What Kind of backup TimeMachine do ?

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Hi there,
Recently I tried to make clean lion install ,I had the copy in flash USB . I started through Recovery HD then did format on Macintosh HD driver which is has another partition for Timemachine backup .

Unfortunately,I realized that flash USB doesn't work so I restarted my computer with option key hold and found only one drive can I boot through named ( BACKUP ) which is the name for backup partition on internal driver .I go ahead and boot and its boot to recovery !!!! then I just tried to make restore from backup and my OS was restored successfully !!!

My question is :

1. how is the computer boot through backup partition while the recovery IMG was in other partition which was formated many time and the IMG also formated ?

2. What Kind of backup TimeMachine do ? is it only my files and data or including the LION OS ?

thnx, and sorry for my simple language
 
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Time machine doesn't back-up the core OS, it is designed to restore your entire set-up after a clan OS install

Lion does set-up a hidden partition for restore processes that will boot into the basic OS install program
 

cwa107


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I'm not at all clear on what transpired with your backup or restore procedure, but I'll explain a bit about recovery options with 10.7 and how Time Machine works.

When you install 10.7, it creates a hidden partition that contains the OS X installation media. You can not add anything to that partition, it's locked and hidden from the user. The only time it's accessible is when you hold down Command + R at startup. Although you can make a flash drive that contains the same OS X installation files, in general, it's not needed. Even if you format "Macintosh HD" (your system partition), the recovery partition remains. Apple has been very careful about isolating that recovery partition because 10.7 isn't sold on disc and they know they need an easy way to make the OS re-installable without media.

Time Machine is a backup service that copies mostly user data to an external drive. It will also backup revisions of that user data over time, so that you can restore many different variants of your files. The more space the external drive has, the more revisions of your data Time Machine can backup. Time Machine does not backup the OS, because it's assumed that if you have a catastrophic loss of data, you would reinstall the OS anyway. And following any install of OS X, the installer will prompt you to recover from a Time Machine backup, which will pretty much put your disk back the way it was prior to the loss.

Again, I'm not sure exactly what you did to get to the state you were in, but that's how the technologies work.
 
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It has

Time machine doesn't back-up the core OS, it is designed to restore your entire set-up after a clan OS install

Lion does set-up a hidden partition for restore processes that will boot into the basic OS install program

thank you for your replay , but I believe it backup the whole sys including core OS , this is what happen to me formated Macintosh HD and boot from BACKUP partition and restore the whole SYS , this how my internal driver look :

ScreenShot2012-01-02at60732PM.png
 
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I'm not at all clear on what transpired with your backup or restore procedure, but I'll explain a bit about recovery options with 10.7 and how Time Machine works.

When you install 10.7, it creates a hidden partition that contains the OS X installation media. You can not add anything to that partition, it's locked and hidden from the user. The only time it's accessible is when you hold down Command + R at startup. Although you can make a flash drive that contains the same OS X installation files, in general, it's not needed. Even if you format "Macintosh HD" (your system partition), the recovery partition remains. Apple has been very careful about isolating that recovery partition because 10.7 isn't sold on disc and they know they need an easy way to make the OS re-installable without media.

Time Machine is a backup service that copies mostly user data to an external drive. It will also backup revisions of that user data over time, so that you can restore many different variants of your files. The more space the external drive has, the more revisions of your data Time Machine can backup. Time Machine does not backup the OS, because it's assumed that if you have a catastrophic loss of data, you would reinstall the OS anyway. And following any install of OS X, the installer will prompt you to recover from a Time Machine backup, which will pretty much put your disk back the way it was prior to the loss.

Again, I'm not sure exactly what you did to get to the state you were in, but that's how the technologies work.

Thank you cwa107 I appreciated your replay its clear many things to me , but I'm still confused about the right way for clean Lion installation ,could you have a look on my internal driver image on my previous post , should I format the ( 250 Hitachi drive ) to have clean OS , or it is only (Macintosh HD) ?

Thanks
 

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Thank you cwa107 I appreciated your replay its clear many things to me , but I'm still confused about the right way for clean Lion installation ,could you have a look on my internal driver image on my previous post , should I format the ( 250 Hitachi drive ) to have clean OS , or it is only (Macintosh HD) ?

Thanks

You're got a bit of a mess on your hands there. It appears as though you've partitioned your 250GB drive into two partitions - one called "Macintosh HD" and one called "BACKUP". "BACKUP" is set as a Time Machine drive, while Macintosh HD is your system partition.

This is a bad idea, because when (not "if") that drive fails, it will take both your system partition AND your backup with it! A Time Machine backup should be directed to an external hard drive so that you have a redundant backup on more than one device.

So, my recommendation would be to go out and get an external backup drive before you do ANYTHING else. Then, get a good backup to the external. After that, boot from the recovery partition (Command+R at startup) and then use Disk Utility to remove the existing partitions and create a single Macintosh HD partition.
 

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The funny thing is, I have installed new hard drives many times in Macs and only had a Time Machine Backup. I booted from the OSX DVD and selected restore from Time Machine Backup and selected the backup. Everything was right where it was before the HDD died.

Is OSX being installed from the DVD then the files put back? It was all one operation like the whole OS was backed up in Time Machine.

I just looked in my Time Machine backup folder on my 1TB drive and everything was there. The backup was the full size of my OSX install drive.

Confusing. Either it's getting the OSX part from the DVD or the Backup, but it works. Done it at least 10 times now.
 
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I'll Do it ..

You're got a bit of a mess on your hands there. It appears as though you've partitioned your 250GB drive into two partitions - one called "Macintosh HD" and one called "BACKUP". "BACKUP" is set as a Time Machine drive, while Macintosh HD is your system partition.

This is a bad idea, because when (not "if") that drive fails, it will take both your system partition AND your backup with it! A Time Machine backup should be directed to an external hard drive so that you have a redundant backup on more than one device.

So, my recommendation would be to go out and get an external backup drive before you do ANYTHING else. Then, get a good backup to the external. After that, boot from the recovery partition (Command+R at startup) and then use Disk Utility to remove the existing partitions and create a single Macintosh HD partition.

Thank you cwa107 for your advice which I'll do it ASAP .
 
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It just work

The funny thing is, I have installed new hard drives many times in Macs and only had a Time Machine Backup. I booted from the OSX DVD and selected restore from Time Machine Backup and selected the backup. Everything was right where it was before the HDD died.

Is OSX being installed from the DVD then the files put back? It was all one operation like the whole OS was backed up in Time Machine.

I just looked in my Time Machine backup folder on my 1TB drive and everything was there. The backup was the full size of my OSX install drive.

Confusing. Either it's getting the OSX part from the DVD or the Backup, but it works. Done it at least 10 times now.

I think this is what happen with me and confused me , It doesn't matter from where OSX recovered ...finally it work with me :)
 

dtravis7


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Great to hear you got it working. Good going!
 

chscag

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I just looked in my Time Machine backup folder on my 1TB drive and everything was there. The backup was the full size of my OSX install drive.

My experience also Dennis. My Time Machine backup shows everything, and as a matter of fact, each iteration of the backup shows the same. Of course it could be the way each backup subsequent to the first have been integrated into the original.
 

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