You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

User profile for user: talyiana
talyiana Author
User level: Level 1
16 points

Can I do a brand new time machine backup on a new drive but still be able to restore from old drive, old backup if needed?

Hi all,


I am backing up to an external drive but having issues as it takes FOREVER and I am wondering if the drive is going bad. I want to start a brand new time machine backup on a brand new drive, possibly excluding some drives from being backed up but am PETRIFIED of getting rid of the old backups on the old backup drive because those are my only Time Machine backups. Will I be able to restore from them (the old backups on the old drive) if needed once I start fresh on a new drive?

iMac Pro, macOS 10.15

Posted on Apr 24, 2021 12:11 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: a brody
a brody
User level: Level 10
84,049 points

Posted on Apr 24, 2021 12:24 PM

Make sure the machine storage isn't too full to begin with. If the computer is over 85% full, it will take that much longer.

Limit its access to internet while trying to back it up.


Also make sure the hard drive you are backing up to is formatted appropriately. A backup to an ExFAT or FAT32 drive is going to be a lot slower.

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3003


As for reading the old backup, it is best to do it when no other drive is connected.

The other thing to keep in mind, the capacity of the backup drive should ideally be at least twice that of the boot drive it is backing up for archival purposes.


If Time Machine is turned off, when you attach the other drive, you can manually search for files by name within the backup and pull out important files with Devon Technologies EasyFind

https://www.devontechnologies.com/apps/freeware

Do not mess with the file or folder structure in any Time Machine backup drive, as that's important for Time Machine to recover information through its own interface.

View in context

Similar questions

1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: a brody
a brody
User level: Level 10
84,049 points

Apr 24, 2021 12:24 PM in response to talyiana

Make sure the machine storage isn't too full to begin with. If the computer is over 85% full, it will take that much longer.

Limit its access to internet while trying to back it up.


Also make sure the hard drive you are backing up to is formatted appropriately. A backup to an ExFAT or FAT32 drive is going to be a lot slower.

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3003


As for reading the old backup, it is best to do it when no other drive is connected.

The other thing to keep in mind, the capacity of the backup drive should ideally be at least twice that of the boot drive it is backing up for archival purposes.


If Time Machine is turned off, when you attach the other drive, you can manually search for files by name within the backup and pull out important files with Devon Technologies EasyFind

https://www.devontechnologies.com/apps/freeware

Do not mess with the file or folder structure in any Time Machine backup drive, as that's important for Time Machine to recover information through its own interface.

Reply

Can I do a brand new time machine backup on a new drive but still be able to restore from old drive, old backup if needed?

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.
Learn more Sign up