Does Restoring a Time Machine Backup Repair the OS?

[tekfranz]

Ok I understand I can reinstall Mac OS from the Command + R Menu and the OS is reinstalled without touching (we hope) my files unless I erase the disk first.

However, what if I just choose to restore a Time Machine Backup? Is any disk repair or OS repair performed or is it just a clone of the last backup? Any corruption in the Time Machine Backup would not be repaired but rather put back on its corrupt state?


Is the recommended Troubleshooting Procedure to always reinstall MacOS and the restore your TimeMachine Backup?

 

[chscag]

Restoring a Time Machine backup does not perform repairs on the drive. A full Time Machine restore is just that... it restores your data and technically it's not a clone. Cloning software should be used if you need a clone of the drive. Carbon Copy Cloner and SuperDuper are two popular cloning apps.

The troubleshooting procedure you should use depends on the problem. Time Machine is great for restoring files, folders, from one hour ago, one day ago, or one month ago.... you get the gist. Cloning software will restore an entire drive but the clone will be from the latest you performed.

 

[tekfranz]

Restoring a Time Machine backup does not perform repairs on the drive. A full Time Machine restore is just that... it restores your data and technically it's not a clone. Cloning software should be used if you need a clone of the drive. Carbon Copy Cloner and SuperDuper are two popular cloning apps.

The troubleshooting procedure you should use depends on the problem. Time Machine is great for restoring files, folders, from one hour ago, one day ago, or one month ago.... you get the gist. Cloning software will restore an entire drive but the clone will be from the latest you performed.

Yes that makes sense. In the process of restoring a Time Machine Backup via Command R the drive is erased and then files and OS copied, but as you said no repairs are done. (Note: My question is not about restoring specific files via Enter Time Machine after logging in.)

In the case of the Super Duper Clone, the restore is in the same condition as the original disk that was cloned.

It seems like if there were OS issues I could just reinstall the OS.

If there were file application issues I could just restore the Time Machine Backup.

If both OS and file and Applications were suspect, I could reinstall the OS and then restore the TimeMachine Backup via Command+R.

Also since the TimeMachine reinstalls everything after it deletes the drive, it does act a bit like a clone, at least when doing the Command + R option TimeMachine restore.

The reinstalling OS function seems to be a completely separate function, basically reinstalling or “upgrading” the OS to whatever version they had before.