Erase Hard Drive;Time Machine Backup

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Level 1

4 points

Erase Hard Drive;Time Machine Backup

I recently discovered that I have some bad directories in my main hard drive which is causing some performance deficits on my computer. I always use an external hard drive exclusively for Time Machine, and it backs up several times a day. If I wipe my hard drive, will I be able to select my Time Machine drive and restore everything I had prior to erasing the disk? In my Time Machine preferences, I have not excluded the backup of any kind of file. Will my computer (all settings, preferences, etc.) be exactly as it was before the disk erase if I back up from my Time Machine drive? I just want to make sure that I don't lose anything? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

-P.

MacBook Pro 2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, Mac OS X (10.5.5)

Posted on Mar 22, 2009 4:00 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

planb77

Level 7

32,428 points

Mar 22, 2009 4:23 PM in response to PaBRO

Hey there,
Yes, if you backed up everything and restore everything, your computer should seem as exactly as it was. More on restoring from Time Machine can be found in the link below. Hope this helps.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.5/en/15638.html

B-rock

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Answer 2

PaBRO Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 22, 2009 5:28 PM in response to PaBRO

Thanks for the info. However, should I first erase the disk using Disk Utility, and then perform the Time Machine system restore? If I do not initially wipe the disk, will my bad directory files also be restored?

-P.

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Answer 3

planb77

Level 7

32,428 points

Mar 22, 2009 5:33 PM in response to PaBRO

Hey again,
Yes, it would be a good idea to wipe the disk clean before restoring. This way, as you mentioned, you can avoid restoring the bad directory files. Hope this helps.

B-rock

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Answer 4

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Mar 23, 2009 10:58 AM in response to PaBRO

I don't understand why you want to do a full restore.

Have you fixed the corrupted directories? If so, why restore?

If not, you'll simply reinstall the same corrupted items, won't you?

And by the way, when you do a complete system restore from a TM backup, the disk you choose will be erased automatically before the restore begins.

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Answer 5

PaBRO Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 26, 2009 12:27 PM in response to PaBRO

Thanks guys, I did my restore from TM, and everything is working in tip-top shape just as it was prior to my issues.

-P.

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