TM backup not seen by Migration Assistant

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TM backup not seen by Migration Assistant

Hi all,

I'm using Time Machine with a Time Capsule over WiFi to backup my MacBook Pro mid-2009 with OS X 10.8.4.

I needed to do a fresh install of the OS and before launching this operation, I ran manually Time Machine to be sure to have a backup up-to-date.

After re-installation, I launch the Migration Assistant to recover my data, but it does not see my backup!

The Migration Assitant shows only others backups from other computers, but not the backup I need.

With the Finder, I can access my backup, and mount it to my Mac.

Even when my sparsebundle is mounted on my Mac, the Migration Assitant dose not propose to restore from that backup.

Can anyone help?

One thing also very strange, I try to start on the recovery disk and launch restore from TM, but the backup I could select was one of 15 days ago. So I gave a try, it worked, but I've lost 15 days of data, even though I run a manual TM backup just before reinstalling my OS.

Regards,

Raoul

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.4)

Posted on Jul 26, 2013 6:10 AM

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Answer 1

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Jul 26, 2013 9:46 AM in response to RaoulDebaze

Most likely, some files were inadvertently excluded from your backups, and as a result you can't restore your data in Recovery, Setup Assistant, or Migration Assistant.

Starting from a fresh installation of OS X, set up a new administrator account and log in. Follow the instructions on this page to associate your existing backups with the new installation.

You should now be able to enter Time Machine and restore your user data from a snapshot.* I suggest you do this in two stages. Quit all applications except the Finder before you begin.

Restore all the visible items at the top level of your home folder.
Hold down the option key and select Go ▹ Library from the Finder menu bar. Enter Time Machine and restore all items in the Library folder. Log out and log back in as soon as the restore is complete.

Any other invisible folders or files at the top level of your home folder that you want to preserve will have to be restored separately. For most users, that isn't necessary.

You'll have to reinstall all third-party applications from scratch, or restore them from another kind of backup, if you have one.

*If you don't see any snapshots in Time Machine, exit the time-travel view and then hold down the option key while selecting

Browse Other Backup Disks...

from the Time Machine menu, which has an icon that looks like a clock running backwards. Select the backups of your computer by its previous name. If you don't have the Time Machine menu, open the Time Machine preference pane in System Preferences and check the box marked

Show Time Machine in menu bar

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