some 65 GB left. In the first Time Machine, I found an iPhoto Library, (called "iPhoto Library II"). I clicked on it, (but I did not double-clicked on it), and it weighs 32 GB. I would like to transfer that library to the MBP so it can be read with iPhoto. The iPhoto application was also erased on February after I had erased the photos.

It looks like something "very easy" to do. I plan to either drag the "iPhoto Library II" from the ibook to a large enough USB port, or transfer it directly to the MBP using a Fire Wire cable.

I don't want to do anything wrong or miss any steps in between. I would appreciate receiving your advice to succesfully save the photos in this iPhoto Library : ) !!!

Very kind regards,

igmolinav : ) !!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back