drewgost

Q: time machine

I just had the hard drive replaced on my iMac. I would like to restore some items from time machine though I never used it before, only for backups. when I want to do a restore can I pick only say iTunes?

 

thanks for your help

 

Drew

G4 Titanium

Posted on Oct 24, 2012 3:17 AM

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Q: time machine

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  • by dwb,Helpful

    dwb dwb Oct 24, 2012 4:22 AM in response to drewgost
    Level 7 (24,221 points)
    Notebooks
    Oct 24, 2012 4:22 AM in response to drewgost

    For most data you can do the following: open a Finder window and navigate to the folder or file you want to restore from TimeMachine. Now go up to the TimeMachine icon in the menubar and select Enter Time Machine. You'll see a star field drop down and the folder you were looking at in Finder now appears. Select the item(s) you want to restore and click on the Restore button.

     

    You'll be asked if you want to keep the original, keep both the original and the restored or replace the original with the restored. (This lets you cancel the restore, keep both in case you aren't sure if you really need to replace everything, or replace everything.)

     

    Note 1: when you are replacing data it is best to close the program(s) the data belongs to before you restore.

     

    Note 2: some programs such as Contacts (Address Book) and Mail work differently. For them you need to access TimeMachine while the program is running.

  • by drewgost,

    drewgost drewgost Oct 24, 2012 1:42 PM in response to dwb
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 24, 2012 1:42 PM in response to dwb

    So if I want to restore iTunes I look for the application iTunes?

  • by dwb,

    dwb dwb Oct 24, 2012 1:44 PM in response to drewgost
    Level 7 (24,221 points)
    Notebooks
    Oct 24, 2012 1:44 PM in response to drewgost

    No, if it were I'd have specifically mentioned it

  • by drewgost,

    drewgost drewgost Oct 24, 2012 2:32 PM in response to dwb
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 24, 2012 2:32 PM in response to dwb

    ok thanks I am no longer a big fan of the time machine

  • by DonnaR,

    DonnaR DonnaR Sep 22, 2016 9:13 AM in response to dwb
    Level 1 (147 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 22, 2016 9:13 AM in response to dwb

    Re closing the program the data belongs to before you restore: In the past I've restored an Excel document to the Finder while Excel was open. Time Machine lets you do that. But can that cause issues, or are you talking about support files or database-type programs?

     

    Also, a separate question: Is it OK if Time Machine runs and creates a new backup while you're in Time Machine looking at a previous backup?

     

    Thank you!