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Restoring from a Time Machine Backup

I have a MacBook which is rather old now and with all the updates over time has become very slow. I am intending to clear the hard disk and reinstall a clean version of High Sierra..


My first question is would this improve how quickly it runs.? Im not bothered about using hungry applications just power on, internet, emal and office applications..


Secondly, I run regular backups to the Time Machine so my intention is to restore my Mac from that once the clean OS is installed.. Will this take me back to square one and slow my Mac down straight away with the accumulated junk that will be on the image..?


Appologies if the above are rather baisc obviouse questions but I've never done this on a Mac or had to use the Time Machine Backups before so would appreciate any suggetions on the best way of cleaning up my Mac so it starts in less than 5mins...!! Ideally without spend cash on 3rd party software that is on sale..

MacBook Pro, macOS High Sierra (10.13.2)

Posted on Feb 27, 2018 3:09 AM

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4 replies

Feb 27, 2018 10:00 AM in response to DexterTheFluffyDog

The laptop is a MacBook Pro (13-inch, Early 2011) 2.7 GHz Intel Core i7, 16 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 with a 500Gb HD and I am currently running HighSierra 10.13.2 which has been updgraded over time from whatever system was on it orginally.

Thanks for providing the details on your notebook. Just upgrading to 10.13.3 will not bring about a significant increase in performance, but the process of performing a clean install and re-installing your apps should provide an improvement.

With regard to the Apps everything I currently use works so I assume they are compatible its just the overall system is slow so, I guess as with the clean instal of the OS if I take your suggestion and download the current version of the software/apps i use it should be as good as it will ever get..? So not restoring them from the Time Machine just my documents/files etc..???

Correct on all points.


Ref:

Feb 27, 2018 9:17 AM in response to DexterTheFluffyDog

I have a MacBook which is rather old now and with all the updates over time has become very slow. I am intending to clear the hard disk and reinstall a clean version of High Sierra..


My first question is would this improve how quickly it runs.? Im not bothered about using hungry applications just power on, internet, emal and office applications..

It will depend on what hardware & software your MacBook is currently running as it would be difficult to predict any performance improvements without knowing ... so we would need a bit more information about your Mac, like the exact model number, the current amount of RAM, HD type and size, etc.

Secondly, I run regular backups to the Time Machine so my intention is to restore my Mac from that once the clean OS is installed.. Will this take me back to square one and slow my Mac down straight away with the accumulated junk that will be on the image..?

Potentially, yes. Two things to consider:

  1. You may have applications that are not supported in macOS High Sierra.

    Application compatibility table - RoaringApps

  2. Years of accumulating "stuff" may prove difficult to troubleshoot if you should experience any issues with restoring them.


You would be better off, performing a clean install, and then, installing the latest versions of apps that you need, and finally, restoring any data.

Feb 27, 2018 9:29 AM in response to Tesserax

Thanks for the reply..

The laptop is a MacBook Pro (13-inch, Early 2011) 2.7 GHz Intel Core i7, 16 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 with a 500Gb HD and I am currently running HighSierra 10.13.2 which has been updgraded over time from whatever system was on it orginally.

With regard to the Apps everything I currently use works so I assume they are compatible its just the overall system is slow so, I guess as with the clean instal of the OS if I take your suggestion and download the current version of the software/apps i use it should be as good as it will ever get..? So not restoring them from the Time Machine just my documents/files etc..???

Feb 27, 2018 12:32 PM in response to DexterTheFluffyDog

MacBook Pro (13-inch, Early 2011) 2.7 GHz Intel Core i7, 16 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 with a 500Gb HD

This is still an excellent spec laptop. Your big problem is the 500GB drive if it is still mechanical.. Apple used relatively slow 5400rpm drives. Over the last 7 years.. it will not have improved.


Replace with 500GB SSD.. it is the single best update you can do to any machine with mechanical drive. If the laptop breaks down recover the SSD before you trash it. Or replace the 500GB mechanical drive if you want to sell it.


And create a bootable clone using Carbon Copy Cloner.. if you are already on SSD just get a USB drive (FW800 would be slightly faster.. and thunderbolt hugely faster) external drive.. and create a clone of the current install. Then you can wipe and reinstall the OS clean.. Apps also would be good to do clean install although getting all the licenses can be tricky. Start fresh with your emails if possible.. depending on the type of email you use.. and you can transfer your main user files.

Restoring from a Time Machine Backup

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