Access time machine backup files using Tiger (OS10.4.11)

My G5 with leopard installed is under repair and I am using my old iBook which can not run Leopard so I am on tiger 10.4.11. I wanted to access back up files on my external hard drive (backed up with time machine) but when I enter the back up files they all are aliases and have no data attached. I know the data are there by the memory taken up on the external hard drive. How can I access my files using Tiger - surely it can be done. Where are the real files? If anyone knows how please let me know. Thanks.

I have done as you suggested and clicked on the show original but I get this message " The volume cannot be found. Insert the disk or connect to the server volume and wait for it to appear on the desktop, then try again." I have the external disk already connected as that is what I am trying to recover the file from i.e. where I find the aliases. Any further suggestions. Thanks

Similar Messages

  • Can anyone access time machine backup files by connecting to time capsule by ethernet cable?

    I operate an imac connected to a time capsule. It works great. My internet is connected to the time capsule with an ethernet cable and I access the internet on my imac using an ethernet cable connected to the time capsule. I can also connect to the time capsule using wireless.
    A colleague of mine wants to connect to the internet and because of location issues the only convenient way is to let him connect to my time capsule using an ethernet cable. He can access the internet fine and he uses a windows PC. Now my question is, will he be able to access my time machine backup files if he connects to my time capsule using an ethernet cable? I have not given him my password.
    Any help will be appreciated. I want to help him get online but I want to make sure he cannot access my time machine backup files.
    Thanks

    There are actually 3 passwords on the Time Capsule - assuming it has the same setup as my Airport Extreme Base Station.
    One password for the WiFi connection.
    One password to access setup of the device
    One password for access to the storage drive - most people leave the check-box to just use the base-station setup password again.
    And, as I said before, you also have the option to encrypt your TM backups.  So even if somebody runs off with the device and breaks in to the disk, it will all be garbage without the TM password.
    This is the screen as it is on my computer:
    As you can see, to access my drive I have it set to use the device setup password.
    Here is a screen shot of the other options:

  • Can't Access Time Machine Backup Files After Reinstall

    I just completed a clean reinstall of Mountain Lion. Obviously I've missed some important step(s). When I enter Time Machine, I can see that there are older back ups by the dates on the right hand side of the screen, but they are greyed out. I'm confident the files are there, the issue is being able to access the files.
    I've seen some notes about "reassociating Time Machine" with my "new" computer with some terminal commands, but I get lost with the instructions I've read and it sounds like if I do it wrong there is a pretty good chance I could really cause some damage. For the time being, I've turned off TM, but the dirve is still mounted and available.
    For some reason, I was able to access and resotre my Documents folder - I just can't get into all the folders/files. Prior to the reinstall, I did visually confirm that I could see and access all my backup files.
    Any help is appreciated.
    Thanks.

    Time Machine Troubleshooting
    Time Machine Troubleshooting Problems
    Time Machine FAQ

  • How to access Time Machine backups after using migration assistant?

    Can someone please help me with a TM issue.
    My HD died so I fitted a new one.  I figured that I would do a clean install rather than use TM to bring across a whole bunch of 5 year old junk and Aps that all broke after the Leopard -Snow Leopard -Lion -Mountain Lion upgrades.
    Installed 10.8.2 Mountain Lion, no issues.  Then used TM to drag and drop all the Applications I actually wanted, still good.  Then used Migration assistant to bring in the remainder of the settings, documents, mail etc.  For some reason you cannot migrate to the current default user so you have to create a new user profile which I did.  New profile was great so I deleted the other profile created at install that was pretty much blank.
    At this stage everything looks awesome but I noticed a video clip was missing in a Final Cut project so I went back into TM to retrieve it.  Now, all the documents in my old user profile in TM have a little no entry symbol on them and I do not have permission to look at those files.
    It looks as though I am now being treated as someone else on a different machine and no doubt TM will continue to work from this point on but how do I tell it that there is just one user on this machine and I want access to all the historic backups too?
    Any advice will be gratefully received.

    Many thanks for your response Mende,
    I am trying to specifically NOT do a full TM restore because I have some issues with some programs that I cannot delete.  I wanted a fresh start but from what I understand the TM will bring back everything as it was, including all the corrupt system files.  Fixing the TM permissions would be the preferable option.
    (I attempted to make a windows partition on my system once, thinking it would make some sort of clever fake-windows desktop supported by Mac coding. It actually wanted me to do a full windows 7 install on the partition with windows install disks so I cancelled the process.  Because it was a partial install I have not been able to uninstall the modifications and my system was crashing regularly due to some sort of stray code).
    Just out of interest, if your OSX install is perfectly good, will TM use that or will it still take your OSX from the TM backup?
    Apart from that one stray file, my system is now super clean and faster than ever... but maybe there are still some things missing that I haven't noticed yet.

  • Unable to access time machine backup. The folder "Documents" can't be opened because you don't have permission to see its contents.

    My MacBook Pro with 750GB storage refuses to startup due to a problem with logic board (unfortunately I'm in Singapore and there is no Apple store here and zero customer support).  I'm trying to access some of the files from the time machine back-up using my MacBook Air with 120GB storage, but I'm unable to open the backup.  I receive an error message "you don't have permission to see its contents". Unable to access time machine backup. The folder “Documents” can’t be opened because you don’t have permission to see its contents.
    I don't really want to migrate the data from the time machine to the MacBook Air as I simply don't have sufficient storage space on the MacBook Air.  The iPhoto library which I'm trying to access is 200GB, which is more than the size of the MacBookAir.
    Is there any way I can view the photos and documents stored on the time machine backup.
    Thank you very much.

    When you setup the Mac, you created a Admin user account with say name X
    You ran Migration Assistant and it migrated user Y from the Windows machine.
    User Y has different permissions than User X.
    User X can't normally access User Y's account.
    So what you do is log out of User X via the Apple menu and into User Y, this way you have permission to access the files.
    If you want to transfer files from User Y to User X account
    Transfer files between user accounts on the same machine instructions
    Finder > Go menu > Computer
    A window appears with your boot drive, double click on it to open
    Inside is Users folder, double click to open it
    Inside is your User accounts, double click on the one you want to send files too
    Double click on the Public folder drop the files into the DropBox folder,
    The permissions will change and can be used in the other user account when you log into it and moved to the appropriate folders.
    Applications are typically installed and kept in the Applications folder which is a global access folder all users can access to run them from, but not all users can modify unless they are a Admin user.
    Windows programs won't run on a Mac, but they can be instaled into a virtual machine program that is running Windows.
    Windows in BootCamp or Virtual Machine?

  • Can't access Time Machine backups through GUI

    Here's what happens when I tried to access Time Machine backups. This description is when I try to "browse" backups from within iPhoto. I believe that a similar thing happened when trying to look directly after opening the Time Machine from within the Dock:
    The window goes to the center of the screen (smaller than normal) and the top menu bar disappears (you can see the desktop through the empty translucent bar). Nothing else happens. You can't apply expose hot corners or activate the dock.
    It looks like maybe the Time Machine layout is TRYING to activate (as in the original demos), but doesn't complete. There is no timeline of windows or the sidebar timeline.
    Any ideas what I need to do to fix this? Once it happens, the only way that I can back out (since the Dock is inaccessible) is the hit the escape key a couple of times.

    When I do it from within iPhoto, I'm not getting the multiple panes or the forward backward arrows. All I get is the first/current frame in the centered pane.
    Here is a screenshot of iPhoto before I select "browse backups":
    [IMG]http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m29/teacher24_70/MiscScreenShots/iPhoto-1.jpg[/IMG]
    Here is a screenshot after I select "browse backups":
    [IMG]http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m29/teacher24_70/MiscScreenShots/iPhoto-Brows eBackups.jpg[/IMG]
    By the way, I don't use Mail.app, so I can't really test it through there. Is there another Apple app that has this functionality built in?
    -(.)^(.)- wrote:
    Hmmm... not exactly sure what you are trying to do with Time Machine. If you are in iPhoto, you will see the folder you are viewing. For example, I can view my Last Import folder for Aug. 20. Now I can clip on the pane behind it and go back in Time to what my Last Import Folder on, say, Aug. 13, one week ago. Obviously, I will be viewing photos I Last Imported as of Aug. 13. I can also click on the forward and back arrows on the right side to view on a different date. Sorry, not that comfortable posting personal pics to show you what it should look like, but I hope this description helps.
    Using Mail as an example is much simpler as the Inbox will change on a daily (even hourly) basis. In the case of Mail, if you start deleting mail on Aug. 20 from the Inbox and suddenly realize you deleted something you didn't want to, simply click the TM icon and you will be in a TM interface. Go back to the dated backup BEFORE you deleted that email and RESTORE it. It will restore it into a NEW TM folder to indicate this is a restored mail. Use the gear icon on the top when using Finder to restore files.
    Good luck!
    Message was edited by: teacher24_70

  • I have a time machine backup file on a USB hard drive.  I bought a time capsule / airport extreme, flat 3TB.  I wish to transfer the backup file from the usb hard drive to the time capsule hard drive.  10.6.8

    I have a time machine backup file on a USB hard drive.  I bought a time capsule / airport extreme, flat 3TB.  I wish to transfer the backup file from the usb hard drive to the time capsule hard drive.  10.6.8

    Unfortunately, Time Machine backups that are stored on a drive that has been connected directly to a Mac are completely different than Time Machine backups that are stored on a Time Capsule.
    Frankly, it is not worth the effort and trouble to try to transfer the old backups to the new Time Capsule.....my opinion....having done this in the past.
    It is possible though, but I would not recommend it due to the complexity and downsides involved with this. To give you an idea of how to do this, check out this support article.
    http://pondini.org/TM/18.html
    Even if you transfer the "old" backups over to the Time Capsule successfully, Time Machine will not simply "add on" to the old backups.
    Time Machine will make a new complete backup of your Mac and then add incremental backups from that point.
    My advice.....start a new backup on the Time Capsule and move forward. Keep the USB hard drive around for a month, maybe 2 or 3 in case you need to go back to an old backup for some reason.  At that time, you will not likely need the old backups at all since you will have a current 2-3 month history of new backups.  At that point, you can erase the USB drive and use it for another purpose.

  • Time Machine backup file corrupted and locked

    This morning when I switch on my Mac there was a dialogue box telling me that my Time Machine backup file was corrupted and that Time Machine would have to create a new backup file.
    I am backing up my Macs to a disk connected to my Airport Extreme. It's been working for months without any problems. Other than this morning. Time Machine buddy had the following message:
    +Starting standard backup+
    +Attempting to mount network destination using URL: afp://[email protected]/MyBookHome+
    +Mounted network destination using URL: afp://[email protected]/MyBookHome+
    +QUICKCHECK ONLY; FILESYSTEM DIRTY+
    +Runtime corruption detected on /Volumes/MyBookHome/iMac27.sparsebundle (fsck_hfs -q termination status: 3)+
    +Attempting to mount network destination using URL: afp://[email protected]/MyBookHome+
    +Mounted network destination using URL: afp://[email protected]/MyBookHome+
    +Backup verification failed for image /Volumes/MyBookHome-2/iMac27.sparsebundle!+
    +Moved previous backup image to /Volumes/MyBookHome-2/iMac27_2010-11-01-032949.sparsebundle+
    +Recovery backup declined by user.+
    +Backup canceled.+
    +Ejected Time Machine network volume.+
    Has anybody seen something like this before?
    I now have a locked and renamed sparsebundle on my disk and backups are not working anymore.

    aschmid wrote:
    Yes you are right, I know it isn't supported - as so many other things but they work!
    This one is notorious for working for a while, then . . . not.
    In addition to the problems above I got a pop-up from Time Machine saying the backup file is broken and it needs to create a new one. I told it to go ahead and what happened is that it actually proceeded to DELETE the old backup file before creating a new one - there goes my several months of backup history!
    Yes, just as it says in the message. See #C13 in [Time Machine - Troubleshooting|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Troubleshooting.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
    All I can say do now is connect my drive directly to my iMac and figure out a way how I can backup my other iMac and the MacBook I have. On the AE this just worked remotely.
    Yeah. Until it didn't.
    Really not much options here to backup a home with 3 Macs!?!
    Sure there is. Back the others up to the same drive, over your network, via sharing. See #22 in [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum), for details and setup instructions.

  • Determining the Size of a Time Machine Backup File

    When I highlight a Time Machine backup file and then click on Get Info under File to determine the size of the backup file, the disk drive works its heart out, but the Get Info window never arrives at a determination of the file size being seemingly stuck in the "calculating size" state.
    Anybody have an idea of what's going on?
    JohnnyS

    JohnnyS wrote:
    Regarding your statement: "If you Enter Time Machine (the "Star Wars" interface), from a Finder window with a "size" column, then browse your backups, you should be able to see the sizes easily." - what do you mean by the "Star Wars" interface?
    Ah, you are new to Time Machine. Sorry, that's how you view and restore from your backups. Hold your mouse down on the TM icon in your Menubar and select +*Enter Time Machine,+* or click the TM icon in your Dock, or the +*Time Machine+* app in your Applications folder.
    If I look at the pull-down menu under Finder, I do not see Enter Time Machine. Am I looking in the wrong place? Obviously, since I couldn't get by the first step, I never got to a "size" column, and to be honest, I don't know that I have ever seen a Finder window with a "size" column.
    You can add one, by selecting View > as List, then View > Show View Options in a Finder window's menubar, and select or de-select whatever columns you want.
    I'm a little embarrassed by my lack of knowledge, but if I don't acknowledge my shortcomings, I'll never get the question answered. Thanks for taking your time to try to help me.
    Don't be. We all started at zero at one time or another.
    I'm not sure just what you were looking for in your first post. The size of all your TM backups is just the amount used on your external disk, unless you have other data in the same partition (which isn't a good idea). Because of the way TM works, you can't really determine the size of an individual backup, and it really wouldn't mean much.
    Perhaps if you clarified just what you want to know, we can help answer it.
    For more info on Time Machine, you might want to review these:
    Time Machine Tutorial
    Time Machine 101
    How to back up and restore your files
    Time Machine Features
    Apple - Support - Mac OSX v10.5 Leopard Time Machine
    and perhaps browse the Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip* at the top of this forum.
    If you have a problem setting-up or using Time Machine, start with the Time Machine - Troubleshooting *User Tip* at the top of this forum. It will show you how to locate the message(s) that describe the problem, then help you fix it.

  • Ow can I use my time capsule as a time machine backup without using it wirelessly and not as a wireless router?

    How can I use my time capsule as a time machine backup without using it wirelessly and not as a wireless router?

    bzb888 wrote:
    I have a wireless transmitter already, would like to use the capsule just as a back up drive, I tried hooking up from the ethernet port on the imac to the one of the ports on the capsule but then my Wifi would not work. do I hook the cable to the port with the circle or the arrows?
    It is better to have the TC as part of the main network in bridge. You do not need to run wireless.
    If you want to use the TC plugged in by ethernet and still use wireless for internet, that is possible but the setup is rather more complicated.. the computer must not get confused about which device to use as a gateway or dns server.
    See info in this thread on setting this up.
    https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4817218?tstart=30
    I need to add.. a USB drive would be cheaper, faster and more reliable. It is really poor use of a TC.

  • Hi, Question about secure empty trash. I moved some Time Machine backup files to the trash from an external hard drive. Now I can't secure empty trash. It starts, finds 74,003 files, and does nothing. The external hard drive shows it's empty, but it isn't

    I moved some time machine backup files from an external USB hard drive to the trash. Tried secure empty trash. It counts 74,003 items, then just sits there. The external hard drive window shows it's empty, but the info pane says it only has 50G of memory left. I left the secure empty trash on over night. It did nothing. Ideas?
    Thanks,
    Ron

    Relaunch the Finder, then from the Finder menu bar, select
    Finder ▹ Preferences ▹ Advanced
    and uncheck the box marked Empty Trash securely. Try again to empty the Trash.

  • Time Machine backup files not able to access

    Before Reinstalling  Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5, I have made my WD My passport 1TB as Recovery HD and then took time machine backup.
    After Re-Installing  Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5, I am not able to see any of the content in my HD.
    I tried to connect Timemachine using Migration Assitant to connect my HD but still it is taking long time. 
    How can I get back my data in HD to reinstalled Mac.?

    There are actually 3 passwords on the Time Capsule - assuming it has the same setup as my Airport Extreme Base Station.
    One password for the WiFi connection.
    One password to access setup of the device
    One password for access to the storage drive - most people leave the check-box to just use the base-station setup password again.
    And, as I said before, you also have the option to encrypt your TM backups.  So even if somebody runs off with the device and breaks in to the disk, it will all be garbage without the TM password.
    This is the screen as it is on my computer:
    As you can see, to access my drive I have it set to use the device setup password.
    Here is a screen shot of the other options:

  • Access time machine backup using AFP

    i have lion installed on my macpro and have been using an extrernal NAS by Thecus for my Time Machine backups (which has worked without issues).  My OS drive got corrupted due to a poweroutage, eventhough i had a battery backup i was not around to properly shut down my mac, so now i can no longer boot to os x, its stuck on the apple logo screen.  I decided to restore from my Time Machine backup but ran into some trouble since the backup is on a network storage drive folder.  I found this article here: http://gigaom.com/apple/how-to-use-time-machine-over-a-network/ , where i found instructions on how to mount this external drive folder using terminal.  I followed the instructions and i can view in terminal that i successfully mounted the drive/folder, however on the "select a backup source" screen for Time Machine in the mac recovery utility the mounted drive does not appear for me to select.  Does the recovery utility not allow to restore from a network backup source using AFP?  please help!  thank you in advance!

    I have done as you suggested and clicked on the show original but I get this message " The volume cannot be found. Insert the disk or connect to the server volume and wait for it to appear on the desktop, then try again." I have the external disk already connected as that is what I am trying to recover the file from i.e. where I find the aliases. Any further suggestions. Thanks

  • Access Time Machine Backup from a different computer

    Hi everyone,
    I have recently had to put my Macbook in for repair and have been told it will be about a month before I get it back. My wife has a Macbook of her own, so I using that for the time being to continue working on my MA essays due in the next two weeks. My problem is that I dutifully did a complete backup of my files through Time Machine before sending my own Macbook away, only to find I cannot access the files on my wife's computer!
    I realise this is completely my fault, but the files in the Time Machine backup represent months of work and I desperately need access to them! I have tried accessing the backups via Time Machine, and when this failed I went through Finder to the Backup folder on my external hard drive, only to find a little no entry sign next to the relevant folders. When I try to open them I get told I 'do not have sufficient access privileges'. Is there ANY way around this? I am desperate!

    The Northern Contingent wrote:
    Hi everyone,
    I realise this is completely my fault, but the files in the Time Machine backup represent months of work and I desperately need access to them! I have tried accessing the backups via Time Machine, and when this failed I went through Finder to the Backup folder on my external hard drive, only to find a little no entry sign next to the relevant folders. When I try to open them I get told I 'do not have sufficient access privileges'. Is there ANY way around this? I am desperate!
    You should post this with something to do with "Access privileges" in the title so the right people read it - those who don't use Time Machine probably won't bother with this thread. You were right to try a direct-access route through the Finder, because you can drag Time Machine files directly when you need to. I don't know enough about permissions to help you with the permission thing; it might be as simple as setting up an account on your wife's machine that has the same username and password as your own machine.
    But note (in regard to the Jeremy's post) that if you do get a new logic board - yes, he's right, you'll have a different MAC address, which means you can't continue on with your TM backups. But you can't change the MAC address on the logic board; instead, there's a nice, geeky way to change the Time Machine backups record of what MAC address they were married to. You'll find the info here:
    http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20080128003716101

  • How do I restore Time Machine backup files (from TC) to an external HD?

    I did a full Time Machine backup of my machine to a Time Capsule. All told, around 500GB. The MBP to which I'd like to transfer the files doesn't have a big enough hard drive. However, I do have a 1TB External HD that I could use. Can I use Time Machine or Migration Assistant to move/access the files? I'm using Lion.

    See: Mac 101- Time Machine, Time Machine - 101 Tutorial, Pondini's Time Machine FAQ - All You Need for Time Machine, and Pondini's Time Machine FAQ.

Maybe you are looking for