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Retrieving Time Machine Backups on PC

for the last year or so I've been using time machine to back up my MacBook Pro. This proved smart, as about a month ago I spilled a drink on said MacBook Pro. unfortunately Im a student and don't have the money to get it fixed, so I'll have to make due with a windows laptop for a few years until I can afford amother MacBook. So my question:


from rom what ice read it's not so easy to restore time machine backups to a PC. All I need are documents, pictures, and iTunes files- I was using MS office, lyx, etc., mostly programs that's are cross-platform. iTunes files are a concern because not all of my music was purchased through iTunes, and much was personal recordings that can't be found elsewhere. My family owns several Mac computers I can use for the transferring of files, although not all of them have OS X Yosemite. When my windows computer arrives, is there any way to access the files from that computer alone? If not, will I be able to use another Mac to move the files to a flash drive or cloud service in order to put them on my new PC? (obviously this needs to happen without restoring the whole harddrive.) And if none of the above, how can I get my files back?

MacBook Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10.1)

Posted on Dec 29, 2014 8:46 AM

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Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Dec 30, 2014 2:12 PM

Hey Dobermuffin,


I know it is frustrating to lose the use of your MacBook Pro. I am so glad that you have been making backups of your data using the Macintosh Time Machine application. It will not run on a Windows computer, but as you have Macs available through your family, the best way to do this will be to recover your files to a Mac and then move those files to your new Windows machine.


The Migration Assistant application (located in a Mac's /Applications/Utilities folder) will allow your transfer information from your data from the Time Machine backup to the hard drive of another Mac. See this article -


Move your data to a new Mac - Apple Support


In particular the section titled Migrate from a Time Machine backup or external drive.


Note step 8. You do not have to transfer everything including applications, computer or network settings. You can just select your home folder, or indeed just portions of your home folder.


Once you have those files on the other Mac you can use one of several methods to move them to your Windows computer. For small amounts of data you can just use a flash drive, you can use a Windows formatted external hard drive, or for a large amount of data you can network the Windows computer with the Mac and use File Sharing to move the files over the network. See this article for how to set up File Sharing on a Mac to work with a Windows computer -


OS X Yosemite: Set up a Mac to share files with Windows users


And this one to connect to the Mac from the Windows computer -


OS X Yosemite: Connect to a Mac from a Windows computer


I hope we see you back in the Macintosh world soon!


Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.


Be well,


Brett L

3 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Dec 30, 2014 2:12 PM in response to Dobermuffin

Hey Dobermuffin,


I know it is frustrating to lose the use of your MacBook Pro. I am so glad that you have been making backups of your data using the Macintosh Time Machine application. It will not run on a Windows computer, but as you have Macs available through your family, the best way to do this will be to recover your files to a Mac and then move those files to your new Windows machine.


The Migration Assistant application (located in a Mac's /Applications/Utilities folder) will allow your transfer information from your data from the Time Machine backup to the hard drive of another Mac. See this article -


Move your data to a new Mac - Apple Support


In particular the section titled Migrate from a Time Machine backup or external drive.


Note step 8. You do not have to transfer everything including applications, computer or network settings. You can just select your home folder, or indeed just portions of your home folder.


Once you have those files on the other Mac you can use one of several methods to move them to your Windows computer. For small amounts of data you can just use a flash drive, you can use a Windows formatted external hard drive, or for a large amount of data you can network the Windows computer with the Mac and use File Sharing to move the files over the network. See this article for how to set up File Sharing on a Mac to work with a Windows computer -


OS X Yosemite: Set up a Mac to share files with Windows users


And this one to connect to the Mac from the Windows computer -


OS X Yosemite: Connect to a Mac from a Windows computer


I hope we see you back in the Macintosh world soon!


Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.


Be well,


Brett L

Retrieving Time Machine Backups on PC

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