Transferring from Mac Time Machine to Windows

[jo34]

Hello everyone...

So, my mac definitely died last night and I spent a good part of the day looking for another computer to work on.

I could only find a Windows 7 / XP machine. I will have to use it at least until (if) I can get another mac. The problem now is that I can't figure out how to get my very recent Time Machine backup of the dead mac to be read by the Windows computer. I think the problem is the different filesystem (HFS / NTFS).

Does anyone know of a trick / software that will do it?

Thanks for any useful tips / ideas !

Jo

Lesson #1: always back up - check!
Footnote: do it in an open system...

[Janos™]

I think that you can use Time Machine or other disk to transfer all files, follow the below steps on how to do it:

1. First of all, all you need to do is, on the target Mac, open Migration Assistant (located in /Applications/Utilities/), then click Continue.
2. After that simply, connect your external hard drive if necessary.
3. Now you will have to type in your Admin Password when prompted and click OK.
4. After that when the target Mac asks you for a migration method, select "From a Time Machine backup or other disk", then click Continue
5. Next, you have to select the Drive, Time Machine backup, or Time Capsule. If you select Time Capsule you will be prompted to enter the Time Capsule password. After entering the password, select the Time Machine backup
6. Now, you will have to close all other applications on the source Mac, then click Continue to start the migration options
7. After that the source Mac will ask you to select items to migrate
8. In this step you can customize your selection by clicking to open the disclosure triangles
9. Lastly, when you click on Continue, the Migration Assistant will begin to transfer files to the target Mac. The amount of time that it takes for migration to complete depends on the amount of data being transferred and the speed of the network.

[jo34]

Hi Janos,

Thanks for the detailed instructions. As I read through them though, I suspect I wasn's sufficiently clear in describing my problem.

I have a time machine backup that I need to transfer to a Windows machine to keep working (at least temporarily, until I can get another Mac). So the target has to be Win 7

anyone can help with ideas ?

thanks !!!

[Expertz]

I dont think it is possible to transfer time machine backup to Windows 7 pc but incase of Windows Home server it is possible. And if you can use the Windows Server then follow the below method:

1.Activate 'unsupported' network drives for backup

defaults write com.apple.systempreferences TMShowUnsupportedNetworkVolumes 1

2.Create a sparsebundle which will be used by TimeMachine for doing its job. This sparsebundle has to be created locally

sudo hdiutil create -size 320g -type SPARSEBUNDLE -nospotlight -volname "Backup of <computer_name>" -fs "Case-sensitive Journaled HFS+" -verbose ~/Desktop/<computer_name>_<mac address>.sparsebundle

3.Share the external HD on your Windows server (or notebook as in my case) and make sure you have the necessary user rights for writing/reading.

4.Mount the network drive and copy the created sparsebundle on it

5.Configure the network drive for backups by referencing it from within the Time Machine configuration

You have to pay attention that the hostname you indicate in the .sparsebundle name matches exactly your Mac's hostname. Spaces and strange characters may create problems. Moreover I'd suggest to do the first backup directly over a wired network connection since the 1st backup may take quite a while.