Time Machine Selective Restore

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Level 1

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Time Machine Selective Restore

Let me set this up correctly.
I had been using a C2D Unibody MBP as my primary machine since 5/2009 and purchased the i7 imac back in April. To make things easy I used Migration assistant to move everything to he new iMac when I got it. Everything includes FCS3, CS4, Aperture 3, all related files...everything.
I will add this is my 1st time using TM to restore. I have always used BackUp and other apps.

My concern has been that when i migrated, I migrated some of the supporting files for the Core2Duo hardware to the i7 hardware and may be losing some performance from 3rd party apps. This may be completely false and just a paranoidal perception, and that's ok. [Library and support files scare the bejezus out of me] Anyway so I made sure I had a proper TM back up and a file level backup and wiped my machine. So here I am with my TM backup knowing I can do a selective restore from the items I choose.
Here are the questions:
1. If I restore my system level "Library" file, will I have negated my purpose in starting from scratch?
1a, it seems TM is pretty smart and has either removed or hidden the system files, which makes me think it will only restore parts relative to this machine...am I crazy? [don't answer that]
2. One thing I don't see is a Applications folder, again supports my theory that TM is smart enough to know this is different enough to not allow app restoral, and I seeing that correctly?

My motivation: I am perfectly ok with having to wipe clean the HDD, install the OS, reinstall all my applications, although time consuming, i'm okay with it. My issues are all my plugins, 3rd party add ons, etc. There is no way to keep track of what I have installed and I dont want to spend weeks using things to realize what I need to reinstall. [brushes in PS, [plugins in FCP, etc]

I hope this makes sense to someone and I can get a thumbs up or a h*&% no that wont work.

Thanks guys!

2009 27" iMac i7, 1TB HDD, 8GB Ram, Mac OS X (10.6.4), Time Machine Backup, 1:1 File backup

Posted on Aug 3, 2010 4:52 AM

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Answer 1

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Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Aug 3, 2010 8:45 AM in response to Jody Smith

Jody Smith wrote:
. . .
My concern has been that when i migrated, I migrated some of the supporting files for the Core2Duo hardware to the i7 hardware and may be losing some performance from 3rd party apps.

No. Migration Assistant doesn't transfer any part of OSX. Only a full system restore does that. See #14 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).

Anyway so I made sure I had a proper TM back up and a file level backup and wiped my machine.

Why?

If the drive is empty, there are only two ways of getting a workable copy of OSX onto it: install Snow Leopard from your Install disc, or do a full system restore.

So here I am with my TM backup knowing I can do a selective restore from the items I choose.
Here are the questions:
1. If I restore my system level "Library" file, will I have negated my purpose in starting from scratch?

Yes. I've never tried it, but I suspect Time Machine won't let you do that anyway.

1a, it seems TM is pretty smart and has either removed or hidden the system files, which makes me think it will only restore parts relative to this machine...am I crazy? [don't answer that]
2. One thing I don't see is a Applications folder, again supports my theory that TM is smart enough to know this is different enough to not allow app restoral, and I seeing that correctly?

Unless you specifically excluded them (and there is some very bad advice to do that, floating about on the internet), Time Machine should have backed-up everything except system work files, caches, trash, etc.

And you should be able to selectively restore apps, including 3rd-party ones, via the "Star Wars" display, once you have a working copy of OSX on your Mac. But that doesn't mean those apps will work properly, or at all. The ones that come with their own installers don't just put the app in /Applications; they put various other files in assorted places, often including the /Library folder. So if you don't know what and where all those other files are, and restore them, too, the app won't work right, if at all.

How and where are you looking for those folders, especially Applications?

My motivation: I am perfectly ok with having to wipe clean the HDD, install the OS, reinstall all my applications, although time consuming, i'm okay with it.

Unless you have reason to suspect lots of corrupted data, there's no reason to do that.

If you've wiped your internal HD, your best bet is probably to do a full system restore (per #14). That should get you back to where you were after the migration, unless some critical things were excluded.

Then if you're having problems with 3rd-party apps, reinstalling them from the original discs might help.

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