I need to access a previous backup from my iMac

Hi F,

I do not know the process in Lion, but the general idea is to work from the iMac and copy the files from TM to the iMac, then boot into FireWire Target Disk Mode and copy the files from the iMac to the MBP.

Fyremyst wrote:

. . .

I tried option & control clicking to 'Browse Other Disks' and it doesnt work.

What do you mean? Do you not see the backups? Can't you find what you want? See Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #17.

If that doesn't help, try the things in #E4 of Time Machine - Troubleshooting.

Ah, then see the pink box in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #15A.

Try repairing the backups, per #A5 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting

If that doesn't help, try the other things in #E4 there.

Drat. 😟

I take it you no longer have access to the iMac (or the data you need is no longer there)?

If not, your only remaining options are:

A heavy-duty 3rd-party disk repair app, such as DiskWarrior. These are expensive (DiskWarrior is about $100), and probably a good investment for the future, but there's no guarantee it will work.

A heavy-duty 3rd-party Data Recovery app, per Data Recovery. As noted there, Time Machine backups may be somewhat more difficult to recover than "normal" files.

Ah, great!

Then you should be able to connect by FireWire cable (fastest) or your network and drag & drop the files you need.

You know the iMac's backups are damaged; you don't know if the MBP's are (you may be able to see them, and restore some things from them, but there may be damage in other places you haven't tried to access . . . yet.)

You also don't know what caused the damage, and especially whether the backup disk is beginning to fail.

Assuming these are your only backups, your best bet is to get another drive and back up both Macs to it ASAP. (Make separate partitions for each Mac's backups for best results.)

Then, since the current backups of the iMac are completely unusable, delete them. If they're on a separate partition, just erase it (but take the time to select Security Options and then Fastest to write zeros to the entire partition. If that fails, you know the disk is on it's last legs; if it succeeds, the drive may be ok).

It's unlikely, but one of the possibilities. Like any manufactured product, a few will fail fairly early. Don't forget, disk drives are mechanical beasties, with tiny bearings and moving parts, in addition to the electronics.

But the point is, all hardware fails, sooner or later. Don't trust your backups to a single drive or backup app.

It's more likely that something else caused it, such as an improper disconnection or power failure (even a "blip" of a few milliseconds), an abnormal shutdown of your Mac, a loose plug, etc., but we have no idea yet what it was, much less whether it's likely to reoccur in 5 minutes, 5 months, or 5 years.

Should I just reformat everything and backup both the computers again?

You can do that, of course, but if these are your only backups, you'll have no backups at all for a while, and if there is a problem with the drive, you may have no backups at all until you can get a new one.

Only you know how important your data is to you, but I'd not do that until I had another set of backups.

Fyremyst wrote:

. . .

How can I restore everything affliated with an application on my backup? Such as library files etc. I want to basically install it back on my new computer through time machine.

That's different for each app. You'd have to know where all the files are. There are usually at least 3 places:

* The application itself, in /Applications.

* The data files. Most likely in your home folder, often in ~/Library/Application Support, sometimes in ~/Library/Documents, but it varies (and of course with many apps, you can move them from the default locations, even to an external HD). Sometimes there's a single file, others a complex set of folders and files.

* Preferences and settings, in ~/Library/Preferences.

In addition, "complex" apps, typically the ones that come with their own installers, put other files in other places. Some also install "helper" apps in /Applications.

The locations of some common (mostly Apple) apps are listed in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #28