Moving from one OS X drive to another OS X drive

Feek · 02-07-2008, 20:56

I have a pair of hard drives in my Hackintosh, one is the boot device and the other is the one with my Time Machine backup on it. There's a new method of building a hack that I want to try. I plan to use a different drive to do this.

Once I've done it, I will still have access to my Time Machine drive. How do I go about getting applications and stuff onto what will be my new boot drive? Can I simply do a time machine restore of everything or is there a better way?

I'm thinking of simply re-installing applications and then using the backup to restore stuff such as iPhoto libraries, iTunes stuff etc etc?

leowyatt · 02-07-2008, 21:09

You can do an install of OSX then use the time machine to restore your machine to the state it was when you last backed up.

Feek · 02-07-2008, 21:12

I'm going to be doing a different method of getting the OS on though so I'm concerned that it'll overwrite the stuff that's allowing this install to work.

Burble · 02-07-2008, 21:33

If you do a time machine restore of everything then it'll literally restore everything and overwrite what's already there.

I've got a feeling you can't use time machine to do what you want. Whilst you can use time machine to restore a specific app from a specific date, I believe those options are only available if you are restoring to the same OS X installation.

Feek · 02-07-2008, 21:36

I thought that might be the way with Time Machine. I'm wondering if it's even worth trying to preserve the drive.

The way I'm planning on doing this, I won't be destroying my original drive so I should be able to just reinstall applications and pull data over as needed.

Is there a migration tool for this sort of thing, sort of like a preferences backup/restore?

Burble · 02-07-2008, 21:51

There's the 'Migration Assistant' in Utilities, but I think that relies on the old Mac still running.

Darryn · 02-07-2008, 21:56

How big is the data on youre current boot drive? I dont bother with TimeMachine instead i use a program called CCC which i schedule to run every now and then, it takes a full copy of the system HDD and copies it onto an external USB2 HDD, which is then fully bootable system drive. So if i ever have a serious problem I can simply boot off the USB2 drive and CCC back over the system drive... Dont know if this helps in any way.

Ive never had to restore off the USB2 drive, i have booted off it a few times just to check its all working how it should be, and besides being quite slow to boot it works perfectly.

Feek · 02-07-2008, 22:03

Aye, I know CCC but that puts me back in the situation where I may as well not bother to rebuild! Having thought further about it, I don't believe that there's a dead simple answer.

Burble · 02-07-2008, 22:04

I thought CCC only worked with firewire drives? Last time I tried it with a USB2 drive connected it didn't show up in CCC.

Time Machine is, to be honest, crap. The SparseDiskBundle format that it uses is extremely prone to corruption. Infact I've had to ditch the image several times and start from scratch because it got corrupted although part of that is down to the Time Capsule also being crap.

That said, I did a Time Machine backup and restore when I shoved a new hard drive in the Macbook and it worked perfectly then.

02-07-2008, 20:56	#1
Feek ex SAS Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: JO01ou Posts: 10,062	Moving from one OS X drive to another OS X drive I have a pair of hard drives in my Hackintosh, one is the boot device and the other is the one with my Time Machine backup on it. There's a new method of building a hack that I want to try. I plan to use a different drive to do this. Once I've done it, I will still have access to my Time Machine drive. How do I go about getting applications and stuff onto what will be my new boot drive? Can I simply do a time machine restore of everything or is there a better way? I'm thinking of simply re-installing applications and then using the backup to restore stuff such as iPhoto libraries, iTunes stuff etc etc? __________________

02-07-2008, 21:09	#2
leowyatt Chef extraordinaire Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Infinite Loop Posts: 11,143	You can do an install of OSX then use the time machine to restore your machine to the state it was when you last backed up. __________________ "Dr Sheldon Cooper FTW!"

02-07-2008, 21:12	#3
Feek ex SAS Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: JO01ou Posts: 10,062	I'm going to be doing a different method of getting the OS on though so I'm concerned that it'll overwrite the stuff that's allowing this install to work. __________________

02-07-2008, 21:36	#5
Feek ex SAS Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: JO01ou Posts: 10,062	I thought that might be the way with Time Machine. I'm wondering if it's even worth trying to preserve the drive. The way I'm planning on doing this, I won't be destroying my original drive so I should be able to just reinstall applications and pull data over as needed. Is there a migration tool for this sort of thing, sort of like a preferences backup/restore? __________________ Last edited by Feek; 02-07-2008 at 21:39.

02-07-2008, 21:56	#7
Darryn Loves his cars more than his friends Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Colne, Lancashire Posts: 108	How big is the data on youre current boot drive? I dont bother with TimeMachine instead i use a program called CCC which i schedule to run every now and then, it takes a full copy of the system HDD and copies it onto an external USB2 HDD, which is then fully bootable system drive. So if i ever have a serious problem I can simply boot off the USB2 drive and CCC back over the system drive... Dont know if this helps in any way. Ive never had to restore off the USB2 drive, i have booted off it a few times just to check its all working how it should be, and besides being quite slow to boot it works perfectly. __________________ My Flickr

02-07-2008, 21:33	#4
Burble Rocket Fuel Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 7,826	If you do a time machine restore of everything then it'll literally restore everything and overwrite what's already there. I've got a feeling you can't use time machine to do what you want. Whilst you can use time machine to restore a specific app from a specific date, I believe those options are only available if you are restoring to the same OS X installation.

02-07-2008, 21:51	#6
Burble Rocket Fuel Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 7,826	There's the 'Migration Assistant' in Utilities, but I think that relies on the old Mac still running.

02-07-2008, 22:03	#8
Feek ex SAS Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: JO01ou Posts: 10,062	Aye, I know CCC but that puts me back in the situation where I may as well not bother to rebuild! Having thought further about it, I don't believe that there's a dead simple answer. __________________

02-07-2008, 22:04	#9
Burble Rocket Fuel Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 7,826	I thought CCC only worked with firewire drives? Last time I tried it with a USB2 drive connected it didn't show up in CCC. Time Machine is, to be honest, crap. The SparseDiskBundle format that it uses is extremely prone to corruption. Infact I've had to ditch the image several times and start from scratch because it got corrupted although part of that is down to the Time Capsule also being crap. That said, I did a Time Machine backup and restore when I shoved a new hard drive in the Macbook and it worked perfectly then.