Access to old Time Machine backups in Mountain Lion

I would like to perform a clean install of Mountain Lion on my Mac and I have a few questions regarding Time Machine. I currently use Lion and Time Machine is set up on an external drive. I do not wish to use setup or migration assistant.
After the clean install, will I be able to browse AND copy filed from the old backups manually?
If I do copy the files, will I have permission errors?
Basically, I wish to copy only select files from the Home Folder and re-install everything else anew. However, I don't want to have problems access files after they are copied. After that, I want to restart Time Machine in Mountain Lion and start a new backup.
Thank you in advance for your time and advice.

lukemac77 wrote:
I would like to perform a clean install of Mountain Lion
Why? That rarely accomplishes anything good.
I do not wish to use setup or migration assistant.
Why not?
If you want to leave apps behind, do the clean install, then use Setup Assistant to transfer your home folders, but omit Applications. You can also omit some broad categories of things in your home folders if you want. See Using Setup Assistant on Mountain Lion or Lion.
1. After the clean install, will I be able to browse AND copy filed from the old backups manually?
If you mean via the TM browser (the "Star Wars" display), perhaps. If the user account(s) you set up have the corresponding UIDs as on the backups, yes. (See the pink box in Problems after using Migration Assistant for an explanation.)
2. If I do copy the files, will I have permission errors?
If you copy them via the Finder, possibly. Especially if the UIDs don't correspond, the new user account may not have permission to change or delete things. You may be able to put default permissions on them via
Resetting Password and/or User Permissions.
Basically, I wish to copy only select files from the Home Folder and re-install everything else anew.
If you skip Applications, and reinstall them, your best bet is to use Setup Assistant, omitting any broad categories you can. Otherwise, let it all transfer, then delete what you don't need.
After that, I want to restart Time Machine in Mountain Lion and start a new backup.
If you don't use Setup Assistant or Migration Assistant, the next backup will be a full one. Plus, the previous backups will be treated as if they were made from a different disk. You can still see them, but via the procedure in #E3 of Time Machine - Troubleshooting.
You may be able to avoid that by manually telling Time Machine to "associate" the erased drive with the old backups, per #B6 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.

Similar Messages

Downgrading from Mavericks to Mountain Lion WITHOUT time machine backup from Mountain Lion.

Hello. I'm one of the unlucky owners of Macbook Retina 15" Mid 2012. I was very satisfied with this computer, everything was great, untill I installed OS X Mavericks. My computer started to have GPU Panics all the time under some "heavier" usage like watching long videos on YouTube. I googled this problem and then I saw that I wasn't the only one, many people had problems after upgrading to Mavericks. I also read that downgrading to Mountain Lion solves the problem, but after the Internet Recovery update, when you are restoring your mac, it restores as Mavericks. I read Apple instruction how to revert os x, but it requires Time Machine backup from Mountain Lion, I already downloaded ML Installer from AppStore but I don't know how to install it.
Greetings,
Mdkn

If you have a Mountain Lion installer application then you can downgrade, but you will have to erase the drive. You should try backing up your Home folder in advance so you could at least restore your data. You will need to reinstall any third-party applications.
Make Your Own Mavericks, Mountain/Lion Installer
After downloading the installer you must first save the Install Mac OS X application. After the installer downloads DO NOT click on the Install button. Go to your Applications folder and make a copy of the installer. Move the copy into your Downloads folder. Now you can click on the Install button. You must do this because the installer deletes itself automatically when it finishes installing.
   2. Get a USB flash drive that is at least 8 GBs. Prep this flash drive as follows:
Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
After DU loads select your flash drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the leftside list. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list.
Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to an hour depending upon the flash drive size.
            3. Use DiskMaker X to put your installer clone onto the USB flash drive.
Wait for the process to complete which will take quite some time.
Use your new installer flash drive to boot the computer. Boot by doing:
Boot Using OPTION key:
1. Restart the computer.
2. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the
      "OPTION" key.
3. Release the key when the boot manager appears.
4. Select the disk icon for the USB flash drive.
5. Click on the arrow button below the icon.
Partition and Format the hard drive:
Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.
After DU loads select your newly installed hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed. Quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion. Mavericks: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion, Mavericks and click on the Install button. Be sure to select the correct drive to use if you have more than one.
You will need an active Internet connection.

Using a time machine backup of Mountain Lion on Mavericks

I have just installed Mavericks with a clean installation from Mountain Lion. I have a time machine backup of Mountain Lion, but I do not want to use this backup to restore my system because I have a lot of problem and I would like to be sure that is not a problem connected to the software.
Can I use the previous time machine disk as backup of the new operating system without losing the previous backups?
If I use it, I cannot restore the system with the "Mountain Lion" state with the migration assistant, is it true?
Thanks

No. Time Machine will be replacing your existing backup with a new one of your Mavericks system. If you wish to replace Mavericks with Mountain Lion, then I suggest you replace it with another backup of Mountain Lion, if you have one. Otherwise, if you've permitted Time Machine to run since installing Mavericks, then you not longer have a Mountain Lion backup.
You will need to go to your Purchases page in the App Store and try to re-download your Mountain Lion purchase. If you can, then after the Mountain Lion installer downloads and opens quit the installer - do not run it. Now do this;
Make Your Own Mavericks, Mountain/Lion Installer
After downloading the installer you must first save the Install Mac OS X application. After the installer downloads DO NOT click on the Install button. Go to your Applications folder and make a copy of the installer. Move the copy into your Downloads folder. Now you can click on the Install button. You must do this because the installer deletes itself automatically when it finishes installing.
Get a USB flash drive that is at least 8 GBs. Prep this flash drive as follows:
Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
After DU loads select your flash drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the leftside list. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list.
Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to an hour depending upon the flash drive size.
Use DiskMaker X to put your installer clone onto the USB flash drive.
Make your own Mavericks flash drive installer using the Mavericks tool:
You can also create a Mavericks flash drive installer via the Terminal. Mavericks has its own built-in installer maker you use via the Terminal:
You will need a freshly partitioned and formatted USB flash drive with at least 8GBs. Leave the name of the flash drive at the system default, "Untitled." Do not change this name. Open the Terminal in the Utilities folder. Copy this command line after the prompt in the Terminal's window:
sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Mavericks.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Mavericks.app --nointeraction
Press RETURN. Enter your admin password when prompted. It will not be echoed to the screen so be careful to enter it correctly. Press RETURN, again.
Wait for the process to complete which will take quite some time.
Now, run the installer flash drive, erase the hard drive, and reinstall Mountain Lion. You can then use Time Machine just to replace your data from your Home folder.

Unable to restore from Time Machine after an erase and reinstall - MacbookPro cannot access my old Time Machine backup volume. Desperate for help please?

My MacbookPro would not move past the Apple logo and spinning wheel for a number of hours. After trying the numerous suggestions to solve the issue I eventually opted to erase and reinstall feeling confident my Time Machine backups would come to the rescue. After a successful erase and reinstall I tried to restore all my data from my TIme Capsule using Command-R during start up and by using the Migration Assistant. Neither worked and I have received messages to the effect that the backup volumes on my Time Capsule cannot be access because I have entered a wrong password or because the backup volume is damaged.
When I open my Time Capsule in Finder and click on my sparsebundle I get an eror message saying that the disk image could not be opened and that the resource is temporarily unavailable.
Desperate for some help and comfort that many years of personal data have not been lost.
Thank you.
M

When I try to Verify option it says Unable to Verify - Resource temporarily unavailable.
Here is the past of the log screen:
2013-06-09 15:00:00 -0500: Disk Utility started.
2013-06-09 15:09:01 -0500: Disk Utility started.
2013-06-09 15:19:53 -0500: [DUDiskController viewablePartitions] expecting DUDisk, but got nil
2013-06-09 15:19:53 -0500:
2013-06-09 15:20:00 -0500: [DUDiskController viewablePartitions] expecting DUDisk, but got nil
2013-06-09 15:20:00 -0500:
2013-06-09 15:20:05 -0500: [DUDiskController viewablePartitions] expecting DUDisk, but got nil
2013-06-09 15:20:05 -0500:
2013-06-09 15:20:13 -0500: Verifying Image “Macajee’s MacBook Pro”
2013-06-09 15:20:14 -0500: Unable to verify “Macajee’s MacBook Pro.” (Resource temporarily unavailable)
2013-06-09 15:20:14 -0500:
2013-06-09 15:25:21 -0500: Verifying Image “Macajee’s MacBook Pro”
2013-06-09 15:25:23 -0500: Unable to verify “Macajee’s MacBook Pro.” (Resource temporarily unavailable)
2013-06-09 15:25:23 -0500:
2013-06-09 15:25:27 -0500: Attach Image “Macajee’s MacBook Pro”
2013-06-09 15:25:27 -0500: Initializing…
2013-06-09 15:25:31 -0500: Attaching…
2013-06-09 15:25:31 -0500: Finishing…
2013-06-09 15:25:32 -0500: Unable to attach “Macajee’s MacBook Pro.” (Resource temporarily unavailable)
2013-06-09 15:25:32 -0500:
2013-06-09 20:02:06 -0500: Disk Utility started.
2013-06-09 20:05:22 -0500: Disk Utility started.
2013-06-09 20:07:11 -0500: Disk Utility started.
2013-06-09 20:18:34 -0500: [DUDiskController viewablePartitions] expecting DUDisk, but got nil
2013-06-09 20:18:34 -0500:
2013-06-09 20:19:34 -0500: [DUDiskController viewablePartitions] expecting DUDisk, but got nil
2013-06-09 20:19:34 -0500:
2013-06-09 20:19:36 -0500: [DUDiskController viewablePartitions] expecting DUDisk, but got nil
2013-06-09 20:19:36 -0500:
2013-06-09 20:22:29 -0500: [DUDiskController viewablePartitions] expecting DUDisk, but got nil
2013-06-09 20:22:29 -0500:
2013-06-09 20:22:33 -0500: [DUDiskController viewablePartitions] expecting DUDisk, but got nil
2013-06-09 20:22:33 -0500:
2013-06-09 20:22:45 -0500: Verifying Image “Macajee’s MacBook Pro”
2013-06-09 20:22:45 -0500: Unable to verify “Macajee’s MacBook Pro.” (Resource temporarily unavailable)
2013-06-09 20:22:45 -0500:
2013-06-09 20:34:53 -0500: [DUDiskController viewablePartitions] expecting DUDisk, but got nil
2013-06-09 20:34:53 -0500:
2013-06-09 20:34:56 -0500: [DUDiskController viewablePartitions] expecting DUDisk, but got nil
2013-06-09 20:34:56 -0500:
2013-06-09 20:38:17 -0500: Verifying Image “Macajee’s MacBook Pro”
2013-06-09 20:38:17 -0500: Unable to verify “Macajee’s MacBook Pro.” (Resource temporarily unavailable)
2013-06-09 20:38:17 -0500:
2013-06-09 20:47:35 -0500: Disk Utility started.
2013-06-09 20:53:06 -0500: Disk Utility started.
2013-06-09 20:55:30 -0500: Disk Utility started.
2013-06-09 20:56:40 -0500: Disk Utility started.
2013-06-09 21:06:32 -0500: Verifying Image “macajee’s MacBook Pro”
2013-06-09 21:06:32 -0500: Unable to verify “macajee’s MacBook Pro.” (Resource temporarily unavailable)
2013-06-09 21:06:32 -0500:
2013-06-09 21:07:08 -0500: Verifying Image “macajee’s MacBook Pro”
2013-06-09 21:07:08 -0500: Unable to verify “macajee’s MacBook Pro.” (Resource temporarily unavailable)
2013-06-09 21:07:08 -0500:

How do I access an old Time machine backup from my new MBP?

I wanted to access my Time Machine Backup from a new MBP. Time machine recognized my backup drive but could not find my Backup file. What's wrong here? I use another Login name on my new MBP - could that be the reason?

Take a look on this page at item #17:
http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html

Continue an old Time Machine backup in OS Lion

I want to continue a Time Machine back up I had in my old MacBook Pro (OS Leopard) on my new OS Lion MacBook Pro, but I can't find the option to "Use previous disk". I migrated my old files no problem, but now I want to continue my existing back up. Any help?

Never mind, wow surprising I atleast managed to access the previous timemachine. In Time Machine itself I did not find any option to access the previous backup before fresh install. However, from system preferences I opened Time Machine and checked the box for "Show Time Machine status in menu bar". That shows an analog clock like time piece in the menu bar ont he right hand side at the top. When I clicked on it, I got another option "Browse other backup disks". When I selected that it asked me to select a disk containing a backup and I selected the partition on my external drive containing previous Time Machine backup. It launched the Time Machine and took me in the backup. So atleast that problem is resolved.
However, I still dont know if I can have the option to continue on top of previous backup. But thinking about it, it does not make sense as now my system is totally different and I will only bring few files over that I need. Time Machine does incremental backups on top of a full backup. The full backups in this case are different. So I would guess that I would have to create a new backup after bring files over that I need. If anyone has a different view please let me know. I am just glad that I have access to previous files without any hassle.

Migration assistant crashes when restoring time machine backup from mountain lion

Hi
I installed a new HDD in my MacBook Pro Mid 2009, installed the original OS again and tried to import using the Setup/Migration Assistant. It told me that since the time machine backup is newer, this can't be done. So I first upgraded to Mountain Lion (suspecting that I can install my SnowLeopard TM-backup there) and tried the same. The migration assistant started, found the image (on Tiime Capsule) and started to calculate the items that need to be transferred. After 17hours, I interrupted it.
Next thing was to upgrade the old HDD with mountain lion, create a fresh TM backup of this on an external USB drive and try the same. It finds the image, identifies the files (about 420GB), I can see the users, all fine. When I hit Next, it starts to calculatate of locate the files. I assumed that my drives were not the fastest ones so I did expect it to take a while. This time I interrupted it after 34hours as it was still giving me the "progress" bar.
For all I know, I have a TM-Backup of Mountaion Lion and a freshly installed Mountain Lion and I am using the Apple software for transfer - perfect world, no?
Any ideas?
Thanks
patPfe

The migration assistant or the original backup?
I tried WiFi, Ethernet and on the second attempt with a fresh backup on a USB drive.

Time Machine backup on Mountain Lion not restoring

I recently upgraded from Lion to Mountain Lion. After the upgrade, I duly take back ups to my two existing time machine back-ups on two external hard disks. I also maintain a separate CCC bootable clone. I recently tried to restore my calendary folder to restore data on my Calendar application but I got the shock of my life when I realised that NO mountain lion restores are working using either of my time machine back ups. BTW I have previously upgraded to Snow Leopard and to Lion, and my Time Machine backup disks have never showed any problems.
I have spent the last 4-5 days trying a variety of solutions, with no luck so far:
1) I looked at Pondini's website, including restoring data from TimeMachine backup to a dmg image and copying. This failed due to a combination of permissions error and wrong information about size / disk space requriements. In any case, this is not a feasible option since I would prefer restore to work directly, especially for large files and system files, as it did before since this workaround is not really a solution.
http://pondini.org/TM/E10.html
2) I followed instructions given at http://superuser.com/questions/35152/how-do-i-retrieve-files-from-time-machine-b ackups-from-another-computer and set ignore ownership via command line and then backed up again, but this did not fix permissions either on the new backup.
3) I used a separate external hard disk, reformatted it as Mac OSX journaled (not case sensitive) using a GUID partition map, and then backed up my hard disk (~330GB) which took ages but the new time machine back up does not work either. I still get permissions errors on restore from TM backup.
4) Using yet another hard disk, I followed advice here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5096
This has not worked either - I still get permissions errors on restore from TM backup.
5) If I go back to a TM backup dated PRIOR to upgrading to Mountain Lion, all restores work fine from both my exisiting time machine backups. It seems to me that only post Mountain Lion upgrades which don't work. So my conclusion is that it is ML that has introduced some sort of permissions issue.
6) File restores (i.e. copy paste to my desktop) from the CCC cloned backup proceed wthout a hitch.
At this stage I all I am really trying to aim for is getting a working time machine backup, even if it is a new one which restores properly. That is proving to be a huge challenge. Any help or advice would be very useful indeed. The only option left for me is to now either go to an Apple Store or to call Apple Care, but I am not confident of securing a resolution at either place. So any advice from more experienced users would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the page that opens.
Make sure the title of the Console window is All Messages. If it isn't, select All Messages from the SYSTEM LOG QUERIES menu on the left.
Click the Clear Display icon in the toolbar. Try the action that you're having trouble with again. Post any messages that appear in the Console window – the text, please, not a screenshot.
Important: Some private information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Edit it out by search-and-replace in a text editor before posting.

Lion's Time Machine backup crashes Mountain Lion

I have a OS X Lion's Time Machine backup with a few user accounts. Now I need to restore one user account and its data to a MacBook Pro with a replaced hard drive installed with OS X Lion and nothing else. I was told by Apple guys to:
1) upgrade to Mountain Lion first;
2) connect the OS X Lion Time Machine backup, then run the Migration Assistant (Mountain Lion).
The first time I did it, I migrated everything to the MacBook Pro. Then the user accounts and home folders all mixed up. The Lion's applications replaced Mountain Lion's applications of the same names, so and so... Problems gradually surface in two days, that I spent. The Mountain Lion crashed and the MacBook Pro had to reinstall the OS X Lion, then repeat 1) and 2) above.
The second time I did it, I told Apple of my experience, and they told me to uncheck everything else except the user account I wanted to migrate. Then after doing 1) above, and at 2) above, I found that nothing could be unchecked. I told Apple, and they told me to go ahead. After migrated everything, including Applications and the user accounts and data, The Mountain Lion crashed in many native applications, again. (Long story cuts short!)
Now, the thrid time, after wasting my week's time. Apple still tells me to upgrade to Mountain Lion before recovering the user from the TM backup drive. And I have again spent 6 hours in such things as wiping out everything (I guess Apple used Disk Utility to create 1-partition, quickest), install OS X Lion, and I installed Mountain Lion (less than 2 hours inlcuding download and install), then manually "copy" the one user account needed from the last completed (not the "Latest" and not the one with .InProgress) Time Machine dated backup/Machintosh HD/Users to the new INTERNAL Machintosh HD/Users. (The current logged-on account is "test" which is different from the one I need to migrate.)
What next? I shall create a new user account and assign the migrated user as the home folder of the new user account. Does it work? I don't know.
Why not simply restore the user account and data from OS X Lion's Migration Assistant, then upgrade to Mountain Lion? Why?
What about other applications? (e.g. Microsoft Office for Mac 2011), native iPhoto, iTunes....?)
Scenario: If my Time Machine backup was started a year or 2 years ago from Snow Leopard or Lion, and all the way to Mountain Lion. Then one day the drive crashes. Can Time Machine / Migration Assistant give me a one-click-done restoration? Or I need to go through this teasing process again?
Is Time Machine serving its purpose? (Who's purpose? Increase Apple's sales? or Recovering everything for the Mac user with a crashed drive?)

Try the following:
Restore Lion to your HDD. During setup, use setup-assistant to restore your data from TM-Backup.
When this is done upgrade to ML.

Mail from Lion Time Machine Backup to Mountain Lion

Hello,
My Lion iMac is crashed and now I want to put my Mail database from Lion Time Machine Backup to my Mountain Lion Mac Mini.
In Migration-assistent under Users there is no topic for Address Book, Calendar and Mail. Also the helpdesk told me not to use the migration-assistent but doing it manually.
How can I add extra accounts from the Lion Time Machine Backup ?
I have already <emailaccount1> working on my Mac Mini. It is just merging <emailaccount2> upto <emailaccount7>.
Is it just copying Library/Mail/V2/POP-<emailaccount2> to ~/Library/Mail/V2/POP-<emailaccount2> or do I have to change something under Preferences ?
Thanks,
Hubert

Hello Sig,
This helped but the original mail data is deleted completely. I tried it on a dummy account and discovered that the original data of <emailaccount1> is deleted by copying the Mail folder onto the original one.
So I made a copy of the Mail folder before overwriting it. Then I copied the deleted mbox files back to the Mailboxes folder and started Mail.app.
Thanks,
Hubert

Encrypt existing time machine backup in Mountain Lion?

Hi there,
I have been backing up my mac with Time Machine since Lion.
I now have Mountain Lion and want my time machine backups to be encrypted.
How do I encrypt my existing backups?
If I go to SELECT DISK in Time Machine Preferences the "encrypt backups" tick box is greyed out
Its a 1 TB HDD GUID Partition Table with a MAC OS Extended (Journaled) partition.

Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Triple-click the line below to select it, then drag or copy the text — do not type it — into the Terminal window and press return:
diskutil list; diskutil cs list
Post any lines of output that appear below what you entered — the text, please, not a screenshot.

Time Machine Backup on Mountain Lion

My Time Machine backup is stuck at 12MB of 13GB. I'm running 10.8.2 on MacBook Air. Please advice, thanks.

If you have more than one user account, these instructions must be carried out as an administrator.
Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the page that opens.
Make sure the title of the Console window is All Messages. If it isn't, select All Messages from the SYSTEM LOG QUERIES menu on the left.
Enter the word "Starting" (without the quotes) in the String Matching text field. You should now see log messages with the words "Starting * backup," where * represents any of the words "automatic," "manual," or "standard." Note the timestamp of the last such message. Clear the text field and scroll back in the log to that time. Post the messages timestamped from then until the end of the backup, or the end of the log if that's not clear.
Post the log text, please, not a screenshot. If there are runs of repeated messages, post only one example of each. Don't post many repetitions of the same message.
When posting a log extract, be selective. Don't post more than is requested.
PLEASE DO NOT INDISCRIMINATELY DUMP THOUSANDS OF LINES FROM THE LOG INTO A MESSAGE. If you do that, I will not respond.
Some personal information, such as the names of your files, may be included — edit that out, too, but don’t remove the context.

HT4889 Migration assistant refuses to see my Time machine backup in mountain lion

I made a full Time machine backup on a 1 TB hard disk.
I connect this to my other mac.
I follow EXACTLY the apple support instructions TO THE LETTER.
Time machine says - "looking for other computers" - there are no other computers - only the time machine backup disk which is correctly powere and can be seen in OSX prior to loading backup assistant.
I wait
and wait
and wait
three hours later it becomes apparent this isnt working
I try again - same result
I try again with a different disk
same result
I do a new FULL time machine backup on yet annothe disk
Same result
I try with two different macs - same result
What am I doing wrong and how do I fix it?
I am following the EXACT instructions as posted on the apple website... what does it not tell you? For example does this not work if your mac is a core2-duo - or does it have to be a particulr brand of external hard disk? There must be something becuase I simply cannot get this to work AT ALL period.

This simple procedure will clear your Time Machine settings, including exclusions. The backups won't be affected. If you have a long exclusion list that can't be recreated easily, you may prefer a more complicated procedure that preserves the exclusion list. In that case, ask for instructions. Otherwise, do as follows.
Triple-click the line below on this page to select it:
/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine.plist
Right-click or control-click the highlighted line and select
Services ▹ Reveal
from the contextual menu. A Finder window should open with a file selected. Copy the file to the Desktop. Then move it (the original, not the copy) to the Trash. You'll be prompted for your administrator password. Reboot and recreate your settings in the Time Machine preference pane. It will show that you have no backups. Don't worry; that's expected. Run a backup to test. The backup may take much longer than usual. If TM now performs as expected, delete the file you copied to the Desktop.

Post Lion: How to get access to old Time Machine backups?

Hi,
I did a clean install of Lion. Before doing this, I cloned my Snow Leopard Macintosh HD onto another partition. After installing, I ran Time Machine using the same HDD for my previous SL install. Time machine must have recognised I am running the same hardware laptop, and renamed the folder under Backups.backupdb. It created new backups, but left my SL backups alone. When I enter time machine, I can view all my backups from the Lion install, but the rest are all greyed out.
If I bootup into my old SL partition and access Time Machine, do I risk corrupting the Lion backups? If yes, is there another way to access these backups from Time Machine on SL? I've tried moving the folders under Backups.backupdb but they are protected.
The reason I want to do this is I want to run both OSs for a while, until all my apps are Lion compatible.
Many Thanks,
Prashant.

_prashantp wrote:
I did a clean install, which is why I have this issue.
That's correct.
When you erased the drive, it got a new UUID (Universally Unique IDentifier), so even if it has the same name, it's treated as a different drive, and the "old" one is no longer connected.
You can still view the old backups. See #E3 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.
EDIT: Sorry, I misread your post. You have two volumes being backed-up, both connected. Use the same procedure to look at the volume you want.
One caution; if you have the Lion drive being backed-up by Snow Leopard, and use any of the apps that use Autosave and Versions, the backups will fail because of the hidden /.DocumentRevisions-V101 folder on the Lion volume (and the /.MobileBackups folder). Either exclude those folders or your whole Lion volume from Time Machine on Snow Leopard.
Similarly, if you use any of those apps on Lion to edit any files on the Snow Leopard volume, it will create a /.DocumentRevisions-V101 folder on the Snow Leopard drive, too.

I cannot access old e-mails via Time machine since installing Mountain Lion at the beginning of August.

I cannot access old e-mails via Time machine since installing Mountain Lion at the beginning of August. I can access those received and sent since the benning of August. I can access other documents prior to August.

Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the page that opens.
Make sure the title of the Console window is All Messages. If it isn't, select All Messages from the SYSTEM LOG QUERIES menu on the left.
Click the Clear Display icon in the toolbar. Try the action that you're having trouble with again. Post any messages that appear in the Console window – the text, please, not a screenshot.
Important: Some private information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Edit it out by search-and-replace in a text editor before posting.

Access to old Time Machine backups in Mountain Lion

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