How do I rename Time Machine backup folders?

[poiihy]

I have some Time Machine backup folders of my old installations and I need to change the name of them because I want a fresh backup of the new installation. It always says "You have Custom access" no matter what the permissions is set to, and I cannot rename it. Even in root I cannot rename it. How do I rename it? Or more specifically, how do I alter the permissions to allow me to modify it?

 

[rigormortis]

this is something you can't do for a very good reason

heh

 

[poiihy]

this is something you can't do for a very good reason

heh

Then I just have to delete them...

 

[rigormortis]

i tried to import time machine from one computer to the next and it worked

but it deleted my entire backup chain. and all my backups reset

if you rename a time machine backup, it might screw up and stop that time machine disk from being usable on that computer

when you turn on time machine, that specific time machine backup is tied to that particular mac.

have you tried the faq?? its a good website. it screwed me out of an entire backup chain going back 6 months , but it still good i guess

http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html

if there is something you need to import from the old time machine, you could run another copy of os x virtually with vmware fusion

 

[poiihy]

i tried to import time machine from one computer to the next and it worked

but it deleted my entire backup chain. and all my backups reset

if you rename a time machine backup, it might screw up and stop that time machine disk from being usable on that computer

when you turn on time machine, that specific time machine backup is tied to that particular mac.

have you tried the faq?? its a good website. it screwed me out of an entire backup chain going back 6 months , but it still good i guess

http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html

That's the whole point of renaming it. The backups are linked to non-existant installations (old ones) with the same name as my new installations. I don't want to mix old and new backups in the same folders.

 

[rigormortis]

yeah, restoring to a virtual machine would be the best thing to do

then you can drag the stuff you want to your other machine without messing anything up

..

have you tried holding down the option key and time machine icon and trying to browse other backups for stuff you want

 

[poiihy]

yeah, restoring to a virtual machine would be the best thing to do

then you can drag the stuff you want to your other machine without messing anything up

..

have you tried clicking on option time machine icon and trying to browse other backups for stuff you want

What are you talking about?!

 

[rigormortis]

download / buy vmware fusion

make a virtual machine

tell vmware fusion to use "install os x .app" or the install cd or install usb
to set up the virtual machine

once the virtual machine is running, you can connect that to your old time machine and restore everything to the virtual machine, then you can copy whatever you want from the old time machine, without worrying you are going to ruin your new computer

----------

holding down the OPTION key and clicking on "time machine" would also let you browse the old backup for stuff you need without the hassle of restoring everything to a virtual machine

 

[poiihy]

download / buy vmware fusion

make a virtual machine

tell vmware fusion to use "install os x .app" or the install cd or install usb
to set up the virtual machine

once the virtual machine is running, you can connect that to your old time machine and restore everything to the virtual machine, then you can copy whatever you want from the old time machine, without worrying you are going to ruin your new computer

----------

holding down the OPTION key and clicking on "time machine" would also let you browse the old backup for stuff you need without the hassle of restoring everything to a virtual machine

I still don't know what you are talking about

I just have some Time Machine backups I want to rename. Otherwise my old installation and new installations will mix in the same folder. If that's not possible while still having it functional, then I'll just delete them...

 

[rigormortis]

i can help you to try and get documents off the old time machine
and once you get lost stuff off of it, you can erase it


but renaming it and mixing it up, and putting it on the new hard disk, i dunno about that

 

[poiihy]

i can help you to try and get documents off the old time machine
and once you get lost stuff off of it, you can erase it


but renaming it and mixing it up, and putting it on the new hard disk, i dunno about that

I'm not putting anything on new hard disks and I am not copying anything from any time machines! I had two Macs with Mac OS X, I made Time Machine backups of both as well as manually copied data; then I erased and did fresh install. I only need the Time Machine backup incase something goes wrong, but I already have all the data.

 

[rigormortis]

yeah if theres nothing on that time machine disk, just erase it and start a new time machine

its not worth trying to copy it to a different hard disk it just asking for trouble
plus i don't think you can do that anyway

how time machine works is it wants one partition per time machine per computer ( i think ) heh

that means one partition - or one section is reserved for time machine and that time machine is reserved for one individual computer

if you want a hard disk to be able to be used on two computers , then you need a time capsule - apple's wireless router.

if you want one hard disk to be shared between two computers you need to divide it into partitions, like disk 1 and disk 2

and one you do that you tell one mac got back up to disk 1 and you tell the other computer to back up to disk 2

 

[simonsi]

...it wants one partition per time machine per computer ( i think ) heh...

No you can backup more than 1 machine to a TM drive/partition but you will have no control over the relative amount of space each machine uses - if that is important then use a partition per machine, otherwise TM will keep seperate folders for each machine on the one TM drive/partition.

 

[poiihy]

Now I have another problem related. I copied some stuff from a Time Machine backup and they always say "You have custom access" no matter what permissions is set to. I always have to type in my password to modify them!

 

[billyjoe598]

Now I have another problem related. I copied some stuff from a Time Machine backup and they always say "You have custom access" no matter what permissions is set to. I always have to type in my password to modify them!

To solve your first problem, use terminal to rename your backup folder by typing in sudo mv "VOLUME/backups.backupdb" "VOLUME/NEW NAME" As an interesting experiment, create a new folder in the finder named backups.backupdb and you will find that within finder it cannot be renamed or have its contents edited.

WARNING: Time Machine likely won't function correctly when the folder is not named backups.backupdb![/QUOTE]