Restoring Mac using Time Machine... exactly how do I do this?
September 25, 2013 10:06 AM Subscribe
I did a bad bad thing and it should be a rather simple to correct it but sadly, I've never understood how Time Machine works.
To my everlasting shame, I downloaded MacKeeper without investigating it first. Turns out, it's a very controversial program with opinions ranging from "have used it for years, it's fine!" to "it's malware and it can't be uninstalled". Suffice it to say, I regret downloading it and would like to remove it.
I am using Snow Leopard (downloaded, no install disk). Probably have Leopard install disks in the cupboard.
What I've done so far:
Downloaded the stupid thing, it opened automatically and ran a scan, told me I had a bunch of unnecessary files and needed more security, red alert! red alert! yadda yadda. I did not click on anything else, just closed it. Apparently that's the customary result.
Re: uninstalling. A lot of the links go to the website. Also a lot of forum posts warning that it's impossible to uninstall and using the company's uninstaller will make it worse.
I did find a post where a guy restarted in Safe Mode (holding shift at startup) and then dragged app to trash. I did that. Now I see in the Console that the MacKeeper company, Zeobit, is sending a bunch of messages. Like every 10 seconds.
Fortunately--and this never happens to me--I had run a Time Machine backup early this morning on my external hard drive. My question is: how exactly do I use Time Machine to restore my system?
The directions on the Apple Support website are too vague for me, also they refer to Lion and Mountain Lion. There is no "recovery mode" for Snow Leopard.
So far, I've "entered" Time Machine" and seen all the backups stretching back in time and space. The sidebar on the right says "Today" and lists the backup I made at 8 AM. What do I do next?
The window that is open looks like the Finder window. Do I click on something in the left hand column? I see the Restore button at the bottom of the screen but it seems like it's asking me to, eg, find a particular file in the Finder window to restore. I want to restore my entire system because who knows what extra bits of that program are floating around in the system. I'm also hoping it will solve the issue of these incoming messages from Zeobit. If the answer involves using Terminal, you're going to have to be extra-explicit.
To my everlasting shame, I downloaded MacKeeper without investigating it first. Turns out, it's a very controversial program with opinions ranging from "have used it for years, it's fine!" to "it's malware and it can't be uninstalled". Suffice it to say, I regret downloading it and would like to remove it.
I am using Snow Leopard (downloaded, no install disk). Probably have Leopard install disks in the cupboard.
What I've done so far:
Downloaded the stupid thing, it opened automatically and ran a scan, told me I had a bunch of unnecessary files and needed more security, red alert! red alert! yadda yadda. I did not click on anything else, just closed it. Apparently that's the customary result.
Re: uninstalling. A lot of the links go to the website. Also a lot of forum posts warning that it's impossible to uninstall and using the company's uninstaller will make it worse.
I did find a post where a guy restarted in Safe Mode (holding shift at startup) and then dragged app to trash. I did that. Now I see in the Console that the MacKeeper company, Zeobit, is sending a bunch of messages. Like every 10 seconds.
Fortunately--and this never happens to me--I had run a Time Machine backup early this morning on my external hard drive. My question is: how exactly do I use Time Machine to restore my system?
The directions on the Apple Support website are too vague for me, also they refer to Lion and Mountain Lion. There is no "recovery mode" for Snow Leopard.
So far, I've "entered" Time Machine" and seen all the backups stretching back in time and space. The sidebar on the right says "Today" and lists the backup I made at 8 AM. What do I do next?
The window that is open looks like the Finder window. Do I click on something in the left hand column? I see the Restore button at the bottom of the screen but it seems like it's asking me to, eg, find a particular file in the Finder window to restore. I want to restore my entire system because who knows what extra bits of that program are floating around in the system. I'm also hoping it will solve the issue of these incoming messages from Zeobit. If the answer involves using Terminal, you're going to have to be extra-explicit.
Response by poster: Turns out, I did have the Snow Leopard install disk and this worked. Whew!
posted by TWinbrook8 at 12:58 PM on September 25, 2013
posted by TWinbrook8 at 12:58 PM on September 25, 2013
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posted by Gungho at 10:22 AM on September 25, 2013