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You are here: MacNN Forums > Software - Troubleshooting and Discussion > macOS > Restore data from dead hard drive to another harddrive with Time Machine?

Restore data from dead hard drive to another harddrive with Time Machine?
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Aug 18, 2009, 11:02 PM
 
OK, so I had my work drive (10K Raptor) die on me (free replacement from WD thankfully), and everything was of course backed up with Time Machine. Now the simplicity of TM seems to get in the way. Since the HD is gone, how do I recover the data from it? I can't select it in the sidebar and I can't search for it. My google-fu also fails me in finding others with the same issue.

Am I missing something blindingly obvious here?

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Art Vandelay
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Aug 18, 2009, 11:18 PM
 
Is this a non-system drive? If so, you should just be able to browse to your new drive and enter TM, then go back to a point in time when your last backup of that drive was. Then hit Restore.

Edit:
Do you not have your new drive yet?
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Aug 18, 2009, 11:19 PM
 
Ah. Finally found it:

Originally Posted by User Submitted Time Machine tips
E3. I can't see backups for a disk/partition that's no longer connected

Open a Finder window and press Shift+Cmd+C (or select your computer name in the Finder Sidebar).

Then either Enter Time Machine or Browse Other Time Machine Disks (see #E2).

On the first Finder window in the "cascade," labelled Now, you'll see all the volumes currently attached to your Mac.

Select the Finder window for any backup, and you'll see a folder for each drive/volume that was backed-up, including any that are no longer connected. Navigate from there to whatever you're looking for.

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AKcrab
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Aug 18, 2009, 11:19 PM
 
Migration Assistant, no?
     
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Aug 18, 2009, 11:20 PM
 
Originally Posted by Art Vandelay View Post
Is this a non-system drive? If so, you should just be able to browse to your new drive and enter TM, then go back to a point in time when your last backup of that drive was. Then hit Restore.

Edit:
Do you not have your new drive yet?
I don't yet have my new drive, I just wanted to copy some of the files of my old disconnected drive.

Hitting back while browsing the computer window did it.

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Art Vandelay
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Aug 18, 2009, 11:25 PM
 
Yeah, then you'll be offered to restore the files to a new location since the original location doesn't exist. Had to give it a try myself to find out how to do it.
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CharlesS
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Aug 19, 2009, 12:02 AM
 
Ya know, it'd probably be easier than this just to browse to the TM backup yourself and just copy the files using the Finder.

Just go to the backup drive, then Backups.backupdb/Your Machine Name/Latest/Drive Name, et voilà.

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Aug 19, 2009, 12:06 AM
 
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Aug 19, 2009, 12:09 AM
 
Originally Posted by CharlesS View Post
Ya know, it'd probably be easier than this just to browse to the TM backup yourself and just copy the files using the Finder.

Just go to the backup drive, then Backups.backupdb/Your Machine Name/Latest/Drive Name, et voilà.
That wasn't quite the point of the exercise.

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CharlesS
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Aug 19, 2009, 12:13 AM
 
My bad, I thought the point of the exercise was to get your backed up files back.

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Simon
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Aug 19, 2009, 12:35 AM
 
Yeah, I'm obviously missing the OP's point too.

If all you want to do is get back some files from that TM backup you go to the latest TM backup in the Finder, drill down the hierarchy and copy stuff to wherever you want. Thanks to the hard links Apple's using, the latest TM backup will contain all your stuff, not just the stuff that was actually copied when you ran TM the last time. In fact ou could copy the entire contents of that extra disk to any location you like.

It's not necessary to use the TM GUI to do this.
     
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Aug 19, 2009, 01:22 AM
 

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Aug 19, 2009, 02:42 AM
 
Maybe he wanted to know how to do it via TM as did I. I know how to navigate it via the Finder to the backups. However, it was still interesting to find out how to do it via TM as Apple intended.
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Simon
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Aug 19, 2009, 03:03 AM
 
Sorry for being slow here, but I really don't get it. If you want to do it through the TM GUI, don't you just do it the exact same way you always would? In other words, TM GUI, navigate to that external disk, select items, restore?
     
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Aug 19, 2009, 03:41 AM
 
You can just navigate the drive in the Finder:
backup drive > Backups.backupdb > [name of volume] > Latest (all the way on the bottom)
This gives you access to the last backup and it starts from the root directory /. Of course, you can also dive into another backup, just pick a date. You can only copy things, of course, and not modify the drive itself for obvious reasons.
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Aug 19, 2009, 03:52 AM
 
Originally Posted by Simon View Post
Sorry for being slow here, but I really don't get it. If you want to do it through the TM GUI, don't you just do it the exact same way you always would? In other words, TM GUI, navigate to that external disk, select items, restore?
No, when a hard drive is disconnected it doesn't appear in the TM GUI unless you navigate to Computer, activate TM and hit backwards.

It's not exactly obvious.

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Aug 19, 2009, 03:53 AM
 
Originally Posted by OreoCookie View Post
You can just navigate the drive in the Finder:
backup drive > Backups.backupdb > [name of volume] > Latest (all the way on the bottom)
This gives you access to the last backup and it starts from the root directory /. Of course, you can also dive into another backup, just pick a date.
Oh FFS, this is about using Time Machine the way it was intended, not to go digging through the file system.

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Aug 19, 2009, 04:06 AM
 
Except that in this case, using TM "as it's intended" is actually harder and less obvious to figure out than just going in via the file system.

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OreoCookie
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Aug 19, 2009, 05:40 AM
 
Originally Posted by - - e r i k - - View Post
Oh FFS, this is about using Time Machine the way it was intended, not to go digging through the file system.

Next on Geeks in Denial: How to export your Aperture photos by digging into packages!
Well, it was intended to be used via Migration Assistant or the Time Machine interface … 
BTW, I already have exported things from my Aperture library or my vault by diving through the packages.
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Simon
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Aug 19, 2009, 07:02 AM
 
Originally Posted by - - e r i k - - View Post
No, when a hard drive is disconnected it doesn't appear in the TM GUI unless you navigate to Computer, activate TM and hit backwards.
OK, now I see what the issue is. Thanks for the clarification.

The problem is that TM requires you to go through 'computer'. I guess it's trying to be smart (maybe in a MS kind of way?). By hiding a disconnected drive it's probably making things easier most of the time. But in your case I see how that has become a problem.
     
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Aug 19, 2009, 09:33 PM
 
Originally Posted by Simon View Post
OK, now I see what the issue is. Thanks for the clarification.

The problem is that TM requires you to go through 'computer'. I guess it's trying to be smart (maybe in a MS kind of way?). By hiding a disconnected drive it's probably making things easier most of the time. But in your case I see how that has become a problem.
Logically it makes sense, if they wanted to make it more obvious however, they could have shown the drive in the sidebar except greyed out.

Especially since navigating to Computer isn't very obvious from the start unless you've included in the sidebar (I believe this is off by default).

And OreoCookie, wasn't that my point to begin with?

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Simon
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Aug 20, 2009, 02:27 AM
 
Originally Posted by - - e r i k - - View Post
Logically it makes sense, if they wanted to make it more obvious however, they could have shown the drive in the sidebar except greyed out.
That would have been a much nicer solution indeed.
     
   
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