Will Time Machine continue to backup to same backup after migration to new iMac?

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Level 1

47 points

Will Time Machine continue to backup to same backup after migration to new iMac?

Again, will Time Machine continue backing up to the same backup after I migrate to new iMac? There is conflicting info on this, but supposedly if you use Setup Assistant to migrate your User account from a Time Machine backup and choose "Inherit TM Backup" when and if that window appears (some users report it did not show) it should continue to back up as normal (see whole history - not have to view through Finder). Another point was to keep same User and Computer name on both iMacs until after a successful TM backup (i.,e no "iMac24" and "iMac27").

Also, if that did work, couldn't I then use Time Machine to go back to last backup and restore files directly tot heir place instead of manually copying over to new iMac once migration is complete? That would seem to be the best solution - if the migration works. I say that because I tried restoring my system back to Yosemite from a TM backup after El Capitan upgrade (third-party app issue) and that did not go well.

This whole migrate to new iMac is causing me a lot of stress. Unfortunately, it's never gone smoothly.

I'm migrating from:

iMac 24 - iMac (24-inch Early 2008), OS X El Capitan (10.11.1)

To:

iMac 27 - iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015), OS X El Capitan (10.11)

iMac (24-inch Early 2008), OS X El Capitan (10.11.1), 2.8 GHz 4/320 GB

Posted on Oct 26, 2015 2:07 PM

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Answer 1

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Oct 26, 2015 9:55 PM in response to Sapote

If you follow Apple's instructions to migrate to a new computer, the backup history should be inherited automatically.

Move your content to a new Mac - Apple Support

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Answer 2

Sapote Author

Level 1

47 points

Oct 28, 2015 11:55 AM in response to Linc Davis

It did not - inherit automatically. It was only after the migration process when I told TM to "Back Up Now" that a window popped up (see picture below) asking me if I wanted to "Inherit Backup History". Could no one have simply mentioned/clarified this little important fact and avoid hours of stress? Nothing comes up during the Setup/Migration Assistant process about this, at least not for me, the way I did it (with the TM backup drive connected to new iMac), as everyone seems to imply will happen.

More here; (How) Can I use Existing Time Machine On New Mac Without Erasing Original TM Backups?

Here I wasn't sure if I should remove disk and reselect. I even tried ejecting/re-connecting. Who would know it was as simple as telling TM to "Back Up Now".

10 hours!! on top of the 30 mins or so to prepare the backup. Agggh! All in all about 24 hrs for this migration so far.

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Answer 3

Sapote Author

Level 1

47 points

Oct 28, 2015 12:09 PM in response to Sapote

Update:

It went from 9 hrs to 9 minutes and just finished. 🙂 Now I can get on with completing this migration.

Backup disk is full though. There was about 45 GB empty and this backup was just over 100 GB so bye bye to all of 2012 and some of 2013. Should have moved (consolidated) my iTunes music library back to the Mac HD first as I was planning to do. Oh well... It's been one of those days/nights.

And this is what you get when you try to open Time Machine before inheriting backup history;

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