Time Machine: How do I restore my entire system?
If you’re running Lion (10.7), all you need is your Time Machine backup drive. If you’re running Snow Leopard (10.6) or earlier, you’ll also need a Mac OS X Install disc to restore your system. (Disc one of the gray DVDs that came with your Mac works just fine, as long as you’re using the same operating system that came with your Mac originally.)
Warning
Restoring your entire system will erase all existing data so make sure to back up any new data. If you excluded your Applications or System folder from Time Machine backups, you should restore user accounts instead.
- Connect your Time Machine backup disk to your computer.
- Insert the Mac OS X Install disc, and double-click the install Mac OS X icon. (If your computer does not have an operating system installed, you’ll need to start up the computer from the disc by holding C while you turn on the computer.) Alternatively, if you’re running Lion you can restart your Mac while holding down Command-R to boot into the Recovery partition (without the disc).
- Once the Installer loads (you may need to select a language first) choose Restore System from Backup from the Utilities menu or window.
- In the "Restore Your System" dialog box, click Continue. Then select your Time Machine backup drive.
- Select the Time Machine backup you want to restore (usually the most recent one.)
- Follow the onscreen instructions.
Time Machine will perform a full backup of your system after it finishes the restore. This is normal and won’t delete your older backups (unless you’ve run out of space on your backup drive.)
Published March 24, 2009 12:00 PM
Last modified on November 25, 2011 12:38 PM
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