All media files vanished. When time machine backup attempted it says disk full? Confused help.

I recently upgraded from osx leopard to snow leopard on my 2008 macbook to sync my new iphone data smoothly. After the installation it was v slow as anticipated and a time machine full restore was done successfully. Now however all my media files have vanished namely precious music videos and pictures. I tries reverting back in time machine but it says no disk space. Also i have 1000 new pictures last uploaded which gas also been backed up by time machine with the computer showing the rest of the files erased. How do i recover both sets of data the old and the new?

How much free space on your internal drive and how much free space on the Time Machine drive? You can use Disk Utility in Applications/Utilities to find free space. If Time Machine gets too full it could delete your backups. I suggest your turn off Time Machine in System Preferences until you get your files restored.
Rather than enter Time Machine using the Time Machine interface, go to the extrernal drive and drill down in the backups.backupdb folder. Go to a date when you know the files existed. Select Macintosh HD > Users > You > Pictures. Do you see the data. Check size? Do the same for Music.
You can drag from these folders to your Desktop as long as you have space on your internal drive.
I suspect you'll need to erase your Time Machine and start new or you'll need to purchase a larger drive. It's recommended that your Time Machine drive is 3X larger than internal drive.

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I accidentally deleted my media files from iTunes and Trash when I was trying to move the files to an external hard drive. Is there a way to restore the media files from a Time Machine backup or from iTunes Match? What are the steps to do this?

I accidentally deleted my media files from iTunes and Trash when I was trying to move the files to an external hard drive. Is there a way to restore the media files from a Time Machine backup or from iTunes Match? What are the steps to do this?

If you have been backing up on Timemachine.
All you need to do is enter time machine... Then the rest is obvious.
Find the iTunes folder and hit 'Restor'.
If not the only way to get all your iTunes music back is to enter iTunes Store.
On the right hand side you should see 'Purchased'.
Click 'purchased' and there you have it.

How to restore all Logic files from a Time Machine backup

Hello-
I recently had to clear all of the memory on my laptop, in order to free up some room. It was running very slow, and I had far too much clutter on there. I have a MacBook, and back everything up on Time Capsule, so I've spent the past couple of days individually retrieving all of the files that I want on my computer. I naively thought that I could click on the Logic Pro application from a previous backup, but failed to realize that I have to find the drivers and other components that make up the software. Where can I locate all of these files, and how would you recommend going about restoring all of my projects, drivers, etc.? Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

Smart mailboxes are not a storage location, they are just a kind of saved search. There's not really anything to restore if you can't restore the messages.
As to your difficulty restoring mail, see the [Time Machine FAQ|http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1964018] and [Time Machine Troubleshooting|http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2057525] guides. Also, try posting on the TM forums for better help.

Files Missing From Time Machine Backup

I had a system crash and I'm trying to move the files from my time machine backup onto my new computer.
The problem is that many of my files, which I know where on my desktop in folder at the time of the backups, seem to be missing. I can find the folder, but about three quarters of the files from it are gone. The ones that are in it appear to be mostly newer files that I had created not long before the last backups and the crash. As far as I go back, the files seem to be missing.
Anyone know what might be going on?
Does it have to do with which user I'm logged in as? Would that change what files I can see?
Any suggestions?
Thanks.

Thanks for the comment. I did use the Migration Asst. to move her data and most did move, but key information, like the Safari Bookmarks, the addresses in the Address Book, and every file in the Documents folder were all missing. I finally called Apple and the tech there solved the problem. The source of the problem is that when she registered the new Mac mini, she used a slightly different User name, which then made it impossible for the new Mini to communicate with the external Backup data. The tech walked me through a multiple step process that involved adding a suffix to the original user name and so on, which has made available all the original data on the new mini.
This is the second time in the last few years that a change in the administrator user name has created an enormous problem. While Apple notes that this user name is important, there should be a more thorough explanation of how it functions and the serious consequences that can occur if is not husbanded properly.

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I need to drag a file from my time machine backup to a usb

You can restore it to the original location as a copy, if you have a newer version there that you want to keep. So Restoring a file from TM won't over-write a newer file.

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How do I restore a single Apple Mail draft file from a time machine backup?

Never mind. Just figured it out. I restored the single file, but after that I'm receiving dozens of old notifications of new Mail. Not sure why.

If I update from 10.6.8 to Mavericks and I have a time machine backup, can I do a full restore back to 10.6.8 and resume as if I had never updated?

If I update from 10.6.8 to Mavericks and I have a time machine backup, can I do a full restore back to 10.6.8 and resume as if I had never updated if there is a problem? Probably an answer I should know but I don't. Thanks in advance! (instruction suggestions welcomed)

Upgrading the OS is a system wide thing. So all users will receive the upgrade.
It should not delete files and such. However, if you have for example files made with Pages '09. Then the new Pages that comes with Mavericks will make a copy of those files so you can continue to edit them. But those new files can not be opened in Pages '09. BUT again, some people perfer Pages '09 and they use that still. Mavericks will just hide Pages '09, it's still usable in Mavericks just hidden.
To be safe, make a back up of your system before doing any major upgrade.
KOT

Problem restoring files from a Time Machine Backup! HELP!

Heya,
I have Snow Leopard and have been using Time Macine regularly since May.... I never needed to restore any file until now...
Deleted some must have stuff.. and emtird the trash (of course!).. so went to time machine to restore it...
Looked it up... nice interface.. have stuff since May 2011... nice.. found the 10+Gb of stuff I had deleted.. and restored... Pffffew!
Opend the file... Bzzzz! you loose... file is currupt,,, what?
load again.. still no go? files all look the right length m.. hmm very strance... can;t open then... lets try a simeple file...
restore a text file... size ok.. but... EMPTY!
use HexEdit to open the text file... All ZERO's!
check the otehr files I restores ALL ZERO's!
DOH! restore files I saved into safe old Time machine in May 2011... AL ZEROS!!
***! Everything is ZERO! my last 6 months worth of time machine backups is all gone! Directory structures say they are there.. file sizes are ok.. but NO DATA!!!
Can somone please HELP ME!
G./

Open Disk Utility. Click once on the external drive left-most icon (not the indented volume name/icon); what does it indicate for Partition Map Scheme? Also, do you have an Intel Mac or a PPC Mac?
Now click "Verify Disk" and see if it finds errors or if it reports "ok."
What I am hoping (this is something of a long shot) is that there will be errors found on the disk that Disk Utility can repair and then your data will be properly associated with the file names and headers. "Verify" simply reports back on the state of the file system and can do no harm; only when you click on "Repair" will it actually try to repair anything. You might want to report back first on the results of "Verify" before trying to "repair."
By the way, this Verify (or Repair) procedure can take ~ hours for a large disk that is mostly full. I did this recently on an external Time Machine drive that was 1.5 TB in size and 2/3 full and it took ~ 3 hours.
If severe errors are found on that disk, something stronger than Apple's Disk Utility might be called for, such as Disk Warrior. Hence better to report back here before roceeding with any "repairs."
The type of error I am hoping you might have is in the file system that relates the filenames and their header (and file sizes) to the locations around the disk where the actual data inside the file are located. If that file system gets damaged, your computer will have trouble finding the actual data that goes with each file. Hence getting zeros when you should have gotten data. Sometimes this can be fixed, sometimes it cannot. Often it can. If the problem is caused by a physical problem with the disk, the likelihood of recovery is low. If the problem is with the file system/mapping to the data on the drive, it very well might be fixable.
Have you had any power failures, system freezes, improper or disorderly computer shutdowns, etc. or unexpected dismounting of the backup drive anytime since you have been using it? Have you ever gone into that external backup drive in the finder and changed any of the files on it yourself, or has it only been touched indirectly through Time Machine?

How do I remove a File from the Time Machine backup?

How can I delete a very large folder (30 gb) that I do not need on my time machine backup? I was transferring the file from one computer to another and TM backed it up while it was on my Macbook Pro. Now I have this massive file on my external (time machine) hard drive that I do not need.

In Finder, open the folders until you can see the folder icon for the folder you want to delete.
Launch Time Machine. It should open a similar view of what you were looking at in Finder.
Select the folder, and click on the "Gear" icon at the top of the window and choose "Delete All Backups of "nameofyourfolder"".

Restore files from last Time Machine backup after HD erase and install

I just had to do an "erase and install" ... trying to restore files from my last Time Machine backup but after completing the Airport Utility setup / configure steps, it says "waiting to restart" for a few minutes and then says it cannot find TIme Capsule after restart (though TC never restarted). I'm pretty desperate to get my files back as it's Sunday night and my business needs to be up and running by morning. Any help would be greatly appreciated ... even if it's saying I need to take TC into a Mac store to have them retrieve my files.

While in Time Machine, press the key combination shift-command-C. The front window will show all mounted volumes. All snapshots should now be accessible. Select the one you want and navigate to the files you want to restore.

How do I delete files from a Time Machine backup?

Hi,
I have a Time Machine backup that has a large group of image files on it. How can I delete this data from the TM backup so it is no longer taking up that space on the Time Machine backup drive? Just delete the files in Leopard and run Time Machine again...? I somehow don't think that will work...

hassiman wrote:
Hi,
I have a Time Machine backup that has a large group of image files on it. How can I delete this data from the TM backup so it is no longer taking up that space on the Time Machine backup drive? Just delete the files in Leopard and run Time Machine again...? I somehow don't think that will work...
It would be a disaster.
Only delete TM files from the TM interface. Run TM from the dock, select the file(s) you wish to remove and click the Action Gear. You have the option to delete that particular backup, or all instances of that backup. This is the only way to delete backup files.

How do I retrieve my Mail files from a Time Machine backup?

I reformatted my iMac hard rive because I was having all kinds of problems with speed and crashing. I did a Time Machine backup and then reformatted the hard drive and reinstalled Yosemite. I then reinstalled fresh apps and all my files. I just don't know where to find my email files on the backup. I don't even know where to find them on my current system. In older OS X systems, they were easily located under your user name. Where'd they go? Please help.

Open Finder then your user Library. You can get to your user Library from Finder/Go/Go To Folder and type ~/Library
Next, open the Mail folder; then click on the Time Machine icon in the Menu Bar and Enter Time Machine. This should open Time Machine to your ~/Library/Mail folder that you just opened. Now, you should be able to copy your V2 folder for what ever date that should have all your mailboxes.

Moving files from a Time Machine backup manually vs restoring from a Time Machine backup

I have read several articles saying that contemporary Macs and OSs are built such that they clean themselves up - defragmentation, general sweeping, etc. I was told by the Genius, however, that there are many little files that are left lying around after installs, uninstalls, file making, and file deletion that will gum up the works. He recommended that I set up my computer as though it's brand new and manually transfer files over from my Time Machine backup folder on my ExtHD.
Because I couldn't find a discussion of this specific topic online, I thought I'd bring it to the community myself. Is there an advantage to setting up the computer from scratch and manually moving the files (provided I use Migration Assistant for applications)?
For background: My Mac was running slowly, and after doing some research and talking to a "Genius", I thought it would be wise to reformat my HD and restore my system. Aside from sluggish performance, I was experiencing strange symptoms - like free disk space remaining the same even after deleting huge files, permissions errors, etc. I tried doing a permissions repair (a process I'd been told to do before when experiencing issues, even though I never knew what that really did), and read that I should verify my disk as well. Disk Utility told me that I had to reboot from the repair disk to perform the necessary repairs. The repair disk Disk Utility told me that my disk had some major issues and needed to be reformatted and restored.
HOURS LATER: I am back up and running now and Disk Utility is showing the appropriate amount of free disk space.

Let's start with some basics.
Check under the Apple in the Menu bar About this Mac > More Info
How much Memory do you have installed?
What size is our hard drive and how much free space?
You'll find the term Genius does not necessarily mean they are expert. Even on this forum, you'll find varying difference of opinions and levels of expertise.
I have read several articles saying that contemporary Macs and OSs are built such that they clean themselves up - defragmentation, general sweeping, etc.
This is true. Apps like MacKeeper, CleanMyMac, TuneUpMyMac, Washing Machine or anything like these apps might appear to be helpful, can do too more harm than good. As a result of the 'cleanup' it can leave your Mac non-functional Mac. The forums are full of users with computers that no longer work correctly after running these so call 'cleaners'
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4171
Your Mac runs maintenance in the background for you > Mac OS X: About background maintenance tasks
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2319
I was told by the Genius, however, that there are many little files that are left lying around after installs, uninstalls, file making, and file deletion that will gum up the works.
I'm going to disagree here. Get rid of the installer from downloads after installing. After removing an app, most of the little files do no harm and take up very little space. However some applications mostly crapware/cleaners will leave files that continue to run silently in the background takeing up resources.
Don't install stuff you don't really need. There is no magic bullet to clean up your messes.

Can I manually recover files from a Time Machine backup?

I'm just about to perform a fresh install of OS X Lion. I plan to re-install the apps I need from scratch so only need my files backed up (iTunes/Aperture library, documents folder etc). At the moment I have time machine backing up to an external USB disk.
Do I need to copy my Music/Pictures/Documents folders to another USB disk before doing a fresh install of Lion or can I just copy/paste them from my time machine backup disk (would save a lot of time)? I don't want to do a time machine recovery, recover preferences or apps etc - just manually recover my data.
Thanks.

JBF80 wrote:
I want to copy all of my files, but not settings or applications. I'm happy to copy/paste the Documents, Pictures and Music directories from the TM disk.
Well, that is what I said ("You can customize what to transfer")

Recovering single file from old Time Machine Backup

I see many questions/answers that almost address my issue, but not quite, so I'm starting a new post. If this has been answered somewhere and I missed it feel free to just refer me to the correct post!
I recently had to do a full System Restore from a Time Machine backup. The good news is that it worked beautifully and I'm using my iMac like nothing ever happened. When Time Machine tried to run (post restore), it said I didn't have enough space on my external drive. Okay, based on other posts here I see that it won't just continue from the old TM backups and it's starting "anew"...got it.
The old TM backups must still be on that drive because it shows 144GB USED and 100GB AVAIL of my 250GB external drive. Okay, again based on other posts I know that I could just wipe the drive clean and start fresh...BUT...
I restored to my TM backup of 8/24....now I realize that there are one or two files that I at some point stopped having TM backup and now I want to get them back (the whole point of TM, right?)...I figured since it's "holding" that space on my external drive, the old backups are intact and I just need a way to get to them to pull them back to my restored system, then start TM from scratch.
I can't get at the old TM backups. I've tried:
1) Using the "Browse other Time Machine Backups..." feature. It doesn't see the old TM backup...sees the drive, but nothing on it.
2) Browsing the drive in "Finder"...nothing shows up...just the attempted NEW backup.
3) Connecting the external drive to an entirely different Mac and trying to browse the disk in Finder OR use the Browse other Time Machine Backups...still nothing.
So I have a 250GB drive that shows 144GB used, but no way to even view what that is....am I out of luck? Or would something in DiskUtility or a 3rd party software (DiskWarrior) help in this situation?
Is there any way to go pull one or two files from my old TM backup?

Exactly Glenn....I did nothing to the hard drive after the "restore from Time Machine Backup"...
I've never used the Migration Assistant...have to look into that.
I didn't want to be argumentative since I was the relative newbie asking for help, but I HAVE to believe that if I didn't write over the files (i.e. reformat the drive), AND the Finder is recognizing that there are 144 GB USED, the files must be there, untouched....
The urgency isn't there for me anymore, I've already re-created the one doc I wanted to recover and the other file was my Windows XP virtual machine file...(I didn't want to have to re-install Windows from scratch - but I did)....so maybe this is a good time to "play" with that drive while I can afford to lose everything on it!

All media files vanished. When time machine backup attempted it says disk full? Confused help.

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