Reader Mike Vogel is curious about configuring a new Mac with multiple transferred accounts. He writes:
Dec 2, 2013 - Reader Mike Vogel is curious about configuring a new Mac with multiple. Is it possible to set up my profile by restoring from my Time Machine.
My wife and I currently have our own MacBook Pros. As we are transitioning to iPads we are going to replace our oldest laptop with a new iMac. So for the first time I need to set up a Mac with multiple user logins. Both laptops currently run Snow Leopard. Is it possible to set up my profile by restoring from my Time Machine backup, and then my wife’s profile by restoring from her Time Machine backup? Or will I have to use Migration Assistant and manually port over data?
In order, the answer to your three questions are Yes, Yes, and Yes/No. Now to lend clarity to these somewhat unclear answers.
Yes and yes you’ll restore your backed up user accounts from their respective Time Machine backups. But yes, you’ll also use Migration Assistant to do it and no, it’s not really a manual operation. In fact, it works this way.
On the new iMac make sure that you have access to the drive where the Time Machine backup is stored and then launch Migration Assistant. It will notify you that it needs to quit all open applications. Allow it to do so.
The first Migration Assistant screen will offer three options regarding data transfer. Select the first one, which reads From a Mac, Time Machine backup, or startup disk and click Continue.
In the next screen choose the drive that holds your backup and then click Continue.
The window that follows will present a list of any backup archives the drive holds. In all likelihood there’s just one. Select it and click Continue.
You may then be asked to choose a stored volume from within the selected backup archive. Do that and click Continue.
Finally you’ll be asked to select the accounts you wish to restore. As you’ve indicated that you haven’t set up multiple accounts in the past, you should see just one. You also have the option to restore applications and computer and network settings. If you’re starting from scratch and intend to reinstall fresh copies of everything, disable these options. If you want to transfer those applications and settings, leave them enabled.
If you’re already configured an account on the new iMac that uses that same user name as you’ve used previously on your MacBook you’ll see a red warning that reads This user needs attention before Migrating. When you click Continue a sheet appears that gives you the option to either replace that account with one that has the same name or keep both user accounts (in which case you must create a new name for the account you’re transferring over). Make the choice you want, click Continue, and the account will be restored.
Turning to your wife’s account, there’s no need to set up an account for her on the iMac. Just repeat this procedure using her Time Machine backup and the account will be created for her when it’s transferred from her MacBook Pro's backup.
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You can use Time Machine, the built-in backup feature of your Mac, to automatically back up all of your files, including apps, music, photos, email, documents, and system files. When you have a backup, you can restore files from your backup if the original files are ever deleted from your Mac, or the hard disk (or SSD) in your Mac is erased or replaced.
Create a Time Machine backup
To create backups with Time Machine, all you need is an external storage device. After you connect the device and select it as your backup disk, Time Machine automatically makes hourly backups for the past 24 hours, daily backups for the past month, and weekly backups for all previous months. The oldest backups are deleted when your backup disk is full.
Connect an external storage device
Connect one of the following external storage devices, sold separately. Learn more about backup disks that you can use with Time Machine.
- External drive connected to your Mac, such as a USB, Thunderbolt, or FireWire drive
- External drive connected to an AirPort Extreme Base Station (802.11ac model) or AirPort Time Capsule
- AirPort Time Capsule
- Mac shared as a Time Machine backup destination
- Network-attached storage (NAS) device that supports Time Machine over SMB
Select your storage device as the backup disk
When you connect an external drive directly to your Mac, you might be asked if you want to use the drive to back up with Time Machine. Select Encrypt Backup Disk (recommended), then click Use as Backup Disk.
An encrypted backup is accessible only to users with the password. Learn more about keeping your backup disk secure.
If Time Machine doesn't ask to use your drive, follow these steps to add it manually:
- Open Time Machine preferences from the Time Machine menu in the menu bar. Or choose Apple () menu > System Preferences, then click Time Machine.
- Click Select Backup Disk (or Select Disk, or Add or Remove Backup Disk):
- Select your external drive from the list of available disks. Then select ”Encrypt backups” (recommended) and click Use Disk:
If the disk you selected isn't formatted as required by Time Machine, you're prompted to erase the disk first. Click Erase to proceed. This erases all information on the backup disk.
Enjoy the convenience of automatic backups
After you select a backup disk, Time Machine immediately begins making periodic backups—automatically and without further action by you. The first backup may take a long time, depending on how many files you have, but you can continue using your Mac while a backup is underway. Time Machine backs up only the files that changed since the previous backup, so future backups will be faster.
To start a backup manually, choose Back Up Now from the Time Machine menu in the menu bar. Use the same menu to check the status of a backup or skip a backup in progress.
Learn more
- If you back up to multiple disks, you can switch disks before entering Time Machine. Press and hold the Option key, then choose Browse Other Backup Disks from the Time Machine menu.
- To exclude items from your backup, open Time Machine preferences, click Options, then click the Add (+) button to add an item to be excluded. To stop excluding an item, such as an external hard drive, select the item and click the Remove (–) button.
- If using Time Machine to back up to a network disk, you can verify those backups to make sure they're in good condition. Press and hold Option, then choose Verify Backups from the Time Machine menu.
- In OS X Lion v10.7.3 or later, you can start up from your Time Machine disk, if necessary. Press and hold Option as your Mac starts up. When you see the Startup Manager screen, choose “EFI Boot” as the startup disk.