Restoring Files from Time Machine backup without using migration assistant

[dougfly]

Hi all,

I believe there is a conflict in my library that was causing audio problems. The audio problem stopped when I did a clean install of El Capitan, however, when I used Migration Assistant to restore my system I noticed that the problem returned. Because of this I wish to restore only my documents and re-introduce the software one app at a time until I can figure out where the conflict exists. The problem with my approach, however, is if you wish to restore documents only, using Migration Assistant and a Time Machine backup, it also brings over the library.

Do you know of anyway to restore just the files / documents and ensure that everything makes it over (e.g. no accidental loss of files / undetected file corruption etc.)

thanks

 

[leman]

Hi all,

I believe there is a conflict in my library that was causing audio problems. The audio problem stopped when I did a clean install of El Capitan, however, when I used Migration Assistant to restore my system I noticed that the problem returned. Because of this I wish to restore only my documents and re-introduce the software one app at a time until I can figure out where the conflict exists. The problem with my approach, however, is if you wish to restore documents only, using Migration Assistant and a Time Machine backup, it also brings over the library.

Do you know of anyway to restore just the files / documents and ensure that everything makes it over (e.g. no accidental loss of files / undetected file corruption etc.)

thanks

Just copy the files. Btw, use the search function, this question was discussed here yesterday.

 

[dougfly]

Hi Leman,

Thanks for your reply. I presume this is the post to which you're referring?

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/time-machine-conundrum-urgent-help-needed.1949888/

My concern about manually copying files is to ensure that there be some method for cross-checking to see that everything made it over without any file corruption etc. I'd assume that using a program like Migration Assistant would create some form of log that could be referenced to discover this. Am I wrong about the type of information Migration Assistant logs / does the drag and drop method create something comparable?

Thanks for your help.

 

[leman]

Well, Migration Assistant can't do much beyond copying the files in the first place. It might do some sort of digest validation (which I doubt btw). If you want to make sure your copy has completed correctly, you can use a tool like rsync or validate the digest manually (by taking a md5 or sha checksum of the files). But honestly, just copying the file in Finder should be enough. Its very unlikely that something goes wrong during the copy.

 

[dougfly]

Thanks Leman