How to restore from backup

That's very strange. 😟

Maybe I missed something in your earlier post:

I called Apple and they sent me an install DVD. I followed the instructions for restoring from time machine, however, when I restart the computer with the DVD, it goes to a white screen with the apple logo and freezes.

I took that to mean that the restore worked, but you couldn't restart afterwards. But now I think you mean you never even got to the place to start the restore. Which is correct?

If the latter, it sounds like the disk is damaged, or the wrong one for your Mac, or possibly your DVD drive is not working properly. Can you eject the DVD? If you hold the mouse button while restarting, it should eject.

Ah, ok, sorry for the misunderstanding. 😟

So the DVD is basically useless now, and we're back to the beginning, right? (It sounds like you'll need to get the DVD drive repaired (getting an external USB DVD drive might be less expensive. But that's for later.)

Your Mac does start ok normally now (without the DVD), but you don't have your stuff from the backups, right?

If so, let's see if we can get your data from the backups via Migration Assistant.

First, what user accounts are now on your Mac? I suspect the repair shop set one up, and you may have created another. If you created another, did you use the same name as any on your backups? If in doubt, look at System Preferences > Accounts for a list.

Have you added any data you need to keep to any of the accounts?

How many user accounts did you have when you did the backups?

EDIT: Just to confirm, are you sure you're still on 10.6.8?

Message was edited by: Pondini

Ah, great. 🙂

To avoid a confict with the name, you need to create a new, temporary user account -- make it an Admin account.

Then log off your normal account, log on to the new one, and delete the old one (select it in the sidebar of the Accounts page and click the minus sign at the bottom). There will be a prompt about what to do with the home folder -- delete it.

Then start up the Migration Assistant app (in your Applications/Utilities folder). Use it to transfer your apps, users, data, and settings from your backups -- just take all the defaults. It's pretty straightforward, but see Using Migration Assistant on Snow Leopard or Leopard for details if you want.

It will take a while to copy it all, of course, but when it's done, you should be able to log on to your old, transferred account, and have everything be just like it was at the time of the most recent backup.

Keep us posted, and good luck!

Ah, sorry.

You do that from System Preferences > Accounts.

Click the padlock at the bottom and enter your existing Admin password.

Then click the plus sign at the lower left; that will give you a prompt. Be sure to make it an Admin account.

DKLuser1 wrote:

Thanks. I did the migration and it worked,

Yay!

I failed to mention that there is a specific date in time machine I want to restore to. It did not give me the option to select that date.

Yes, both Setup Assistant and Migration Assistant use the last completed backup automatically. The full system restore does allow selecting an earlier backup.

Do you you want specific things from the earlier date? If so, you should be able to use the normal Time Machine browser to do that. See Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #15.

A riskier and trickier course would be to manually delete all the backups after the one you want, so it's the most recent. Then create another user account, delete the one you migrated, and run Migration Assistant again. Not recommended, but possible.

I guess I just need to try replacing my DVD drive...

Yes. You may need it for other things, too -- if you have a directory problem on your internal HD, for example, you'd need to start from the Install disk or a "clone" on an external HD to repair your internal HD.

You might want to look into getting an external one -- might be less expensive and less hassle than replacing the Super Drive. I don't know anything about them, but OWC Sales has some: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/optical-drives/

OWC has a very good reputation, not only for hardware but for service, too. I bought an external HD from them, as have many folks here, with good results. Might be worth giving them a call.

I've used a LaCie external firewire burner for years; I've had several Superdrives fail even though I use them sparingly, but then I don't expect much from a vertically installed super slim laptop style drive where media can shift by 1/1000th of an inch. The only thing I'd miss an internal drive for is that it's handy for copying my movie (homemade) DVDs with Toast occasionally. So, you really want to check getting an external drive (if you ever buy another iMac, you'll need it anyway since there are no Superdrives in the new iMacs.......).